Schecter Stiletto Bass

In 1987 I recorded with bassist Mike Cassidy on Untitled No. 3, the opening track of Resonance. Ever since, the sound of fretless bass has haunted me — that tone that is both ethereal and earthly. Mike played a Spector NS, otherworldly in both price and craftsmanship. In 2012, looking for an affordable update to that fretless tone, I picked up a Schecter Stiletto — made in Incheon, Korea by the same factory that produces the lauded PRS SE guitars. At under $800 street, the build quality is almost mind-blowing. Almost.

The case for neck-through: eliminating the joint between body and neck gives standing wave vibrations a more consistent medium, and removes the rectangular bump of bolt-on necks that blocks access to higher positions. The Stiletto delivers on both counts. Fret lines are ground flush — not the sublime visual beauty of a dark infinite fretboard, but practically useful for playing in tune without too much shoegazing.

The problem: as a solo instrument the Stiletto is full and throaty, but in an ensemble it gets buried. Think tenor sax versus baritone — the same notes, but without the deep fundamental rumble. No amount of tone-knob fiddling fills in the lowest harmonics. The likely culprit is the combination of mahogany body and walnut/maple neck, which dampen key frequencies — ironically made worse by the neck-through construction that joins all the materials into one.

The active EMG-Hz electronics compound the issue. The treble control boosts an abrasive frequency around 1.2kHz — teeth-aching rather than ear-sweetening. Three different string types (flat, semi-round, round) couldn’t overcome it. Rolling back the treble deadens the fretless growl. There’s also a dirty high-frequency hiss that amplifies with the treble control engaged.