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I am thinking about defretting one of these basses. Which do you think you would like fretless the most?
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Which should be defretted?
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
Or
I am thinking about defretting one of these basses. Which do you think you would like fretless the most?
Sterling all day long.
Of course, you've put your fretless chops all together with that Pedulla; you'd make either sound good.
Of course, you've put your fretless chops all together with that Pedulla; you'd make either sound good.
For me, of course, my stock answer is neither one, but...
I'd choose based on which one has the most adjustment to deal with the loss of the fret height. Meaning, how much of the fingerboard wood do you have to carve into at the nut to get the string height down (this was a hair-raiser for me on my Tony Franklin! lol), can you get the bridge saddles down far enough, the pickups far enough down, etc.
If they're both equal in that respect, I'd then say defret the 4 string. A B string is hard to intonate without frets, so the 5 is the one that's a little more likely to give you grief as an FL.
Minor consideration, though, since it's still not too hard with a good amp. I'd still just defret the one that's the easiest and still has the adjustment, etc.
PS, that Peavey is a nice sounding bass, listen to that B string lol... I think it's fine as-is as a fretted bass but...
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I'd choose based on which one has the most adjustment to deal with the loss of the fret height. Meaning, how much of the fingerboard wood do you have to carve into at the nut to get the string height down (this was a hair-raiser for me on my Tony Franklin! lol), can you get the bridge saddles down far enough, the pickups far enough down, etc.
If they're both equal in that respect, I'd then say defret the 4 string. A B string is hard to intonate without frets, so the 5 is the one that's a little more likely to give you grief as an FL.
Minor consideration, though, since it's still not too hard with a good amp. I'd still just defret the one that's the easiest and still has the adjustment, etc.
PS, that Peavey is a nice sounding bass, listen to that B string lol... I think it's fine as-is as a fretted bass but...
L
Me? Defret the Peavey, no question. Because...……..
Nothing sounds quite like a fretted MM when you smack it!!!
Nothing sounds quite like a fretted MM when you smack it!!!
I think the peavey's tone would be better as a fretless than the SUB, but I wouldn't de-fret either. Not only do you have a killer fretless, but it irreparably changes the bass, in a way which makes it much less attractive to a large part of the bass playing community. If you're wishing those basses were something else... then I'd sell em and get just that (my $0.02 of course 
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I would seriously consider a fretless Status Graphite neck to attach to the SUB. It would look great and actually be a structural (tone is subjective) upgrade over the bass as it stands. The neck costs a bit, but so does luthier bench time. Just my .02.
I see the neck for a Stingray 4 would £319 + VAT and shipping which I guess would make it $500, more or less. The idea of being able to switch necks is very attractive to me. I just need to make sure if a Stingray neck will fit a Sterling body.
I wouldn’t say so...not any more difficult than the other strings.
I am extremely happy with the Jazz V fretless I put together.
[not that any of my opinions hold any value here...]
Although I used to own a ‘94 fretless Stingray (Traded it to get my L2500 in ‘97), I find myself enjoying dual-pickup basses more, especially fretless. I think a MM sounds best with frets, and having a B is icing on the cake. You should know by owning the Pedulla.
I completely forgot about that. My dad had one of the SUB Sterlings. I cannot recall if it had the 5 bolt neck with the sculpted heel or the 6 bolt square heel. If it is a 6 bolt I believe they are a fit.
Status Graphite are awesome. I have 2 of their basses and am contemplating a third. Here is what their web site says about MM compatibility:
Musicman 4 string
The 4-string neck is designed to fit on original Sabre and Stingray models
plus the recent Ray34 and S.U.B Ray34.
If your MM4 bass has 21 frets there should not be a problem but please check.
This neck is NOT suitable for 22 fret Sterling, Bongo models or G+L L2000 model.
Musicman 5 string
Designed to fit on the original MM5 bass which has 22 frets.
It should also be OK on some Sub and Ray 5 basses with 22 frets.
It will NOT work with any bass with only 21 frets as the intonation will be out.
Musicman 4 string
The 4-string neck is designed to fit on original Sabre and Stingray models
plus the recent Ray34 and S.U.B Ray34.
If your MM4 bass has 21 frets there should not be a problem but please check.
This neck is NOT suitable for 22 fret Sterling, Bongo models or G+L L2000 model.
Musicman 5 string
Designed to fit on the original MM5 bass which has 22 frets.
It should also be OK on some Sub and Ray 5 basses with 22 frets.
It will NOT work with any bass with only 21 frets as the intonation will be out.
I probably wouldn’t do either. I’d sell them off along with the Squier fretless and put the $ towards another fretless .
Status graphite is cool. Especially on a Jazz but those two Basses look good as is. Hope the quarantine didn’t alter your mind because you’re “bored”.
I guess I'm not a fan of defretting. It is often harmful to the fretboard. You put in time and energy pulling frets, patching tear outs, filling slots to convert it from a perfectly good sound bass into another perfectly good sounding bass.
That said, I'd vote for the one that is of least value. Forum?
Oh and enjoyed the choir in the background. I had a chance about 2 yrs ago to play bass at a church that did a lot of gospel music. I didn't take it and sort of wish I had.
That said, I'd vote for the one that is of least value. Forum?
Oh and enjoyed the choir in the background. I had a chance about 2 yrs ago to play bass at a church that did a lot of gospel music. I didn't take it and sort of wish I had.
Doc, if you must do this as an academic exercise (and I have too) I would recommend purchasing something just for this purpose.
