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Played a Stu Hamm Urge II today

marwady

marwady

Jul 9, 2005
1,101
28
73
Northern Michigan
#1
I stopped by one of my favorite shops today, Motor City Guitar in Waterford, MI. It is a ways from my home so I don't get there that often.

They have, by far, the most bass inventory in the State of Michigan so, if you get to the metro Detroit vicinity, you need to stop and take a look.

They had a used Urge II bass (black w/tort guard). This is the first time I have seen one live so I tried it out. I has a few nicks and some rash, a missing volume knob, but overall, in pretty nice shape.

I have heard mixed reviews here but I really liked it for the most part. The neck felt mostly like a Jazz with a bit more beef. Tonaly, it had nice punch and growl and some serious low end when the neck pup was favored. Also, I liked the various options with the three pups.

Still, I would like to audition it in a mix before I would buy one.

Looks like it was strung w/Chromes, which I like alot.

Asking price was $999.00. Probably would have found a way to snag it if it wasn't black....just not my thing.
 
#2
My favorite shop, also. I saw the Stu Hamm when I was there a few weeks ago, but didn't try it.

The only problem with MCG is that anything really GOOD doesn't hang around, they have a lot of traffic. Finding MIM or MIA Standard Fenders is usually next to impossible unless it's one of the less popular colors....or you happen to be there right after it comes in.
 
#5
#6
Killer snag! Although I *love* the Red Sparkle Metallic that Fender introduced a few years back with the "Mark II" of the Urge II line, I'd certainly never turn down a black model if I found a good deal on one like you did. I'm pretty much as far from a P-bass guy as you can get, but if I had to get one as a requirement for a gig, the Urge II would be that bass to skirt that as much as possible. :smug: And the black/tort combination is one of the few basses I like tort pickguards on as well. Now just slap on a Invalid Link Removed on the bass (I'm not at all a fan of Fender's "Bent Metal" standard bridges, and the Gotoh is a nice bridge with some extra mass that is a direct drop-in for a very reasonable price) and you're already set up with the Hipshot Bass Xtender (my two upgrades for most basses) and you'll be set. Congratulations on the purchase, and looking forward to pictures and a hands-on review!
 
#7
spade2you said:
Owned an Urge I for several years. Always wanted to try the II.
Click to expand...

What do you think of the Urge I? This is what I have at the moment, I'm loving it so far and it really felt like the one best suited for me when I tried it out, but I haven't heard any advice from other musicians.
Also, is there anything radically different from the II besides the drop-d tuner?

And congratulations marwady, I'm looking forward to the review as well :)
-Gab
 
#9
As they say "no pix, no bass", so here are a few:

P1050571.jpg


P1050573.jpg


P1050575.jpg


All in all, a pretty nice instrument.

I put some Fender flats on and it really voices nicely. Lots of tonal variations from the 3 pups and the pre is very musical.

The neck is a nice suprise, kind of a Jazz bass feel with a bit more "hair". Not even close to a P profile but more than the Jazz.

I need to audition it in some more of my mixes but I like what I'm hearing so far.......

Cheers
 
#13
I have been a fan of Stu's for sometime and have owned a variety of different basses. Last year I bought the Urge II, now the rest collect dust on their cases

Rather than pics, heres some sounds off the desk:

http://www.indabamusic.com/people/burta

I can not thank Stu and Fender enough for making the Urge series. Thanks to the onboard EQ and great tone, live playing and recording setups get a lot simpler Smile

I struggled for years to get the tone I was looking for, and I saw Stu play the Urge II at a demo in Canberra. Bought one the next week :)
 

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