SOLD Kubicki ExFactor

Now for sale on eBay with active bidding so consider this thread closed.

Didn't think I'd find myself doing this, but I'm putting one of my all time favorite basses up for sale. At this point I can't justify having a relatively high dollar bass, so this one is on the block.

Here's a 1995 Kubicki ExFactor built by Phil Kubicki himself, not the Fender Custom Shop version. It features the most stable and comfortable 32" scale neck I've ever played and has a really cool drop tuning mechanism. No detuning and transposing, just an extra 2 lower frets on the E string with the flip of a lever.

The medium scale gives you the feel and response of a full scale neck with the easy playability of a short scale. It has a super versatile 18 volt preamp with stacked volume and balance controls, stacked bass and treble boost and 6 position rotary switch providing 2 active and 3 passive modes and standby mute mode, humbucking pickups, fully shielded control cavity.

It's in great shape for a 19 year old bass, but it's a player's bass with honest playing wear. The frets are in really good condition and the neck finish is great. There are some stable hairline cracks in the ebony fingerboard at the body end that are too fine to really capture with a camera and don't really affect anything, but I wanted to point out that they're there. The finish on the body is in overall very good condition, but there is some finger wear just below the pickups that could probably be buffed out, a finish crack that runs between the pickups under the E string and another small one between the bridge pickup and the bridge. There's a scuff on the lower edge of the body and a small hole from where the previous owner added a strap button at the end just below the output jack. There is also typical superficial playing wear on the pickups that can be seen in the photos.

It weighs just under 10 pounds, but with the excellent balance it feels much lighter. The weight is centered in the body so there is absolutely no neck dive. The ExFactor basses were designed with player ergonomics in mind and you'd be hard pressed to find a more comfortable instrument.

All of the blemishes are strictly cosmetic and I tend to overstate such things, but I'd rather have the buyer be pleasantly surprised and I've taken them into account in my pricing. Even the Fender Custom Shop versions are going up in price and asking prices are generally over $2000 now. The Phil Kubicki made basses are even more expensive, so this one is an unusually good deal.

I'm asking $1500 shipped within the continental US. Sorry, but after several bad experiences I no longer ship internationally. I'd prefer payment by USPS Money Order, but Paypal is acceptable too. I'm open to trades for other 4 string basses + cash, especially medium or short scale basses, but I would need to have at least $500 cash coming my way to pay for other expenses.

It comes with the "owner's manual" which is really just a few Xeroxed pages explaining the control functions and basic adjustments and maintenance. It will ship in a rectangular plastic Fender hard shell case that is worn and the handle is kinda funky, but the case is fully functional and provides excellent protection. I'm obsessive about careful packing it will be shipped in an oversize box with plenty of padding.

I love the balance and playability of this bass, but it just doesn't have the sound I'm looking for now and I can't afford to have money tied up in a bass that isn't getting much playing time. This bass nails the modern sound perfectly, but I've turned into an old-school passive P bass fan, and that's not what the Ex Factor does best.

 

I wish I had a better camera to capture the shade of red more accurately. It's a really nice crimson red, closest to the color in the shot of the full front view. I guess it's close to a Fender Dakota Red, but I'd have to see them side by side to say for sure. In any case, it's definitely my favorite red finish of any bass I've seen.

I know I'm gonna miss this one when it's gone too. I wish I could afford to keep it, but forced retirement doesn't allow for keeping fancy basses if I'm not making money with them.

 

Thanks for the offer, but I wouldn't have much use for a fretless 5.

The quality of the FCS vs. non-FCS ExFactors has been debated for years. Some say the necks weren't as stable and the hardware wasn't the same quality on the FCS basses. I know that the 9v preamp used in most of the FCS basses has a 5 position switch vs. the 6 positions with the 18v, but I don't know what function was eliminated.

 

I appreciate the offer, but I'll pass. Les Paul basses don't work well for me. With the upper strap button at about the 16th fret the reach to the first couple of frets is too far for me. With long scale basses I try to stick with ones that have it at about the 12th fret. Thanks for the offer though.