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

#42
Happynoj said:
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
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I did like the necks a lot. There's nothing like the feel of raw wenge (before they switched to ovangkol) in your left hand. What I disliked about those basses was the weight, the lack of oomph on one (solid maple made it too trebly, and I suspect the stock MEC electronics didn't do it any favors) and the ergonomics on the other (stupid thumb bass).

Nowadays I play a superthin jazz bass neck that also has lost about 2mm worth of fingerboard due to fretted to fretless to fretted transitions. I found that I'm more sensitive to nut width than back-to-front thickness.
 
#45
Nobis17 said:
My Ibanez SR900 has a beautiful curve to the body. Can't find a NT or curved body like that for anywhere close to that price :).
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They are lovely, but the Soundgears have a convex back (or rather, the body tapers towards the edges).

I think what we are looking for is a concave back, similar to US / Euro Spectors and German Warwick Streamers. The original Ergodyne basses from Ibanez also have this.
 
#47
Just as a footnote to this ancient thread:

Occasionally in the used market you can find an Ibanez Doug Wimbish model (in 4 and 5 versions) that was a short-lived arrangement between the two where they made Curved-Like-A-Spector Soundgears as he preferred them. Fairly rare, a short marriage, as it were, but they do show up occasionally, like the rare Ibanez Verdine White's.
ibanez-doug-wimbish-signature-bass-dwb3to-model-2003-slika-104147450.jpg


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Verdine White Sig Ibanez, a contemporary to the DWB's, but flat-backed.

Fairly rare, but they do show up from time to time. Ultimately, DW went back to Spector, VW had several suitors until finally having a Sadowsky Signature axe.
 
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#48
J Wilson said:
Occasionally in the used market you can find an Ibanez Doug Wimbish model (in 4 and 5 versions) that was a short-lived arrangement between the two where they made Curved-Like-A-Spector Soundgears as he preferred them.
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Oh neat! I’m going to have to look out for one of those.

Honestly my ideal bass would be if Ibanez rebooted the Bean Bass with a curved back, and an optional short-scale neck. I’ve been eyeing the short-scale Rockbass Corvette, as a full Warwick custom Streamer would cost as much as a car…
 
#49
hooky_marr said:
They are lovely, but the Soundgears have a convex back (or rather, the body tapers towards the edges).

I think what we are looking for is a concave back, similar to US / Euro Spectors and German Warwick Streamers. The original Ergodyne basses from Ibanez also have this.
Click to expand...

Not all Ibanez Soundgears have the shape you describe. Most do, however there are some older ones (like that SR 900 above) and especially the “SRT” series (that have been discontinued but were derived from those SR 900s) that were neck through, arch top/scoop back (like a Spector) and had EMG pickups and preamps.

I used to own an SRT 800 that was that way. Super great basses. They’re very rare and hard to find There is on SRT 805 for sale on Reverb right now in Japan. Occasionally they pop on eBay or Reverb, but like I said, they’re rare.

This is the one I used to own:
Ibanez SRT800DX - Transparent Gray
 
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#52
beatdatthang said:
Not all Ibanez Soundgears have the shape you describe. Most do, however there are some older ones (like that SR 900 above) and especially the “SRT” series (that have been discontinued but were derived from those SR 900s) that were neck through, arch top/scoop back (like a Spector) and had EMG pickups and preamps.

I used to own an SRT 800 that was that way. Super great basses. They’re very rare and hard to find There is on SRT 805 for sale on Reverb right now in Japan. Occasionally they pop on eBay or Reverb, but like I said, they’re rare.

This is the one I used to own:
Ibanez SRT800DX - Transparent Gray
Click to expand...

oooh sweet! (grabby hands)
 

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