Schecter Ultra Bass-- Anyone have a review?

[Mattosaur]

So, the recently redesigned Schecter Ultra bass seems to have zero reviews on the entirety of the internet. (Well, I found one that was reposted 7 or 8 times.)

Link Removed

It looks like Schecter used to have a similar bass that they discontinued a few years back. The biggest changes I can see are in the neck and the headstock-- it's now a thru neck bass with a normal (not a reversed) headstock. Also, a switch from active to passive humbuckers.

I love the look of this bass, but I can't see myself ever dropping $700 on something I couldn't play first, and none of the many local shops in my area carry them.

Does anyone here have one? How do they play? Is the neck Thunderbirdy or Jazzy (as I've read in the one review I could track down)? How's the weight? Does it neckdive?

 

[djdevilishrd]

So I recently purchased an ultra bass. I will back up though. I own a record / turntable shop and have expanded to gutiars and amps. One of the brands I carry is Schecter. I had ordered this bass and 3 other styles from Schecter on my initial order. I received an email about two weeks after I placed my order. The Ultra bass had arrived to the US shop for inspection and set up. One of the pickups (EMGhz Soap Bar) had some scuffing on the side, right where one may rest their thumb when playing. They asked if I still wanted the bass or if they should bring in another one for me. I didn't want to have a "less than perfect" guitar on my sales floor so I worked out a discount on the cost with my rep so I could buy the bass for my own personal use. They agreed and I got myself a schecter ultra bass.

My current basses include an original US build G&L SB2 (Rare transparent blue finish) and an Ibanez Sound Gear. I've also owned U.S. Fender P and J basses in the past.

I've never played on a bass of this body style before. What blew me away right from the start was how thin the entire package is from top of the neck to the bottom of the body. The neck through design makes for an ultra thin bass and it is extremely well balanced. No neck dive. Everything is perfect from the finish to the feel. I've never used a bass with a Tone Pros Bridge. After closer examination I relised that the body of the guitar actual tilts back toward the players body. I wish I had a picture to explain this, but if you are playing the bass, the body angles back from the neck toward the base. The bridge compensates for the height so you get very close action but ALOT of room above the body to really hammer on the strings without them bouncing of the pickups. You really need to try one to understand what I am saying but it really creates an amazing feel due to this set up. The neck has alot less "girth" then my G&L or any fender bass I have played. It took a little bit to get used to but now that I am used to it I prefer playing it over my G&L. I am starting to develop tendanitus and I find the neck on the Schecter allowes me to play much longer then I can with my G&L.

The ultra bass comes standard with EMGhz passive soap bars. I prefer passive pickups on a bass. The set up is VOL/VOL/TONE. you can get some very cool and interesting tones from playing with the knobs, there is alot of control with the sound BUT the tone doesn't come close to the tone in my G&L with the stock G&L pickups. Those old G&L pickups are something else, and I've never heard anything like them on any other bass. I still prefer the G&L sound out of its stock pickups but otherwise the Schecter Ultra Bass is a much better bass to play in my opinion. If my G&L is a highperformance classic muscle car, the Schecter Ultra Bass would be more refined like an Austin Martin or a Jaguar. Just a comment back on the EMGhz pickups, there are alot of mods available for EMG passives and I am going to experiment with some and see how it goes, once I do that I will update this post again.

Cheers.

 

[dgce]

Hey there. I don't know if you've seen this website by now, but some guy did a pretty good review of the new Ultra Bass and even included a few sound clips.

Invalid Link Removed

So have you gotten one or at least tried one out yet?

 

[calypsocoral302]

I've been giving it a serious look-- I like the body shape. I hope they do one in translucent black...

 

[KF2B]

Resurrection...

Disclaimer: I am not a bass player. I´m a 42 year old aspiring bass player. In other words novice to the instrument. - So read the following from this perspective. Now that out of the way...

I´ve been taking lessons for a little while and enjoyed learning the bass. I have had the good fortune of being able to get a couple good basses to learn with and have yet spent the last few weeks popping in and out of guitar stores on my quest to find something that would really, really, feel like an extension of my body instead of a "instrument". - You know, a bass that would feel "mine" as I know from other areas of life that it is possible to find such a match regardless whether we are speaking of a musical instrument, sports equipment or what have you.

So I´ve tried out a few dozen basses during the last few weeks ranging from $250 to $2500 and only a couple other have felt anywhere near as nice, these being the current Fender 60´s Road Worn Jazz bass, a 1998 Mexico Jazz bass and the current Gibson Thunderbird. What I´ve learned from this guitar shop crusade of mine is that who ever is in charge of Gibsons QC needs to be slapped around a few times (the lacquer finish is beyond horrid). I learnt a plethora of other stuff too but will save you from OT blahblahblah. So onto the Ultra Bass...

