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Tribe Basses?

#21
Marco_Josi said:
Hi guys,
I got one of those. A Spike 4. It's a very nice bass. I use it with LaBella flats to get the Duck Dunn/James Jamerson sound (which the bass would get close to if I were any good... ;-).
Tribe is a small Swiss company founded by an Italian Luthier who worked for some of the more famous Italian artists like Gianna Nannini, etc. His plan was to offer well-built basses for reasonable prices while also offering custom options. The Spike imitates a 58 or 59 Fender P-Bass, I believe. My bass came in a box and it was labeled 'Made in Korea'. So that's one mystery solved there. Tribe does not make a secret of this but they don't label the basses either. It is absolutely true that it would never be possible to build basses at this price in Switzerland even with cheap parts (check this luthier from my neighborhood who builds fine basses using local woods: Home DE ⋆ Starmanbass He sells his instruments for about 3'000$ BTW: the travel bass is his signature bass but he makes fine 'normal' P-, and J-Basses as well. Anyway...) As far as I know the Tribe basses get their finish at the custom shop in Chiasso (kind of like Dingwall does with his China-built basses, only on a lower level, obviously). The quality is very good if you ask me. Well crafted, nicely finished. The basses did get good reviews in two of the larger Bass journals from Germany (I'm Swiss but our market is too small to produce such special interest journals). I hope this helps. See ya.
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I'm contemplating getting one of these or a Sire D5 that will be available in the summer, I want a maple board bass since my other three are rosewood..
 
#22
I have had the Tribe SF4 for about 3 weeks , played 2 shows with it and it has quickly become my #1 bass.. It is well made, LOVE LOVE LOVE the pickups.... being passive it has a kind of a old school tone but you can dial in most any style you like with that combination . The quality is good...on par with the entry USA Fenders I also have ... maybe not the top of the line models but you wont be disappointed at this price point . Haven't weighed it but you wont be miserable after a 3 set show and its well balanced . Stays in tune even with my heavy handed playing and the finish is very eye catching. Mine is a maple fretboard and it plays well... needed a set up for my preference but it played decently out of the box. I have played ALOT of basses over the years and I am really enjoying it.
Leggera.webp

SF4
 
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#23
Recently purchased a Tribe SF4. What a beast. have done a couple of Gigs with this beauty and decided to shelve my USA Fender Precision, G&L JB Tribute, G & L L2000 for the time being. High quality, great shape, wicked sounds and all-round great Bass. Recommended.
 
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#24
alteregobass said:
I have had the Tribe SF4 for about 3 weeks , played 2 shows with it and it has quickly become my #1 bass.. It is well made, LOVE LOVE LOVE the pickups.... being passive it has a kind of a old school tone but you can dial in most any style you like with that combination . The quality is good...on par with the entry USA Fenders I also have ... maybe not the top of the line models but you wont be disappointed at this price point . Haven't weighed it but you wont be miserable after a 3 set show and its well balanced . Stays in tune even with my heavy handed playing and the finish is very eye catching. Mine is a maple fretboard and it plays well... needed a set up for my preference but it played decently out of the box. I have played ALOT of basses over the years and I am really enjoying it.
Leggera.webp

SF4
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Interesting - do you have a full pic? Still liking this bass?

Hoves said:
Recently purchased a Tribe SF4. What a beast. have done a couple of Gigs with this beauty and decided to shelve my USA Fender Precision, G&L JB Tribute, G & L L2000 for the time being. High quality, great shape, wicked sounds and all-round great Bass. Recommended.
Click to expand...
Hi, do you have a pic of your bass?
 
#26
I've tried some.
Quite decent basses for the money. I think in this market you can easly find some "similar" basses qualitywise yet Tribe (apart from the vintage oriented models) choose to do some tweaks on the "original" designs like the 2 p pickup bass and stuff like that.

Definitively a good bass in this price range.
 

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