The elusive features. . .

[donahue]

The opposite of "slim fast neck". Fat slow neck I guess lol?

What I mean is that a lot of new basses and also older type pointy ones seem to have a "fast shredder" nut width of 1 1/2" Thats a non starter for me nowadays. So many basses I'm first like "yeah" then "damnit"

Nut width is the first spec I look at. Most, not all, builders seem to think everyone loves 1 1/2" nuts. I don't agree.

So yeah, for me, wide nut widths on "sporty" type basses.

 

[The Nameless]

I spent years avoiding Maple Fingerboards. All the basses I'd ever owned or tried with Maple had bad discoloration issues and dead spots. I preferred Wenge or Pau Ferro (ironwood), for their durability.

So, what happens? Geddy discovers his Jazz. I love the aesthetic, but only play 5 or 6 string bass guitars. Fender puts out a 5 string American Deluxe Jazz, with the Geddy aesthetic. That bass with a Maple board has been my go to, only, main bass since 2010. Ha! Never? Say never.

 

[oldskoolskatedad]

MM style humbucker at the bridge and neck with radiused faces. I've never seen such a thing and I don't know if such a thing exists (possible, but never seen a bass equipped with one).

Kiesel, Ibanez and a few others here and there offer soapbar-sized humbucker and single-coils with radiused faces, but that's as close as I've been able to get to what I actually want. I had a Bromberg 5 string with radiused humbuckers in it, and it was divine to play once I got the PU height where I liked it. But I wasn't in love with how it sounded and I always wanted a MM style pu there. My Carvin Bunnies had MM pickups at the bridge, but they were flat.

I've always struggled with makeshift ramps and buildups of bits of wood and tape, etc., and I've been able to get by.

An L2000 with radiused faces on the MFD's would be a "shutup and take my money!" type situation.....

L

The MFD pickups on the L2K have adjustable pole pieces so I would assume that would make them radius-able if I'm understanding you correctly.

 

[Solarmist]

Most bass companies give the nut width, but not the thickness front to back at the 1st fret - I know Ibanez does. That would be my elusive feature.

 

[wraub]

I have never owned an instrument with a maple fingerboard, but it's purely by choice.

 

[JRA]

just wondering if that is something others experience, too.

not really --- like JimmyM , i've found it fairly easy to get what i want out of all the EB choices, then and now. and i've been putting together my own parts axes for some time, now, so that helps me in my 'quests' to get what i want. i never cared about fingerboard 'looks' until the lightweight glarry bodies showed up and then i wanted a fretless maple board to pair with one of those bodies. i now have two (and i only need one!), so be careful what you wish for, el murdoque!

 

[el murdoque]

Why not have something built? Especially if you really are in Germany - a true, maybe THE Mecca for this kind of thing!

With my more recent purchases, this has been an option which was discarded at the very last moment.

`

Am I missing something here? Are you talking about a specific brand? Because it's not hard to find a maple board bass.

I may be wrong, but I believe the OP is not saying, "he cannot find what he wants", just that he never buys it in favor for something else. Thus his inability to acquire something he had desired.

Exactly. Maple boards are rather common and it's a feature I always want but never end up with.

There are many illusive bass features...but I'd not consider 'having a maple fretboard' one of them.

Lucky you I'd take that Dingwall of yours, too - it'd cross three Items off my bucket list:
-Maple board
-Dingwall
-Find the bass I'll be buried with.

 

[Basslice]

That's quite possible.

But the definition of elusive: difficult to find, catch, or achieve. So that's definitely throwing me (and others) off.

I understand. I think it is just a language thing. I work with a lot of people from Germany and the phrasing is familiar to me.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Does anyone here share my, for want of a better word I shall call it -problem-, that you want a certain spec on a bass, but simply never get it?

For me, It's a maple board on a fretted bass.
I've wanted that from the third bass I ever owned and never managed to get one so far.

I even broadened my criteria to a 'blonde' board when I was looking for a bass the last time, but instead I went home with a redhead.

This is a luxury problem, because basically I always fell in love with something else - so strongly that I abandoned the quest for the maple board for this purchase and told me that the next one will be blonde. I don't have a specific goal that only can be achieved by owning a bass with a maple board other than owning a bass with a maple board - so you don't see me in tears here. I was just wondering if that is something others experience, too.

I had a HUGE problem with "can't touch that" after my 1965 Jazz that I bought in 1966 and toured with in the early 70's was stolen in 1976. I was touring with a nightclub group across the Western and Mid-Western US playing 5-nights a week, 50-weeks a year, for 3 years. I really got to know the neck on my '65 real well. Then in 1976 our house was burglarized and all my touring gear was stolen including my '65 Jazz.

I searched for almost 10-years for a MIA Jazz bass that had the same neck profile, shape, and radius as my '65. Was incredibly frustrating because Fender changed that neck in 1966 from a "60's Slim C-Shape" to a "Deep U-shape" (the most worthless neck I ever played). That didn't go over very well and they went back to the C shape. Some '66's actually have the same neck as my '65, but after that, they were nowhere to be found. The necks were still narrow and C-shaped, but they were not slim. It was like all Fender Jazz Bass necks had developed "Dad-bod" syndrome. Then in the 80's to further exacerbate it, they changed to a 9.5" radius, which just feels wrong to me.