I first saw it a week ago.

I utterly disliked the looks of it and if it had not been for the salesman who twice suggested me to try the the Schecter I´d probably never took it off the wall. So, uninterested, I did and was immediately surprised by the light weight. Then a few seconds later I was surprised by the fact of how oddly thin the whole package was - not just the neck (IMHO pretty thin jazz like) - but the whole bass. Next I was struck by the high level of finish. It feels organic and glass like at the same time. Yes, it is made in Korea but apparently the QC is being held to a high level on the factory. Indeed very high based on this Ultra Bass.

Next surprise... Playing. The little that I understand of setups tells me that it was setup nice from the get go. - Or it sucked and I just happen to like it as I do not really know better, but I opt for the first option: it was set up nice! (yes, this option feels much better than stating the obvious that I am clueless)

So... regardless the initial sense of abhor I had towards this Korean bass when I first saw it, today, a week after the first encounter with it, I returned to the guitar shop. Just had to try it out again. And man did it feel good... It has a nice sense of tone unplugged. Plugged, same thing, though I could see why someone would want to swap the EMG´s as I doubt they are the strongest link on the whole that makes this bass.

Shall I return and buy it? I am afraid this is a very likely thing to happen

No, it does not make any sense for me to get another bass but it just felt sooooooooo smooth, comfy and nice. And killer tone too. I´d say dont judge the Schecter book by the cover nor title. Try one out and if you dont like it... There are plenty of other basses out there. On the other hand, if you do like it...

Thanks,

J.

 

[bizzybass]

I've owned many basses over the past 26 years. Admittedly, what sparked my curiousity was that they made a Simon Gallup model and I'm a huge fan of his bass work(great rock bassist that has written tasty lines over the years). For those of you that I've already lost, you need to give The Cure a second listen. Anyway this bass is well enough built. Although some guys that will drop 3-5K on a bass may contest this, not everyone has 5K to drop on a bass. If you like low action without buzz, man I've never seen a bass achieve lower action without buzz. In fact, its the first bass I've bought new or used that doesn't need a set up. Sounds great through my solid state Genz Benz Shuttle max 9.2. In my case I picked up the Simon Gallup version on the ultra bass at a local GC used for $400 w/ a case. This one didnt have the red graphics all across the front which I was actually happy about. It also came with a white pickguard. Its is a Gallup though with his signature of the headstock, etc. Anyway, these ultra basses are out there used in the $400 and in my opinion its money well spent. The last time I did so well in that price range was in 2004 on ebay when I bought a MIJ Fender Jazz Powerbass Special for $305. Have I got my point across yet? ..love it!

 

[english4bw]

reviving an old thread there but there was no other posts about these basses so here we go...

Just picked up this Schecter Ultra-5 Satin Black today. Fantastic looking and playing bass.

 

[evil1603]

Let us know how you like it. Any neck dive? It looks very long!

 

[english4bw]

Let us know how you like it. Any neck dive? It looks very long!

It's not bad actually, not much neck dive at all. Could probably use a good setup so I will drop her off to my luthier next week for a string change and inspection. Massive B string sound on this bass, actually a bit uneven at present compared to the higher strings, so might need pickup adjustment or action height tweak. We shall see what my luthier says about it.

Yes it's a long bass (48in or 122cm). Not too many cases out there to fit these extra long scale monsters. Luckily I still have a Gator Transit gig bag that I used for my Roscoe JJ5 (another huge beast of a bass) that it fits into.

As you might notice, I added some personal touches to the bass. Transparent stickers - easy to remove if you need to - but adds a bit of flair. This bass is officially now called, RAVEN. LOL

 

[evil1603]

It's not bad actually, not much neck dive at all. Could probably use a good setup so I will drop her off to my luthier next week for a string change and inspection. Massive B string sound on this bass, actually a bit uneven at present compared to the higher strings, so might need pickup adjustment or action height tweak. We shall see what my luthier says about it.

Yes it's a long bass (48in or 122cm). Not too many cases out there to fit these extra long scale monsters. Luckily I still have a Gator Transit gig bag that I used for my Roscoe JJ5 (another huge beast of a bass) that it fits into.

As you might notice, I added some personal touches to the bass. Transparent stickers - easy to remove if you need to - but adds a bit of flair. This bass is officially now called, RAVEN. LOL

View attachment 7451612

Nice, congrats!