2022 Bass Acquisition Round Up

[pingvuiini]

I bought a Tiny Boy bass so that I would have at least one 23” scale fretted bass. Sounds good, but the body shape and ergonomics drive me nuts. I may have a whole new body made later on.

Also took delivery of two custom GR Bass 212 Slim combos that were ordered last year. They sound fantastic and are quite easy to move.

 

[bucephylus]

First up was an American Professional P Bass, which I bought primarily for a 50th High School Reunion to be held later in 2023. Lest that sound somewhat absurd, I’ve actually been gigging the bass with a Blues Brothers tribute act, for which it is perfect.

Ca 1972:

Recent gig, new bass:

Next up was my most recent move in my ongoing perils attempting to get a good 5 string bass. I am just snake bit with 5 string basses. Every last one of the more than a dozen or so I’ve gigged for the past 32 years have had some major problem. Anyhow, here is the newest adventure on the gig; a 2007 American Deluxe J5. It’s a really nice bass, except a) it’s not black, and b) I just discovered in the recent cold snap that the truss rod is maxed. I just can’t win with 5’s. Sixer, no problem. Fretless 5, no problem. 4 banger, no problem. Fretted 5? The fates have decreed that it shall not happen. LOL.

Happy New Year to my bass brothers and sisters!

 

[Acoustic356]

I ended the year with fewer basses than I started with. 2023 will probably be the same. I could probably go down to 5 basses from 15...

 

[Hutch801]

I picked up a Schecter SLS evil twin and love it.

 

[groovaholic]

I'll call this my "bass gear acquisition of 2022" summary since I've only bought one bass in the last 4 years (a 1995 MusicMan Sterling) and I sold it last year.

Did a couple notable modifications to a few of my existing basses:

• Modded my 1983 Squire Precision to have a reverse-P pickup, then added a second reverse-P pickup up by the neck. It's a similar pickup config to Lee Sklar's "Frankenstein" bass, but using passive pickups mounted closer to the neck.
• Last month, I completely gutted and re-wired the electronics in my Dingwall. It was a Z2 that I converted to a Z3 back in 2016 by adding a neck pickup, and I've swapped the preamp a couple times since - but it was just sounding nasal and muddy. I think there were cumulative wiring errors that finally got to a tipping point - but now it sounds as amazing as it plays.

Amp heads are what I cycled through in the last year; all of them were fantastic, but it was just a question of zeroing in on the sound and features that are best for me:

• Mesa M-Pulse 600
• GK MB800
• Mesa D800+
• GK Legacy 800

Bought and sold 1 combo amp: a Fender Rumble 500 2x10.
I have a romantic attachment to the idea of a bass combo, but the reality of them never pans out for me.

Cabinets also saw some changes:

• I modified my 212 cab by revising the port/tuning and swapping out one of the 12s to get more LF extension.
• I also bought a messed-up SWR Goliath III and restored/modified it

Effects are always in a state of flux; I built then sold a couple pedals this year...

• Aion FX Traynor TS50B preamp
• Aion FX DG Vintage MicroTubes

I also did a bunch of buying & selling in search of a great solution for at-home/silent practice:
Sold my HX Stomp...regretted it and bought an HX Stomp XL...sold that, bought a POD Go...sold THAT, tried and sold a NuX Melvin Lee Davis...then realized that I just need to stick with individual pedals.

So, ironically, I've ended up with pretty much the exact same (only change was a Broughton 'Always On' HPF at the front of my signal chain) pedalboard that I had a year ago!

Finally, last week I got a Palmer Pocket bass that seems like exactly the mix of features and simplicity that I've wanted.

 

[steve_rolfeca]

Just one for 2022. Possibly the last Super-J we'll ever see with a blacked-out, maple neck and a glossy matching headstock. Apparently the finish work on the headstock was extremely difficult to get right. Ordered in June 2021, delivered in November 2022. It took all that time to save up the cash balance. I'm certainly not worthy, but I'm very happy and not in debt.View attachment 4917785 View attachment 4917786 View attachment 4917787 View attachment 4917788 View attachment 4917789

Damn...

