That’s one of the reasons I wanted to post. Because there’s a lot of bogus comments on these instruments. I’ve heard people say they’re uncomfortable to play, I’ve heard people complain about the neck shape, and every other bit. I don’t find it any more difficult to stand behind this bass on stage than I do a Jazz or a Precision. I often think about changing out the preamp, but since I’ve moved to 5’s it’s not really a priority.
As someone who has one, and doesn’t plan on selling it, I wanted to provide what I can see as the good and bad side of things. To be honest, I never found it to be ‘thin’ sounding in passive mode either, but that could just be my particular bass. There aren’t that many of these out there, so it’s hard to try before you buy. This was the first bass I owned that the action was so low and flawless that I could play with very little effort and with surprising quickness. I think there are a lot of guys who picked up one. Once. And have been slagging it ever since. This all said, it was a stage bass for me for no more than a year. I tend to stick with what works as long as possible rather than run through piles of instruments. So to me it was frustrating to have a bass that was so good in some ways and not in others.
So you saw issues too?
No offense, but "bogus"? Which comments?
They're opinions... just like yours
. I have no doubt that some may be based on playing one bass and being surprisingly underwhelmed by it. Others certainly could have more experience than that.
Mine is based on playing dozens over the years... I first met and dealt with Paul before he even made basses. Based on the success of his guitars, many of us thought a bass would be a slam dunk. Then it came out and...
That doesn't mean they were horrible... just a big letdown from what many of us hoped for. I've played a bunch of the first gen basses, heard the "great for reggae" thing starting way back then. Is that really a compliment?
The best I've heard was a old fretlees that had one position on the rotary control that sounded great and the rest were just bad. "Couldn't imagine what someone would use them for" kind of bad bad. Playability was okay but not on par with Koontz Thurston, another local builder who did build great guitars
and basses. Much easier said than done. I think Paul started out as a bassist so I'm not sure where the disconnect was. I've heard local stories and I'll leave it at that.
The last gen basses didn't elicit as much anticipation but many here (locally) were looking forward to see if he got it right this time.. In that price range, particularly optioned out? Not even close to the established competition or even many new guys just popping up. Very surprising. I heard Gary's bass was in developement for several years. It's a very nice looking bass. that's only part of the battle.
There were expectations at that price range that clearly weren't met. Doesn't make it a bad instrument, just not a very good one. And when you figure at the time you were looking at US MTD price range or worse, used Fodera... that's a tough sale. Buying used removes alot of that sting I guess.
So if there's something we're missing, cool. I've played enough where the setup wasn't the issue, the amplification wasn't the issue, that leaves the bass and it's ability to impress me and it simply didn't. I've seen and played a bunch used and haven't come close to pulling the trigger... just way too many other options out there.
, but the bottom line was the bass was really a 'guitarist's bass' and not a 'bassist's bass' 
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