Official ATK Club (Part 4)

[sixway]

Originally Posted by The Diaper Geni

Ahhh....Don't sweat it. To quote my father: "People are stupid." That's a sweet looking bass!

I'm GASsing for one of those new MM/J ATK's. They look really nice and are (supposedly) not too heavy. And the price is nice, too!

Question: Do the new MM/J ATK's have a "series mode" for the bridge pickup? I'm a little confused on the pickup switching.

No bass can be all things at all times, but I find that my ATK305 does very well considering the variety of classic covers and blues songs that I play in various bands. It takes awhile to find the sweet spots in any bass/eq system, and I've found it can be even more challenging with an active eq/pickups. Still, the ATK eq system has a lot of variety in it, you just have to play with the eq, and the pickup switch to find what suits you and your music tastes - but, they're in there!

Don't let those naysayers in your NBD thread sway your opinion for a bass that is either loyally loved, or sadly overlooked as a serious bass weapon.... play it, and rock on!

[heb9_28]

Originally Posted by sixway

No bass can be all things at all times, but I find that my ATK305 does very well considering the variety of classic covers and blues songs that I play in various bands. It takes awhile to find the sweet spots in any bass/eq system, and I've found it can be even more challenging with an active eq/pickups. Still, the ATK eq system has a lot of variety in it, you just have to play with the eq, and the pickup switch to find what suits you and your music tastes - but, they're in there!

Don't let those naysayers in your NBD thread sway your opinion for a bass that is either loyally loved, or sadly overlooked as a serious bass weapon.... play it, and rock on!

Definitely will! The more I play it, the more I love it. I definitely agree with your assessment of needing to find the "sweet spot" with the EQ. With a slight turn of any of the 3 bands you can go from muddy to perfect, and vice versa. It definitely seems like the more familiar you become with the bass, the easier it will be to change it up on the fly and hit the sweet spot!

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

[vHarmonic]

Originally Posted by johnp352

Been looking through these posts, am interested in an ATK 4 string..but there's so many different models..is there a list somewhere of the different models/features of these basses over the last (I take it) 20 years? thanks

I dont know if there is a list but here is a quick rundown.

Atk100 - Passive, basswood body
Atk200- Essentially the same as Atk300, more cheaply made, slightly smaller headstock and body and smaller tuners, rosewood fretboard.
Atk300 - 3 band eq, 3 position coil tap, ash boddy, 3 pice neck.
Atk400 - atk300 with Mahogany body and 5 pice neck I think, with an added j pickup.
Atk700 - atk300 with ash body with figured wood top, 5 piece neck, better build quality. can be very heavy up to 12lbs
Atk750- with ash body with figured wood top, 5 piece neck, j pickup better build quality, and 5 way pickup selector and 3 band eq, can be very heavy up to 12lbs
Akt800 - atk300 with ash body, better build quality, beter pickups and preamp, j pickup and blend knob. Tend to be lighter 8-9lbs
Atk1200- same as 800, with top notch build quality.
Atk1300- same as 1200, except it has a five way pickup selector, and figured top.

[vHarmonic]

Originally Posted by The Diaper Geni

Ahhh....Don't sweat it. To quote my father: "People are stupid." That's a sweet looking bass!

I'm GASsing for one of those new MM/J ATK's. They look really nice and are (supposedly) not too heavy. And the price is nice, too!

Question: Do the new MM/J ATK's have a "series mode" for the bridge pickup? I'm a little confused on the pickup switching.

I don't know if they are wired is series or parallel. But the switch is essentially a coil tap for the bridge humbucker, it switches from rear coil to both coils to front coil. It also has some filters built into it that give it a bit more tonal variation than it would have without.

I made a youtube vid running threw some of the sounds available on this bass. It got a little long because there is allot of sounds and I got a bit carried away jamming.
You can check it out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Rjvz7nmUU

[jag-atk]

Atk400 - atk300 with Mahogany body and 5 pice neck I think, with an added j pickup.

minor correction about the atk400: body is mahogany with an ash top, neck is 3 piece maple with 24 frets. 5-way switch for pickup selection.

[johnp352]

that is making things easier- I also see there was an ATK made for Guitar Center? and the special edition one with the engraved pickguard/bridge. It also appears that the design was rethought afa pickups, weight etc with the last two models, yet they haven't been around long enough to bring out any real comparisons with the more expensive previous models.

Question: It's seems obvious that the 2 pickup models are the most versatile- at the risk of having one of those little men ducking behind the brickwall emoticons...which of the 2 pu models before the new 800/1200 is the one to look for?

[waterboy]

I'd go for the 750 myself, though I do own a 750qm and might be a little biased. I'd say it comes down to whether or not you prefer koa or quilt maple. (Not my basses or pics, just a reference)

[johnp352]

One of my Rick Turners is walnut/flamed maple, I like that sound in the Renaissance model..but I used to have a beautiful all Koa p/j and that is a great combo for a solid body...I think I will start digging..MOF, already put an ad in the Wanted to Buy section here for a 750Koa. They seem to be fairly common? (at least til you start looking) and go for around $4-500, at least that is what I got on searching through TB.

[Mister Cbass]

hello,

do you think it's possible to get an atk805 in europe.
I live in belgium and this beauty isn't available in the catalog ?

[CertifiedLurker]

I would think so. The US market was the last to get them. I first saw 805e on a German music store site earlier in the year and wanted it to come to come out stateside. No, I don't remember which site it was.

[Benjamin Strange]

Here's something you don't see everyday:



The steel rod in my USATK neck isn't dead straight, and even when tightened all the way still has too much relief for my tastes. So I'm bending it into a tiny bit of backbow to accommodate for my heavy gauge strings. Hopefully this will do the trick!

[MuthaFunk]

Originally Posted by Benjamin Strange

Here's something you don't see everyday:

The steel rod in my USATK neck isn't dead straight, and even when tightened all the way still has too much relief for my tastes. So I'm bending it into a tiny bit of backbow to accommodate for my heavy gauge strings. Hopefully this will do the trick!

I am by no means an authority on metal manipulation but in this application I believe you'd have to heat the metal up to permanently reposition it. Because its under constant tension when strung up, a simple brief bend in the opposite direction will only be overcome over time.

How did you plan on doing it?

[Benjamin Strange]

I'm just working it, hoping to give it a tiny backwards curve. This was the method suggested by Dave Bunker, so I'm giving it a try. I'm also possibly going to heat press the neck to give it that little bit extra push off the cliff.

[ubnomnar]

Originally Posted by MuthaFunk

I am by no means an authority on metal manipulation but in this application I believe you'd have to heat the metal up to permanently reposition it. Because its under constant tension when strung up, a simple brief bend in the opposite direction will only be overcome over time.

How did you plan on doing it?

Dave Bunker has written instructions about how to do it and you just simply bend it... no heating or special treatment required.

Here's a link to Dave Bunker describing how to bend the rod: http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...1#post26558617

Here's a video where he takes one of his guitar necks apart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD5qmEHOk60

I owned a USA ATK5 a while back.

[Benjamin Strange]

Huzzah! It worked!

Man, that was nerve wracking - not for the faint of heart. I ended up putting a HUGE backbow in the rod. For a moment there I was afraid I might have ruined it, but I had been putting increasingly minimal movements on the rod, and each time I still kept coming up short. But after about 5 tries, I got it exactly where I want it. Praise Santa.

Now that I know I can get the neck where I want it, I'm going to yank the preamp out and see how I like it passive. If it still sounds good, I'm going to keep it - which means getting a complete refret, new brass nut, and full setup. Fingers crossed!

[devilman666]

Originally Posted by Benjamin Strange

Here's something you don't see everyday:



The steel rod in my USATK neck isn't dead straight, and even when tightened all the way still has too much relief for my tastes. So I'm bending it into a tiny bit of backbow to accommodate for my heavy gauge strings. Hopefully this will do the trick!

How the hell did you get the rod out with the headstock? Do they all come apart that way? Was it just a matter of the finish sealing up the neck?

[sixway]

Originally Posted by devilman666

How the hell did you get the rod out with the headstock? Do they all come apart that way? Was it just a matter of the finish sealing up the neck?

Watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD5qmEHOk60, mentioned above, and you'll see that this is one of the only guitars - bass or otherwise - you can do this to... very cool!

[devilman666]

So just that model ATK not all atks?

[sixway]

Originally Posted by devilman666

So just that model ATK not all atks?

Yes, only the Bunker/USA made model had the ability to come apart like this. As for the Korean and Japanese built models, they were more traditional, ie - the earlier models were at the top of the neck, through the headstock access plate, and the later models were adjusted at the end of the neck via a rotating wheel, which used a small steel rod to turn it.

[devilman666]

So on the lower wheel truss rods no way to remove the rod? I ask cause my new ATK 805e neck is very straight and even with truss rod loose and string tension . Not to the point that the action is too high but I would like more bow in the neck.