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The Bass Company

#141
AREA said:
The TBC Basses look great. I´d like to buy one of those in a few Month, but I have to wait for their answer. I asked them if they will ship to Germany. Okay, that means I can´t test this Bass, so it´s important to read your Reviews.
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There are no dealers near me, so even though I'm in the US I'm also depending on reviews to determine whether or not I buy one.

Feed our need for knowledge TBC owners!
 
#143
What is the neck like on these? And how low can you get the action?

Also I'm a custom bass snob, used to Benaventes, Warriors, US Spectors etc.. Just how nice are these? I had to sell all my good stuff to get out of college... now I'm either saving up for a Fodera or custom ordering something from someone.. so this would be my only axe for atleast a year. Any others that have played similar instruments and gotten one of these? Thanks!
 
#144
jordanm: What is the neck like on these? And how low can you get the action?

As I stated in my review of these near the beginning of the thread, the neck feels really nice and my action is quite low without any buzzes. It is as low as some of the custom instruments that I have, not as low as others, but overall all it plays really nice. My biggest (and really, only) complaint is that I wish the pickups/preamp was a bit hotter. Other then that, these are really nice basses, easily on par with anything else new in the same price range.
 
#146
Well I got my 5 string SS with black cherry pickguard yesterday. Initial review and observations below.

Looks, Fit & Finish: My initial take was what a small bass. The body is streamlined and smooth. Not as big as she looks in the pics. The wood pickguard is a lot better in person. Gives the bass a custom appearance. Neck pocket was tight and no gaps. This bass is a "B" stock item and has a blemish in the wood on the headstock and on the body near the pickguard. Does not take too much away from the bass. Fretboard is well constructed and the frets have no sharpness whatsoever. The neck construction is top-notch and is easy to play on. The finish they use on it gives it a broke in feel. The string spacing is strange because it did not feel that wide when I played it last night but this morning it felt wider. This bass is LIGHT !!!!! When I say light I mean play it standing for three hours light. The chambered body gives this bass a significant feel and tone(more on this later in the sound and tone section). The knobs turned smooth and they felt solid and not cheap. The tuners felt flimsy at first but as I tuned the bass they tightened and felt solid and able to keep the bass in tune. They are very light so there should be no neck diving here. This bass does not feel like a $375 dollar bass. The three piece body is barely noticeable. You really have to look hard to detect where the pieces come together. The action is low for a production instrument. I have never seen a production instrument have action this low and I see it can go even lower. All in all a solid piece of workmanship. Some care was used in the making of this bass and it shows even though it is a B-stock bass.


Sound/Tone: This is the part that I can not clearly expound upon until I play through my main rig and in a band context. I plugged into my Yorkville XM200 and all I could think was wow!!!! You notice the effect of the chambered body as it gives the bass an airy feel in its sound. It is open and responsive with a clarity that can be enhanced by the treble control. I set the EQ flat and begun to play some thick fingerstyle grooves. The flat tone was clear and present. Not cheap sounding. Changing pickups gave me some beef on the neck pickup and twang on the bridge pickup. The Bass added bottom but it was not boomy just solid bass. The mid added clarity but seemed to not effect the tone as much as the bass did. The treble boosted the highs similiar to how the bass boosted the lows. Bright but not overbearingly bright. Chord players and slappers will love this treble. I would like to know the frequency centers of this pre. They seem to be well chosen. It is just that the mid seems to lack in comparison to the other two.

I have a rehearsal tonight so I will play through my Kustom GB1200 and compare how it sound live, with a little more power, and how well it sits in the mix. I will also post pics and let you see how good she looks tonight or tomorrow.
 
#150
Hi DarrellTCB, I am amazed at the drool factor we bassists have for a good solid, cheap work horse. I do hope that your axes fall into that category. However, as a Canadian (and I know we are a very small market segment), after shipping and DUTIES, the bass no longer falls into the cheap category and buying one to try is not an option for many of us. I would though still love to try one, so my hope is that the next time I am in the states to try hook up with a TByer who ones one. I do not know if it would be feasable for you to have a Canadian Distributor (no, not me), but at least there would be an outlet for us to try before we buy.
Thanks

Albert
 
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#153
Darrel-

I know you told us that a fretless is a very real possibility in the future, but this is my question: Will the fretless be unlined or lined? or make both?

I seriously will buy an unlined fretless JJ as soon as they are marketed (hopefully with the active/passive switch), so please let me know some sort of release date so I can stash my money until then.

Your basses are amazing, I am thoroughly looking forward to it.
 
#156
Robear22 said:
Most of their basses come with either maple or Pau Ferro. Either B or new. I had wanted a maple board but did not feel like waiting so I took the Pua Ferro. I never had Pua Ferro but I like it. Not as bright as maple but still has some snap.
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So you can order one with a maple neck if yr willing to wait or was this maple neck option just something they briefly experimented with?

Maybe Darrel can answer this?

r
 
#159
Hi DarrellTCB, I am amazed at the drool factor we bassists have for a good solid, cheap work horse. I do hope that your axes fall into that category. However, as a Canadian (and I know we are a very small market segment), after shipping and DUTIES, the bass no longer falls into the cheap category and buying one to try is not an option for many of us.
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I completely understand where you're coming from. We were originally going to go with a Canadian distributor but have since decided to go direct. We didn't think that the Canadian marketplace would look favorably upon a bass that is $200-$400 more in Canada than in the US due to markup. It would have been likely that our Canadian customers would simply buy from the US to save money (thus eliminating much of the profit margin for a distributor). The problem with selling through dealers was that the price became inflated beyond what Jack was comfortable with, and so we started selling direct. Again, this posed a problem with international buyers, as shipping and duties added a considerable amount to the final purchase. But with dealers, the end result was this: if you were to buy from a music store/distributor in Canada, you might be paying anywhere from $600-$800 by the end of it, simply due to the number of middlemen involved. And so we decided that selling direct would probably be simplest and least expensive for everyone, and that beautiful forums like these would provide the customers with the security and encouragement they needed to feel confident in buying one of our basses!
Darrel-
I know you told us that a fretless is a very real possibility in the future, but this is my question: Will the fretless be unlined or lined? or make both?
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Jack actually mentioned something about this earlier in the week, and my impression was that he would be offering both lined and unlined (hopefully early next year).
So you can order one with a maple neck if yr willing to wait or was this maple neck option just something they briefly experimented with? Maybe Darrel can answer this?
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We do currently offer most models with maple, but it is very much a matter of availability. People seem to really like maple, which in turn causes the problem of availability. :D
Do these have active/passive swtiches? If they came with 24 frets, I'd be sold
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They will have active/passive switches soon; it's being developed as we type. A two octave neck--another custom option! We really need to get the custom shop going, don't we?
I was wondering if the new Music man series captures the real music man vibe. Doe's it offer that scooped mid sound made so famous with the music man basses.....Gene.
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Hi Gene. This is something that I was sort of unaware of until someone pointed it out to me and I began to really analyze the sound. A lot of people have likened our MM series to the MusicMan in terms of sound, as it has a similar aggressive tone with the scooped mid-range. Although the best person to ask would be marwady after he receives and thrashes it a bit. :ninja: :D
 

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