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Feeling The "ATK" Love (pics inside)

#21
Quadzilla said:
So a while back I got a ATK750 Koa. I was luke/warm with it. It was versatile, but HHHHEAVY and the Koa top just didn't do it for me.

Fast forward to last week. I decided to give the ATK's another shot. A stunning ATK700 caught my eye, so I grabbed it.

Well, I have to tell you that I'm very impressed. This one's weight is reasonable (about 9.5 lbs according to my scale) which is very light for a 700 series ATK from what I have read. I guess that I got lucky here as my Koa version was prob a good 2 lbs heavier. The neck is amazing. I have the action slammed down LOW with no buzz!

She's damn beautiful too (in my humble opinion). I bought a new Musicman Ray34 at the same time, knowing that I was only going to keep one of the two and the Ray34 went back! Hard to believe as I actually thought that the ATK was going to be the one out the door!

I just ordered Hipshot Ultralights and a Ultralight series Xtender (detuner) for her!

Behold, the beauty!


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This pic was taken BEFORE I set her up and slammed the action down low!
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As someone who isn't a big fan of quilt tops and abhors the ATK headstock, it's weird that I find this bass dead sexy. It just looks right! Love the big, shiny bridge plate juxtaposed to the natural finish, and I think the matching headstock is a nice touch. Killer bass lookswise.
 
#26
I had one that I absolutely loved! Except for the fact that I couldn't get the pickup balanced. The E always overpowered the other strings. I tried everything I could think of and had a great setup guy I know look at it too. It was so bad that I was trying to find ways to play only on the E or the other 3, never together. After a while I quit playing it and went back to a P-bass. Sweet Bliss!

H
 
#27
HEADLE said:
I had one that I absolutely loved! Except for the fact that I couldn't get the pickup balanced. The E always overpowered the other strings. I tried everything I could think of and had a great setup guy I know look at it too. It was so bad that I was trying to find ways to play only on the E or the other 3, never together. After a while I quit playing it and went back to a P-bass. Sweet Bliss!

H
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Strange as mine does not have that issue. Fairly balanced across the strings. I suspect that yours had defective electronics maybe?
 
#28
I don't remember having that problem. I have owned two of them, one was the wierd truss rod square thing in the mid 90s (which was sent back to Ibanez after a couple of attempts to "like" it) and I hated it, mostly because of the neck. The other was the solid maple with a real truss rod-which I loved. If it would have been a 5-string (I should have bought a 5) I would still be playing it (although I would have ripped out the frets). Recently, I dropped an ATK pickup into a Jay Turser 5 string, which got me through almost a year of gigs. It was and still is a unique sounding bass. That pickup-running passive-still has alot of tone, and the rail style allows for odd string spacings. Great pickup choice for anyone looking to mod an 8 or 12 string.
 
#29
TylerlovesAva said:
As someone who isn't a big fan of quilt tops and abhors the ATK headstock, it's weird that I find this bass dead sexy. It just looks right! Love the big, shiny bridge plate juxtaposed to the natural finish, and I think the matching headstock is a nice touch. Killer bass lookswise.
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I have to agree on all points.

The ATKs finished me forever with bogus decorative top laminates, but as odd as this one is, somehow it works.

In natural, however, it'd look even better.
 
#30
Bongolation said:
I have to agree on all points.

The ATKs finished me forever with bogus decorative top laminates, but as odd as this one is, somehow it works.

In natural, however, it'd look even better.
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Practiced with her for a couple hours last night. The bass continues to amaze.

I also went in the control cavity and swapped the bass and treb control positions. From the factory, they come in reverse of most other companies. So no it's (starting from the neck) treb / mid / bass.
 
#33
THand said:
Cool. :cool:

Did you try the tape?
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No. I certainly thought about it, but then decided not to for the following reasons:

1 - I'm a bit anal about things being bolted-on securely. As a matter of fact, whenever I buy a bass or amp. I go through them and make sure that everything is tight and adjusted properly. I even pop the grills off of cabs, tighten all the speaker screws, lifting handles, speaker connector panel plates, etc. Given my "OCD" on this, the tape thing would not sit well with me :D !

2 - I was also thinking that if they tape was a strong as you say it is, it could potentially lift away a chunk of poly off the finish when removed (or bumped accidentally). I'd rather have two small holes there (that I could plug w small grommets) then a hunk of poly pulled off :eek: ! ;)

Again, probably just me being overly cautious or OCD or just plain crazy.... :p
 
#34
I heard Unearth play live a few months ago, their bassplayer played a 5-string green ATK and it sounded good.

I went to a store last week and played one, not sure of the exact model, but it was a 5-string. First, the neck felt very uncomfortable, it has a very big radius. I think with this I could get used to. But the manufacturing quality was horrible! The frets were longer than the width of the fretboard, so when I moved my left hand to another position I almost bled my fingers on the extending fret ends.

I messed around a little bit with the unusual pickup and put it back. Disappointment of the year.
 
#35
I had an ATK and got rid of it. I liked it a lot but couldnt get the right sound out of it. It was well put together. A ton of bass for the price. Yours makes me want to pick up another. Im really interested in the ones with the J pickup in the neck.
 
#37
Sten said:
I heard Unearth play live a few months ago, their bassplayer played a 5-string green ATK and it sounded good.

I went to a store last week and played one, not sure of the exact model, but it was a 5-string. First, the neck felt very uncomfortable, it has a very big radius. I think with this I could get used to. But the manufacturing quality was horrible! The frets were longer than the width of the fretboard, so when I moved my left hand to another position I almost bled my fingers on the extending fret ends.

I messed around a little bit with the unusual pickup and put it back. Disappointment of the year.
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How ironic as that's not the case with mine at all. I know that mine is an "older" Korean made one. Now they are being made in Indonesia.
 
#39
I've heard so much good stuff about this bass.

However, the pickup looks weird (in my humble, humble opinion) because of the metal that goes from the pickup to the bridge. Ya know?

I should go try one out, though.
 

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