That 'flake finish against the natural top? Killer.

I had some extra $$$ kicking around for a bit this year, and loaned them to myself so I could try out a few new project ideas I had floating around. This was my first really big binge in nearly a decade.

2022 was very much a short and medium-scale year for me:

• D'Angelico EX-Bass. 32" scale semi-hollow, with a fantastic Plek setup job, w/original hardsell case. Literally didn't have to do anything except replace the strap pin and put fresh strings on it. Perfect weight, sounds and plays very well, more flexible tones than I expected, but not really my cup of tea.
  
• Hofner Ignition Club. B-stock because of a crack in the finish near the control plate. Needed a very thorough setup to make it intonate correctly and stay in tune. Mostly just shop labour, but also a ZS-18 Zero Glide nut w/zero fret, DR Legends flats, and a set of Wilkinson WJ28n vintage high-ratio tuners. The tuners were a straight drop-in, although I re-did the screw holes to fix the tuner alignment. Now that it's finished, it's definitely a player.
  
• Ibanez EHB1005SMS interesting, amazingly comfortable and ergonomic fanned-fret 5-string, 32-30" scale headless, w/factory gig bag. Had fun experimenting with string types and balanced-tension sets. Thanks to the headless clamp system, it takes any kind and brand of strings from short to XL scale. However, the clamp seems to work best with hex-core strings. Very powerful EQ. Dark, growly tone is best for burpy funk and metal. Probably needs a pickup swap to reach it's full potential, as the stock Barts are a bit dark for my taste.
  
• Ibanez GSRM25BK miKro 5-string. No real mods so far, just a setup (including shortening screws and springs for proper intonation w/the stock bridge) and some extra shielding. Currently running it in E to C tuning for solo noodling, but waiting for a balanced-tension set from Newtone in B to G.

 

[Kaa]

Jealous of all the nice basses! I brought home nothing this year except a Joyo guitar distortion pedal.

 

[tindrum]

It was the best bass acquisition year for me EVER. All used, but new to me….

-1982 Aria SB1000
-1985 Aria SB1000
-2008 Musicman Stingray 4H
-2016 Fender Flea relic
-2001 Fender American Standard Fretless
-Peavey USA Cirrus

 

[cratz2]

I bought - ahem... several basses this year but this is the only one that counts. MJT body, Mendel neck, Fralin standard wind... And other than putting Dunlop flats on it, I didn't change a thing.

 

[B-Mac]

It was the best bass acquisition year for me EVER. All used, but new to me….

-1982 Aria SB1000
-1985 Aria SB1000
-2008 Musicman Stingray 4H
-2016 Fender Flea relic
-2001 Fender American Standard Fretless
-Peavey USA Cirrus

I’d love to see the USA Cirrus.

 

[wysiwyg248]

Suhr Classic J to use as replacement of my 2008, which will be used only for studio work and an early Wilkins Road Tested, which turned up to be prototype No 2 (Note there was not even a cut for truss rod adjusment).

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

The last day of 2022 is about to come upon us and I thought I'd post my bass acquisitions for the year. I invite you to do the same even if you already sold any of them. Please post pix if you can.
Happy New Year, Y'All!!!!

• Peavey MIA Palaedium (1992) Purple passive bolt-on used
• Dean Performer Fretless ABG (2006) 32" scale MIK used
• Dean Motto 34-inch passive J (2012) bolt-on MIIndo used
• Dean Vendetta (2007) Trans Red Quilt Maple Top Active DMT Soap Bars demo bolt-on 34-inch MIK
• Dean Cadillac (2003?) P/J EMG HZ Active Set Neck MIK
• GMW Custom Cadillac w/Dean bolt-on Rio Grande Humbuckers Passive (2002?) MIA & MIK (neck)
• Dean Razor NT Active Trans Natural Quilt Maple Top Neck Thru J style pups (2001) 34-inch MIK
• Dean Hillsboro Select Fluence Roasted 34" bolt-on (2022) active used MIIndo
• Dean Performer DAO 32" ABG (2005) used MIK
• Samick Neck Thru 34" Duncan Designed pups active (2008) used
• Fender Victor Bailey signature ABG DOA (2006) used MIK
• Dean Exotica Zebra Wood (2014) A/E w/Aphex® Gloss Natural 34-inch used set MIC
• Jay Turser JRB-134 Semi-Hollow Flame Maple GN 34" MIK early 2000's

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My Eastwood MRG was ordered in September 2022 and was due to arrive in December 2022, but has been pushed back to January 2023, so that is not in the list.

