Any sexy new basses you've got your eye on?

This is all you need. I haven’t had an amp in over a year :slight_smile:

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I am similar to Howard, i have amps here but very rarely do i plug into them.
i practice using just the bass without any plug-ins, when i record i go directly into presonus studio 24c directly into garageband and listen to the the music through bose quiet comfort headset.
cheers Brian

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Hi! I thought share this: https://bite.guitars
The more I learn about basses the more this makes sense to me and I love that it comes from Austria.
I also liked https://nordstrandaudio.com
As an industrial designer both concepts are bass porn to me.
Stay safe and I hope you enjoy!

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I agree to an extent and this is just me personally, but yes, I think feel is above all else, and I agree that I have felt great with ANY Schecter I have ever played, they all felt just “right”, even beat up ones in pawn shops, but I find this with a couple bass makers, so it is not JUST Schecter for me

Again, overall I agree, but it is a little jumbled the way it was written. Yes it is true that you can change the sound of any bass and make different tone, and even play thru different Cab Sims and Amp models and effects, and swap out pick ups and pre-amps and all of this, true true true, but there are some basses that you will be hard to get that sound from in other basses, regardless the rig. so yes, I agree it is is more important to find a bass you feel good playing, and then creating your sound with it. I just don’t necessarily agree that amp, cab, pedals, pickups, strings is way more important, then the bass itself. I think you can worry about amp, cab, pedals, later, AND I think that you can UPGRADE the pick ups, pre-amps and strings to get a sound more to your liking, but they need a good sound bass to be attached to so I just don’t totally agree with what was said. I agree with the general concept and overall think. you are right, it is just a little misleading IMHO

I don’t have a Yamaha TRBX or a Schecter any longer, but my Schecter did not sound better or as good as my LTD’s, any of them. which is strange because the Schecters had EMG-HZ pick ups IIRC, and my LTD’s all have ESPdesign pick ups

I will be completely honest, I don’t know the difference between the two, and I am not one that knows alot about good pick ups and which would be better in lots of basses, I just know when something sounds better to me, and I have to honestly say, my LTD’s have blown away my Schecter sound wise thru any set up or pedal or board or amp I ever played them thru. I have three LTD’s right now, and had 2 Schecters. I loved the Schecters, I never really wanted to sell them, but one was a 6 string, and the other I was never playing, and I was running out of room, so I sold them.
I even left fate to decide about the 5 string.
I listed them both for sale, and decided I was keeping one, and selling the other one. I listed them both for $400 and decided first to get an offer for $350 would be the one I sell. I still have the ESP up for sale, and am going to sell it, but since I don’t need to sell it now, I am holding on for the full $400.

That said, the other LTD is the Tom Araya “Slayer” signature model bass that I have tricked out, and it is more a wall art project that I have fun playing every once in a while, and then there is my LTD B4-E, which one of my 3 go to, keep forever basses.
#1 - SBMM Stingray Ray4 with Aguilar pick up (yes, my $299 stingray)
#2 - EBMM Stingray 4 SLO Special
#3 ESP LTD B-4E

One day I hope to get a chance to own another schcecter if not more, but for now, this is what I got and each of those three basses not only felt better to me to play (marginally better, like barely better, just enough to say they are better) they all sound amazingly better then the Schecters, that is my only reason I think I don’t have a Schecter on my main line up right now.

@Gecko I would probably get that LTD F-1004 over the Schecter if it was me, based on the sound alone, with my past experience, my LTD blew away my Schecters, but if I was going to choose based on the feel, I bet they are equal, so I could not tell you for sure. You can do alot in GarageBand, so you might like the Schecter. I bet either will be fine for you, I can only say if it were me, I know I would pick the F If you didn’t live so far away, I would say come give my ltd’s a try, but its about a 5 hour drive, so prob not worth it to just try out a bass for an hour or two

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A lot of stuff is preference too. I tried out some LTD and Warwick, both of which are solid basses, feel nice, sound good etc…Absolutely nothing wrong with them at all. I just liked the Schecter more as a personal preference.

