Getting Close to the Fretless Stingray

[thegummy]

Big Pino fan and love his iconic 80s fretless tone.

 

Unfortunately it doesn't seem possible to get a fretless stingray for less than a couple grand.

 

Anyone suggest a fretless bass under a grand that could sound close enough to that tone?

 

Or if anyone knows a stingray copy in that price range, even better.

[Beedster]

I'll be selling one of my two fretless Enfield Fusion fretless basses in the next month (not sure which yet), gives you Stingray plus a whole lot more 👍

 

 

[Guest]

There's a G&L Tribute Fretless Kiloton

 

 

Pickup is in the right place, the selector can be put on Parallel — but there are no active tone controls, and that's an MDF pickup, not alnico. Still, Tribute prices are as they should be for MII.

 

But don't know how many of them have made it to the UK?

[pineweasel]

What about finding a used Sterling Ray34 and having it defretted?

[Schnozzalee]

Possibly a sandberg.

[Dazed]

Don’t forget a lot of Pinos 80’s fretless tone has a fair bit of effects and obviously his magic fingers! 

[thegummy]

6 hours ago, Munurmunuh said:

There's a G&L Tribute Fretless Kiloton

 

pickup is in the right place, the selector can be put on Parallel — but there are no active tone controls, and that's an MDF pickup, not alnico. Still, Tribute prices are as they should be for MII.

 

But don't know how many of them have made it to the UK?

 

Oh nice one, can't find any on Google but I'll defo need to keep an eye out.

 

If I ever got a G&L I'd have to sand that wee pointy bit off the headstock though lol.

[thegummy]

4 hours ago, pineweasel said:

What about finding a used Sterling Ray34 and having it defretted?

 

I did think about that but with the price they charge for something as easy as a setup, I wonder if it wouldn't cost a fortune to have a bass defretted.

[Jonesy]

49 minutes ago, thegummy said:

 

Oh nice one, can't find any on Google but I'll defo need to keep an eye out.

 

If I ever got a G&L I'd have to sand that wee pointy bit off the headstock though lol.

 

I was thinking about picking one of these up a year or so ago but haven't ever  seen any in the UK. I called one of the bigger retailers that usually stock G&L stuff (either Guitarguitar or Andetons) and they could order one in, but they wanted a non refundable/transferable deposit and I didn't fancy doing that for a bass I haven't played. I think they came in at around £650ish at the time.

[BlueMoon]

I don’t understand the apparent pricing policy of G&L with regard to the Kiloton. Here in continental Europe, a fretted Kiloton Tribute is around €650, while the fretless version is north of €1000. Go figure!

[Lfalex v1.1]

Various Ibanez 

Might not necessarily have the big HB  but there's a good choice at various price points,  and they're even more reasonable second-hand.

[thegummy]

47 minutes ago, BlueMoon said:

I don’t understand the apparent pricing policy of G&L with regard to the Kiloton. Here in continental Europe, a fretted Kiloton Tribute is around €650, while the fretless version is north of €1000. Go figure!

 

There can be some crazy price differences for the same product in different countries.

 

Not just with instruments - I've heard of clothing brands that get sold as budget gear you'd wear around the house in one country but premium designer in another with the massive markup to match.

 

A good reminder to never make assumptions about a bass based on the price, the exact same bass can be selling for a lot more/less in another country.

[thegummy]

8 minutes ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Various Ibanez 

Might not necessarily have the big HB  but there's a good choice at various price points,  and they're even more reasonable second-hand.

 

Ibanez do have a few nice looking fretless models at good price points.

 

I'm quite interested in that Pino sound though. As @Dazed mentioned, effects are a big part of it and even putting chorus on any fretted bass goes a way to evoking that feel.

 

But it's unlikely I'll ever want to have more than one fretless so will try to find one with at least a close pickup.

 

The MM seems to be in the middle of where the pickups are on HH models. Also being parallel makes me wonder if a normal bridge humbucker would actually be that close.

[Beedster]

I’ve owned a lot of fretless basses and they mostly sound like me, Precision through Jazz through Ray through Wal through Enfield,  the only one that was noticeably unique was the Ric. Find a fretless bass you like and make it sound the way you want it to, PUPs only do so much in the context of all the other factors 👍

[Misdee]

I've got a fretless Lakland Skyline 44-02 and it's a wonderful option if you want a versatile fretless bass.

 

It can do the classic Stingray tone if you use the rear pickup in humbucker mode, no problem. That pickup was designed to recreate something of the vintage Stingray tone.  In addition, the 44-02 can also do the Jazz Bass thing if you split the rear coils, plus a few tones of it's own besides.  If you're only going to own one fretless bass the Lakland makes a lot of sense because it does so many of the fretless tones we all love.

 

The Lakland neck profile is identical to my old pre-EB Stingray, and the body shape is also Stingray-derived. It's an obvious choice if you're looking for for a surrogate Stingray. Thoroughly recommend.

Edited November 26, 2023 by Misdee

[thegummy]

13 hours ago, Misdee said:

I've got a fretless Lakland Skyline 44-02 and it's a wonderful option if you want a versatile fretless bass.

 

It can do the classic Stingray tone if you use the rear pickup in humbucker mode, no problem. That pickup was designed to recreate something of the vintage Stingray tone.  In addition, the 44-02 can also do the Jazz Bass thing if you split the rear coils, plus a few tones of it's own besides.  If you're only going to own one fretless bass the Lakland makes a lot of sense because it does so many of the fretless tones we all love.

 

The Lakland neck profile is identical to my old pre-EB Stingray, and the body shape is also Stingray-derived. It's an obvious choice if you're looking for for a surrogate Stingray. Thoroughly recommend.

 

That looks like a fantastic bass, would definitely love to have one.

 

Can't find any online but going by the price of the fretted version I think it's sadly out of my price range.

 

I actually just did something that should have been obvious earlier - looked on YouTube for covers of Wherever I Lay My Hat and there are a few on basses with bridge soap bars and even one on a jazz bass and I'm pleasantly surprised with how right they sound.

 

So maybe I don't need to be so specific and just get a fretless that suits me.

[Misdee]

Bloody hell! Just looked online and a new 44-02 is just shy of £1800 nowadays! 😦

 

Last time I noticed they were about a grand, eleven hundred quid at the most. That said, if I think about it I must have had mine ten years this month. It's not surprising the prices have gone up, I suppose.

 

Keep an eye out for a used one maybe, if you have the time to be patient.

[Jonesy]

On 25/11/2023 at 20:05, thegummy said:

 

I did think about that but with the price they charge for something as easy as a setup, I wonder if it wouldn't cost a fortune to have a bass defretted.

 

The Gallery in Camden only charge £110 for a defret according to their site, which seems pretty reasonable to me. The only thing that would annoy me is that the fretboard markers and side dots would be in the wrong place, but I'm sure they could deal with that for you too.

 

At the lower end of your budget is the Harley Benton B-450FL - unlined fretless with humbuckers for £165. HB stuff is decent and it's worth a go if it's just something you want to experiment with.