Fretless = Brighter?

[cassius987]

Something I've noticed lately that I find a bit odd is that my 4003FL, which is set up near-identically to my 4003 (same gauge and brand of strings, both necks are very straight although the 4003FL is a bit straighter since there's no need to prevent fret buzz, action is the same if not a bit higher on the 4003), has a brighter sound as far as the roundwound strings on it are concerned. I actually have two 4003s and this applies to both of them as far as tone.

Anyone else notice this with their FL basses? (Rics and other worthy fretless basses too.) It kind of boggles me because I thought part of brightness was a slight presence of metal-on-metal tone. Or maybe it's this--there are no frets to wear out my rounds as fast? But my fingerboard is perfectly fine, I check the finish frequently. There are no marks from wear.

I don't know. Just thought I'd inquire.

[teb]

I think the brightness is mostly due to the varnished fingerboard, especially when they have rounds on them. My fretless basses have all had ebony fingerboards, but those with varnished boards were/are substantially brighter, as well as having a rather different tone. I haven't really noticed much tone difference between varnished or unvarnished fretted basses (or twelve-strings for that matter) but on fretless basses it can be a pretty big deal.

[cassius987]

Hadn't thought of that Todd, but you could definitely be right. It makes sense that a fretted bass would not be like this since the fret acts as the nut, not the fingerboard. My 4003FL is a bit unique in that, instead of having a CV finish, it has a poly finish that was done by a luthier after he had properly radiused the fingerboard. The factory board was uneven in a few spots, causing a couple of wolf notes. The poly finish is a lot tougher than the original CV finish, which showed marks even when I used flats. I've been playing the rounds pretty hard but the poly doesn't show any changes.