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Who makes curved-back basses (e.g. Spector)

#21
alaskaleftybass said:
My Ibanez SR500 lefty slides into me closer than my first crush girlfriend in high school... ;)

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+1! This bass is wonders for dealing with wrist, finger and hand issues! It's balanced and light, and with such a thin neck it is super playable. All for around $400 used which is a steal! 3 or 4 songs on my Thunderbird will fatigue my arthritic finger joints the same as 3 or 4 hours of playing my SR. Might have to fork over some decent money to get the curved back SR1000 that CanadaNeal mentioned though
 
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#25
Torn Bassist said:
This is Ned Steinberger who designed the Spector NS2 and then he also designed the Steinberger basses, NS Design is his current company and his instruments are build at the same factory that's used to build the Spector production basses called the Euro....Ned has designed new violins, etc. and this is his bass.
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The CR line is built along side the Spector Euros, but Ned also still has a shop in Maine where he lives and still sells USA made versions of all his instruments.
 
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#32
Barbaric.Eric said:
+1! This bass is wonders for dealing with wrist, finger and hand issues! It's balanced and light, and with such a thin neck it is super playable. All for around $400 used which is a steal! 3 or 4 songs on my Thunderbird will fatigue my arthritic finger joints the same as 3 or 4 hours of playing my SR. Might have to fork over some decent money to get the curved back SR1000 that CanadaNeal mentioned though
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Yes! The thing is well shaped and very light but kicks like a velvet hammer. Hard to believe what an excellent bass it is for the price! Or any price, for that matter. I don't equate cost of bass to my love for it or its playability.
 
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#33
tonemachine said:
Yeah, that's right. Chunky necks. Sound awesome, though.

Also, looking at some warwick pictures, it looks like they, like spector, have the top horn stop shorter (relative to the 12th fret) than other basses. This effectively makes the nut and lower pitch frets a longer reach. I've even considered somehow extending the strap hooks on my Spector but fear extended leverage ripping the horn apart.

Bear with me, if this seems picky. I have a left hand/wrist issue so the longer reach is an unpleasant challenge and a lump of scar tissue on my torso, right in the middle of where I like to wear my bass so the curved backs fit it perfectly. Flat-backed basses tend to use that lump as a major pivot point so I then have to fight with them. It's managable for routine playing but I want to really step up my playing and a bass that pivots less will greatly help for the precision required for more fluid playing.
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It depends on the model. The Thumb bass is horrible in that respect (the reason why I finally parted with it. Wrist pain due to ridiculous reach). The Fortress bass, OTOH, was very comfortable from that standpoint. From the standpoint of being a boat anchor made of solid flamed maple, not so much :D
 
#37
Although it's not curved, I'd like to give a +1 to the Ibanez basses. My SR506BM is a nice looking instrument, sounds really really good, plays very comfortably, is light, the body is thin and comfortable, and they're dirt cheap on the used market. I paid $350 for my 6-string and it has paid for itself over and over again. I always feel like I owe it to my more expensive basses to play them more, but legitimately, if I could quit being a brand-whore for 5 minutes, I'd probably put the rest away and just play the Ibanez.
 
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#38
sotua said:
Really? I had two late 90's german warwicks and the necks were veritable louisville sluggers sawed in half.
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They are supposed to be much slimmer now. Maybe it depends what you're comparing them to? I love the 2000s baseball bat necks, so pretty much anything else feels tiny in my hands... :D
 
#40
buldog5151bass said:
Yeah, I've played Warwicks, was never comfortable with them, although they are great sounding basses.
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Played a used Custom Thumb tonight. $2500 at GC. Jeez. Not a deep neck and a nice curved back. I'll er sound. But still with the top horn stopping at the 14th fret rather than 12th and making for a long reach.

Also checked out some Ibanez, sr500 and others less than $1000(muddy pick ups, maybe good for reggae or stuff where you don't need high end or midrange growl) and two btb or something like that (both with the nordy 1/4 pounders or whatever. Killer sounds). None of those are not curved backs, by the way. None of the ibanez there were and they have a billion. I guess just the old ( like the sr1000 depicted) are it? Looks like I'm gonna have to be patient.. I don't want to sell all my basses to get one of those boutique ones that have been recommended. Grrrr.
 

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