. 
I’ve had a fairly rare sax consigned for sale for months with a high end reseller friend of mine…guess what just sold today?
Two more listed starting tonight for 7 day auction.
Between the three (all things I’ve upgraded from) it will pretty much pay for any 5’er I want.
Turning brass into wood.
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Behold!
Alchemy 
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When my dad past away (who I really didn’t care for) amongst the stuff sent to me were his gaudy ‘80s gold bracelets and rings. At that point I turned gold into brass.
Now if I could only reverse the direction I’m going we’d be in business!
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Charles Berthoud uses his fairly often in some of his compositions. At the speed he plays, it’s nearly a frenetic reach-flick to be back on the strings and maintain pace/tempo. I find it distracting to watch – pulls me out of the music overmuch.
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I took a drive to the little shop over the bridge as he has quite a bit of variety there to try/play.
Focused on a 5 string, I tried/played the following (it was kinda really fun!)…
Lakland 55-02
Warwick
F bass BN5
Ibanez Affirma
Warwick FNA Jazzman
Paul Reed Smith (actually forgot I tried it, that’s how much of an impression it made)
Fender Active J
Dingwall Combustion
Dingwall NG3 (4 string - for the DG tone capsule part)
So, what did I learn today?
- I am most certainly not an Ibanez or Warwick fan. This is not my first try with either, but they are just not for me.
- The Fender sounds, well, like a Fender with a B string. Which is fine if that is what you are looking for, not me though.
- The Dingwall are cool, and the DG tone capsule is a big improvement over the standard pre-amp (IMO). The fan frets are cool and don’t take much getting used to, and make a LOT of sense with fretting across strings on the same fret, as you have room for your fingers vs. barring it. That said, it wasn’t out of this world cool. The bodies do look super, but the puny headstock, even with the matching color, really bothered me.
- The Lakland is an amazing bass. This one was in the burst cherry finish. The B string tone was out of sight, the pre-amp and pickup combos (double split coil at bridge) really gave a lot of options. I really despise the control knobs but I would guess those are easily replaceable. What really got me besides the tone was how comfortable and great the neck was. Liked it better than the dingwall too.
So, did I buy anything…no.
If I was going to go for the Lakland I think i would look used or at least somewhere with a lower price and/or no tax. Was full price and tax was in play, so could save hundreds buying elsewhere. Pic of that bass is below.
So I went to grab lunch and think about the whole thing, and where I netted out was I am not sure if I want a 5 string at all, and limit my options, or, if I want a 4 and to convert it to BEAD. Wanting to think about it more I decided to do nothing and keep looking.
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It sounds like time well spent @John_E . Sometimes its more beneficial to find what you DON’T want rather than that which you DO. Your field has gotten smaller and hopefully easier to decide from.
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Great test John, @John_E ,
Geezer uses Lakland basses, they do look really nice IMO.
Cheers Brian
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I put this on order at Sweetwater, its exclusive to them.
There were no pre-orders yet, so first in line.
Current lead time is Jan-Feb, so I have plenty of time to change my mind, but, I keep thinking about tone and neck, tone and neck, and I really really liked both.
Thinking BEAD on a 4, from what I read a 35" (which this is) seems to help the B string tone/tension thing better. This isn’t the only company that does it, so why risk converting a bass and not liking the B when that is the whole purpose of the B string, great B tone.
So I have 3-4 months to find something better, but I honestly doubt I will (at least for me).
I do like the ebony fretboard much better.
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Those are very nice looking basses. Out of my price range though. I’m sure you will love it!
That Lakland is gonna be a keeper.
Man, that’s one thing I really prefer about them. I think the huge Fender headstocks look kind of goofy in comparison to the smaller ones that Ibanez, Dingwall, Yamaha and others do.
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Deal alert on an ice blue 55-02 with matching headstock and gig bag.
Oh dear. To wait for purple or go for this? Sigh.
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Call it lavender and split the difference!
I’d wait. That purple is fantabulous. That blue does nothing for me. I guess it comes down to how much you like the blue 
Used is definitely a bonus over new for sure though, assuming the seller is reputable and the price is decent.
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Lot to like about that one
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Yes it is 
@John_E
Cheers Brian
That looks cool, but still gotta go with the purple for the uber coolness.
man I don’t know.
I so really wanted a MM ‘Tuxedo’ bass, but decided on the Dargie instead.
This one is really getting me excited, and, is a heck of a lot cheaper as it is (barely) used and bought in May.
Getting some better pics. We shall see…
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I do agree with @howard that the purple one is really cool.
But I do get your dilemma too.
Can you get to try the white one?
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