As far as rig and sound, I’ll expand. A $2000 bass through a fender Rumble 40 will not sound as good as a $200 bass through a $2,000 rig. The richness and warmth you can get from a good amp, as well as the tone shaping from pedals/preamps and the clarity of sound from well built cabs…it’s just a ton of tone! Now if you plug the $2k bass into that $2k rig as well, it will sound way better than the $200 one. And the $200 into a Rumble 40 will sound way different than the $2k on also in the Rumble.

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Found an ESP Tom Araya FRX on Amazon for far less than $5k.

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I have that bass.
But mine is LTD TA F-204 FRZ
So it is the $649 version of that bass
There is also a $1249 version.
But yeah, that bad boy, the Japanese custom shop ESP, yeah, it’s around 5k, and looks a world different.
Essex Studio Gear Shop on Reverb has one of the original, first ESP custom made for one of the NAMM shows some years back for sale, and I think it was under 5K on sale too. I will see if there is a link.

It is a fun bass.
I put Red strings and Skull knobs on it.
I can’t find the pics with the skull knobs, but if I do I will post it.

Oh yeah, I paid $250, and it is not the current version, it was about 2010-2013

AWESOME!!!

Not my go to, but fun

AndIf I had the ESP version, I would still put the DR Red Devil strings on it.
Geezer has them on his Signature Lakland P-Bass (and he has them on all the Basses he plays live, according to a YT vid I saw. And not a plug for strings or advertisement. They just look sick, and the coating helps with his fingers he says.

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I love their custom shop. It’s got this unassuming little store front around the corner from all the big boy multi-story retail shops (including theirs). You really get the feeling that’s where the magic actually happens.

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I do recall you posting that picture before.
But that is so cool, I would love to see that. I mean, I live close to many big name players. Like HUGE players. Fender is within 40 miles, G&L, Schecter, Keisel, etc…
But
They are not near each other
and then the shopping, there is nothing quite like it.

I mean, if you wanted to go buy a bass, and had a few things you were sure you would buy if they had it, and had the money to go get it, I am pretty sure you would be going home with a Bass that same day.
Here
nothing like it
I mean, you get lucky to find standard basses in your area, its all about shipping.
Even up on Hollywood Blvd. You have “The” Hollywood Guitar center, and Sam Ash down and across the street, and a few little music/ novelty / tattoo / Pawn shops and lots of big (and little) clubs and venue spots,
but if you drive up there, you are still doubtful to find a bass to take home.

I would love to check that out some time, like bucket list shopping day, even if it is just window shopping.

yeah, Ochanomizu (the music district) is pretty fricking awesome.

Last time I went I actually spent a good amout of time hanging out in ESP’s giant retail store (Big Boss), just playing with Edwards and some off brands that they had but no one else did (like these super cheap SX basses that were actually awesome.)

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I’m not as fancy as you guys. I just want one of these. Why? Because. Steve. Harris.

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I a simple too, I just want one some those also.
Why, Cuz of

And Geezer and Steve Harris and a gazillion others that have all played them

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@T_dub We named him Sid, because that was his name. We named him Vicious, because he was.

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Get a matching pink one and name it Nancy.

Nothing is more punk than a dayglo pink P-bass. Nothing.

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All the reason you’ll ever need :metal:

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I see now, there are three different versions. It’s not easy to distinguish the lower models from the top model as it doesn’t have its own model number.

ESP LTD Tom Araya TA204FRX Bass Guitar Black Satin | American Musical Supply | Reverb

ESP Tom Araya FRX Black Satin Electric Bass + Hard Case MIJ | Gear Orphanage | Reverb

What is your go-to that you prefer?

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Still waiting for this :slight_smile: hopefully soon

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Eyeing this from my tax return. Don’t need one but if I don’t spend the money…

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That looks metal af. What is it?

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It’s an Ibanez SRMS805 (where do they come up withese names? Sounds like a droid)

It is fan fretted. Metal AF fits into my vibe; and it’s reasonably priced.

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