Help with decision paralysis needed! I’ve been GASsing for a short scale and a Reverend for half a year. Dreaming of the Sentinel vs Wattplower was fun until one of each became available used for basically the same price. Now, what do I buy?
Both are SS, well made, light, and use quality electrics with minimal controls. Both have tone creation that suits me. Generally, I like playing funky jazzy bluesy, but still so new that it’s not like I have a real need or preference yet. My existing bass is an active HH Fender.
As I see it :
Sentinel
Love the binding and the very plain electrics setup. The face of the bass–switches, pickup, etc.–looks great to me. Really, that one strip of chrome with a couple knobs is so clean and tight.
It is a light 7 lbs. with good reviews for balance. It has one P but with a voicing switch. Thicker body means more sustain than the Watt. Sentinel’s body shape is pretty but less interesting to me today. I might like that better in person. The used one I’m looking at is a nice enough dark blue–but so is my current bass. I’d prefer a different color, and not the red of most current Sentinels.
Clean and beautiful aesthetic. Tone and electrics are tidy and smart. Body shape seems a tad plain or is maybe something I will get used to.
Wattplower II
I like the shape of the body better. The front is way more complicated vs the Sentinel. I like the pickguard. I like the reverse-P, but when it comes down to it, tone is close between the two, and the Sentinel does it with less fiddly bits. Wattplower body is even lighter–in the 6 lb range–but that’s not important to me. It’s a good price on a MK II. I like the yellow, and especially the satin finish.
I have the root beer sparkle Wattplower Mk II. Great bass. Never played a Sentinel, so a recommendation from me would be obviously biased. That said, BUY THE WATTPLOWER and join us in the corner of the bar, chatting with Mike Watt. The neck Thumpbucker is worth its weight in gold. You’ll never regret it.
FWIW, the middle switch position gives you the regular P pickup configuration, and is identical to the Wattplower Mk I. The bottom switch position gives you the reverse P and the top position gives you the neck pickup. Mike plays it with either the reverse P or the neck, depending on which of his bands he’s playing with.
100%
I have a Wattplower too, but I’ve at least been able to put hands on a Sentinel. It’s a nice bass. For the same price, the Wattplower blows its doors off.
Yah! this. I’m usually not a fan of the Neck pickup but man Andy Irvine sold me. I also like the simplicity of 3 position switch with that pickup config it can get crazy fast. I couldn’t find the back picture, does it have the belly carve? SG style can get uncomfortable.
Oh wow, That’s gorgeous with the Sting thru body too, I just realized. I don’t know why they don’t show off that Set neck, that looks so good. Also the nut width looks so generous, is it a P-bass nut width on a 30" scale, that’s awesome man.
The nut is J bass width (38 mm). The string spacing is slightly more narrow at the bridge compared to a normal J bass, but the saddles have a width adjustment, so they can be fanned a bit.
It wasn’t easy to find here in the EU. I found it in a shop in Vichy and paid a boutique shop price, €1,875 over two years ago. At today’s terrible exchange rate, thanks to Orange Julius, that’s about $2,175, which is basically list price plus the 25-30% import duty. But, heh, it’s not a bass that I’d ever consider selling.
Anchors, aweigh! It came and is beautiful. Grateful for the encouragement: All caps instructions and doors being blown off brought me peace.
Not as deeply mesmerizing as Root Beer Sparkle, but I dig the TV Yellow. It really needs a setup–glad Josh taught me how. Sounds pretty killer. There’s some long-lingering resonance that seems like noise or bleed after the sustain has ended. Most apparent on the regular P (middle switch). Stops if I mute the strings.
Going nutty with the antici-
