Show Us Your Basses (Part 1)

Yeah, it’s getting hard to find one in good condition. I wasn’t a fan of the headstock at first, but it’s grown on me.

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Sounds like fret buzz. The action may be set too low or your neck may be bowing slightly backwards. It may even be the nut. You can sometimes check for a bow in the neck by looking down the neck lengthwise. It sounds like you may need to take it to a guitar shop and have a setup done.

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I have had a few sets of colored strings.
DR Black Beauties and Red Devils.

At first I wanted to try the black ones because it was gonna look great on the bass I had at the time, and I wanted to get a feel for something closer to flat wound, or tape wound or half rounds.

Next I got the Red Devils and put them on my LTD TA - FRZ (Tom Arraya of Slayer signature model). Those along with the skull control knobs I added (that had red fake gem eyes) make the bass look really really really cool.
Tonally, they feel pretty dead. The bass itself doesn’t have a lot of tonal options, which is unfortunate, because there is not real setting that gives them any type of life.
That is all good, however, this is a collector pc of artwork that will hang on my wall for a long time to come.

The SR300 Ibanez that I put the Black strings on, I never felt I got a lot of good tonal range from it either. I had an SR400, almost the same bass, with round wounds on it, and it has alot more versatility, and I could dial in sounds that I liked.

I took the strings off the SR300, but the old ones back on, and returned it (after about 5 months, thanks to GC extended Covid return policy). I loved the look of the bass, it was roadster orange, which is my favorite color, and it was light, sleek and the neck, oh so thin, fast and smooth, but I never really fell in love with the bass, and it was quickly getting sidelined more and more, so I decided to let it go.

I actually sold the SR400 as well, same reason. I loved it, it was a rad flamed maple top bright orange cherry burst kind of with matching headstock.
It had the looks that killed, but, still, I just couldn’t make it a go to bass and it was sitting more then getting played.

i have no problem buying new basses, when I find good deals on basses that are on my list, or even if they look like such a good deal that i can sell it for a profit, but if I decide they are not going to be played, and they are not even going to be a PC of wall art, then I will sell them and make room for the next.

I also have another bass, and I am going to get the DR Neon Orange strings for it. It is a Black Dean MetalMan bass. it is the shape of Dean guitar that Dimebag played, but in bass form. For that reason, him being my favorite guitar player, I got the bass for a steal. Never played it other then tuning it, doing a set up, and testing it out a bit.
But, with Orange strings (BEAD) and a good polish, possible some sticker plastering, and it will join the Slayer bass on the wall.

Take this all with a grain of salt, because I also have a Sterling by Music Man Stingray Ray34 that was recently Pleked, and set up with new Ernie Ball Flats. My first full on try with real flats, and guess what. I don’t like it either.
the bass has enough character, and has talked to me enough that I am not going to sell it, anytime soon at least, but I am going to be taking the flats off and putting on my go to strings, Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky round wound, and playing it for a long time to come. (That Said, I am a bit stingray heavy, and will be selling off at least 2 that I know of, and 2 other basses. Partly to thin the herd, but I just found a great YT channel where the guy does all sorts of Mods to SBMM Ray4’s and makes them bad ass.
A couple look like and play close to the actual EBMM Stingray counterpart (like the old smoothie) and cost a grand total of $500 including the bass, pick up, pre-amp, sting mutes and a few extra aesthetic mods.
So, I may get a couple Ray4’s and pimp them the F out.

So what I am saying is, I am not the best one to ask about the strings because I already don’t like the flats, so I am a bit judge-mental about the colors strings, because they just are not rounds.

BTW, this guy has a great YT channel, alot of the content is brand new, like 2021 new.
He also sells alot of the basses he purchases for review, and ones he mods, on his reverb store.
Before knowing it was him, I saw an SBMM Ray34 in natural ash that sold from him, basically brand new, and it went for $450.
I actually posted the link here when it was $500, begging someone here to buy it before it dropped any further and I ended up offering $400.
Thank god it sold before I could do the stupid offer.

He is Low End Lobster.
roughly 75% of his content is stingray or EBMM, or SBMM related, but he does some great reviews on lots of other top brand basses, and some very cheap ones to see if they are worth a beginner to buy.
He does shoot outs, mod vids, demos, first looks, unboxing, and many other things.
Most of his content seems to be recent, like within the past year, which is really nice because all his links to the parts he is using for mods, are accurate, instock, and the price he says they were, unlike some of the links that are 8 years old in other videos, and items are out of stock, 4x the price, discontinued, etc (and that is no knock on anybody posting links in old vids, it just happens, and the new content is nice.)

Here are a couple links to mod and shoot out and even a non EBMM / SBMM bass, the G&L L-1000 CFL (absolutely stunning)

This was the review for the bass that I almost bought from him on Reverb

This is actually the exact bass and pick up mod I have. I did not do the pre-amp mod that he shows in a later video. I was happy enough with the pick up upgrade sound, and the only really upgrade I found in the pre-amp was the push pull mid/high that turns it into a 3 band, but I am happy with the stock 2 band for the most part.

G&L L-1000 CFL
Epic Bass, made in the original Fender Building in Fullerton California, where Leo created G&L, his third and final company. He claims that these instruments are by far the best ones he and his team ever created, citing the many advancements in electronics and other tech, allowing them to create the best of the best.

They make a Tele body style bass two that is ti die for, considering i played a Tele guitar back in the day, I have alway loved them.

