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My Fretless Stingray is Here with Pics!!

Crabby

Crabby

Dec 22, 2004
4,404
410
#1
I ordered this baby sight unseen from Bass Northwest in Seattle. I paid for it on Saturday, they shipped it Monday afternoon and it arrived at my door the next morning! Shipping cost me $70 so I was really impressed with the service. She is a pretty rare lefty SR4 "blank plank" and is the exact bass I have lusted after for years. I have been searching for a used one forever and was amazed to see this listed on their web site. It arrived in a non original but brand new case and was impeccably packed for shipping.

After a "spa" treatment of lemon oil, polish and new strings, she is a growling snarling monster of a bass. I could not be happier. At about half the cost of a new one, this was a find of a lifetime for me! :bassist:

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#3
Congratulations. It's got character... :cool:

Pretty impressive that you were able to get it delivered across the US - Canada border in less than 24 hours. I'd thought that kind of thing was just about impossible.

Nice to see that someone else also believes in using polish on his instruments. I'm a big believer in keeping my bass guitars clean and well-conditioned at all times. It's a mystery to me why so many others apparently don't... :confused:

MM
 
#11
She does play well but I have not mastered the perfect setup of a fretless yet. I have the neck set for very little relief and the action quite low but am not quite getting the "mwah" sound I want to hear yet. Other, then that, the bass plays like a dream and has the same great punchy tone as my fretted SR4.

The shipping was a total surprise as Fed Ex ground was supposed to take 10 business days. However, Seattle is only a 2 hour drive from here but I still can't believe it arrived so fast. Also there were no taxes, customs fees of any paperwork attached to the bass to suggest that it had gone through customs. The fed ex folds advised that it may have simply been allowed to go through or I might receive an invoice in the mail later.

I will update if I receive a bill but that seems like a strange way to process a package for sure. My experience bringing in a bass from the US was pretty good using USPS but horrible using UPS as they charge Canadians a fortune in "brokerage" fees. In both cases I had to pay taxes but not duty. However with UPS, their brokerage fee was another $60 added to the taxes making the bill owed upon delivery about $125 which was pretty crappy after spending about $70 on shipping.

I hope I lucked out with fed ex but if they are free to bill you later, then I may still get hammered. Other then that, the bass was a great price, is in fantastic shape and is exactly what I had one day hoped to find.
 
#12
Quite a score... looks to be in terrific condition.

You'll love it... my SR5 fretless gets played A LOT. Don't know if you have favorite strings for fretless, but if you want lots of 'mwah' DR Sunbeams or GHS Slickrounds will do it. If you're not looking for so much of that quality D'Addario Halfrounds sound killer on that bass... more high-end clarity and better articulation than straight flats, but plenty of thump and fundamental.

Have fun!

On edit: You're doing the right thing with your setup. Get the fingerboard as close to dead flat as possible, and drop the action as low as you can and still get a defined pitch when you depress the string, and that will be your max-mwah setting.
 
#13
Thanks for the tips. I put new Slinkys on the bass as that's what I use on fretted basses but they are nickle as opposed to stainless so maybe I need some stainless strings for max mwah. I will play with the setup a bit more and try to find the sweet spot.
 
#15
Crabby said:
I put new Slinkys on the bass as that's what I use on fretted basses but they are nickle as opposed to stainless so maybe I need some stainless strings for max mwah.
Click to expand...

Maybe. But probably not...

IME, the string structure more than the string material is what most influences the "mwah" factor. For maximum mwah, roundwounds (nickels should be just fine) are much preferred over flats... :hmm:

MM
 
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#17
Congrats on a beauty!

Hey, if it's the difference between a ruined axe from the shipper kicking it to the curb, or $70 and safe, next day arrival, who's to say? I would hate to get a ruined axe in a box...
 
#19
I have no way to make sound clips sorry. The tone is all Stingray for sure. I had a Carvin fretless for awhile and still have a Mexi jazz fretless but this is the first fretless bass that I am already comfortable with and love the tone!
 
#20
Crabby said:
I ordered this baby sight unseen from Bass Northwest in Seattle. I paid for it on Saturday, they shipped it Monday afternoon and it arrived at my door the next morning! Shipping cost me $70 so I was really impressed with the service. She is a pretty rare lefty SR4 "blank plank" and is the exact bass I have lusted after for years. I have been searching for a used one forever and was amazed to see this listed on their web site. It arrived in a non original but brand new case and was impeccably packed for shipping.

After a "spa" treatment of lemon oil, polish and new strings, she is a growling snarling monster of a bass. I could not be happier. At about half the cost of a new one, this was a find of a lifetime for me! :bassist:

EAcabetc228.gif


EAcabetc227.gif


EAcabetc229.gif


EAcabetc223.gif


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EAcabetc226.gif


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Click to expand...

Now THAT is what I want. My next one is going to be a fretless and I've always fancied a Musicman. But heres the question......

I've trawled the net for days and cannot find a Ray34 version!! :crying: So does anyone know if there is a Ray34 fretless knocking around????

I need this to make my life complete and die with a smile on my face :cool:

A
 

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