34"
ash body
maple neck/board
bone nut
extra jumbo frets
Seymour Duncan SSB-5 pickups
Seymour Duncan 3-band pre w/ "slap switch"
Gotoh GB11 tuners
Hipshot A brass bridge, 18mm
Dunlop straplocks (changed out from Schaller)
Although I will probably shim the neck at a certain point, this bass is perfectly giggable. I like stupidly-low action, but not a huge concern for a country/rock cover band. The neck is on the wider side, but nothing crazy, because the profile is comfy. No neck pocket gaps whatsoever, and with that beautiful truss wheel (one of the big factors for me with choosing this as a gig machine...super-quick adjustments). I adjusted the string spacing down to 17mm, because that's where I feel at home. ESP and Bacchus have THE BEST satin neck finishes out there, too...baby-smooth. Even the big frets aren't difficult to play on in-tune, which is kind of rare with me and x-jumbo frets. The strings are a good balance of tension and liveliness, leadimg to a huuuuuuge-sounding low-B. Again, here's another awesome 34" scale with no need for a longer one.
The pickups are surprisingly tame, until you crank up the gain, which is what this bass needs, even with an active preamp, kind of like my Schecter Stiletto Studio (huge bang for the buck there, btw). My Elixirs opened up the ESP's clarity, too. There's no gain trimpot inside the control cavity, but two dials for mid-scoop frequency and cut-level of that frequency, for the "slap switch" mode (pull up on the volume knob). It's pretty convenient for instant slap tone, and said tone is has some nice booty...Bass Lobster wasn't kidding. The mid, bass, and treble knobs are all fairly controlled or just not extreme, and I still keep the treble flat. It's naturally a bright tone with everything flat on this bass, but you can dial up/down whatever...BIG P and very burpy J tones. My preference is 50/50 split, mid about 75%, bass 60%, (and treble flat). I'm reminded of Spector here, running the lines from AIC's tune, "Rooster", or "Man in the Box". Even the B-string sounds similar to a Euro I once owned. I can only imagine what a little overdrive would do here...probably cause a tsunami halfway across the globe from emulating Rex Brown.
Weight-wise, I'm guessing around 10 pounds or a little less. My 4" straps handle the shorter horn / neck dive with ease. The dive doesn't bother me (and it's not that bad), because the neck is easy to hold up. The nice bevels on the body help a lot for my plucking side, also. Going to install Ultralites in the near future, too.
Can't think of much else here, other than I hope that the neck stays put (I like mine with zero relief). Anyway, ain't she purty? Women can look hot in tuxedos.
ash body
maple neck/board
bone nut
extra jumbo frets
Seymour Duncan SSB-5 pickups
Seymour Duncan 3-band pre w/ "slap switch"
Gotoh GB11 tuners
Hipshot A brass bridge, 18mm
Dunlop straplocks (changed out from Schaller)
Although I will probably shim the neck at a certain point, this bass is perfectly giggable. I like stupidly-low action, but not a huge concern for a country/rock cover band. The neck is on the wider side, but nothing crazy, because the profile is comfy. No neck pocket gaps whatsoever, and with that beautiful truss wheel (one of the big factors for me with choosing this as a gig machine...super-quick adjustments). I adjusted the string spacing down to 17mm, because that's where I feel at home. ESP and Bacchus have THE BEST satin neck finishes out there, too...baby-smooth. Even the big frets aren't difficult to play on in-tune, which is kind of rare with me and x-jumbo frets. The strings are a good balance of tension and liveliness, leadimg to a huuuuuuge-sounding low-B. Again, here's another awesome 34" scale with no need for a longer one.
The pickups are surprisingly tame, until you crank up the gain, which is what this bass needs, even with an active preamp, kind of like my Schecter Stiletto Studio (huge bang for the buck there, btw). My Elixirs opened up the ESP's clarity, too. There's no gain trimpot inside the control cavity, but two dials for mid-scoop frequency and cut-level of that frequency, for the "slap switch" mode (pull up on the volume knob). It's pretty convenient for instant slap tone, and said tone is has some nice booty...Bass Lobster wasn't kidding. The mid, bass, and treble knobs are all fairly controlled or just not extreme, and I still keep the treble flat. It's naturally a bright tone with everything flat on this bass, but you can dial up/down whatever...BIG P and very burpy J tones. My preference is 50/50 split, mid about 75%, bass 60%, (and treble flat). I'm reminded of Spector here, running the lines from AIC's tune, "Rooster", or "Man in the Box". Even the B-string sounds similar to a Euro I once owned. I can only imagine what a little overdrive would do here...probably cause a tsunami halfway across the globe from emulating Rex Brown.
Weight-wise, I'm guessing around 10 pounds or a little less. My 4" straps handle the shorter horn / neck dive with ease. The dive doesn't bother me (and it's not that bad), because the neck is easy to hold up. The nice bevels on the body help a lot for my plucking side, also. Going to install Ultralites in the near future, too.
Can't think of much else here, other than I hope that the neck stays put (I like mine with zero relief). Anyway, ain't she purty? Women can look hot in tuxedos.
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