questions about "High End" basses

Why a flat fingerboard? Your Fenders have fingerboards that have a pretty steep radius.

The John Myung signature bass is very affordable and I see you like Dream Theater. The only problem I have with these is the spacing of the strings though.

The Peavey Cirrus six is something you may want to look into as well.

 

I second this. You can find Cirrus 6's for under a grand used. I also saw a new Cirrus 5 for 1300 recently. I like the Cirrus alot and it will probably be my next bass purchase. I've seen a couple of local progressive metal bands recently with the bass player using a Peavey Cirrus. So I know they fit that style of music well.

 

1.)almost any brands "cheaper" basses, but they are rare...

2.) I dont know

3.) some basses come with their own p/us and electronics. if you want to know some good brands, there are: Bartolini, EMG, Seymour Duncan, etc

4.) that depends on the model. i have a Warwick Corvette 6, and it has a nice growl and good midrange, but it can be nice warm and even dark, too. But then there is the Warwick Streamer, quite a different animal, you know. quite a different kind of growl, nice midrange and clarity, and velvety soft highs... so you see, it waries

5.) basscentral.com
er.. er.. i forgot, sorry

 

www.bassalone.com
www.joeygmusic.com
www.guitar-villa.com
www.bassnw.com
www.luthiersaccessgroup.com
www.thebasspalace.com

 

don't forget ebay

 

1) You could get a Lakland Skyline 55-01 or 55-02 for a lot less than $1,300. Both are 5 strings (no 6's), but they have a fairly chunky neck. You say you're looking for flat. Their necks are not much different from your Fenders. I can also add my name to the list of Peavey Cirrus 6 supporters.

2)The best "flat" neck I have ever played is on my Hanewinckel 6 string. I got it for only a pinch more than your budget. You will have a hard time finding a used one at any price, let alone what I paid for mine. If you are committed and have to have a flat neck, you may want to save up a few more nickels and order one of Pete Hanewinckels lower cost models.

Hanewinckel Site

3) Sorry, can't help ya here.

4) I have experience with Smith, Lakland, and Hanewinckel basses. All good basses. With the Smiths, you need to study up on their models to better understand what you're getting and what to pay for it. You may be able to get a BSR6P in your price range. Maybe a couple other models. Warwick Thumbs and Corvettes can fall in that price range, but now you're talking serious chunkitude in the neck.

5) all the ones mentioned plus

Lowdown Sound in Detroit
Bass Gear This is individual owners selling gear, but you can probably ask TBers about many of the regulars at Bass Gear wrt confidence in dealing with them.

6) If you are ordering and if you can be disciplined in saving towards a custom order, I'd strongly suggest Hanewinckel. It will likely take 3 - 4 months from order date to received date. If you are starting at $1,300 and can save a couple hundred per month, you can start living the dream.

Peace,

James

 

Unradiused neck - no such thing. That would be a rectangular slab.

Unradiused fingerboard - rare, liked by very few.

Flat neck - back contour is closer to parallel to the fingerboard.

Using the right terms will help people understand and help you more.

 

cj is being fairly precise there--there are very, very few necks with totally flat fretboards, but most modern basses (especially those with wider string spacing) have boards that are flatter than Fenders--basically, anything over a 10"-12" radius feels fairly flat, though it's not really flat. Pretty much all the basses I've seen mentioned so far, including the Lakland 55-01/55-02 fall in that category. I'm pretty sure the TRBs do, too.

Heck, if you can be little flexible on what you can spend, there are lots of good choices in the <$1500 prices range, especially if you're willing to look at used basses. Almost all but the most expensive stuff can often be found used in that price range if you're willing to take your time looking.

"If you have experience with any of the higher end basses could you give me any other info i should know about them" -- you could be opening a big can of worms there, since a look at many of our profiles would show dozens of different high-end makes! Seriously, what kinds of looks and sounds do you like? Do you have any experience with graphite or composite necks, to know whether you like them or not? You say you don't care about string spacing, but most people find after they've spent a little time with 5+ strings that they find either wider or narrower more comfortable, and that would be a good thing to try and figure out, too.

Mike

 

Where are you going to be living in college? If you're going to be in a dorm room, you may not want to purchase a high end bass yet. You'll be awefully sad if it gets stolen. My $0.02

 

Good if you like wider spacing. There are actually 3 versions: the original TRB-P neck-throughs which haven't been made in a few years ($1000 or so used), the TRBII bolt-ons ($700 or so used), and the new TRBIIP neckthoughs (lists for $4k new, maybe $1800 used?). [all prices just ballpark guess!]

Good if you like narow spacing. I'm not sure what the new prices are, but they're usually under $1000 used.

A Fodera would fall into the "most expensive" category--you're looking at about twice that for a 5 or 6. You might get one of the Smith bolt-on models used for something in the $1500-1600 range if you're lucky, unless you get one of the "Burners" or "BSRB" import models, which are rather cheaper.

Mike

 

I bet you can make a pretty nice Custom Conklin for $1300 (Im not sure on this, JT can back me up on this). It can have the flat neck you desire, whatever electronics, and however many strings ya need. Custom Conklin is the way to go.

 

Zon 4 string dirt cheap

 

I have a Modulus Q6 up for grabs right now...Go here for the "For Sale"-Thread