Linus27

My first Stingray was an absolute nightmare. Bought it brand new from The Bass Centre in Wapping and it refused to stay in tune and constantly needing adjustment. I took it to Strings and Things and they confirmed the wood was too soft and replaced it with a brand new neck. It was absolutely fine after that. I have since had 3 more Stingrays and they have all been fine.

Avon EB3 Bass - Red Tokai Sound Jazz Bass - Sunburst Washburn ABT Force - Red Unknown Fretless - Black ESP 400 Series Jazz - Black Music Man Stingray SR4 3EQ - Teal Music Man Stingray SR4 3EQ- Natural Music Man Stingray SR4 2EQ - Teal Musicman Stingray SR4 Fretless 3EQ - Natural Status Shark - Black Bass Collection SB320 - Brown Lakland Duck Dunn Precision - Red Lakland Darryl Jones Jazz - Blue Warwick Streamer Jazzman Fretless - Natural Warwick Streamer LX4 - Natural Warwick Corvette - Natural Limelight Jazz Fretless - Green Ibanez Musician - Walnut Washburn AB10 - Black Unknown Acoustic Bass - Natural Washburn AB20 - Black Squire VM Jazz Fretless - Sunburst Fender Jazz 75 AVRI US - Natural Fender Precision 70 FSR Reissue - Natural Fender Precision Mexico - Sunburst Fender Telecaster 1973 - Natural Fender Precision 1977 - Natural Fender Jazz 70 Reissue Mexico - Sunburst Fender Jazz 66 Reissue Japan - White Fender Jazz 75 AVRI US - Natural Fender Jazz Standard US - White Fender Jazz Fretless Japan - Sunburst Fender Precision Standard US - White Fender Precision 51 Japan - Butterscotch Fender Precision 51 Japan - Yellow Fender Mike Dirnt Precision Mexico - Yellow Fender Precision 51 Japan - Butterscotch Fender Classic 60’s Jazz Fretless Japan - Sunburst Fender Precision 62 Fretless Japan - Sunburst

I've not seen many luthier basses that I like, they all seem a little too pointy, angular, or futuristic but then again I am pretty much a traditionalist loving the Fender look and shape so a little wasted on me. However, I do love a Status bass (never owned one mind) and I absolutely adore this Shuker.

Looks gorgeous, well done sir. I know what you mean about being hard to photograph. My first Stingray was Teal and was my dream bass and I got myself another about 10 years later after I sold the first. To the eye and what attracted me to the colour is they look green, however in photos they always look blue.

Awesome and really pleased my one helped you get this one If you change your mind and can't justify keeping it, then drop me a line as I might be interested 😃 Plus, we need more pictures when it arrives

If only it had a head and was fretless.

Bagsy be moderator, then I can do experiments, blow stinky poo up and ban people 🤣

Oh my word, how did I miss this. My first Stingray was in Teal and it's a gorgeous colour. I currently have a natural Stingray with a Pau Ferro fretless board which is lovely. Keep us posted on what you think and how you get on with it.

No, very similar to a regional car forum and as NancyJohnson says above. You could keep it very simple like London, South East, South West, North East, North West, Yorkshire, West Midlands, East Midlands, Scotland (Highlands, Lowlands and Uplands) and North Wales, South Wales. You could if you wanted, expand it further and for example group Surrey and Sussex together, Hampshire and Berkshire together, Kent and Essex together and so on and so forth. It's not really rocket science.

I use Lemonrock and have found it to be pretty up to date and reliable. However, I think a sub forum broken into counties would be a great idea when individuals could talk about venues and ask questions.

Another vote for John Giblin here as well please. You can't discount his experience with Kate Bush, Simple Minds, John Martyn, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins to name just a very few.

Ah man, I'm so hoping you can pull this off and get Pino to the SBL interview. I probably listen to something he's played on every day, such a huge influence and one of main reasons I play fretless. Good luck and fingers crossed 👍

I was lucky as my house was a constant noise of music from my mum, dad and two older sisters. My dad was also a huge hifi fan and when I was a teenager would drag me around all the major hifi shows. My dad loved big band Jazz like Ted Heath as well various organ music. My mum loved The Carpenters, Barry Manilow, Val Doonican and Nana Mouskouri. My oldest sister loved 80's pop, had a crush on Sting but loved The Police, Duran Duran, A-ha, Culture Club, Paul Young and most 80's pop. My other older sister also loved 80's pop, had a crush on Mark King so loved Level 42, Depeche Mode, Spandau Ballet, Abba, Adam Ant and most 80's pop. So my love of Jazz came from my dad and my love of 80's pop came from my two sisters. I also love The Carpenters.

Most fretless bass players used rounds from Pino to Jaco. It was the done thing back in the day. Flats were also much higher tension and less comfortable. Nowadays, there are more string choices, variables tensions and some which are more tailored to a fretless.

Absolutely Pino and please include his fretless and not just his fretted and Precision stuff.

I love flanger on bass, just got to be careful to not have too much swirl as it can sound a bit out of tune. For a really good album full of flanger, listen to Simple Minds - New Gold Dream. It was a huge part of Derek Forbes bass tone using his MXR Flanger pedal.

