What ever happened to Stenback basses?

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

The white one.....!!!

Yep!! My dream bass!!

 

[Virgil]

Sweet! New or used? Its hard to get much info on these, other than that the prices have gone way up, presumably due to demand. The design factor is off the charts and every clip of one sounds amazing.

Mine is new. It has a tone like no other Jazz bass I have owned or played. The output is equal to my MTD’s and my New York Bass Works jazz bass. It is very responsive to your touch. I could go on and on but I won't.

 

[cdef]

Haven't heard much about them for sometime now. Any info?

Nothing happened, except Stenback grew his reputation as the non plus ultra of J configuration basses. Tom is not advertising, as his basses sell themselves whenever available.

 

[gwangi]

I had check with a music store in Europe that deals with Stenback and I was told that when ordering you are put on a list and the wait time is out roughly 4 years, as your name eventually goes up the list then your required to put a deposit down to have your name in place for the order, seriously 4 years out and a 5 string Stenback is about $7000.00 right now just imagined how much the pricing will be within in 4 years.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Mine is new. It has a tone like no other Jazz bass I have owned or played. The output is equal to my MTD’s and my New York Bass Works jazz bass. It is very responsive to your touch. I could go on and on but I won't.

Very nice!! Congrats!! Let me be the first to request first chance to buy it if you decide to part ways .
Were you on a waiting list? How did this bass become yours ?
Please post video or clips .

 

[J.Wolf]

Mine is new. It has a tone like no other Jazz bass I have owned or played. The output is equal to my MTD’s and my New York Bass Works jazz bass. It is very responsive to your touch. I could go on and on but I won't.

exquisite. Would love to play that beast.

 

[Virgil]

It's a dream to play. Can’t wait until I can gig with it..

 

[Virgil]

Very nice!! Congrats!! Let me be the first to request first chance to buy it if you decide to part ways .
Were you on a waiting list? How did this bass become yours ?
Please post video or clips .

I can't think of a reason this bass would ever leave the stable, but I will keep you in mind. The bass kind of fell in my lap. I just asked a very well connected friend of mind whether he knew where I could get one. A day later he told me of a guy who had recently bought 2 and gave me his number. We talked and I begged him to sell me one of them. After many discussions he sold it to me. It was just meant to be. I think he and I will be life long friends. I am eternally grateful to him for selling it to me.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

I can't think of a reason this bass would ever leave the stable, but I will keep you in mind. The bass kind of fell in my lap. I just asked a very well connected friend of mind whether he knew where I could get one. A day later he told me of a guy who had recently bought 2 and gave me his number. We talked and I begged him to sell me one of them. After many discussions he sold it to me. It was just meant to be. I think he and I will be life long friends. I am eternally grateful to him for selling it to me.

Nice story !! Again Congratulations.
If you happen to hear of another one please let me know .
Sounds like it was meant to be and I’m truly happy for you!!

 

[Virgil]

Nice story !! Again Congratulations.
If you happen to hear of another one please let me know .
Sounds like it was meant to be and I’m truly happy for you!!

Thank you for your kind words.

 

[Virgil]

It's been a week since I received my Stenback. Let me fill you in on a few nerdy details. The nut is made from the bones of a moose. Tom Stenback has a friend who hunts them during hunting season and brings him the lower part of the leg. Tom says that it has all of the qualities he want; musical, hard, and easy to work with. My bass weighs 8 pounds, but balances perfectly standing or sitting. The gain on my Epifani 901 is set at 11:00, on my MTD at 10:00. It is very punchy, yet when you reduce the volume on both pots it tames the punch so you can blend in the mix better. I want to put strap locks on mine but the screw that Stenback installed will not budge. Any advice would help. The neck is wider at the 12th fret than my other jazz basses, I assume it's the result of the 20mm spacing. As for tone. When you REALLY dig in it get gnarly and gritty. I didn't expect that from such an elegant looking instrument. I really tried to find the breaking point, where it would no longer sound musical, I didn't find it. I also wanted to see how low I could lower the action until I got fret buzz. The strings were damn near laying on the fretboard. I mentioned that to let you know that you can set your action where you like it, not with the inherent limitations of the fretboard. I changed the strings a couple of times just to see whether the tone would change, it did. I started with Dunlop Marcus Miller, steels, then Dunlop Super Bright nickels and now DR High Beams. All I will say is that I experienced 3 different tones and all were good. The tools that come with the bass were perfect; never have received this quality of tools from any high-end bass I have ever bought. In summary, this instrument is up there with the best ever made, in my humble opinion. Think of a Steinway piano, or a Stradivarius violin. Line them up with similar looking instruments and one could say, why pay 3 or 4 times more for one of those when this brand X instrument can serve my purposes? I think that's a logical question. However, if you are an audio file, or a musician with discriminating taste you would immediately hear the difference and if allowed to play those instruments you would immediately feel the difference. So I am not advocating for anyone to buy a Stenback bass, but if you do, don't be surprised that many of your basses with prettier tops and multi switches find themselves in their cases in the closet when you are out gigging. Let the criticism began. Just remember I said in my humble opinion.

