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Marco TFL Basses

These basses are incredible!! I had no idea. Got my hands on a 4 and 5 string.
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I'll be shooting a review and demoing the basses soon.
 
I'm not a New Bass Day thread kinda guy so I thought I would just post here...

I received my Marco TFL5 about 2 weeks ago...

Short backstory... I met Marco at NAMM Bass Bash a couple years ago and checked out his basses a little, so I knew the quality but I didn't get a chance to actually plug in and do a more in depth evaluation until this past NAMM at his booth.

For the past year, since my daughter was born, I haven't really focused on playing out or even with other people and when Mr. Practicality came by I decided to sell my expensive high end J style bass and looked for something that was "good enough" for what I'm doing now. Long story short, I contacted Marco and I was able to downgrade in price but not in build quality, feel and definitely not in tone.

On to the bass... I'm a J bass guy so that's what I wanted. I've always liked active electronics; though only a certain few work for my ears; but I started to like the idea of passive - on active basses, I tend to find 1 setting that I like and leave it there anyway... I've heard great things about Marco's pickups and YouTube videos support what I've read... So passive it is.
I pretty much got a "stock" bass in terms of custom options... I just specified the finish, black hardware and block inlays.

Specs are: Alder body, Maple neck/fingerboard, Marco pickups, Hipshot hardware.

The bass is an absolute killer. The feel, the shape of the neck and the action, boy, the action is wonderful... It took 2 minutes to feel like home. His standard 34.5" scale is great, the low B is excellent! Very fat but clear at the same time. I DO NOT miss the active electronics - Marco's pickups are a dream - they have a very organic and natural modern J bass tone. The build quality is great. The finish is beautiful topped off by a beautiful maple neck with great flaming. Also, the month and a half build time was something I never dreamed of.

I love this bass! It's a super example of a modern 70's style 5-string J bass. I think Marco's stuff is right up there with the more well known makers, hopefully you get a chance to check him out... He definitely pushes the envelope with his builds, specially with his other models, the non-J bass ones... VD, MV, etc.

Also, for me, a big selling point is the person... Anyone who has interacted with Marco knows what a great guy he is, super funny and great personality. We've had a good time talking on the phone throughout the build time of this bass and again today, even. I appreciate and value our new friendship.

A couple pics for now... Video may come later - I gotta get my chops back up, remember I mentioned I haven't been too focused on playing. ;)

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P.S.....
I love this bass so much that I ordered a 2nd soon after - a 24 fret TFL this time, a little bit fancier with a top but still passive w/ Alder body/Maple neck/Rosewood board this time. It wasn't quite a 2 for 1 with my previous high end J bass but pretty darn close... Mr. Practicality approves. :)
 
Marco TFL 24. I am very glad to have it. Great bass, great sound, great work. Thank You Marco Cortez.

34.5” scale, Maple Burl top, Alder body, Flame maple neck, Maple Board with block inlays, Bartolini 3-band eq with mid selector switch, Passive/Active volume, Weight 9lb, Nut Width 1" 7/8


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