Bass Porn

YES! Thanks a bunch… I tried all of the other “b” names I could find on Japanese bass sites but that one escaped me.

(This isn’t even me GASing… this is that other game I play: “Name that bass.”)

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Now to codify this in case anyone else ever wonders what bass Rina is playing in the latest Tokyo Groove Jyoshi videos, it’s a Black Smoker Beta P4 from Black Cloud:

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Black Cloud has been on my radar since I discovered Band-Maid/MISA. You can see her playing her custom here:

https://youtu.be/mVrN-j_Uc0U?t=143

If you’re ever stumped about gear, try: https://equipboard.com/ It’s not always up to date, but it’s solved more than a few mysteries for me.

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Misa is badass

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Good call @emme ! Forgot about them. I saw a bunch of Black Smokers the last time I went to Ikebe and it was the first time I had ever heard of the brand.

Like I said, so many boutique makers like that here, all making really high quality gear. It’s kind of crazy.

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I did the Yen to USD conversion and a bass like that runs… $2500. YMMV, but I can’t spend that on a P-bass. (I’m not anti P-bass, just that kind of money for one.)

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Keisel makes astoundingly good instruments.

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Yeah, not cheap - though pretty middle of the road for high end MIJ. Full ESP’s run $4-6k.

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Nope, cheap they ain’t,.
BUT, you can have one made pretty much to any spec you would like.
They are certainly worth a look.

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Yes. Local vendors like these are why I would never buy a custom shop Fender, for example - for around the same price I could get a truly high end boutique instrument.

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I knew I’d seen these :rofl:

totally had forgotten.

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I looked into the Gibson Custom shop once and found the price for what I wanted way, way beyond my budget.
Almost 4x the street price.
Better to invest in a local company.

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Yeah. For that price, you could almost (almost!) get a local luthier to build something from scratch, or take a much cheaper and good serial bass and customize it to whatever.

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They make USA made custom guitars for a price significantly less than their competitiors, for sure. However If you read around just a ‘little’ bit then Jeff Kiesel seems to a bit of an asshat.

Everyone is free to spend their cash how they want. But why give money to idiots. YMMV.

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Wow. What an asshole.

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You mean… :muscle: man

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WOW…

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Follow up. Jeff made a public apology too.

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Do I accept his apology? Yes.
Would I buy an instrument from him? No.

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Social media has ruined many a career.
Scratch that - People on social media have ruined many of their own careers.

If you run a business, or are in the business of selling yourself in any way, just say positive things. Or better yet, stay off social media (he stated he was doing 15 hours of lives a week, really? - how about build guitars instead), you are not a celebrity.

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