Lots of things to ponder over to make your move to fretless. The first is what do you predominantly play? If you are mostly a 5 string player then get a 5 string fretless. The transition will be more natural and you won't be so limited in playing what you are already playing on your fretted 5 string bass. The biggest decision is do you go for lined or unlined? There is no right or wrong choice here, it is purely down to what you prefer to play or more comfortable playing. I play unlined as I personally find lines are a huge distraction, it's easier to play but equally a bigger challenge to be more accurate so hugely rewarding and it improves your ear and technique. Players who play lined fretless basses will have their own preferences and as I say, there is no right or wrong, but your own individual preference. For information purposes, a lined fretless you play on the lines and an unlined, you play on the dots or the gaps between them. There are more lined fretless basses available so your choices will be bigger. Fender make a range of lined fretless Jazz basses and a very very good lined fretless bass is the Ibanez SRF705. Beautiful bass and if it was unlined then I'd have one. Ibanez have also just released a headless 5 string lined fretless which is quite funky looking. Just remember, even if it doesn't have lines on the board, it still has lines on the side of the neck like the Ibanez fretless basses making it lined so don't get caught out thinking its unlined. As for unlined then your best bet will be second hand and a good start will be a Japanese Fender Jazz or Precision. As I say, it's hard to find an unlined fretless bass these days but not impossible and I think Warwick make an unlined Streamer Rockbass which looks nice. As for playing then if you have good technique and a good ear then they are no different than playing a fretted bass. It's all about playing accurately, listening to what you are playing and making micro adjustments on the fly. It's not difficult and it's not all about slides, vibrato and Jacoesque runs, you can make it as none fretless sounding as you want. Try playing your 5 string in the dark and low light and see how you get on. If you are ok and can hear when you are out and can adjust then you'll be fine. One thing I found though is my fretted bass was a '75 Fender Jazz with blocks and binding but because I'm so used to playing a clean fretless fretboard, the blocks and binding on my fretted bass was so distracting, I had to sell it as it was so distracting to play. As for the benefits, personally I prefer the tone of a fretless and the freedom that it brings. It's so expressive and musical and if you get a good one, they can so sing. Also, you'll find your technique will adjust and you'll slide up to notes and there's no step that you get with frets, it's one smooth transition from note to note. Also, chords are fabulous, for example, play an open A and fret C# (11th fret on the D string) at the same time and add a bit of vibrato, it sounds wonderful. Any singular note with a bit of vibrato sounds wonderful and expressive but you don't have to and that's the beauty, you can make it sound nothing like a fretless bass if you want. Harmonics are also another lovely, rich feature that come alive on a fretless, especially with a bit of chorus and reverb. With regards to strings, roundwounds will cause wear to a fretless board but never be afraid to use them. They sound great and the wear is minimal unless you are playing hundreds of gigs a year. A 5 minute rub down with 0000 Steel Wool and applying Beeswax Orange Oil after will bring the neck back to a glass like finish. I've used roundwounds for years and never ever had an issue, however I would never use them on my maple fretless board. Personally though, I use either LaBella Black Tapewounds which sound fabulous and are designed for fretless or LaBella Low Tension Flats on my fretless Precision's which give a very full, rich, warm, rounded tone. Good luck with your search and don't be afraid to make the switch. These are my fretless basses and if you have any questions then just ask.

No as you can understand a language and not necessarily be able to write it. Toddlers and children can understand and say words at a young age but not be capable of reading or writing them and those who are dyslexic can have perfectly great communication skills but not necessarily be able to spell or read as well.

Not a fan of The Beatles, I find their music a bit safe, cheesy, poppy and clean. I admit they had some great songs but they do nothing for me. A lot of 60's music, especially British 60's popular music I can't abide as it's just too clean and cheesy. I guess I'm not a fan of the sound. Being born in 1970 means I grew up listening to music from the late 70's onwards. However, I adore The Doors, and songs like Light My Fire, Break on Through, The End, When The Music's Over, Five To One, that's my band of the 60's although their best songs came in 1970 in the form of Riders on the Storm and LA Woman.

The Beatles bass lines also seemed to serve the song in a very similar way to Sting's bass lines served The Police songs. Very functional and effective and in some cases clever but not necessarily technical or outstanding. It was more about the song rather than the musicianship and that's where the talent is as song writers.

So, a question to those who know more about compression that I do. On my fretless Stingray, when I play on the G string, there is quite a drop in volume. I play quite a lot of melodic runs and when Move my run fro the A and D string and onto the G string, it can at times become lost. My thought was to get a compressor pedal to even out the volume across all 4 string or this was what I was told would help. Is this correct or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Good luck Blue, fingers crossed and its certainly a great feeling. We recently got nominated for best new original band and best album/ep release of 2022. We had the awards night last Thursday and sadly didn't win (was very close) but it was a fab evening. Hoping you come away with the win, good luck.

My chain is, Wireless - Tuner - Octave - Chorus - Reverb I'll be getting a compressor at some point and will stick this between the Tuner and Octave pedal. I might also try swapping the Chorus and reverb around to see if that makes any difference.