And the beginning of the MOLD SMOOTHIE Modification of a $299 bass with $200 in components and hardware to create a pretty darn impressive EBMM 40th anniversary “Old Smoothie” bass, modeled after the legendary #26 prototype made for sterling ball back in the 70’s.
This is the one with the 5 string pick up on the 4 string bass, and it needs so routing and drilling to build this beauty, but in the end, for 1/5th the price of the SBMM retail cost, it looks the part, and pretty much does the trick.
Of course the SBMM is the better bass, but if its what you want and you are limited to $500 budget, this is a great option.

Last one, annother cool mod turning a $300 bass into something to brag about. This uses Darkglass pre-amp, and although it does not have all of that classic stingray sound, it sounds pretty damn good, and I would love to have one with this look, and this sound as another tool in the bag o tricks.
This might be one I do first if I get the chance to sell off a few of the basses I am planning.

This is part 1 of a 4 part mod series, followed by part 5, a full review, and it is also in a 8 bass shoot out where he demo’s each of the 8 basses he modded with different pick up / preamp options, and asthetic mods.

If you like it, you can find the rest

also, I know I showed mostly Stingray or EBMM / SBMM clips, but he has a ton of other stuff in the little over a year he has been doing this (that I can gather), but he has many many many more reviews and mods and shootouts.

Harley Benton, Glarry, IVY (amazon bass), to Lakeland, G&L, Fender, Squire, Ibanez, Eastwood, Gibson, etc…
so, he is pretty cool, i am enjoying it. and I want do do the Mint-O-Ray, but probably with a different color, I am not a huge fan of the Mint, but I can bear it with the all black.
Oh, maybe I will do the tomato red looking color. I thought it looked lame like the mint does IMO, but with black hardware, You might just have something to work with. Hmm… LOL

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Yeah I’ve seen the Lobster guy and he was very helpful, as I recently bought an EB Musicman Stingray special 4H :slight_smile:
I would love to see a pic of your Dean metalman bass. I used to have a Dean Razorback black guitar with silver edges. It was SICK. I love the shape of it, and hopefully I can find one one day cuz I really liked just looking at it when it was on the wall :slight_smile:

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that guy is super informative, a good player and loves music man.

and drives me crazy.

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I just want to beat him to death with that stupid lobster claw glove her insists on using! I mean come on it’s not Play School

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Trying way way too hard to come up with a thing

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Well my Christmas money came and went, and I ended up getting a second bass. I still play my Schecter, but this is the one that I connect with. Ian Hill recorded British Steel with one, now I just need to git gud.

Only problem I have with it is I am so into playing it my fingers are getting torn on my left hand.

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Hey LEFTY stuff!! Nice gear.

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Great bass player and for some reason never seems to get the recognition like others do.
British Steel was most definitely one of the influential albums of my youth

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Excellent choice, @Wombat-metal . . . . :slight_smile:

(of course, I may be slightly biased :wink: )

Cheers
Joe

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It’s great to see all those pictures of basses from all of you. There are so many beautiful instruments that I wish I had more space (and money!) to own them myself.

But I’m not complaining. I have three basses and a good place to practice everyday.

Now I have a Mayhill soundgear (the black one), which is a sort of Ibanez clone I think. It was my first bass, and I played it till my fingers hurt. The frets are worn and there are quite some notes that simply don’t come out right anymore. But I could never part with it, so it’s on the wall and I occasionally play it.

The natural finish one is a handbuild Jazzbass (my own hands!). It is a fretless bass, strings through the body and has halfround strings. It sounds terrific and plays very well. I build it myself from a kit, and the process was very rewarding. I changed quite a lot from the kit (pulling out the frets being the most scary) and I learned loads about bass construction and setups. Unfortunately, I struggle playing fretless. It is fun to play and the sound is amazing, but getting the intonation right does require lots and lots of practice.

Last up is the blue one. This is a Sterling by Musicman Ray4. I bought this half a year ago, because the Mayhill was too worn and the Jazzbass too difficult. So now I’m playing again, everyday and I love the sound of it. It is quite loud, so playing without disturbing the neighbours, or in fact our neighbours neighbours is not so easy…

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6 months is up! Anything arrived in the post yet, @RolandDehli?

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Love the fireglo Rick in the background!!!

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I just joined the site for ideas and some instruction and have been enjoying the eye candy. I currently have a MIM P Bass, Rick 4003SW and a Spector Korean made 5 string. Play them all (not at once) but the Precision is my go to gig bass. Just feels right…

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Welcome aboard, @jim.mcelligott . . . :slight_smile:

Nice collection of basses, too!

Cheers
Joe

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Welcome @jim.mcelligott.
I too have an MIM P , a Rick but an Ibanez instead of a Spector.
Tend to use the Fender more nowadays as a practice and a bass to learn new stuff on but gotta love the Rick

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This an S.D. Curlee “Yankee 78” by Birdsong Guitars. They specialize in making short scale basses that behave like full scale basses. Great old school tone and amazing sustain. It has a series/parallel switch, which makes it sound very ballsy in series mode. The DiMarzio P pickup is reversed so there is better tonal balance between the low and high strings, making the g and d strings a bit more usable. Very pleased with this bass.

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Welcome aboard @jim.mcelligott,
Love the Rickenbacker, I have one as well👍
I did have 2 but sold one to Mac who is on the forum aswell.
Enjoy the ride,
Cheers Brian

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Yep, lots of love for Ricks. I had a black 4001 back in the late 70s so this one is nostalgia all over again!

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