@Jazzbass19, I’m a complete beginner so anything I say has to be taken at face value as a personal opinion with little experience or technical knowledge behind it, but;
What I know from trying a few basses before buying this one is that it’s heavy. Not unusable heavy, but compared to most budget basses you notice it. That said, I’m using a nylon guitar strap at the moment so I haven’t tried to mitigate the weight through my shoulder aspect.
The neck dive is quite pronounced if you are standing and let go of it - it will slide towards the ground and settle pointing downwards to some degree - so you will either be using some of your fret hand strength to hold it up, or you will do what I do. I suspect your clothes, the bass finish, and what shape your belly is all have an effect on this. My bass is natural wood finish, I’m always wearing cotton t-shirts, and I have a definite beer belly for it to swivel on. That said, when seated it’s not a problem (obviously), and when standing I naturally rest my right forearm/wrist on the edge of the body. What I realised I was doing is putting weight downwards through my wrist to pivot the neck up. Some people have modified their T-bird by moving the strap button to the neck block (moving the pivot point by an inch or so), and some have even screwed into the neck itself - which just sounds like madness to me.
What I’ve decided I like most about this bass, especially over the lighter and better balanced Peavey, is the smooth neck. I lowered the action a little and between that and the natural wood finish on the neck (silky smooth) I find it easier to get around the frets. I’d tried a couple of basses that had glossy necks and just found my thumb getting stuck. The neck is also thin, which makes it easier to get a good arch in the fingers.
The electronics side is still a mystery to me as I’m not playing enough to worry about what settings to use. It’s full volume, both pups, mid treble and mid active bass.
The advice I’d give is the same as always; get to a store that has one or two of them and try them out. Check where the strap is attached and see how it sits for your chosen playing position. I have adopted quite a high position and I have the neck angled more steeply than I’ve heard some teachers recommend, but it eases the wrist angle.
I have to tinker with strings on the Peavey today and I’m planning to do some swapping between the two guitars, and hopefully record a bit of a before/after video for sound comparison. Alas, my playing isn’t going to make it an entertaining listen, but it might be revealing as I swap from round wound to flat.
. . . there’s a Guitar Center about a half hour away (Virginia may be for lovers, but it’s NOT for drivers lol) , but they don’t have any Gibson T-Birds, just the Epi. I will definitely have to check it out . . .
as I’m a new user I can’t upload more than one image, so, no pic for the Yam’ !
