Yes, exclusively. But I was excited to give the Rascal a try because of the look and the sound. I mean, the green is awesome.
Again, not for me, but I can’t say anything bad about the Rascal.
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Those humbuckers in a Mustang? To die for. I just put LaBella’s on and it sounds even better. I’m in bass heaven.
Those are some of the best pickups Fender makes in my opinion
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Congratulations! It’s a nice piece indeed! This is my favourite shape of bass! The colour is so nice as well!
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Thank you! Yes, it is my favorite, as well! I love the Music Man Bass design, it’s such a timeless classic and always fits! I also wanted to go for something funky color-wise, as my prior bass looks somewhat oldschool and vintage.
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I have a Mustang PJ. I wonder how much of a pain it would be to replace the J with one of these wide range humbuckers.
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I know. I’ve got a Squier 51P and am wondering what it would sound like with one or one of these
I’ve thought about upgrading the electronics to eliminate the switch but it sounds amazing now so I probably won’t mess with it.
But I’d rather do it on a true short scale if I were to do it
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GAS
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I love love love competition style basses! Must resist…
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State of the Collection
Ok, with my latest acquisition, the collection is “complete”. While there are more that I would love to get, I have zero room for them. I figured I could likely get 4 at the most to fit on the wall. As a result, I had to be careful and really plan out which ones I got. I had a couple of rules: none of the same manufacturer and no duplicate colors. Each one had to fill a particular niche or unique feature to try and eventually cover every range of sounds I could ever want.
The following are my retrospective thoughts and short review on each.
First up: Fender Jazz. This was the original bass that started it all. I posted before when I got it about how it wound up accidentally being identical to the bass my dad played in his band back in the 60s. I love this bass and seems to be the easiest to learn something on. The downside is I’ve had to tweak it a lot to get the sound from it that I thought it should be making. The A string still seems to be quieter than the rest of the strings. Could just be in my head, though, or something I need to adjust on the pedals. One more thing: the shape of it across the board makes it a pain to hang straight or sit on a guitar stand. Drives me nuts. Other than that, there isn’t much I could say about the Jazz that hasn’t been said by countless people over the years. It’s a Fender Jazz. That’s essentially all you really need to say.
Moving on…
I then made the mistake of trying out some Spector basses at a local shop. One of the coping mechanisms I’ve used throughout the years to deal with my executive function disorder is to use a reward system for finishing things. Essentially, I have to have a clear goal and an equivalent reward for completing it. In this case, I had to complete the B2B course and check off the list in Josh’s “Are You Intermediate” video, as well as play a certain list of songs that I chose. Once I hit those milestones, I could get myself a Spector. With a lot of hard work and a surprising amount of focus, I took ownership of the Spector NS Dimension.
The Fishman Fluence system and various settings allow me to really shape my tone in a wide variety of ways. While most like fanned frets for the string tensions and intonations and such, I just really like the ergonomics. On top of that, the sound is incredible and the little switch on it makes it sound like a whole different instrument with every click.
I do have some slight criticisms on the Spector, however. The angle of the frets on it seems to have made it difficult to file the edges of the fret wires down. I’ve noticed this on other fanned fret guitars so it’s more of a “comes with the territory” type of thing, I guess. That, or I’m doing something wrong. Either way, I had to manually go in and round the corners just a bit more. Also, the edge of the nut was razor sharp and I had to round it down a bit on the upper side as my hand would catch the edges just right on occasion. Not a deal killer, but still.
It may seem superficial or shallow but my only real disappointment with this one was the instruction manual…if you can call it that. This was not a cheap guitar. It didn’t come with a manual and the one on the website is…bad. It’s what I would expect to see from “Crazy Dave’s Discount Guitar Manufacturer” or the Amazon Choice or other sub-$100 brands. Definitely not a nearly $2k guitar. It’s like they made it in Microsoft Word and the diagram of the controls for my guitar are actually incorrect. They don’t even really explain what each position on the switch does. I had to watch a bunch of reviews on YouTube and take notes. There was nothing saying how to work the bridge saddles either. Had to contact Korg tech support for that one. Those kinds of details annoy me to no end.
If I had it to do over again, however, I’d still get this guitar over the likes of Dingwall and Ibanez fanned frets. I just like the sound of this one far more.
Moving on to my more recent guitars: The ESP Ltd fret-less 5 string. This was a birthday present from my wife. It’s an absolute blast to play and not only caused me to fall madly in love with fret-less bass but also 5 string basses. The guitar is heavy as heck, looks beautiful if you like unique wood (hehehehe) and sounds great. Downsides: the shielding is terrible and I have to stand in very specific spots in my studio to be able to play it without noise. Also, the rear strap mount bolt had sheared when they installed it at the factory so I had some fun fixing that. One other odd thing is that I find it near impossible to learn a song for the first time on this guitar. It may just be me but I seem to really need the actual feel of the frets when I’m trying to learn. Once I have the song down, it’s no problem on this guitar, however. Just an odd quirk that may just be me.
Finally brings me to my latest and final guitar: Sire Marcus Miller P5 in 5 string. I realized the one kind of guitar that I didn’t have was a P-bass. It’s the most legendary sound and the tone most people probably think of when they think of a bass guitar. Why I hadn’t gotten one before I have no idea at all. Having already fallen in love with 5 strings thanks to the ESP, I knew it also had to have 5 as well. The general consensus seems to be that these Sire MMs are far better guitars than the price would have you believe and, having had it for a bit now, I can fully agree. This thing punches WAY above its weight. Honestly, I have zero complaints about this guitar unless I get REALLY nitpick-y first world problem-y. The rounded neck edges are a dream. It sounds incredible. It’s just the right weight. I know some people complain about the electronics but, frankly, I see err…hear nothing wrong with them and feel like it can go toe to toe with the Spector and other far more expensive basseses.
Final thoughts: I have zero aspirations of joining a band or making it big on the 'tube. This is purely about my personal enjoyment. That being said, when it comes to my favorite I have two situations: when I want to grab a guitar and just play I find myself reaching for the Sire. Not just because it’s the new hotness but it’s really the most enjoyable to play out of the four. If I did wind up joining a band and playing live shows and I could only bring a single bass, it would be the Spector due to just how insanely versatile it is.
Now I need to go back and center them on the wall a bit better. That’s been driving me nuts for a while.
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Yes!
I had mine fall on its face just the other night after I’d finished playing
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It’s all relative. Thinking about my tribulations getting a Stream to set on a stand, or a Destroyer. Jazz just seems okay
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Decided to grab a Nordstrand Acinonyx v2. I love the sound of it. More versatile than the v1. Having one of each covers a big range of sound.
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Yay cat bass!
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My basses. Think my better half take the hint that there may become one more. 
Ibanez SR1820
Warvick Corvette $$
Yamaha BBP35
Have a greate bassday!
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As long as you can pronounce its name without stumbling, you get to play it 
Congrats!
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nice 
hey, do you know what wall hangers you have?
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Hi:-) Yes, it is HERCULES GSP39WB-PLUS GTR
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One of these things is not like the other
Just putting this here as a tease/placeholder until I have a chance to get my thoughts settled.
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Dog’s a dog. Acinonyx is a cat bass
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