- Joined
- Aug 27, 2007
- Messages
- 1,536
- Reaction score
- 264
This is a 'really' nice example of the early Sterling. The bass was originally fretted then the fingerboard was planed off and replaced with an ebony fretless (you can still see a very thin veneer of the original board between the maple neck and the ebony) by Martin @ The Bass Gallery... then it was fretted again... then finally defretted again! Technically it could be considered to be a lined fretless but the inserts are so dark you can't see them unless you look closely and tip into the right light. One point is that the fret marker dots are where they would be on a fretted bass (i.e. between the frets not on the fretlines); most fretless players don't use any of these dots as reference (preferring to train their ears to hear when in tune) but they can easily be relocated in you feel the need.
Considering it's age there are really no dings or dinks to mention, when photographing it with flash I did catch sight of one or two tiny indentations on the back of the body but these can barely be felt never mind seen. A few scratches on the neck plate (see the pics) but nothing to lose sleep over.
The neck is absolutely lush and if my Roadworn Jazz sells before this bass I'll be keeping it and getting it fretted up again... purely for how good the neck feels and plays.
The bridge is the early larger unit (serial number stamped into the base) mute screws are in place but the (replaceable) bent bits of tin with the foam on are not here, however they can be found on ebay easy and cheap enough.
No problems with the electrics or pup etc and no scratchy pots or dicky sockets.
Oh and it is light...8lb 15oz
£800 (GBP)
Considering it's age there are really no dings or dinks to mention, when photographing it with flash I did catch sight of one or two tiny indentations on the back of the body but these can barely be felt never mind seen. A few scratches on the neck plate (see the pics) but nothing to lose sleep over.
The neck is absolutely lush and if my Roadworn Jazz sells before this bass I'll be keeping it and getting it fretted up again... purely for how good the neck feels and plays.
The bridge is the early larger unit (serial number stamped into the base) mute screws are in place but the (replaceable) bent bits of tin with the foam on are not here, however they can be found on ebay easy and cheap enough.
No problems with the electrics or pup etc and no scratchy pots or dicky sockets.
Oh and it is light...8lb 15oz
£800 (GBP)
