vincbt

May be opening a can of worms, but would anyone know how these compare to the previous AO 60s or to the AVRI 62 and 63?

I have a 71 P which I love, but questioning if I should really keep so much money in an instrument given the current gigging schedule. These could be a happy middle.

A few very good points have been made already.
 

I would add that the one in the video will sound different from the one you’re looking to buy because it’s a 5 strings. The pick-ups are positioned in a different way depending on number of strings (5er has both angled and closer to bridge).

Personally I’ve had 4 Thumbs, from different years in different woods and with different neck construction and number of strings, and have now settled on a 89 neck-through with EMG pickups and 3 band MEC eq, as it’s really the sweet spot for me.

Build quality is meant to be better pre 97 and post 2013, but prices are high. Neck profiles also differ through the years.

If you can go to BassBross in person they also sell a 91 NT, so you could A/B the two and decide if there is enough in it for you to justify the price jump. More generally, it’s a bass I would not buy without trying due to the very peculiar ergonomic profile (neck dive not an issue on my 89 but 1st fret reach takes getting used to).

I had a bass with gold hardware that I wanted to turn black, I could replace most of it but the bridge was impossible to source and I looked at having it repainted.

After exploring a bunch of different options, I concluded the safest and easiest thing to do was to just sell the bass and buy another with black hardware (which I’ve done)… Hardware isn’t easy nor cheap to recolour

14 hours ago, drTStingray said:

I like the white pearloid best - but noticed yours, like mine, had a matt white with black screws originally. I’ve retained the original on mine - a certain vintage look! 
 

Yes, I have 3 now, including the matte white. I wasn't too fond of that for some reason, for now I've settled on black but I can see how it's gonna change from time to time!

2 minutes ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

I had a '90 fretless SR5.

Pau Ferro 'board on that, too.

 

Kinda wish I hadn't sold it. 

I know the feeling…

38 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

The first stingray I had circa 1980 I thought the egg shape pg was hideous, so just took it off, it was a natch colour body so the lil' screw holes didn't really show. 

There was an evilbay seller doing pg's for stingrays that were a good dead fit.. 

I had a look while I was swapping guards and thought it does look good naked. This one would need a proper clean to go without guard or I think a clear one should do well

It does actually look pretty good without, I’d need to buy a clear pg

It took ages but I finally found the time to clean it up, set it up with nylons and test a few different pickguards. The neck may still need a bit of lemon oil but it’s a good start. Just can’t decide what guard to leave on!

24 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

It’s just a lump of wood isn’t it?
 

Yes.

Is it a lump of tonewood though?

On Hold now pending the usual

9 hours ago, kuetsum said:

You've got a pm

And replied

Hi all!

Thinking of selling my 1988 Warwick Thumb NT with gold hardware.

No exchanges on this one, I need to recoup some funds after buying the Stingray a couple of weeks ago.

The bass is in very good condition. Great slim neck and very little or no neck dive on these early ones.
 

Two mods made by the previous owner:

Original EMG pickups swapped for EMG Jax. The original pickups are included in the sale.

Original Schaller tuners replaced with Gotoh, to do this he drilled 4 screw holes in the back of the headstock. I put the original tuners back and had the holes closed by a luthier.

Rest is original and in good condition, it has a Mec 2-band preamp. Weight is 4.6kg on the bathroom scale.

I’ve priced it to reflect the mods (particularly the tuners) and flat to what I paid for it, really tempted to just keep it but I’ve gone a bit over with the latest purchase.

Price is 1500 Euros / 1400 GBP.
 

I am based in Paris, but I come to London usually once a month. Collection preferred as I don’t have a hard case for this, but happy to sort one out and ship at additional cost. For shipping, ideally EU only to avoid import duties / VAT et. For UK sale ideally a meet in London on my next visit would be best.

Any question, please shout!

Well, the bass is sitting next to me at work now...

I'll take some photos once I have a chance to give it a good clean and setup but it looks great, highly figured neck and all.

Now I just need to figure out if the set of LaBella white nylon flats I have at home suits it well and get a black or perloid pickguard.

Thanks for helping out!

38 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

For reference, this is mine which also has a Pau Ferro board and I paid £1800 for it about a year or so ago.

 

That’s lush, I really like that finish 

7 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

It’s sunburst - they changed the name to honeyburst around 2000 and started producing a three tone sunburst as a standard colour - previously 3TS had been a custom colour at extra cost and is thus extremely rare from the late 80s/90s.

