Yamaha SBV. Had a chance at a yellow one locally on CL, but couldn't scrape up the cash.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
What's your "White Whale" bass?
- Thread starter SkinCoffin
- Start date
Yamaha SBV. Had a chance at a yellow one locally on CL, but couldn't scrape up the cash.
I just ain't got that kind of scratch for this Masayoshi ESP bass.
Last edited:
As an eBay Associate, TalkBass may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
I don't think I have a 'white whale'. My 'budget' affords anything but my tastes run toward the used $1200-2000 market.
I finally got an Ex Factor after years of mulling it over, and a Parker Fly 5 is in the works. Something with me and funky looking basses nowadays.
I finally got an Ex Factor after years of mulling it over, and a Parker Fly 5 is in the works. Something with me and funky looking basses nowadays.
Nice choice, not sure it exactly qualifies as a bass... but they are rare and cool.a VW Rabbit pickup truck
Fender Bass VI with block markers - custom colour would be nice (with matching headstock) but 3TS would be fine too.
Thunderbird II (?) - the one pickup one.
My 76 P - my first real bass an my road warrior for over two decades.
My first Dano short horn - just cause I miss it.
Thunderbird II (?) - the one pickup one.
My 76 P - my first real bass an my road warrior for over two decades.
My first Dano short horn - just cause I miss it.
The ultimate White Buffalo G&L bass.....the 1980 passive-only L-2000.
I don't really want one, but would love to find one just to show the naysayers that they really were produced. They have to be rare as hell, and it's possible there may actually be only one in existence, but I know for a fact there was at least one built and shipped to a G&L dealer for retail sale.
I don't really want one, but would love to find one just to show the naysayers that they really were produced. They have to be rare as hell, and it's possible there may actually be only one in existence, but I know for a fact there was at least one built and shipped to a G&L dealer for retail sale.
Its GOT to be a one-off and probably a special order since the L2000 was essentially the Sabre bass with a couple of improvements (the Sabre's pre was more like a G&L than a Musicman, which I (and I profess to entirely guessing here) imagine is A: why MM didn't make a Sabre until recently (probably a gentlemanly agreement) and B: it was a PIA to make one since the pre was different from the 2 and 3 band Stingray EQs. I don't imagine (and again entirely surmising) that Leo ever intended to mass produce a passive L2K - not saying t doesn't exist, Leo was nothing if not an experimenter and was notorious for producing one-offs for special requests at the beginnings of each of his 3 iconic companies (when productions was such that he cold accommodate requests like that).
Woud be cool to see - but like you, an active L2K with the option is much more desirable - plus other than the "security" of knowing I can play if my battery dies, I don't rally have any use for the passive setting - the G&L pre sounds like a "passive bass" (in the raw and aggressive way that's considered good) but better. They are the only active bass I've ever enjoyed enough to keep (I would have kept the Sabre, but it was my old mans and he was an incurable trader).
There was an original (though in rough shape) at one of the local shops for the LONGEST time - I was tempted, but couldn't justify it.
Yamaha SBV. Had a chance at a yellow one locally on CL, but couldn't scrape up the cash.
(Yes, there really was a model in the late 60s/early 70s - though naturally it had more quirky "that era" pickups).
My white whale bass is made of pure unobtanium - a left-handed early-1980's Fender Precision Special, the model with active preamp and matching headstock, as far as I know Fender never made any left-handed versions of that model. I remember as a teen drooling over the ads on back cover of Guitar Player magazine, thinking "some day..".
I saw some Ernie Ball Earthwoods go by for less than half what they go for now, around 15yrs ago.
The one I know about (and could have bought brand new in 1980) was definitely not a special order. It was part of the initial order of one of the earliest G&L dealers, along with several L-1000's, which seems obviously to have been from the first production batch. After that initial order, the dealer I'm referring to was not able to order any more L-2000's until the L-2000e became available, sometime afterwards. He always lamented the fact that when the L-2000e models arrived, it seemed nobody wanted the L-1000's anymore.
The passive L-2000 is pictured in the original marketing stuff, so it was evidently intended to be produced, at least in the early days. I wouldn't be surprised if a handful were built and shipped to dealers before production was halted, but I've never seen another one for sale anywhere.
Interesting. Would not have guessed that. Well - the other thing Leo was notorious for was being unpredictable.
Did the passive have the two band passive eq like the e than? It is entirely passive and he did put it on at least one of his strat updates (S500?).
Ibanez VWB1. I saw one in GC about 3 years ago and I haven't seen one since. I think one sold on here two years ago. Should have bought them when I saw them.
I've been trying to snatch up an Epiphone Thunderbird V for two months on my local classifieds.. It's posted for 350$ and HE WONT BUDGE ON THE PRICE! Ive tried now for two months to get him to budge on the price and he won't even go down a dime. He is firm! I found one other at a Guitar center three years ago for 300 but it was before my wedding so I had no spare cash... Shoulda put it on layaway. I only like to barter I guess haha. I'll keep trying! Re-set my hooks, the whale will be caught. Moby will be mine.
