Nope! Those are the last basses I’m gonna buy! They will survive me.
Still undecided. I saw a bass like that, only having holes on the backside.
But I tend to agree with you, it’s silly. It’s early morning here and i didn’t have my coffee 
Just saving this for posterity 
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Hahaha! No, I have thought about it. I will never be good enough to justify the next class of basses. And I take no pleasure in having expensive or a lot of stuff. I take pleasure in having the perfect stuff (for me)! That’s why I mod.
It’s like me buying a 10.000€ mountain bike. Makes no sense (anymore).
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I love my 300 (it’s a keeper along with my Les Paul), but I’m not even gonna try to say something that silly. Need to upgrade my PJ to the 734. Need a good J bass (thinking the G&L). I want one with humbucker’s and a better shorty. I don’t need Al’s shed… as nice as it is… but I’d like to cover my bases as far as being able to get whatever sound I’m going for.
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I wonder how much of that is psychological? I saw your pictures with the Ibanez that’s effectively a 32 inch scale. A 34” scale is just one inch added to each end, 2 inch compare to 30” scale. It seems extreme to only limit yourself to sub 30” scale in a budget arena.
It’s not just the scale of the bass guitar but overall design and length. A Mustang or your precious HB is about 34” from the strap button to the nut. A 34” stingray is just under 36” from strap button to the nut because the bridge is mounted at the very bottom of the body. My 5 string Tobias Renegade is 35.5” and it’s a 34” scale bass.
What’s the nature of your limitation? You seem to have an enthusiast level of OCD and needs parameters.
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This is a super important point. It’s where the bass sits and how it is designed with where the bridge sits relative to the center of your body, much more than the overall scale length. This is one reason I dislike how Warwick Streamers feel - everything is about 2cm to the left of where I like, when it sits normally on me
The scale length is really pretty immaterial to reach compared to that.
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Yeah, try Katana. It’s feels like a 36” scale, 
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The bottom line is that starting out with entry level instruments is totally the right plan for a beginner, so kudos there, and HB makes pretty good ones. But even once modded, you are going to eventually want to branch out, try more, play other types of instruments, and eventually trade up. It’s the path that nearly everyone takes, regardless of original intent.
The good news is you settled on bargain basement instruments as your “dream bass”, and didn’t do the usual mistake you see a lot of people make, and that’s shoot for their first bass to be a “forever bass” and spend a ton on a USA Fender or Gibson or something. That’s usually doomed and also expensive. At least you’ll get out fairly cheap when you swap up.
It turns out when you’re new you don’t even know what you really like yet, and won’t until later. It’s natural.
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Many things are psychological, in the end. That’s one of the reasons I like to discuss stuff here - I find the very nature of all responses very fascinating
(Maybe this is the reason for some statements I make?!?!)
We had some discussions about the “feel” of stuff, remember (nut width etc.), where we could not get down to science.
So when I look at it from a pure ergonomic point of view, this bass has everything at the “right place”, so it feels natural to reach. And I don’t have to get into uncomfortable or possibly painfull positions.
I really loved my ESP, but my shoulder issues prevented me to play it over time, as the issues became worse. I found the very very very short Blackstar (ergonomically) great to play - except having all tonal deisadvanages of a 24" scale…
So there might be some psychology involved (there always is - some people are compulsive about, let’s say, everything Yamaha ^^), but I think that it boils down to the right ergonomy of the bass.
I had to google for other meanings of OCD
But you really meant obsessive-compulsive disorder, right?
Let’s get - half seriously - into the background of current psychological development (current being: from about the 70s/80s).
I guess, it’s an American thing to give everything a psychological attribute, be it OCD, ADHD … you name it.
In Europe we are (still) much more relaxed about exceptional behaviour and drive (don’t have such a strong pharma lobby and not many people seeing shrinks :-)).
You call it OCD … we call it passion! You call it ADHD … we call it hyper active. You call it depression … we call it feeling sad. And so on…
(You not meaning you as a person, of course!).
Look at how the redefintion of pain - driven by pharma and executed by medical personel - led to the Opiod crisis in the US. Isn’t that fascinating (and absolutely devastating)???!.
