I bought my SPZ5 on somewhat of whim in October of 2012. My wife and I went to Seattle for a kind of short honeymoon since we had both started new jobs and didn't have quite enough vacation to take the euro trip we wanted to. Stopped into BassNW to try the bass out thinking that if I liked it enough I would custom order one. I didn't think there was much risk of me taking it home as I don't like black basses and I'm a real big fan of shiny finishes, but the bass played and sounded so perfect to me that I ended up taking it with me. The SPZ has been my main bass ever since.
From the day I bought it:
Late last year I picked up a used Super J5 and played it for a solid month. I liked it enough, but when I switched back to the SPZ after the first gig with the J, I knew that the J would never be my first choice. About the same time I was at NAMM and got to talking with Sheldon and Barry about the P w/FD3 and played the four string version they had and knew it was for me. At the time I asked Sheldon if he would be down to do a dark candy green and he seemed interested. Still it took me a few weeks after that to figure out exactly what I wanted. I almost went with a trans orange, but in the end I went with my original instinct. Sold the Super J and used some of the money for a deposit.
I knew that if everything worked out that this could be my only bass, so I splurged on the block inlays, but more importantly I wanted it to sound as close to possible as my existing SPZ, so I ordered it with the same ash body and maple neck/board. Just a few days under 6 months, here it is!
The P pickup solo'd on this bass sounds virtually identical, so job number one was accomplished. One of the things I've been wanting but not very satisfied with was a real growly/burpy tigh bridge pickup sound, maybe a bit of a cross of a Stingray and Jazz bass bridge pickup. The Super J didn't have it, the last couple of J basses I own didn't have the tone I had in my head either. One of the things that intrigued me was that Sheldon decided that the best balance for the P pickup involved moving the "J" pickup closer to the neck then one would normally expect. I'm not sure of the specifics, but the solo'd bridge tone has that tight sound that I've been wanting down.
I don't use that tone in my band, but I love using it at home when I'm just screwing around. That made it hard to justify a jazz bass in addition to my SPZ, so now I have that tone available to me whenever I feel like it. Of course that doesn't include the fun of the series and parallel tones availble when using the two pickups together. I'm going to have to keep exploring those tones to get a feel how I will use them going forward, but if this bass was only capable of the two solo'd tones, I'd rate it a huge success.
Weighs in at 8.8lbs compared to 7.8 of the SPZ. The SPZ was a real freak in that department so I was prepared for something a little heavier and below 9lbs is well within the acceptable parameters for me. The dark candy green is awesome, looks black about half the time and then like British racing green the other half. The finish is a much better match for my personal tastes. The black pearl blocks have some green in them so they make for a great match. I originally ordered this with black hardware, but thought with the maple blocked neck that chrome hardware was a better match and I think I made the right decision.
Since I've been playing a very similar bass for almost two years, it didn't take a lot of time to declare this one a winner. Here are a few pics:
Close up of the metalic sparkles:
Gratuitous Happy Dog Shot:
From the day I bought it:
Late last year I picked up a used Super J5 and played it for a solid month. I liked it enough, but when I switched back to the SPZ after the first gig with the J, I knew that the J would never be my first choice. About the same time I was at NAMM and got to talking with Sheldon and Barry about the P w/FD3 and played the four string version they had and knew it was for me. At the time I asked Sheldon if he would be down to do a dark candy green and he seemed interested. Still it took me a few weeks after that to figure out exactly what I wanted. I almost went with a trans orange, but in the end I went with my original instinct. Sold the Super J and used some of the money for a deposit.
I knew that if everything worked out that this could be my only bass, so I splurged on the block inlays, but more importantly I wanted it to sound as close to possible as my existing SPZ, so I ordered it with the same ash body and maple neck/board. Just a few days under 6 months, here it is!
The P pickup solo'd on this bass sounds virtually identical, so job number one was accomplished. One of the things I've been wanting but not very satisfied with was a real growly/burpy tigh bridge pickup sound, maybe a bit of a cross of a Stingray and Jazz bass bridge pickup. The Super J didn't have it, the last couple of J basses I own didn't have the tone I had in my head either. One of the things that intrigued me was that Sheldon decided that the best balance for the P pickup involved moving the "J" pickup closer to the neck then one would normally expect. I'm not sure of the specifics, but the solo'd bridge tone has that tight sound that I've been wanting down.
I don't use that tone in my band, but I love using it at home when I'm just screwing around. That made it hard to justify a jazz bass in addition to my SPZ, so now I have that tone available to me whenever I feel like it. Of course that doesn't include the fun of the series and parallel tones availble when using the two pickups together. I'm going to have to keep exploring those tones to get a feel how I will use them going forward, but if this bass was only capable of the two solo'd tones, I'd rate it a huge success.
Weighs in at 8.8lbs compared to 7.8 of the SPZ. The SPZ was a real freak in that department so I was prepared for something a little heavier and below 9lbs is well within the acceptable parameters for me. The dark candy green is awesome, looks black about half the time and then like British racing green the other half. The finish is a much better match for my personal tastes. The black pearl blocks have some green in them so they make for a great match. I originally ordered this with black hardware, but thought with the maple blocked neck that chrome hardware was a better match and I think I made the right decision.
Since I've been playing a very similar bass for almost two years, it didn't take a lot of time to declare this one a winner. Here are a few pics:
Close up of the metalic sparkles:
Gratuitous Happy Dog Shot:
