Fernandes basses...under-rated?

[feschyn]

I just picked this up. Ash body, Gotoh hardware, 3-piece neck that reminds me quite a bit of my Yamaha TRB 5ii. So far I am very impressed.

 

[Whippet]

Retrospect 5 Deluxe. Crap you not, it's all you need.

 

[Marc DLarosa]

In 1995, shortly after I started playing, my dad and I saved up for a few months, so I could purchase a Fernandes APB-90M.
She was all maple and in a JJ pickup configuration. She was a beauty - looked and sounded great. Cost me about USD700 at that time.

6 months after I bought her she was stolen.

That bass was one of the few basses I have ever been really, very happy with and I still curse the two guys who stole them.

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Fernandes APB-90M - Gravity Series - Maple Fretboard - '90's - Natural Gloss - JAPAN

 

[Crystalman85]

I just picked this up. Ash body, Gotoh hardware, 3-piece neck that reminds me quite a bit of my Yamaha TRB 5ii. So far I am very impressed.

View attachment 2445199

Nice...and yeah it does look like a yamaha trb bass. anything yamaha makes, I would like. I currently own a yamaha trbx305. phenomenal sounding bass. other than that, I'll bet that bass sounds phenomenal.

 

[Marc DLarosa]

Yep. Besides Aria, they made the bestest "copies" of everything. Sometimes, even improved them...

 

[The Nameless]

I have an interesting, made for Japanese market Fernandes 5. I believe, if made for America, it would be called a Gravity. But in Japan it has a different name, a series of numbers an letters, but I can't remember them. Mine is slightly different in that it has a 3 piece neck and is routed for EMG humbuckers. HZ 4.0 pickups are in it, and were standard. It had an active preamp that I switched to an 18v Aguilar OBP-2, and I added a Warwick JaN II. I believe it has graphite in the neck, but I don't know for certain. It is incredibly stable. Ash body, heavy, which I love. It sounds like an organic Spector, and plays as well as any bass I own. Very unique sound. It was built in the late 90s or early 2000s. If anyone knows the model name in Japan, I'd love a reminder. Searching for em, there is very limited info. I've seen a few, but not as many as the dual Jazz pickup configuration. I'm not perfectly sold on the Aguilar pre, frankly the original preamp sounded as good. But the lows on this thing are ridiculous. And It's kinda my go to for heavy rock and metal gigs. Great instrument, great value. Really good score fer 3 bills.