What would you do? Blank Plank Inquiries.

[StingRayzor]

Ever since I bought my fretless Sterling, I have neglected my SR4. So, I am considering trying to get a fretless neck for my SR4. Frets just feel funny all of the sudden and I need to have a backup freltess.

OK, so I guess these are my options:

-Buy an after market fretless neck (Status?).
-Rip out frets? (I would prefer not to do this)
-Buy a new neck from EB, which would require me to send in my current neck (what does this cost?).
-See if I could swap necks with someone? (I think I would prefer this?)
-Sell mine and get a fretless SR4. I would not like to do this either. The body on this bass is super light for a Stingray. I have not weighed it, but it is noticeably lighter than my Sterling.

OK, did I forget anything? What do you think? Help...

 

[whamonkey]

Honestly, I would keep the SR4 the way it is. You will have a need for a a fretted bass the minute you get rid of it. Buy a cheap back up Fretless, you'll probably never use it. The Sterling should be ultra reliable. This is just an opinion but fretless basses have that mwah sound which is not exactly great for a lot of music. Jazz, sure, but forget it for most rock-and-roll....and isn't that what the 'Ray just excels at? Better to have both, that's what I think..........

 

[AnthonyD]

What I was gonna say...

 

[bassmonkeee]

I wouldn't rip the frets out of the current Stingray for the obvious reasons. And, since you titled your thread "blank plank," it seems silly to do that to the Stingray and not have a "blank plank."

EB won't sell you a fretless neck for your bass even if you send your fretted neck in since it wasn't fretless to begin with.

If I were you, and I wanted a backup to my Sterling fretless, I'd buy a SUB Sterling fretless bass for about the same cost (if not less) than a Status replacement neck.

That way, you have your fretless Sterling, your fretted Stingray, and your backup fretless SUB Sterling. I absolutely LOVE that you can get the SUBs with no fret lines, too...

BassNW has this SUB Stingray fretless in stock right now, and I know I played an amazing fretless SUB Sterling at NAMM in blue...

 

[sandaas]

I wouldn't rip the frets out of the current Stingray for the obvious reasons. And, since you titled your thread "blank plank," it seems silly to do that to the Stingray and not have a "blank plank."

EB won't sell you a fretless neck for your bass even if you send your fretted neck in since it wasn't fretless to begin with.

If I were you, and I wanted a backup to my Sterling fretless, I'd buy a SUB Sterling fretless bass for about the same cost (if not less) than a Status replacement neck.

That way, you have your fretless Sterling, your fretted Stingray, and your backup fretless SUB Sterling. I absolutely LOVE that you can get the SUBs with no fret lines, too...

BassNW has this SUB Stingray fretless in stock right now, and I know I played an amazing fretless SUB Sterling at NAMM in blue...

+1

 

[JB1]

+2.

I can't add anything but I thought I'd chip in & say both are really good advice.

Grab a Sub.

 

[whamonkey]

That SUB fretless looks sweet....perfect solution.

 

[StingRayzor]

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, that still leaves me with an unplayed SR4, which is what I want to avoid. That SUB sure does look nice though, hmmm...I will have to think about it and see if I can check one out somewhere.

 

[word]

i have a black fretless stingray that i would be interested in trading. i would prefer to trade the whole bass, tho, probably as mine is a '92 and has the laquered neck and the string mutes. my bass is pretty light for a stingray. maybe 8.5-9 lbs.

[email protected]

 

[whamonkey]

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, that still leaves me with an unplayed SR4, which is what I want to avoid. That SUB sure does look nice though, hmmm...I will have to think about it and see if I can check one out somewhere.

I'm just curious, what style of music are you playing? There's gotta be some room for a fat fretted SR sound in that repitoire.......no? I tried the fretless route for a bit....not my thing. I likes frets and nothing wrong with a lttle fret noise in the mix now and again........

 

[StingRayzor]

Ummm...I guess that my major influences would be XTC, Firehose, and alot of fusion/funk/prog rock players with Anthony Jackson and Tony Levin at the top of the list. These days I listen to alot of EST, Bill Frisell(especially the earlier stuff-Paul Motian's Trioism is one of my favs) and Brad Mehldau. We play all originals with a Buffalo Tom cover (Larry) thrown in for good measure. The guys love the fretless and I would have to agree. It is so much more expressive than the fretted bass. I have written all of my lines playing fretless, so playing the fretted bass sounds a little more sterile in comparison (no offense meant by that statement). What it lacks in fretted sizzle(?), it easily makes up for in fatness. The Sterling can get a pretty aggressive tone with rounds on it as well. Nonetheless, I should keep the fretted SR neck, I never know what the future may bring. It seems like I have hit a rough spot though, as the wife will probably not understand a third bass in the house .

 

[whamonkey]

No offense taken bro...it's all good. Good choice keeping the 'Ray.....

 

[bovinehost]

I guess that my major influences would be XTC

I like you.

Plus I like some of that whacko Bill Frisell stuff, too.

 

[AnthonyD]

...as the wife will probably not understand a third bass in the house.

All too familiar with this issue!

But where there's a will, there's a way...

 

[Mobay45]

She doesn't inform me of every tube of lipstick she buys, I don't inform her of every bass that I buy. It's as simple as that. (I'll be the victim of a homicide one day. )

 

[tkarter]

Mobay doesn't age and wage earnings influence just how much we buy that wife don't know about?

Younger married guys family does come first.

That said, buy a new SR4 with the neck you want swap them out and sell the refitted one. Be honest in selling it, will still be a good bass.

IMHO

tk

 

[Mobay45]

Mobay doesn't age and wage earnings influence just how much we buy that wife don't know about?

Younger married guys family does come first. tk

You are definitely right about that! I couldn't have done a lot of this when I was younger. She probably wouldn't give me too much trouble about what I've accumulated but as she always quotes her mother as saying - "Let's not upset your Daddy with the truth". I'm just applying the same theory in a similar situation.