$1,999!! Man, wish I'd held onto one of my 'Fish. I think I owned 7 all told..
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2k is what they are asking for, definitely not worth it in my opinion, I am playing my mercalli 4 more than my reverend PJ, I just think it is a better sounding and playing bass, full disclosure, mine has been slightly modded, I changed the pickups to nordstrand alnico's, and put a hipshot aluminum bridge on it, and hipshot ultralite's (mine is an older model that didn't come with the hipshot tuners).
Really enjoying my reverend mercalli 5 20th.
Punchy fat defined tone.
Punchy fat defined tone.
Did you go with a Hipshot A or B? Thinking about doing the same.
Same here. It's become my go to bass. Some of the most functional fretwork I've had on a bass. Had prettier fretwork but I can count on one hand the basses I've received that need no tweaking, and I've had a few.
Me too! (though not a 20th in my case)
It's become my go bass before all others, half a dozen gigs or so down, I get questioned every time about this bass.
Here's Karl from Descendents rockin' his Mercalli in Atlanta last night. Sorry for the crappy resolution, had to zoom in from my spot safely outside the pit.. too old for that s*** anymore!
So I have posted this bass before. I have done some well thought out (or ill conceived, depending on your view) "upgrades" on it. I had these black gotoh tuners with pearl keys laying around and thought they would complement the bass better than the elephant ears. They also lighter than the hipshot. Additionally, I changed the bridge pickup to a Wilkinson mj4; it has better high end that the original. Its wired in parallel, and sounds pretty full. The ceramic mags are bigger than on the original pickup. I will eventually add a series/parallel switch. Series is monsterous, but darker and I have to EQ the amp differently and it changes the eay the neck pickup sounds, so maybe an eq pedal is probably a solution.
Last thing I did was change the bridge to a bent plate fender. For me it improves the sound. It takes the tone of the bass in a rubbery/woody direction, similar to fender, it still sounds very clear and has a good amount of sustain. Plus this bass was in the 9 pound range with the tuner and bridge change, its now its closer to 8 pounds.
Let me know what you guys think.
Cheers!
Last thing I did was change the bridge to a bent plate fender. For me it improves the sound. It takes the tone of the bass in a rubbery/woody direction, similar to fender, it still sounds very clear and has a good amount of sustain. Plus this bass was in the 9 pound range with the tuner and bridge change, its now its closer to 8 pounds.
Let me know what you guys think.
Cheers!
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Sweet bass! Some nice mods.
I sold my Mercalli 5 kept wanted to mod it but couldn't actually go through with drilling into that thick aluminum pick guard.
Mercalli 5 (20th) has been performing near flawlessly since coming into my possession.
I say near because of the noticeable volume drop when the blend is in the middle position.
Really enjoying the solo'd P tone. Really beefy with good hi-mid definition.
I might eventually add a preamp I think. Maybe an Aguilar - something to complement a ballsy P tone.
Or is there a preamp with an active blend? I do prefer the VTB idea to VVT.
I say near because of the noticeable volume drop when the blend is in the middle position.
Really enjoying the solo'd P tone. Really beefy with good hi-mid definition.
I might eventually add a preamp I think. Maybe an Aguilar - something to complement a ballsy P tone.
Or is there a preamp with an active blend? I do prefer the VTB idea to VVT.
I hope the values do climb. I am starting to think about selling my Lava 5L
I still love my PJ, haven't played the new ones much but they don't jump out to me like the first time I played mine.
Similar route to a Jazz bass but a little bigger on my Mercalli 5. Want to say my decision was about the same.
Cool, just thinking about the future. My Mercalli 5 is definitely a keeper, but am thinking a 3 knob Nordy pre, with an active blend would be a great drop in.
It would. that circuit should buffer your pickup blend so it is more even. I considered doing something similar and adding a battery box.
Oh yeah...forgot about the battery. That probably wouldn't fit into the same route
