I'm rejoining the club.
I used to have two ATK's. A fretless and a fretted. Both four strings and probably atk300 at best. Sold them both for a soundgear 6 string that just never sounded as good.
I've been watching second hand basses here in China for a few months and there are about 4 ATK's for sale in the whole country. All four strings. I wanted a five string so I've been waiting and waiting and waiting.
Last night one popped up on a different app. A never used essentially brand new atk1205 prestige. I showed my wife and told her I might get it once my band starts gigging again and next minute..... She'd bought it!
The shop seems to be specialized in finding good instruments in the states and importing them to China. This one is already here though so I'll have it in my hands in a few days. From the reviews of that shop I'm 99.99% sure it's not a fake. Seems like a weird bass to fake in a country where it's hardly even known.
What do I need to check. It's either fake, shop demo stock, or it's been sitting in a box strung up since 2014. There are surely issues with each of those possibilities so I need to know what to check for.
So far the plan is to check:
General finish - does it seem handmade etc.
Neck bow and twist.
Electronics. Is it a beq3 or some random fake
Pickups. Tap test to check configuration matches what a real one should be.
Color. I have two sets of photos of the bass, one looks really yellow and one looks like all the other 1205s I've seen on the net. Either it's just a camera issue or it's become yellow over time? It's the same grain pattern so it's either the same bass or someone faked the grain pattern but not the color. Unlikely right?
What else do I need to check?
Also planning on using this in a band that is heavily influenced by both gun's and roses and nine inch nails at the same time. What strings should I give this thing?
I used to have two ATK's. A fretless and a fretted. Both four strings and probably atk300 at best. Sold them both for a soundgear 6 string that just never sounded as good.
I've been watching second hand basses here in China for a few months and there are about 4 ATK's for sale in the whole country. All four strings. I wanted a five string so I've been waiting and waiting and waiting.
Last night one popped up on a different app. A never used essentially brand new atk1205 prestige. I showed my wife and told her I might get it once my band starts gigging again and next minute..... She'd bought it!
The shop seems to be specialized in finding good instruments in the states and importing them to China. This one is already here though so I'll have it in my hands in a few days. From the reviews of that shop I'm 99.99% sure it's not a fake. Seems like a weird bass to fake in a country where it's hardly even known.
What do I need to check. It's either fake, shop demo stock, or it's been sitting in a box strung up since 2014. There are surely issues with each of those possibilities so I need to know what to check for.
So far the plan is to check:
General finish - does it seem handmade etc.
Neck bow and twist.
Electronics. Is it a beq3 or some random fake
Pickups. Tap test to check configuration matches what a real one should be.
Color. I have two sets of photos of the bass, one looks really yellow and one looks like all the other 1205s I've seen on the net. Either it's just a camera issue or it's become yellow over time? It's the same grain pattern so it's either the same bass or someone faked the grain pattern but not the color. Unlikely right?
What else do I need to check?
Also planning on using this in a band that is heavily influenced by both gun's and roses and nine inch nails at the same time. What strings should I give this thing?
