Fretless Question

[Heather Kulaga]

I have a BSR4TNE, fretless four string, and took it to my band rehearsal last night. I usually use my 6, but wanted to try this out on some of the tunes even though it's a bit new to me.

Twice in our current set list I usually do a little slap/pop or tapping solo. I went ahead and played the slap/pop and it sounded good and was easy to play on that bass. Then when I got to the tapping solo I hesitated, realizing that I might be injuring the fretboard. I don't really know much about this technique being used on a fretless.

I use KS taper-core medium round wound strings, but I read that using a flat wound string can help protect the fretboard surface.

Thing is, slapping/popping isn't really my style and I love the round-wound strings - there is an awesome growl from this bass that comes through really well and I don't want to mess with that too much.

Any advice? I bought this fretless used, but it's sorta precious to me - it's in beautiful shape and I want to keep it that way.

Can I slap/pop/tap on my little tiger?