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Describe your ideal bass.
- Thread starter tb-player
- Start date
After 50 years of searching: Two alnico pickup Gibson or Eppiphone Thunderbirds with drop tuners under 9 lbs, 1 with rounds, one with Cobalt flats.
A bass that makes my bandmates become focused and productive in fulfilling their potential and sharing our music with as many people and as many places as possible. If it could find me a nice girl and help me shed a few kg's that would be great as well!...
I love owning nice basses and spending money on basses and over the years my tastes have swung around a fair bit. At the moment i am on a Spector kick and these don't exist but:
US version of the Spector Dimension Multiscale 5 in a satin heavily quilted trans black with ebony board and a slant PJ config with HAZ.
This bass (which is unobtanium) could solve all my problems I am sure of it!
I love owning nice basses and spending money on basses and over the years my tastes have swung around a fair bit. At the moment i am on a Spector kick and these don't exist but:
US version of the Spector Dimension Multiscale 5 in a satin heavily quilted trans black with ebony board and a slant PJ config with HAZ.
This bass (which is unobtanium) could solve all my problems I am sure of it!
have you seen this? Not PJ but close enough otherwhise: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/belated-nbd-spector-ns-dimension-5-multiscale-of-madness.1625412/
I have a Dimension myself! It is incredible but getting a custom US one would be next level!
The closest I’ve come:
30” scale
1.5 in nut
19mm spacing
Gotoh res-o-lite tuners
Hipshot bridge
Dogal Hellborg roundwounds
6.5 pounds
Roasted maple neck
Swamp ask body
Rosewood fretboard
Buckeye top
Turner multi coil pickups
Eastwood dual resonant filter preamp with bass filter and pick attack switch
But I do love all my Bordwells. All under 7 pounds…
30” scale
1.5 in nut
19mm spacing
Gotoh res-o-lite tuners
Hipshot bridge
Dogal Hellborg roundwounds
6.5 pounds
Roasted maple neck
Swamp ask body
Rosewood fretboard
Buckeye top
Turner multi coil pickups
Eastwood dual resonant filter preamp with bass filter and pick attack switch
But I do love all my Bordwells. All under 7 pounds…
I have had it since 2007 (my only bass ) … I wanted a modern interpretation of the original Gibson EB, but with a 34” J taper neck. The neck is all Wenge the body mahogany and the top is Koa the pickup is a Hammon Darkstar
My '69 Fender PJ comes close to my ideal bass - well worn, sunburst alder body that is very lightweight (<3.8kgs), original P pickup, plus J pickup in the bridge position with a V, V, T control config, Rosewood/maple Jazz Bass neck profile (well worn-in), plain old fender bridge with screwdriver adjustments and non-reverse tuners. Strung with old stainless steel roundwounds.
The only thing I don't love about it is the block inlays on the fingerboard...I'd prefer dots!
The only thing I don't love about it is the block inlays on the fingerboard...I'd prefer dots!
My ideal bass … a 70s Jazz in natural Ash finish with a solid build like a Status Graphite, yet retaining that 70s Jazz bass tone. It don’t exist, well, not yet perhaps. 
In the meantime, I just rotate between my 78 Jazz and Status Empathy.
In the meantime, I just rotate between my 78 Jazz and Status Empathy.
Ideal is a subjective thing but:
* Ergonomics are number 1. It has to feel like it’s an extension of myself, like it’s working with me and that I don’t have to fight it.
* That means light weight (chambered), good balance, no neck dive.
* In my experience, an asymmetrical neck carve and heavy-rolled fingerboard edges feel better.
* For me personally, short scale.
* Good woods. Not necessarily exotic. Just well-seasoned so they don’t warp.
* Aesthetically I like things clean and futuristic, so a bright solid color or metallic finish, solid-top soapbar or MM style pickups.
* Quality pickups - Delano or Nordstrand.
* Simple passive electronics. I use pedal preamps for all my tone shaping so at most, a pickup switch, volume and tone.
So far my Sterling Ray4 SS basses fill the bill but I have a hunch I would like an Ibanez EHB1505SMS in Emerald…
* Ergonomics are number 1. It has to feel like it’s an extension of myself, like it’s working with me and that I don’t have to fight it.
* That means light weight (chambered), good balance, no neck dive.
* In my experience, an asymmetrical neck carve and heavy-rolled fingerboard edges feel better.
* For me personally, short scale.
* Good woods. Not necessarily exotic. Just well-seasoned so they don’t warp.
* Aesthetically I like things clean and futuristic, so a bright solid color or metallic finish, solid-top soapbar or MM style pickups.
* Quality pickups - Delano or Nordstrand.
* Simple passive electronics. I use pedal preamps for all my tone shaping so at most, a pickup switch, volume and tone.
So far my Sterling Ray4 SS basses fill the bill but I have a hunch I would like an Ibanez EHB1505SMS in Emerald…
My answer to this question seems to change by the day, as I always get some strange and occasionally wondrous ideas for new basses, so I'll just put down what I think would be an awesome bass for the music in the genre-specific playlist I happen to be listening to right at this moment-- Stoner/Biker/Desert/Psychedelic!
