Demeter Flip-top. 400 or 800 watts. Your choice.
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Winter NAMM 2017 (ultra Pic-heavy)
- Thread starter wintremute
- Start date
Lol Stu HammAnd some other bass dude looking on......
Schecter was my first stop. Some interesting additions this year and as a more budget-minded musician I tried out a few of their instruments. Very hard to evaluate in that environment (lots of metalheads crowding to meet Zakk Wylde) and the setups on the instruments I played wasn't great at all, which was a pity.
The Stiletto fretless 5 I tried was simply awful. The Model T was better but not as nice as I'd hoped. I used to own a Hellcat Bass VI which I sold as I never really fell in love with it, which kinda sums up my personal relationship with Schecter instruments. Good, solid, workable gear but doesn't really float my boat.
Suhr Antigua Bass featuring John Suhr.
First off, hats off to Wintremute, he's pulling more than double duty with the pictures compared to the rest of us combined.
Saturday was a bit more relaxed for me, rather than jetting around the place on my own trying to see as much as possible, I took my time with a friend of mine and looked at a few items more extensively.
First up: Lowdown Basses.
This is a new company based out of Chicago that makes more affordable custom basses. Prices ranged from 1500-2500. They caught my eye on Friday and I made it a point to come back Saturday after talking with their luthier Tim Seisser for a bit. Glad I did. They have a kind of rugged elegance to them, with all the grainy wood and nothing but oil finishes. When I sat down with them a played a while, I immediately noticed how comfortable they were, in the sense of a broken in catchers mitt or a favorite pair of shoes. the wood finish felt wonderful; the feel of lightly oiled grain under your hands lends a sense of groundedness with the instrument. Your body is more able to intuit what it's doing with the instruments when you have that extra sensory feedback. The neck was nice - slightly wider fretboard with a comfy back and 34" spacing made playing naturally easy without having to get used to it. They sounded superb - I could easily get an aggressive roar out of them, or dial it back to a mellow thump with a turn of the tone knob. It's worth noting that the two that I played were passive; just a volume, pickup selector, and tone. I'm usually dead-set on active circuitry, but for once I didn't feel like the basses needed them in the slightest. They sounded great by default.
I immediately got the impression that these are working-man's instruments, not meant to be particularly showy, ostentatious, or absurdly polished (though they certainly are pretty), but something you can take on the road with you and enjoy without fuss. It's worth noting that Tim said that this was the explicit design philosophy behind them, which he nailed. Color me impressed - this is a company to watch in the future for sure.
thanks for posting those Low-down impressions. I like the fact that they have Nordstrands in them, that's no doubt a key reason they sound so good. Something I'm gonna check out because you had me at "lower price and custom"
MOSFET preamp and EQ "channel strip in a box". Neve-ish in tone and color scheme.
Interesting concept and might be nice for old-school studio DI tones.
Great design. Very light. I liked the 800D much better, however, going into the 8 ohms speaker. Plus it had the bass boost that made it sound huge. The 400D would work alright either with an additional speaker cabinet, or as I mentioned to James, perhaps with an internal 4 ohms speaker. But it didn't quite have the same tone, when compared next to each other.
Sounds good. I heard someone else play it for a few minutes - not enough for a detailed analysis, especially in these environs.
I braved the weather and made it down today. Since the storm was supposed get worse I bailed before noon because in LA everyone drives cars made out of sugar. Totally spaced on seeking out Mike A. and MAS/Sonic Farm. Did touch base with a couple of old friends and stopped by the MTD booth and had a great conversation with Daniel Tobias. Plus he gave me an allen wrench for my knobs (since the MTD I picked up used didn't come with one). Met Norm Stockton at the booth - really nice guy and of course a monster player. Also played a few of the new Ibanez basses and glad I did as I had my eye on one or two that didn't really send me. I did however like the new BTB single cut, though the looks are a bit questionable to me. But I was reminded that Ibanez isn't MTD 
No pics from the show. I did snap some on the way home though. Swung by Dockweiler beach which is right under the LAX approach - not takeoff as usual as the winds were blowing hard offshore so they change the pattern. Normally this beach is fairly small size and usually on-shore winds. Today it was looking much more proper, though the water is polluted as all get out. The three guys that were out got some great waves and probably Hepatitis A, B, and C...
No pics from the show. I did snap some on the way home though. Swung by Dockweiler beach which is right under the LAX approach - not takeoff as usual as the winds were blowing hard offshore so they change the pattern. Normally this beach is fairly small size and usually on-shore winds. Today it was looking much more proper, though the water is polluted as all get out. The three guys that were out got some great waves and probably Hepatitis A, B, and C...
Is the guy in the fishheads levitating?
