The Stanley Clarke Spellcaster Stratobass

not even a little bit

it looks to me like a dollar-store toy accessory made by a company that doesn't know a guitar is not the same as a bass

 

Yeah as I typed that I knew I wasn't being real clear on "dollar-store". I don't mean it looks cheaply made. I mean it looks like it was designed by someone who is not very familiar with the item and put it together by looking at a few photos without understanding what the parts in each photo actually do. You see that a lot in dollar-store toys...guitars with a whammy bar sprouting out of a pickup, a construction vehicle with a bulldozer blade mounted to the hood, etc

 

Well no I didn't say any of that. I was saying it looks like it was put together by someone who doesn't understand design. Stanley may play the heck outta his bass, and the luthier he worked with may have been building guitars since the 70s, but that doesn't mean either one knows how to design a good-looking instrument.

Heck, bolting a (reverse thunderbird-esque) bass neck onto a strat body isn't even design...it's putting 2 parts together that were originally designed for different scales and sizes, without evolving either one to try and get them to blend aesthetically. It looks off-balance to me. A real risk when you're starting with something as iconic as the Stratocaster.

"just one man's opinion"

 

I quite like the idea of a Strat style bass. It looks really nice to me... until I get to the headstock, which isn't really working for me. The (IMO) ugly headstock wouldn't stop me from rocking this thing. The price tag would though

 

I voted no.
Although I’m a fan of SC, saw him twice in concert, I don’t feel any G.A.S. or excitement for this bass. Nothing like looking at his Alembic.
Definitely different. Reminds me a tad of the Fender Rascal which I do have G.A.S. for.

 

Agreed.
The headstock is... Unpleasant.

 

Kinda like what Landing does.

 

i would rock it...not for the "strat look" but for the pickup configuration and whammy bar. Tho it is novelty....I have a lefty neck on one of my p bass builds, when i just wanted a hendrix look, but i could take it or leave it now. I'd want the spellcaster to be full scale tho with tort guard, possibly a different color all together.

 

Stanley received some bad business advice...

 

I don’t like the concept. Hard pass.

 

I'm not interested in getting one but I would like to hear Clarke play it.

 

I might be able to get into the body but the (reversed) bad headstock is just painful.

 

Well, considering strat players always complain about hitting that top volume knob, probably not. There doesn’t look like a lot of room to play between the bridge and the neck. Speaking of the neck, that headstock looks painful to tune. But hey, if it works for Stanley Clarke, I guess that’s all that matters considering it’s his signature bass.

 

I've got a $50 Samick SS that will do the same, minus the trem. And looks better.

 

I recently made a 30 inch scale bass that's based on a standard strat body (I used a Starcaster neck), and it's really comfortable to wear.

But the headstock on this Spellcaster is a DEAL KILLER for me

 

I'd like it as a piccolo bass hooked up to a Helix or something like that.