I'd start with a 4-string, neck-thru with a Rick-inspired body outline. Basically, something similar to the Schecter Stargazer as a starting point:
I'd go with a the following features:
| Poplar body
| 5-piece Maple neck with Walnut stringers, 35" scale
| Black pickguard
| Black binding on body and fretboard
| Maple compound-radius fretboard, 22 frets
| Black Triangle inlays, Rick style, at the 3, 5, 7, & 9th frets
| Black Split Rectangular (diagonal split) inlay at the 12th fret
| Black Triangle inlays, "mirrored-orientation" (flipped along the hypotenuse) at the 15th, 17th, 19th, & 21st frets.
| Chrome hardware
| A muscle-car-inspired solid color-- I haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning toward Ford's Calypso Coral, a bright Vermillion... see below:
The first question I asked myself was what pickup I wanted to put in the neck position-- DiMarzio Model One? Mudbucker? Rickenbacker-shaped pickup? I'm thinking of going with a Sidewinder humbucker-- but not the one you're thinking of. Instead, I'd go with something more modern:
Zen Blade 4, by Nordstrand:
But then I thought to myself, "it would be nice to have a middle pickup...", so my thought is to place a second Zen Blade 4 (with a custom "middle position" wind) in the approximate location of a P-bass pickup. The 3-pickup inspiration came from the famous "Lemmy" Rickenbacker:
The bridge pickup would be the Nordstrand Dual Coil 4 ("parallel" winding spec), placed such that the front and rear coils are roughly the same as that of the rear pickup of a Fender J-Bass at the 1960's and 1970's locations, respectively:
The controls would be as follows:
| Volume 1 - potentiometer controls the (2) Zen Blade 4 pickups
| (2) 3-way switches - slider-type (Fender Mustang), switch each of the Zen Blade 4's as On-Series/Off/On-Parallel
| Volume 2 - potentiometer controls the Dual-Coil 4 pickup
| (1) 3-way switch - mini-toggle-type, switches the Dual Coil pickup as Split-Front-coil/Parallel/Split-Rear-coil
| Tone - no-load potentiometer
Basically, I wanted a 4-string that could give me Mud, Punch, or Twang whenever needed. And yes, it would be played with distortion as often as not. I apologize for nothing!
---Edit--
...aaannd because I can't seem to tame my imagination this evening, I've already thought of an even wackier variant:
1) Swap the middle postion Zen Blade 4 for a Big Rig 4:
2) Change the controls to the following:
| Volume 1 - potentiometer controls Zen Blade 4 and Big Rig 4 pickups
| Blend - pans between Zen Blade 4 and Big Rig 4 pickups
| 2-way switch - slider-type (Jaguar\Jazzmaster style) switches the Zen Blade 4 between Series & Parallel
| Volume 2 - potentiometer controls Dual Coil 4 pickup
| 3-way switch - mini-toggle-type, switches the Dual Coil pickup as Split-Front-coil/Parallel/Split-Rear-coil
| (no tone control)
| Dual jacks - 1 for the Neck & Middle pickups, 1 for the Bridge pickup
I'd start with a 4-string, neck-thru with a Rick-inspired body outline. Basically, something similar to the Schecter Stargazer as a starting point:
I'd go with a the following features:
| Poplar body
| 5-piece Maple neck with Walnut stringers, 35" scale
| Black pickguard
| Black binding on body and fretboard
| Maple compound-radius fretboard, 22 frets
| Black Triangle inlays, Rick style, at the 3, 5, 7, & 9th frets
| Black Split Rectangular (diagonal split) inlay at the 12th fret
| Black Triangle inlays, "mirrored-orientation" (flipped along the hypotenuse) at the 15th, 17th, 19th, & 21st frets.
| Chrome hardware
| A muscle-car-inspired solid color-- I haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning toward Ford's Calypso Coral, a bright Vermillion... see below:
The first question I asked myself was what pickup I wanted to put in the neck position-- DiMarzio Model One? Mudbucker? Rickenbacker-shaped pickup? I'm thinking of going with a Sidewinder humbucker-- but not the one you're thinking of. Instead, I'd go with something more modern:
Zen Blade 4, by Nordstrand:
But then I thought to myself, "it would be nice to have a middle pickup...", so my thought is to place a second Zen Blade 4 (with a custom "middle position" wind) in the approximate location of a P-bass pickup. The 3-pickup inspiration came from the famous "Lemmy" Rickenbacker:
The bridge pickup would be the Nordstrand Dual Coil 4 ("parallel" winding spec), placed such that the front and rear coils are roughly the same as that of the rear pickup of a Fender J-Bass at the 1960's and 1970's locations, respectively:
The controls would be as follows:
| Volume 1 - potentiometer controls the (2) Zen Blade 4 pickups
| (2) 3-way switches - slider-type (Fender Mustang), switch each of the Zen Blade 4's as On-Series/Off/On-Parallel
| Volume 2 - potentiometer controls the Dual-Coil 4 pickup
| (1) 3-way switch - mini-toggle-type, switches the Dual Coil pickup as Split-Front-coil/Parallel/Split-Rear-coil
| Tone - no-load potentiometer
Basically, I wanted a 4-string that could give me Mud, Punch, or Twang whenever needed. And yes, it would be played with distortion as often as not. I apologize for nothing!
---Edit--
...aaannd because I can't seem to tame my imagination this evening, I've already thought of an even wackier variant:
1) Swap the middle postion Zen Blade 4 for a Big Rig 4:
2) Change the controls to the following:
| Volume 1 - potentiometer controls Zen Blade 4 and Big Rig 4 pickups
| Blend - pans between Zen Blade 4 and Big Rig 4 pickups
| 2-way switch - slider-type (Jaguar\Jazzmaster style) switches the Zen Blade 4 between Series & Parallel
| Volume 2 - potentiometer controls Dual Coil 4 pickup
| 3-way switch - mini-toggle-type, switches the Dual Coil pickup as Split-Front-coil/Parallel/Split-Rear-coil
| (no tone control)
| Dual jacks - 1 for the Neck & Middle pickups, 1 for the Bridge pickup
Last edited:
