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ID this bass: "Basses 5 Loaded"

klocwerk

klocwerk

May 19, 2005
1,644
14
Somerville, MA
www.lordgoogle.com
#1
That's what it says on the headstock:
Basses 5 Loaded

Looks like a generic fender knockoff, has Bartolini J pups and a FAT neck. I mean seriously. you'd have no problem squeezing a 6th string on there if you wanted to.

My local music shop is asking $650 for it, which seems a little steep for the playability and condition, but I know nothing about this brand. I'm thinking that they just boosted the price since they very rarely have any 5ers in stock.

As for playing, i didn't plug it in as I was just sticking my head in on the way home from work, but the huge string spacing and giant neck were a little rough on my hands which are used to 4's. The setup was awful, with a lot of buzzing, but this store doesn't usually do setups on the stuff they've got on the walls, so it's probably just in need of a tweak or two.

Anyone heard of these before? Googled it to no avail...
 
#4
well I'll be, some more googling ran across an old thread from 2004 on talkbass 'for sale' forums, now deleted. Yay for google cache!

babaseen
01-15-2004, 08:43 AM
Basses Loaded 5 string (one of kind)
Purchased this bass in '91 from EU Wurlitzer in Boston. The owner at the time told me he had seen Joe Jackson's bassplayer and was so impressed with his playing and his bass that he had to have one. He found out that a certain luthier in NYC had built it so he had one made. At the time Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith) was also interested in this bass. It turned out to be one of the best bass purchases I've made. My search for a 5-string at the time was difficult because my preference was for the string spacing to be the same as a four string so a wide neck was an important aspect and hard to find at that time. Years later I found out that this bass was crafted by Bill Merchant in NYC (http://www.merchantbass.com/index.shtml) who only built electric basses for a short time. I contacted Bill and he confirmed that this was indeed built by him. These pictures should help show it's condition. Of all the basses I have used this has the tightest clearest B string I have ever heard or played (confirmed from many musicians during gigs), I typically used a .145. The neck can easily support this gauge. If you are interested I can provide more info or detailed photos. Asking price $500. For more information send e-mail to *removed*
p.s. reason for sale...i now have a 5 string fretless Sadowsky and it's all i need (one point to be made though...the Basses Loaded has a better B than the Sadowsky and I've tried many)
Click to expand...

Purchased by him in Boston in '91, and it's back on the market in the Boston area now. interesting.
Sounds like it used to be a solid bass, must be direly in need of a setup. Any Boston area TBers interested in a fat neck 5? Cambridge Music Center, Porter sq. :D

(Disclaimer: I would in no way profit by the sale of this bass, I was just curious about it's heritage.)
 

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