The elusive features. . .

[Joeynone]

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 know there are Basses that have it. But I’ll. Never understand why so many basses With an active/passive switch just ignore putting a passive tone control. I just scored a Musicman HSS reflex that has one. It’s been a bucket list instrument. I’m happy musicman had a thoughtful feature and added it

 

[mikewalker]

Yes, graphite composite necks aren’t graphite all the way through. But it isn’t air in there. The Status instructions talk about there being 1/4 inch composite thickness - doing that front and back on a 1 inch thick section means, even if it was air in the middle, that more than half of the volume is composite. Add in the side walls, and it’s clearly more than half composite. Graphite composite is 2.5 to 3.5 x the density of maple, so at half or more of the occupied volume,...it’s a heavier neck.

Miller and Basslab necks are completely hollow... I had a hollow-neck/hollow-body Miller that weighed 5.0 pounds...

 

[spantini]

I've had that problem with new cars since birth, but never my basses. Dealerships have never had anything on the lot I liked and I was always too impatient to order one. Music stores always had maple boards to choose from. So...

 

[TonyP-]

24+ frets, 30 inch scale, passive bass, graphite neck and under six pounds...

That is a tall order in a little bass

 

[legalbass]

Miller and Basslab necks are completely hollow... I had a hollow-neck/hollow-body Miller that weighed 5.0 pounds...

Not the hijack the thread, but Status, specifically, injects some manner of foam, like the foam they use in surfboards, into their graphite necks and all-graphite basses. I have some experience with Status products, including a replacement P-bass type neck that was at least as heavy as the all-maple neck on my old Fender Precision it replaced. Memory doesn't serve well enough whether it was any heavier, but it certainly wasn't lighter. Other bass makers using composites may or may not have a different construction method.

 

[mikewalker]

Yeah, I had a Status Streamline that was about seven pounds... pretty sure it was foam-filled too

 

[wes stephenson]

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.

It took me a long time but I finally got exactly what I was looking for. The GAS has not quite been extinguished but anything I want now is just gravy.

 

[Fialka]

Last time looking for a new bass I searched for something different, something shortscaly, lightweight, non-fenderish, preferably Allen Woody signature. Guess what i got? Second Jazz bass . Day may come tho...

 

[Island Thumper]

That is a tall order in a little bass

Besides the graphite neck (never asked), I think Tom Clement could do this...

 

[alaskaleftybass]

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 owned a couple maple basses over the years. Last year I bought a very nice Sterling By Music Man lefty. I foolishly sold it, now I want another one. I don't know why I sold it-- I was having a stupid moment. It was far better than the low price I paid for it. Now I look every week for that bass somewhere on the internet maybe I'll find another one. So I understand your dilemma.

Here's the one that got away--with maple board..... drat!

 

[Nev375]

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.

The problem is that you don't really know what you want. If you did, you'd not be able to fall in love with anything else.

You need to start asking yourself WHY. Why maple? Why not anything else? "Because I like it/want it" is not the answer. There's got to be a reason.

 

[comatosedragon]

Took me a long time of experimenting (read: spending money) to finally settle on what (I think) are the exact features I want from a bass.

So I will be heading down the Warmoth road again, and hopefully for the last time:

Swamp ash body with a satin translucent blue finish, a MM pickup in the sweet spot, and real Stingray 2 band preamp (I'll have to settle for a John East).

34" scale Wenge neck with nickel frets and wenge fingerboard, with a 41mm nut and a 'slim' profile (20mm at 1st fret). Whole bass should not exceed 8lbs 8oz.

Such a beast does not exist in the wild; AFAIK.

 

[A9X]

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?

I want Alembic Series bandwidth pickups and electronics on a non Alembic bass (ergonomics issues on the SS Series I've had before).

The other is a LS 6 string Steinberger XL shape. I'd like it in CF, but after the CNC arrives, I think I'll just make it myself out of wood, as well as headpieces specced the way I want.

EM, as for a maple neck, if it's a F or clone, it would take <10 mins to have one on order.

 

[el murdoque]

The problem is that you don't really know what you want. If you did, you'd not be able to fall in love with anything else.

You need to start asking yourself WHY. Why maple? Why not anything else? "Because I like it/want it" is not the answer. There's got to be a reason.

Possibly.
I mean, I'm coming home with the bass I want when I go shopping.
It's just that I tell myself every time that the next one is going to be a blonde.

 

[cnltb]

Possibly.
I mean, I'm coming home with the bass I want when I go shopping.
It's just that I tell myself every time that the next one is going to be a blonde.

Is the bass in your avatar one of Reiners'?
He recently seems to have had a Maple board one for sale...


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'Luxury problems', as you put it, are often the most dificult to resolve.

 

[350125g0]

Have you considered a Lowe 32” Scale Conversion Neck? That’s a simple and high quality solution. Pop one on a Precision you love and you’re good to go.

Looked into those and they look great, but unfortunately they aren't an affordable option for me. I think I just need to go back to basics with a P and just get used to the neck, or swap it out at a later date for a J neck.

 

[Dincrest]

In terms of elusive features...

I mentioned earlier that fully passive 24-fret basses are a rare breed.

Another rare breed seems to be basses with active pickups but simple V/V/T or V/B/T "passive" tone controls. The only basses I see flipping the script like that are ESP/LTD with their Tom Araya signature models, AP-4 and AP-5. (Okay, their "black metal" line has an active pickup and just one volume knob).

And I feel like for punk and more straightforward subgenres of metal, the combination of "powerful active pickups with simple tone controls/ few knobs" for easy "plug in, play loud, no muss, no fuss" is appealing. Heck, I like the idea of active power + passive simplicity.

TA-604 FRX
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