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What makes it your bass?

#41
I didn't realize this was a picture thread.... Allow me to indulge, then:

The Spectors - left to right:
2003 Rebop 5 - I got this with significant wear on the body around the neck pickup and on the bottom. I sanded, refinished with Danish Oil and Howard Feed & Wax, and installed Gotoh GB707 tuners, EMG 40P5/40TW, and LHZ preamp. 35" scale. Might be my favorite player due to the killer tone and light weight.
1996 SSD NS5CRFM - Came with the Czech Haz clone stock. Only change was 40P5 at the neck. 40DC at the bridge. 34" scale.
1999 NS5CR - Installed EMG40P5/40TW and LHZ preamp. 34" scale.
2003 NS-JH5 - Replaced the stock Aguilar OBP-1 with a USA 18V Haz preamp. 4th pot is push pull for the 40TW pickup at the bridge (stock). Stock EMG J at the neck. 35" scale.
1999 NS-JH5 - SNC 2 board preamp and admittedly I wasn't in love with the small dots on the neck, so this one has the abalone inlay stickers. I know - sacrilege on a USA Spector. I don't care. I love how it looks. Stock EMG J/40DC. This one has my favorite neck. 35" scale.
1998 NS-2000/5 - Bought this as a project because I always wanted a blue Spector. Came out really nice. Gold Gotoh GB707 tuners, EMG 40P5/40DC, fully refurbished KHaz to USA Haz spec (replaced all pots, resistors, and capacitors, and changed the stock TL072 op amp with an LF442 and rewired with quick disconnects), USA knobs, gold Euro 5 bridge (which necessitated some surgery as it is significantly larger and deeper than the Korean bridge), gold Schaller strap locks, and, of course, the pearloid inlay stickers (don't hate me). 35" scale. This early Korean bass has a thicker neck profile than the later Korean 5 strings, so it's much closer to the necks on most of my other Spectors other than the lack of a volute. Plays awesome and sounds unique due to the different pickup placement. Might not be my favorite to play because it weighs north of 11 lbs, but I've got more of my heart and soul in this bass than any other - plus I have never seen another one like it.
2014 Coda 5 Pro - EMG J5 pickups, EMG BTS preamp plus passive tone control. Sanded the neck and refinished in oil and wax. 34" scale.

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The SBMM/EBMMs -

Unknown Year Ray25CA - Hipshot USA Ultralight tuners, Seymour Duncan SMB5D pickup (90's style SR5 ceramic copy) and John East 2 band preamp with a series/parallel switch, and a vintage white pearl pickguard. Sanded the back of the neck and refinished in oil and wax. 34" scale. EB Cobalt Flats. Picked this thing up for $230 at Guitar Center, and I have about as much into it as a brand new Ray25CA would cost. Sounds like my old Cutlass 1 and plays like a dream.
2011 Bongo 5 HH - This is the only bass I own that I have not modified in any way.

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#43
Zooberwerx said:
With apologies to the Marines: "This is my bass...there are many like it..."

Don't forget Saturday / Nov 11th is Veterans Day.

Riis
Click to expand...

And today is the U.S. Marine Corps Birthday - born 248 years ago...

...in a bar. Where the band was probably covering Black Betty and the bassist was playing a P with dead rounds...
 
