bassmayhem

I've used the bass on two rehearsals, and will do the first gig on Wednesday. It truly is a well sounding bass. It has the same "heft" to the tone as my old Yamaha JP2 when using the bridge pickup. It has the three band Darkglass Tone Capsule with bass, low mid and high mid - no treble. Still it works very well. The bass looks really big, but is in fact rather natty. I like it.

This gem moved in today; I bought it from a friend... Mensinger Joker B6, 35" and 3/4" (19 mm) spacing...

I will. The Aggie is just 200 W RMS, so it is my smallest amp coming to wattage. Still, it pushes the cabinets to move some serious air. I will try it with the band at the rehearsal tomorrow.

Ooooops! Double post! Please, delete one.

My plan was to get a Bergantino Forté HP or a Quad Cortex as my third amp. I have a Genzler Magellan 350, a Vanderkley Spartan and a Jule Amps Monique preamp with a GSS Sumo power amp already. Ooops! Did that make three...? Well, I was out shopping for a fourth amp - not a third. All of a sudden I got the chance to get a super nice Aguilar DB 359 at a more than reasonable price, so I changed my mind. No DSP amp for me! No programmable stuff! Just plain analog old school stuff. I was a bit concerned how the Aggie would work with the Genzler Bass Array cabs; my old Super Bassman and the Bassman 100T sounded crap through them. No problems with this baby brute! Wooly, fat, juicy! The DB 359 is a BIG amp. Really big! But - it sits well on top of the Bass Array 12-3 SLT cabs: no risk sliding off the top cab. A tiny bit of T-factor can be seen... I kind of like it...

My plan was to get a Bergantino Forté HP or a Quad Cortex as my third amp. I have a Genzler Magellan 350, a Vanderkley Spartan and a Jule Amps Monique preamp with a GSS Sumo power amp already. Ooops! Did that make three...? Well, I was out shopping for a fourth amp - not a third. All of a sudden I got the chance to get a super nice Aguilar DB 359 at a more than reasonable price, so I changed my mind. No DSP amp for me! No programmable stuff! Just plain analog old school stuff. I was a bit concerned how the Aggie would work with the Genzler Bass Array cabs; my old Super Bassman and the Bassman 100T sounded crap through them. No problems with this baby brute! Wooly, fat, juicy! The DB 359 is a BIG amp. Really big! But - it sits well on top of the Bass Array 12-3 SLT cabs: no risk sliding off the top cab. A tiny bit of T-factor can be seen... I kind of like it...

First gig with the Flamboyant Orange Caramel... Church gig with friend Stefan Wikström, who is a great Elvis interpreter...

I bought this one from Cairobill a few years ago...

Milan bought my Steinberger XL2, a very smooth operation... Swift transfer via Wise (former Transferwise). Milan is a guy you can deal with with great confidence. Nice guy who is easy to chat with. I'd love to have a glass of fine Czech Pilsner with him and talk about serious matters...

Yep! A bit Alembic DNA there, but with a big exception: it balances well and doesn't weigh like a truck. (That was two exceptions...)

I didn't think you meant that. I can see som DNA too, but the Unicorn is more... delicate, if you get my point.

Well, Christian is a big fan of Mark King, so some kind of imprint may be traceable... My impression is that the old Jaydee were a bit... chunkier. Kind of. Anyway, as bass is a bass is a bass. 99 % of them look like something that fell off a truck coming out of Fullerton...

Well, now the Flamboyant Four has moved in... It is truly a magnificent instrument. The neck on this one is somewhat slimmer than on my custom ordered five string in making, just 19 mm thick at the zero fret. Wide and kind of flat-ish neck profile, reminiscent of an older 60's P-bass. The neck is super stable, though it has no carbon rods. Unicorn never uses these. The select wood is orientated and glued for maximum strength. The neck is dead straight, the bass plays very well intonated in every position all the way up to the 24th fret. Playing chords in tune all the way up is a thing not all basses can manage. The electronics are another thing... The pickup mini switch in up position makes "Precision Bass only", down position makes "All Jazz Bass" with pickup blend. Switch in center position activates "both basses mode" simultaneously. You can use all three pickups, or pan to neck J + P or bridge J + P. A lot of tones so far. The four band EQ is stellar. Four fixed bands: low - low mid - high mid - treble. Also an active/passive switch when pulling up the volume control. Unfortunately no passive tone. The last switch is something I've never considered an option: a kill switch. But - the original owner wanted one. I'll have a chat with Christian Olsson at Unicorn if it is possible to swap that switch for a passive tone control. The pickups themselves are built into very nice sculpted wooden covers made from the same woods you find in the neck, body and fingerboard. This is the only "bling" I ordered for my all passive five string bass. Really nice touch compared to plastic... The lacquer is fantastic. It is hard to make its pearl orange gloss right in a photo from a mobile phone. Just like that. If I say this lacquer feels like $1000 I won't lie... The scale then! This bass is a 32" medium scale instrument, something I've never owned before, and hardly never played. My Dingwall Super P and Super J starts off with a 32" G-string, that's the closest I've come. To be honest, hadn't I known I wouldn't have noticed. I tried a 32" five string at Unicorn's work shop, but that wasn't my cup of tea. But - a four string works very good and feels right in my hands. A very fine bass indeed! Now I just have to wait for my five string "Espresso Bass"...

One more teaser...

Here is my SECOND Unicorn, but I got it first. This one is a four string Artist model with a lot of custom options to my liking. A friend ordered it, but found that he only uses five string basses any way. To good to let pass, so I grabbed it. Three pickups in wooden shells: two J-pickups and one P-pickup. Switchable only J, only P and all at once. Balance on J-pickups, active/passive. It sure looks fast... Now just wait for my "own" five string to turn from a pile of wood into a bass...

Ooops! All of a sudden I have TWO Unicorns on the way... A friend sells his four string Artist (the one in the first picture is an Artist model) since he only plays five strings or more. When the deal is closed I put up some stunning pic's of that bass...

The logo reminds of

What I paid is an affair between Unicorn and me, but let us say like this: stellar material and craftsmanship ain't cheap. I know what I get and pay what it costs. This is a real custom shop bass, not just a bass called custom shop. Noone else gets a similar one. It is made for my head, hands and heart. Think like this: closer to Fodera than Fender... My philosophy is: A good price is what makes the buyer and seller satisfied.

Here is a link to an old article No Treble wrote some years ago. They just "mixed and matched" the pictures of two different basses... https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2014/11/17/bass-of-the-week-unicornbass-ozellman-master/ Next to the Strat hangs his Unicorn...