I am saying this as an ex-psychologist, who has seen DSM (that’s the standard publication about “mental disorders”) go through three iterations in his time, with many changes heavily and controversily discussed, as some changes were driven by US pharma and so called “psychologists/psychiatrists”.
Often, us Europeans had a feeling that some (mainly US) “experts” had a (expensive) remedy and looked for a matching disorder, conventially found in a new edition of DSM
The problem is, that some artficial (and culturally determined) average in a hypothetical and hard to measure Gaussian curve is defined, and every deviation ends up in DSM., not taking into account the normal/natural differences of psychological traits in people and cultures. This is a recipe to make everybody “abnormal” and make money out of that. It’s a bad development for society in general!
If something is in DSM, every pharmaceutical company develops some kind of drug (Xanax , Prozac, Zoloff, Adderall, Quetiapine etc. etc. etc.) and the life style industry profits as well (shrinks and coaches etc.).
I find this a dangereous development and fear the side effects (for people and societies) - maybe this is the reason, some things in the US seem to be a little over the top to us Europeans? Just a thought…
Sorry for being serious for a moment - won’t happen again! But this is close to my heart, maybe cause of my former profession…
OK, what was the topic?
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A little mile stone status - almost finished!
Before:
Now:
Interesting, how much effect light has on Pink’s Hot!
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It would be sad if these are the last 2 basses you’d ever buy.
It’s quite normal especially for tinkerers to make improvements to the instruments. My advice to you is to pace yourself. It seems like you are making every changes to the bass. The pickups, pots, tuners, bridge, knobs, strings, pickguard times two. Then neck color and body weight reduction. Almost like watching TopGear specials.
If we didn’t know you better, we’d think that you despise that bass and want to charge everything about it. What @howard said kinda bring things to perspective.
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Shooting the bass.
It’s never too late.
It stops all the internal voices.
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Not sure I understand this ‘not always blacked out’ concept
Seriously though, the wood does look cool, but I am a sucker for the goth/metal look.
My goals in life this point are to add a matte black and a deep purple bass to my gorgeous red Yamaha which I still adore. I can probably die contentedly happy then.
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That was interesting, thanks
It’s a shame Ebony didn’t stay as popular for the guitar industry. Although probably better for the trees in question.
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Ebony is expensive. It’s still used but only on several high grade instruments. I have ebony fretboards on two of my acoustic guitars.
Also the Indian Laurel wood is used since a few years to replace Rosewood. it looks relatively similar to rosewood (if you don’t look too close because the wood grain is a bit different, the Laurel looks more “dry” somewhat) but feels and sounds more like Ebony. Not a bad choice.
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Damn straight!
For sure
I do love the barfing unicorn too. That would have definitely been an upgrade 
Looking way cooler, both of them I might add.
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Yeah. I tried to get an ebony plank to make my bass ramp boy, they are not cheap at all. I was shock that my custom Fretless from Lignum, 'em boys slabbed on a pretty thick and chunky ebony fretboard. Looks great and feel awesome
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I hear you, post-punk and goth is my jam too. Two good recommendations for the matte black; the Yamaha BB734A that I posted above, and the Fender MIJ Limited Noir Precision Bass.
The BB734A is of course my pick. Peter Hook’s, too; he and Jack Bates have moved to using them (and Hooky’s modified signature one) from their old standby BB’s. Jack has something like 11 of them for touring the Pumpkins
Here’s a more goth shot:
The MIJ Limited Noir is also amazing but getting hard to find:
Deep purple, I really wanted an Ibanez SR2400-APL but they are gone and no one with them ever sells them:
so if I get one I guess I will have to settle for a Dingwall Combustion
Indeed.
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…and is often advertised as “Rosewood”
I assume it’s what is on any current “rosewood” fretboard guitar under a few grand, but I could be wrong.
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I fear you’re not wrong at all. Actual rosewood is only found on expensive instruments nowadays.
Rosewood and Indian Laurel are easy to identify when you see them in person really (I say that because I own a Indian Laurel strat neck, and a lot of older actual Rosewood necks, including Greenie).
But that indian Laurel is fine, really. No problem with this wood. Soundwise it’s similar to maple and ebony, nothing wrong. And it doesn’t look bad at all.
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