Any FL Sterling Forumites Out There?

[shamus63]

Do any of you own (or have owned) a fretless Sterling, and what can you tell me about it's characteristics (tone, type of fretboard, strings used)?

I've been stating throughout EBF that I'm making my Sterling purchase in November (while in NYC), but until the last couple of threads with mention of *other brand* fretless basses, I hadn't considered one for this purchase.

I already have a great fretted MM! I'm also finding, though, that I may actually have use in recording (possibly gigging) with a fretless, and I've got to imagine that the tone would be MONSTEROUS, even with a solo H!

Your input is welcomed!

 

[Father Gino]

My kinda topic!! A fretless Sterling is my #1 bass and so far the best bass I've ever owned. I'm no expert in basses as I've only owned 8 or so over the course of 25+ years ( a real lightweight compared to some here). All but the first two of those were fretless. I've had the Sterling for going on 4 years and I still love playing it. For me it is great sounding bass in that I can control it to be real M'wah like fretless sounding or more like a fretted bass at will pretty much with just my fingers. The neck is perfection in wood. Graphite might get you even lower action, but for a wooden neck it's mahvelous.

BP will be mad at me again for not using EB strings and to be honest, I've never tried them. I will when I buy a new HH or HS Sterling (I bought this one used) I'm a real Thomastik fan these days and I've liked all 3 TI strings I've put on it over the last few years.

Jazz rounds: Smooth and not overly bright though you have to get used to their very low tension. Great string for jazz with the most fretlessness. I came to enjoy the light tension which forced me to play with a lighter touch. The result is a better control over a wider array of differing sounds to be had.

Jazz Flats: Amazing sustain & articulation for a flat string. The fretlessness with these is more akin to an upright. They start to sound more like old school flats after a couple of years but remain articulate. Also low tension, but higher than the JRs. Great string for rock & roll, jazz and probably anything else.

Super Alloys: normal tension & guage rounds. Sorta half way between the first two. I'm still getting used to them.

I have no real favorite of the three. It depends on what day it is. They're all very different.

I'm anxiously awaiting the 2 pickup Sterlings as my only complaint with the original is I've wished to get a sound with more fundamental in it for some tunes. OTOH, I seldom complain about it when I'm actually playing it live with a band. For a while I was playing with a keyboard player whose organ sound was too bassy for me. He was getting into my sonic realm and I felt sometimes I couldn't compete with his lower notes. Not that he was playing bass lines, I just want to be the absolute bottom and turning up my bass pot a whole bunch just didn't cut it. Does that make any sense?

I've played this bass with great results with two rigs. An old SWR SM400/Eden 4x10 and an Alembic F1x/Stewart/Aguilar 2X12. Sounded great with both. The SWR setup was the more agressive, edgy with a lovely distorted pop sound available from snapping a string. The Alembic is just big, fat, clean, smooth wonderfulness. In both cases, limited EQ was needed to get a sound I liked, just a little tweaking for the room. I've always been able to get an acceptable sound in the crappiest of rooms with this bass. That's something I could not say of any other I've had.

 

[shamus63]

Great description, FG! What is your fretboard?

 

[Father Gino]

Great description, FG! What is your fretboard?

They're all pau ferro now I think. Mine is unlined which I now prefer.

 

[shamus63]

Yeah, I can't stand lined FL basses...side markers are just fine for point-of-reference.

 

[Freddy-G.]

This year has been the "Year of the MusicMan Bass" for me, having purchased a Bongo HH5 and a Sterling fretless within a couple of months of each other. You would think the 18v Bongo preamp would the monster of the two, but actually, the Sterling has the monster tone! The Bongo seems laid-back in comparison.

My Sterling has an unlined Pau Ferro fretboard and has piezo pickups. The piezos adds the upright bass sound and is very cool. So far I've used Elixir Nanowebs and D'Addario Chromes with good results with both. And will definately try some Sadowsky and TI flats in the near future.

With these two MM basses at hand, my Roscoe hasn't seen much action lately. Good luck in finding the right Sterling for yourself.

 

[shamus63]

This year has been the "Year of the MusicMan Bass" for me, having purchased a Bongo HH5 and a Sterling fretless within a couple of months of each other. You would think the 18v Bongo preamp would the monster of the two, but actually, the Sterling has the monster tone! The Bongo seems laid-back in comparison.

My Sterling has an unlined Pau Ferro fretboard and has piezo pickups. The piezos adds the upright bass sound and is very cool. So far I've used Elixir Nanowebs and D'Addario Chromes with good results with both. And will definately try some Sadowsky and TI flats in the near future.

With these two MM basses at hand, my Roscoe hasn't seen much action lately. Good luck in finding the right Sterling for yourself.

That bass is sick! I'm just picturing it with dual H config/Burst finish/matte black PG...

What do you treat the fretboard with?

 

[Freddy-G.]

What do you treat the fretboard with?

Picked up a spray bottle of some kinda lemon oil concoction at GC. Makes the wood look beeuutiful.

 

[smallequestrian]

Just a reminder, the two pickup Sterlings, SR's and SR5's will not be available with Piezo.

 

[shamus63]

Just a reminder, the two pickup Sterlings, SR's and SR5's will not be available with Piezo.

That's okay...I'm so ready to make my Sterling purchase that, short of finish preference, I'll take the original set-up.

 

[shamus63]

Picked up a spray bottle of some kinda lemon oil concoction at GC. Makes the wood look beeuutiful.

Thanks for the info. I'll probably make my FT vs FL decision right at the point of purchase.

 

[Golem]

This year has been the "Year of the MusicMan Bass" for me, having purchased a Bongo HH5 and a Sterling fretless within a couple of months of each other. You would think the 18v Bongo preamp would the monster of the two, but actually, the Sterling has the monster tone! The Bongo seems laid-back in comparison.

My Sterling has an unlined Pau Ferro fretboard and has piezo pickups. The piezos adds the upright bass sound and is very cool. So far I've used Elixir Nanowebs and D'Addario Chromes with good results with both. And will definately try some Sadowsky and TI flats in the near future.

With these two MM basses at hand, my Roscoe hasn't seen much action lately. Good luck in finding the right Sterling for yourself.

First I gotta tell you how remarkably on the beat your avatar is dancing to 'Knock on Wood" [Buddy Miles's Jimi Hendrix tribute album]. That's serious voodoo.

Then I gotta tell you that if you ever bring that piezoed FL within my reach, you better watch your back, nothin personal of corpse [ < note dumb pun]. I always dream of putting piezos in my SR4FL. Mine's got a BassLines 3channel and I'm not even sure if it has a connection for a piezo, or where I'd put the extra knobs. Of course then I just go plug in and play it as-is and it's all just "shut up, just play me..." in that sweet voice that 5 yrs ago in a music store said "If you leave me here, you'll join the French Foreign Legion and suffer a slow death in the hot sand...". StingRays can be very direct and to-the-point.