Off topic, but since I brought up my band and our advisors requesting that I switch to fretted bass, from my beautiful, beloved fretless PB5, I thought I'd post a quick update.
Have been in the studio with my fretted bass, a well worn Ibanez SR505, and then had my first two gigs with it Friday and Saturday. The studio and both gigs went well. It took me a little while to adjust to the slight difference in timing between fretted and fretless. The attack is more percussive and immediate on fretted.
Last night's gig was amazing. Full house, and they loved us. We fed off their energy. Applause all over the place, and when we finished they gave us a three minute standing ovation and started chanting "One more song!" over and over. So we played one more, and they gave us another standing o after that. Everything just clicked, and I got tons of compliments on my playing and pocket. One of the most vocal about it was our keyboard player Kenny, a monster player originally from Miami. He knew Jaco, who used to come over to his house to party and jam. Kenny was with him earlier on the night Jaco died. He was extremely complimentary, and it's tough to earn his praise.
So to bring this back to Carvin ... I think I'm going to look into purchasing a fretted PB5 neck for my bass. Carvin doesn't list PB5 necks on the website, but I bet they'll sell me one if I call. Just want a rosewood fingerboard with abalone dot inlays and a b ody-matching honeyburst headstock. My only reservation with that is that I truly do love playing fretless, and love this bass as a fretless. But I can't afford to buy a complete fretted PB5.
Although I have to say that I do find that I'm enjoying getting reacquainted with the SR505. It plays effortlessly with the thin, narrow neck, and sounds pretty good too, even with the stock pickups. Oh well ... things to consider.
Cheers,
Liam
