FS/FT: Moses Starhawk 5-string Graphite Bass

[rpsands]

This is my beautiful Moses Starhawk deep set heel graphite bass. It has a quilt maple top with trans-amber finish, on black walnut body.

Pics:










Vital statistics:
35" scale Moses graphite neck with truss rod (requires neck removal to adjust, but has never needed adjustment)

Moses graphite fingerboard -- no wood to warp or get nasty. Feels super fast.

28 frets (Yes 28, all pretty darned well intonated)

3-band Bartolini preamp with 3-freq mid selector (400/800/1200), coil tap switch, pickup blend

Two bartolini humbuckers

10.2lbs on my bathroom scale..but with amazing balance due to the Hipshot ultralight tuners, which hold tune remarkably well.

3-way ABM bridge

19mm pickup spacing

Schaller straplock retainer (may be able to find the straps to include

Replaceable nut -- it's loose but held on by string tension, so you can easily change to an E-C setting by swapping to your own nut. I've never experienced any issues with this, it's a snug fit. Confirmed this is intentional with the vendor.

Includes Fender hard shell case which fits nicely, covered in black tolex, vintagish look.

Cash price: 1200

Note: If you were to order this new from Moses it'd be 2500 dollars. If you built it yourself from parts, the parts cost would be upwards of 1800 dollars. This is a custom instrument built by Moses, not a parts bass I put together myself

The sound is amazing! Full, warm, and extremely flexible. If you tap, this is the bass for you -- wide string spacing and lots of extra frets makes it an epic player for tapping or fingerstyle. It's not the best for slap because of the long neck heel, but it sounds great.

I'd intended to keep this bass and buy a new dingwall, but some financial issues prevent me from spending that much cash. So this baby goes on the block.

Thanks for your interest!

[rpsands]

You can see me playing it on TV here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY0ReI0mm0k

[rpsands]

Update: This is still available.

I've given it a thorough going over and can only find one noticeable imperfection in the body -- there's about a 1/4" scratch/ding on the body contour. It's hairline thin and I can't get it to photograph with my current gear. It's invisible from >3 feet away and only visible if you know where to look.

The neck is flawless, but it's matte black and ridiculously sturdy, so I think you'd have to strive to cause it any damage.

[TimBosby]

I'm not a huge fan of quilt tops but that is one great-looking bass!

[rpsands]

Originally Posted by TimBosby

I'm not a huge fan of quilt tops but that is one great-looking bass!

Thanks for the feedback Tim. I didn't think I was a fan of quilt until I saw the way the trans-amber came out on this thing. It's really a beauty. The black walnut back - which I really should post a picture of - is gorgeous as well.

I wanted to post some more information about my journey to this bass -- I've been a huge fan of composite basses for ages due to the ridiculous humidity changes here in Phoenix, and the dryness. My first graphite bass was a Modulus M92, and I've owned two Steinbergers (one moses and one not).

I've spent a lot of time playing Zons, Steinbergers and Moduli and IMHO, the Moses neck is the best feeling and best sounding of any of the graphite basses out there. The fretboard is remarkable, really striking, and the neck is ridiculously fast and smooth. It's got a warmth to it that's something different than the norm. The only bass that sounded better to my ears is the 4-string Steinberger with Moses neck.

I've decided to move to fanned frets, and narrower string spacing. If I sell this bass for cash, I will almost surely buy a Moses fanned fret 5-string quite similar to this.

[lowfreqgeek]

Cool bass. Very cool! The body looks a lot like a modified Warmoth Gecko. I've seriously considered building a Gecko with a Moses neck, which would require some serious mods to the Gecko body, but it's entirely doable (and not that hard...). In fact, I've got a highly modded Gecko body (weighs 2lb 14oz!) just waiting for a decision on pickup routes and a finish. Maybe I should sell off the mating neck and go the Moses route...

Anyway, good luck with the sale.

[rpsands]

Originally Posted by lowfreqgeek

Cool bass. Very cool! The body looks a lot like a modified Warmoth Gecko. I've seriously considered building a Gecko with a Moses neck, which would require some serious mods to the Gecko body, but it's entirely doable (and not that hard...). In fact, I've got a highly modded Gecko body (weighs 2lb 14oz!) just waiting for a decision on pickup routes and a finish. Maybe I should sell off the mating neck and go the Moses route...

Anyway, good luck with the sale.

Thanks man. Yeah, it does look awfully similar to the Gecko wide 5. Over 600 bones specced out just for the body.

One thing to note is this thing has a very nice route around the preamp controls, and some neat contours on the horns as well.

I can't recommend Moses enough. They're an amazing company, and it really sucks that they got a bad rap here for a while, but the necks are just great. Best I've heard.

More pics -- very large, click for viewing.
http://63.134.202.170/images/starhawk/moses1.jpg
http://63.134.202.170/images/starhawk/moses2.jpg
http://63.134.202.170/images/starhawk/moses3.jpg
http://63.134.202.170/images/starhawk/moses4.jpg

[rollerberg2000]

Free bump for a cool guy and a great bass! This would be headed my way but for the parallel frets!

[rpsands]

Thanks for the kind words

Anyone in Phoenix/area is welcome to come check this lovely lady out.

If you've got any questions post away. I may be willing to wiggle some on price so don't hesitate to shoot me counter offers if you're interested.

[rpsands]

Just a heads up, I'm accepting any cool partial trade offers for this guy, as long as some significant cash is included. Might be down with a Shuttle 9 + some cash too, or a very recent LM800 with original receipt and some warranty left.

[bass4worship]

Have a new Carvin SB5000...

[rpsands]

Barrump. Hit me with your 2fer trades (two of your basses for mine) as well. Be nice to have more basses than I need for once =)

[bass4worship]

I have two BTB575FM and SB5000.

[DrFunkenstein]

Pm sir

[rpsands]

At this point I'd be very interested in a nice 4-string (graphite reinforced neck a must, but flexible otherwise). Prefer the jazz neck profile.

Let me know if you're interested in dealing - partial trades, combination of an amp + bass, whatever

Find myself really wanting a drop D 4-string for a lot of stuff these days 4-string Dingwall would be fine, and I could add some cash if needed on that front.

[rpsands]

Still around. Trades of all sorts!

I'd consider all kinds of stuff as partial trade. Pedals, basses, etc. Would take a collection of gear possibly.

I'm also very interested in a Genz streamliner or Smax 9.2 - would be interested in swaps for those possibly.

Also: 1100 cash anyone?

[MarkA]

How's the access to those last few frets?

[rpsands]

It's easy if you're tapping, which is clearly what it's designed for I think. I can fret all the way up to 26 or so without much difficulty but 28 requires a little reaching.

One thing I'll note that I find interesting is that it feels easier to reach the other upper frets on this bass for me than it has for many. Reaching into the 20s is easy with the way bottom is cut. I'm mostly a meat and potatoes guy but this thing makes me feel like venturing past the 12th fret a lot more than usual

This is still around for now!

[Razman]

It's missing a string or I'd be interested. For some reason my brain works better with a sixer. Free bump...

[rpsands]

This one is still around. Hit me with your trades!