 

The board is almost certainly pau ferro although that one looks a little dry - but a wipe over with lemon oil will deal with that! As they’re so rare, Stingray fretless basses command a premium over a similar bass but fretted version. 
 

I have an earlier (93) one in a similar colour but with the three band EQ. I bought it about 15 yrs ago off EBay for around £750…… I don’t plan to part with it but if I did I’d be looking for upwards of £2k.

 

EBMM occasionally produce fretless basses but sell them via their on line shop, and are often £3k. You may wish to consider the price being asked accordingly!!

 

Here’s mine for interest. It goes without saying it sounds superb - the owner of a Wal fretless, no less, was waxing lyrical to me about it at a jam session, commenting on how mellow it sounds - of course, it can do more in yer face if desired!! Needless to say I’m totally green with envy of any Wal bass as well……. 

 

Thanks! I didn’t know about 3TS being a custom colour so that would explain it.

Yes, the price context you mention does fit with the ask roughly, I guess being a pro there is also an additional mark-up to factor in.

I’ll go try it out and see if it comes home with me, it’s good to see the board can pick a darker tone cause fretless 2-band seems to be otherwise hard to come by. I did find a BFR 2019 fretless in the US but at more than double the price…

Hi all!

I’ve been on the hunt for a fretless Stingray for a while now and one came up which may tick most boxes (except it seems priced a bit too high). It is local to me so I will go check it out in person but there are a couple of details I can’t square.

The seller, who is a pro, doesn’t know what material the fretboard is made of. I would think it’s pau ferro, would anyone with more experience with this MM era be able to confirm?

Also, the Serial comes up as Sunburst but it doesn’t look like a refin, am I missing anything there?

3 hours ago, 2pods said:

I'd love this, but must sell my Helix first.

 

 

Oh, just noticed you can only post in the EU, and I couldn't make it to London 

 

GLWTS

Yeah sorry, I could look into posting to UK but we'd have to have a good look at import duties and VAT, by which time you may be better off buying one locally. GLWTS(earch)

I am selling my Ibanez Portamento as I am on a quest to find a fretless Stingray but need to make space for it first.

It is very light and well designed, the piezo plus two pick-up configuration gives it a huge range of tones, from double bass to jazz.

Full specs below. I am based in Paris, but travel regularly to London (~once a month). I can post it in the EU via UPS insured at extra cost. Not keen to post to the UK due to the paperwork but happy to meet in London for a sale in person. It comes with a generic hard case. 
 

It currently wears LaBella White Nylons but I also have the original flatwounds it came with.

Exchange possible, only vs a Fretless Stingray 2 band eq in Sunburst or Natural (obviously plus cash your way).

Any questions, let me know!

neck type: SRF45pc Maple/WalnutNeck-through
top/back/body: Okoume wing body
fretboard: Bound Panga Panga fretboard
bridge: Custom bridge for AeroSilk Piezo system bridge
string space: 19mm
pickups: Bartolini® MK-1 neck pickupPassive
equaliser: Ibanez 2-band EQ w/Piezo active tone control


Scale : 864mm/34"
Width: 38mm at NUT
Width: 62mm at 24F
Thickness: 21.5mm at 1F
Thickness: 23.5mm at 12F
Radius : 305mm

I bought mine (‘88) earlier this year not far from the 1.5k mark, and I have seen one sold locally a few months later for a bit more than 1k.

From what I have seen they tend to come out around the 2k mark but they often don’t sell quickly and end up clearing at lower prices.

I should mention I live on the Continent and that may play a part in the pricing.

I sold mine not long ago and I’m starting to regret it, but I think Mark uses AllParts necks with 41mm nuts and 10” radiuses for his builds

Just received an email to announce they will release a final batch of tickets for Wembley at 10am today.

Too late for me to sort a trip to London, but for those who can / are interested, give it a try!

I found these ones interesting for the way they use traditional Japanese instruments for rock/metal

I found myself running a similar search recently. Eventually, I landed on an Ibanez Portamento cause I could find a second hand one not far from me at around the £500 mark and I found it good value. However, when looking I had found a couple of unlined options on the cheap:

- Ibanez Roadster from the late 70s

- Cort Artisan with Mark Bass pre-amp

- Hohner PJ from the 80s

- Rockbass Corvette

- Harley Benton B-450FL

Out of these, a Cort and a HB should be readily available while the others are probably more of a second hand hunting exercise. I should mention that I didn't get to try any of these myself

Did I hear growl? Warwick Thumb… There is one for sale here at the moment well within budget

I was looking at this the other day and put it in the back pocket for future use...