 

[Virgil]

I have attached some additional interesting pictures

 

[gwangi]

It's been a week since I received my Stenback. Let me fill you in on a few nerdy details. The nut is made from the bones of a moose. Tom Stenback has a friend who hunts them during hunting season and brings him the lower part of the leg. Tom says that it has all of the qualities he want; musical, hard, and easy to work with. My bass weighs 8 pounds, but balances perfectly standing or sitting. The gain on my Epifani 901 is set at 11:00, on my MTD at 10:00. It is very punchy, yet when you reduce the volume on both pots it tames the punch so you can blend in the mix better. I want to put strap locks on mine but the screw that Stenback installed will not budge. Any advice would help. The neck is wider at the 12th fret than my other jazz basses, I assume it's the result of the 20mm spacing. As for tone. When you REALLY dig in it get gnarly and gritty. I didn't expect that from such an elegant looking instrument. I really tried to find the breaking point, where it would no longer sound musical, I didn't find it. I also wanted to see how low I could lower the action until I got fret buzz. The strings were damn near laying on the fretboard. I mentioned that to let you know that you can set your action where you like it, not with the inherent limitations of the fretboard. I changed the strings a couple of times just to see whether the tone would change, it did. I started with Dunlop Marcus Miller, steels, then Dunlop Super Bright nickels and now DR High Beams. All I will say is that I experienced 3 different tones and all were good. The tools that come with the bass were perfect; never have received this quality of tools from any high-end bass I have ever bought. In summary, this instrument is up there with the best ever made, in my humble opinion. Think of a Steinway piano, or a Stradivarius violin. Line them up with similar looking instruments and one could say, why pay 3 or 4 times more for one of those when this brand X instrument can serve my purposes? I think that's a logical question. However, if you are an audio file, or a musician with discriminating taste you would immediately hear the difference and if allowed to play those instruments you would immediately feel the difference. So I am not advocating for anyone to buy a Stenback bass, but if you do, don't be surprised that many of your basses with prettier tops and multi switches find themselves in their cases in the closet when you are out gigging. Let the criticism began. Just remember I said in my humble opinion.

Honestly I wouldn't touch those strap buttons on your Stenback, I'd just leave it alone but that's just me, you have yourself a work of art and impeccable build quality you might regret it later putting on different strap locks.

 

[AngelCrusher]

Agree. My sadowsky came with strap locks but I dont use them. They can vibrate when I play sitting down and I can feel that in the bass. That would suck if that happened with yours.

I have not used straplocks in a very long time. I use the simple bottle cap rubber rings you can buy from Fender. Just slide those on over your strap and you will be good to go.

 

[Virgil]

Honestly I wouldn't touch those strap buttons on your Stenback, I'd just leave it alone but that's just me, you have yourself a work of art and impeccable build quality you might regret it later putting on different strap locks.

I am truly struggling with that decision. I have one of those groove gear duo straps that I use for those long 4 hour gigs, and it has strap locks on it. Maybe I should buy a second one and use it when I take the Stenback out on those gigs. The fact that he hand makes them specifically for his instruments makes me feel like it would be best if I leave it as is. Thank you for bringing me back to my senses. I noticed that Paul Turner and Darryl C. Anders both have the original parts even when in concert.

 

[brandinstroy]

I am truly struggling with that decision. I have one of those groove gear duo straps that I use for those long 4 hour gigs, and it has strap locks on it. Maybe I should buy a second one and use it when I take the Stenback out on those gigs. The fact that he hand makes them specifically for his instruments makes me feel like it would be best if I leave it as is. Thank you for bringing me back to my senses. I noticed that Paul Turner and Darryl C. Anders both have the original parts even when in concert.

Id keep it original. It’s perfect as is. Get a new strap for it and play the thing. That’s what I did with mine.

BTW.....nice review

 

[BluesOnBass]

Agree. My sadowsky came with strap locks but I dont use them. They can vibrate when I play sitting down and I can feel that in the bass. That would suck if that happened with yours.


I have not used straplocks in a very long time. I use the simple bottle cap rubber rings you can buy from Fender. Just slide those on over your strap and you will be good to go.

Or Grolsch beer rings

 

[Virgil]

Id keep it original. It’s perfect as is. Get a new strap for it and play the thing. That’s what I did with mine.

BTW.....nice review

Thanks guys. Not touching it, leaving it the way it is.

 

[Virgil]

Found a great strap last night without locks, in my gear bag.

 

[brandinstroy]

Found a great strap last night without locks, in my gear bag.

I use LK Straps on all my Basses