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#49
I got back into bass a few years ago and I got a EB0 on reverb because I always want to try one and mod it. It turned out really cool but it gave me GAS. There was this black Fender P bass with an aged pearl pick guard at a local pawnshop that had caught my eye so I decided to go check it out because.... P bass. Upon further inspection I determined that it was a parts bass. I was totally cool with that since I'm a tinkerer and was probably going to change things up anyway. What tipped me off that it was a parts bass was the nut width was Jazz width. It was a P bass Special neck but the body didn't have a J pup. Anyway.... I got it home and the pup was trash(microphonic) so I put a DiMarzio Model P in it because I always wanted to try one and I thought the cream one would look good with the aged pearl. It looked great but I'm not a huge fan of black instrument because it seems like a boring lazy color choice to me so I got a Nate Mendel sig body from Stratosphere and added my own touches to the relic job including checking the paint with the hair dryer/canned air method. I aged the bridge plate and other hardware with salt and vinegar. I replaced the pots and output jack... long story shot... I made it mine.
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#51
fwiw, one of my basses is "mine" explicitly because if it ever gets lost or stolen I can walk into any Guitar Center in the country and pull an identical instrument right off the rack...that's literally the reason I bought that particular bass. So it better not be too much "mine"!

But of my other instruments, the one I consider most uniquely "mine" is an instrument that:
- the manufacturer only made a very tiny handful of originally, so it's already fairly unique
- I replaced the electronics with a very rare (and no longer available) preamp/EQ that is very atypical of most active electronics
- I used it on several albums that could all be described as "career-defining" for me personally

So in that sense it's a pretty idiosyncratic instrument that arguably is unique to me alone. Definitely "mine"
 
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#52
I have a few (mostly) stock production basses (Jack Casady, Yamaha BB5000A, a few G&Ls). The rest were either built by me, for me, or are essentially one-offs that I've owned pretty much from their beginnings. I have a small collection of Regenerate Guitar Works basses; none were "custom" built for me, but they were mostly prototypes or NAMM pieces, or just odds'n ends that I ended up with. I also have a fretless Muckelroy 5 that I commissioned, a Warmoth Jazz I finished and built 25 years ago, and an extremely modified Gecko that I've built and re-built. Most of my basses have been in VERY few hands apart from mine.

I've had a lot of production basses over the years that were very good, but most of them ended up getting sold or traded for something else. My only basses in contention for the chopping block now are a few of the production basses.

The rest are "mine".
 
#55
They're mine because of the customizations. I like simple. Single coils, passive, one tone, one volume and 4 inline tuners, short scales. My kids artwork on the two parts basses add a special personal touch. There was alot of frustration, learning, and mistakes made on those to get them playable. Not everyone gets it or likes them and that's ok.

lineup.jpg
 
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#57
WI Short Scaler said:
They're mine because of the customizations. I like simple. Single coils, passive, one tone, one volume and 4 inline tuners, short scales. My kids artwork on the two parts basses add a special personal touch. There was alot of frustration, learning, and mistakes made on those to get them playable. Not everyone gets it or likes them and that's ok.

View attachment 5247155
Click to expand...

Those finishes/ artworks are really cool!
 
#59
I transferred the neck from my other project bass which was on Geddy Lee Mexican body unto a nitro MJT Ash body which was made 10 years or so ago but it has reliced naturally. I like the natural finish, but best of all the sound. With the original bent plate bridge it was 7.4 bs and now 7.6 or so with the Leo Quan that I had for almost 30 years. I also have a BT2 D-tuner. on it and if I took that off it would probably be even lighter. Has Seymour Duncan Antiquity II. Needs nothing in the tone department. I was thinking to put the Barts I got but I will keep it as is, and live with the slight hum. Got the loaded body from a cool TB'er. Everything on the headstock are hipshot including the oversized string retainer. May get an ultralite D-extender since I have Ultralites on the rest. I like the bent plate bridge alright but I palm mute a lot and want something more comfortable so may get a B type hipshot down the road but for now the old BA does is fine. That thing is heavy.

It's the bass that makes you play until the wee ours of the morning. A very singing quality in the solo region and just a slight wolf tone on the C# on G. Growly lows. . And I am very partial to ebony necks. The neck is a P and in a few months I had it has become really playable and settled. It feels well played like my oldest bass. Already did an improv gig with it and it was well loved.

I call it the Esperanza Bajo -- the Hope bass. Pics taken at 3 AM after getting lost in it for like 4 hours.

Simplicity is best and this is it.

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