That's a stunning trio. I'd also like to make a contribution to the club. Two years ago, I was looking for a good 5'er for my metal band. I got a great deal on a mint Hellraiser Extreme. When I started playing the 35 inch thin 'c' neck with the 16' radius, it was as if I walked my first steps with my first pair of Nike Air Max shoes. I felt like I was walking on clouds and all my other shoes instantly felt like dragging unnecessary mass around. The Hellraiser became my main bass in an instant. All I changed was the neck pu. The 40TW in the neck didn't cut it, so I replaced it with a 40P5. It turned out to be a stunning combination, together with the 40TW in the bridge position. They compliment eachother in a great way. Although I haven't yet been able to get a more vintage p-sound out of it (let me know if u have), the modern 'p' together with the TW in series gifs a very clean yet heavy sound, which finds its place in the frequencies spectrum easily with two heavy distorted guitars and an overexcited drummer. Since we play 3 steps down, in G#-C#-F#-B-E, I went looking for a back up bass, which had to have the exact same neck obviously. I was looking at several second hand Schecters, until Thomann unexpectedly had one Apocalypse in stock. Like most Schecters, when you're not paying attention, which I am most of the time, they release a few very cool basses, ship a few to Europe, and then close the window of opportunities for most of us. So all I had the past years were 2 or 3 very cool videos of my online inspirator @DistortedBass, and pics to drool on. I always thought it was a beautiful bass, so it didn't took me long to think it over and I snagged this Apocalypse a few weeks ago. I'm still discovering the possibilities, but I'm very much impressed with the sonic possibilities. I've played in a band setting for the first time in 15 years without a preamp and without dirt, just because its clean sounds cuts right thru. I feel like the tone knob and balance knob have a bigger effect on the sound than the pre on my Hellraiser. It's an exceptional bass and I concur with the reviews here, stating there are tons of usable sounds. The single coils are beefy enough for metal, in parallel the highs are crispy, but not sterile, and in series you have a lot of meat without going muddy. They did an excellent job on the pickups, I'd love to learn more about them, but can't find much on the internet about them. However, together with the Hellraiser I feel like I can cover a whole lot of tonal ground. I still have some wishes though. I'm still looking for some complimentary EQ settings to 'warm up' both basses for seventies rock. I'm also still looking for the best strings for both basses. The highs don't need to be emphasized for my use, so I'm steering away from stainless will be trying some nickel wounds. And finally, this thread got my excited for the Monstertone P sound, so that's on my wishlist when I've talked my self into needing another 'backup'. Thanks for the opportunity to share and all advice is welcome, Talkbass have been great to me for years.
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