Luckily in 1985 someone traded in this '82 that was in mint condition. When I finally tried it out 4-days later, I felt like I was home again. It has exactly the same neck shape, profile, and radius as my '65 did. I bought it in '85 and have been playing it for the last 36-years now.

Oh...by the way, it's an Olympic White Jazz that has a white-bound Maple neck and the 70's 4" center to center spacing on the pickups. I has huge sustain, great sound and will growl all day if I dig in over the bridge pickup. I'm leaving it to my son in my will...and I wasn't even looking for a maple neck one...

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I cant afford most of the basses I want, so I build them. I don't think I'm actually saving any money, but the cost gets stretched out over time, so I don't feel it. Plus...it's a blast.

 

[350125g0]

Why not just remove the J pickup? If the empty rout bugs you you can just screw the cover back in with no pickup under it.

It's just the look of the thing that bothers me. I know... it's ridiculous.

 

[350125g0]

I cant afford most of the basses I want, so I build them. I don't think I'm actually saving any money, but the cost gets stretched out over time, so I don't feel it. Plus...it's a blast.
View attachment 4145472

These are absolutely spectacular. Just so, so gorgeous.

 

[luciens]

The MFD pickups on the L2K have adjustable pole pieces so I would assume that would make them radius-able if I'm understanding you correctly.

No, I'm referring to the actual surface of the pickup itself, i.e. the plastic cover. Meaning, it's radiused to follow the fingerboard like a "ramp".

There are a few pickups out there now that have radiused faces; I just have always wanted one that's an MFD size or larger. Particularly at the bridge, but I'd prefer it in both positions....

Kiesel has also managed to figure out how to radius the actual assembly inside the pickup too, reportedly. I remember my Bromberg 5 startlingly even in volume/tone across all 5 strings and it had the early radiused humbuckers in it (which sadly were only soapbar width). So I don't think it's just a gimmick or marketing thing....

L

 

[BurningSkies]

With my more recent purchases, this has been an option which was discarded at the very last moment.


Exactly. Maple boards are rather common and it's a feature I always want but never end up with.

Lucky you I'd take that Dingwall of yours, too - it'd cross three Items off my bucket list:
-Maple board
-Dingwall
-Find the bass I'll be buried with.

If you want it, but don't end up with it...then it's not really that huge a priority to you.

Maple is one of the most widely used fretboard wood in the industry across price points. Its a great wood for sustainability, cost and access. It does have to be finished though unlike some other woods. I don't specifically have a passion about any special type of fretboard wood and have had basses with many varieties of rosewood, wenge, ebony, pau ferro, and maple.

...and yes...the entry level dingwall models (production Combustion & NG's) spec with maple fretboards.

 

[Shaggai]

It will eventually happen. I didn't have a bass with a maple neck - all some form of rosewood or equivalent, until my Jazz Player in 2018. Almost immediately after that I picked up two more maple fretboard basses and now have a total of 6.

Now ebony on the other hand...

 

[Dr. Keebs]

1) More white pickup covers standard, or even different colors to match or contrast finishes.
2) I always hoped that the hammer system from the Neuser Claudia would catch on.

 

[Dincrest]

I don't see enough 24-fret fully passive basses. I'm not talking "active basses with a passive bypass" but I'm talking simple passive "vol, vol, tone" or "vol, blend, tone" controls, no batteries, minimal knobs. No muss no fuss.

I know there's the PRS SE Kingfisher, the Schecter C4 Apocalypse, the now-discontinued Carvin/Kiesel LB20...

Otherwise there's little else that isn't a dirt cheapo or a costly custom.

My main was a 24-fretter that I had "de-active-ated" and I love it.

 

[BurningSkies]

I don't see enough 24-fret fully passive basses. I'm not talking "active basses with a passive bypass" but I'm talking simple passive "vol, vol, tone" or "vol, blend, tone" controls, no batteries, minimal knobs. No muss no fuss.

I know there's the PRS SE Kingfisher, the Schecter C4 Apocalypse, the now-discontinued Carvin/Kiesel LB20...

Otherwise there's little else that isn't a dirt cheapo or a costly custom.

My main was a 24-fretter that I had "de-active-ated" and I love it.

Any of the Dingwall passive models. My first, was an Afterburner 1 that was passive and 24 fret.

 

[Dincrest]

Ahh, good one!

Yeah, I'm sure there are more "24 fret passives" out there than I'm aware of, but others here would be.

 

[two fingers]

For me it wasn't any one feature. It was a combination of features.

Passive.
Volume and tone.
3 way selector for neck/both/bridge
P bass neck pickup.
Dual coil bridge pickup
3 way selector for series/single/parallel for that pickup
5 strings
35" scale
19mm spacing
Gotta sound like a P bass when the neck pickup is soloed

Couldn't find it. Had it built.