Unexpected house repairs that are not covered by insurance are forcing me to sell off some gear. I can't bring myself to sell the Curbows, so more recent acquisitions are up for sale. I'll regret letting any of these go, but I need to sell at least one or two of them...
Update: the Modulus and the MTD are both on hold.
ON HOLD: First up, a 2008 Modulus Quantum 5 wide (19mm), one of the few I've seen used. I absolutely love the new 19mm spacing, and the Modulus Graphite necks have wonderful responsiveness and consistency. The satin finish makes it almost as fast felling as my Curbows, and the new relief adjustment lets you tweak the action to your heart's content. With the EMG pickups and eq, this thing has a very lively tone, great for slapping, even with the older DR strings that came on it. The transparent Sienna finish over quilt maple looks like a jewel, and the bass is in near-mind condition. Asking $1500 shipped (in the continentall US) with Modulus hardshell case. More photos
here.
SOLD!: Second, a one-of-a-kind MTD Vector 535 fretless that I recently got in trade from Michael Dimin. It's a unique, amazing instrument, with a three-piece flame maple thru neck, a hollowed-out crazy birdseye maple body, and a cedar top. The lined fretless fingerboard is striped ebony, with a matching headstock overlay that is accented by thin laminates of figured maple and ebony underneath. It's finished with amber stain to emphasize the figure of the wood.
The electronics are also unique: a single Bartolini humbucker, and a one-piece piezo pickup developed by Ned Steinberger, with three switchable modes (pizz/arco?) modes that give more or less emphasis to the acoustic sound of the hollow body. The pickup combination can cover a wide range of tones, from typical electric fretless to serious upright territory. The EQ is a Bart 3-band, with the typical 3-position mid frequency selector, and the trebles controlled by a small adjuster tucked inside the control cavity.
The bass is in very good condition, but the top has a visible crack between the pickup and the bridge that was repaired by Michael Tobias by filling it in with epoxy. It's hard to see in pictures, but a bit more visible up close. The bass is currently strung with DR flats, which puts it a bit more in upright territory tonally. Asking $1850, shipped (in the continental US) in a Zon gigbag and SKB Bass safe.
More photos here.
Last, the ACG Harlot 5, built for me by Alan Cringean (
ACG Guitars), which I took delivery of earlier this year. Alan is one of the rising stars of bass building. His instruments use custom pickups wound by Aaron Armstrong, and a proprietry filter-type preamp (similar to Wal and Alembic) built by John East.
This bass is a bolt-on Harlot 5, with a gorgeous figured myrtle top and back over a mahogany core. The neck is three pieces of absolutely stunning birdseye maple with two laminates of macassar ebony, topped by figured myrtle headstock laminates front and back. The fretboard is acrylicized ebony (for hardness and stability), with acrylicized birdseye maple bindings.
The scale length is 35", but it dosn't feel like it with the upper horn extending all the way past the 11th fret. Spacing at the bridge is a medium 18mm. The neck has Alan's popular asymmetric contour and flat fretboard radius.
The controls are stacked volume/blend, separate sweepable low-pass filter stacks for each pickup, and a sweepable master treble stack to add high-end sparkle or grit. The two MM-style RFB humbuckers have series/single coil/parallel switches, but I tend to leave them in series for maximum booty and minimum noise. There's also a low battery LED.
I'd definitely like to order another bass from Alan at some point. For now, I'm asking $1750 for this one, shipped (in the continental US) with a hardshell Hiscox case. More pictures
here and on the
ACG website.