Just one: Fender Am. Ultra P-bass in mocha burst (trade).

 

[Pings Bass]

View attachment 4917728

Ha ha LISSSEN... I joined TB in 2018 with two basses. I now own seven. I can still only play one at a time, and the last bass I bought in 2021 (ibby 6-string fretless) is still scratching my itch.

2022 was my time to take a break from bass acquisition and apply my GAS urges to percussion and recording.

 

[B-Mac]

Ha ha LISSSEN... I joined TB in 2018 with two basses. I now own seven. I can still only play one at a time, and the last bass I bought in 2021 (ibby 6-string fretless) is still scratching my itch.

2022 was my time to take a break from bass acquisition and apply my GAS urges to percussion and recording.

Gotta apply those G.A.S. urges to something!
All good!
2022 was supposed to be a break year for me...just didn't work out that way.

 

[pcake]

after a flurry of buying and selling in 2020 and 2021, i only bought one bass in 2022. an ibanez mezzo 5

 

[jbasedig]

2022 was the first year in a long time that I didn’t buy a bass.
In fact I downsized from 12 to 7, in preparation for a move to Portugal. (I had 2 others I tried to sell,but no takers).
I’d love to get that Alembic Epic on offer here on TB, but I still have 4 of my basses to bring over.

Portugal? Awesome. Such a great place for music, IME.

 

[jbasedig]

Received this (1981 Peavey T-40) from my wonderful wife for Christmas. 10.6 pounds. View attachment 4918467 View attachment 4918474 Just under the wire for 2022. It's an incredible thumper!

Probably the 100th time someone wrote this, but YOU have KEEPER, there. You also have a very nice bass.

 

[jbasedig]

2022 was embarrassing for me. I only have 4 basses in my current possession, and my list is insane. My goal for 2023 is to have a much shorter list.


2001 Warwick Corvette Proline 5

Fender American Original Jazz

2006 Rickenbacker 4003 Jetglo

2010 Rickenbacker 4003 Fireglo

1978 Walnut/Wine Precision

2013 Gibson EB

2005 Gibson Les Paul

G&L SB1

2021 Fender Custom Shop ‘61 Precision Relic

2016 Fender Custom Shop Postmodern Precision

Roscoe Custom Classic JJ

View attachment 4918323 View attachment 4918324 View attachment 4918325 View attachment 4918326 View attachment 4918327 View attachment 4918328 View attachment 4918329 View attachment 4918330 View attachment 4918331 View attachment 4918332 View attachment 4918333

What a nice arsenal. I've not seen a G&L like yours with back block inlays..Very nice

 

[B-Mac]

must be nice to be that wealthy…

Divorced
No kids
Low mortgage
Good career
Stopped dumping money into my collector cars
Not wealthy but good income
And I always look for a good price
Most of these were ‘make an offer’ price that I was sure would be rejected.

Deals are out there

Just remember that basses are just things.

You probably have children and grandchildren, maybe even great grandchildren.

If that is the case, then you are the wealthier man by far.

 

[funkinbottom]

I build my own basses now days, normally in the spring/summer. This year I was lazy and didn't build. I did design/draw up plans for a hollow body build, so bass related purchases was other stuff.
I bought a set of chrome Lace Aluma Bass Bars, but will probably sell those after speaking with Curtis Novak. He informed me that hit H22 gold foil pu's will be plenty wide enough for my hollow body 5 string build. I might keep the Lace for another project?? Also bought, (from TB classifieds) a set of chrome Gotoh Res-o-lite tuners and a Hipshot aluminum (chrome) bridge.

The only two other bass related gear purchases were these: