Terry M.

And there's me thinking the price of vintage Fenders was over the top. I'll see myself out...

Exactly that with regards to what we get used to 👍Do you mean the greenburst J Type there? I also tried it and fell in love with the fretboard 😂 Yes 20" definitely feels flat to me too.

That's fair enough ☺️ I own two Warwick Broadneck basses with 47" radius and as I mentioned I tried a fully flat ACG. If I was blindfolded and was handed a 47" radius fretboard and then a fully flat one I would not be able to tell the difference,in fact forget the blindfold! After a certain radius size (I can't say which but for the sake of this conversation let's call it 16") you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between that and a fully flat one. I definitely notice the difference between 9.5" and 12" but after that(to me) it becomes imperceptible. I totally favour flatter boards where I don't have to go searching "downhill" for the outer strings 😂So my Warwicks although technically not flat feel just like the ACGs in my experience.

You may be surprised how much easier it is to play a bass with a flat board. Leo only put a radius on his creations to mimic classical instruments that were played with bows. Electric stringed instruments are not so the concept is actually redundant even though we've become accustomed to them. Leo as you may know wasn't actually a player.Flat boards are part of the reason I favour Warwicks. Never owned an ACG as of yet but tried a few used examples in Bass Direct. They are something else ☺️

Did you catch the part where I said I could be wrong? No way am I getting into a debate about this,life is too short for that.

Interesting,I'd never heard this before. See attachment from Warwickforum.com

Hmmm I'm not so sure you know. I wouldn't necessarily use the word magic but I feel there's definitely a "formula" Warwick cooked up to create that sound. Obviously I don't know for sure but I've yet to hear anything else sound close to a Thumb. Those brass bell frets may even be a contributing factor and wood and fretboard choices. I could be wrong of course.

Thanks Kev. I'll admit defeat on understanding/experiencing this one 😂

I had to Google Gus basses. Isn't the Corvette design older?

I'm happy to have got this wrong but as I've said before I basically think the sound of an unplugged electric bass is irrelevant but are you saying you feel the Thumb bass even FEELS differently acoustically to when it's plugged in? When you arrive at more insight on this please let me know? I think my mental struggle with the sound is the sound shaping options available when plugged in versus unplugged. How for example can I expect the MEC preamp on my Warwicks to translate to them before they're even plugged in? Again I'm willing to learn.

I promise I'm not being deliberately obtuse here but I've heard this before and genuinely can't understand the point of testing a bass unplugged other than to get the feel of it. It doesn't mean you're wrong however so don't take it that way.

Now it's the Dolphin I think looks weird. They sound really good though,went to a gig once and the bassist had a 5 string version.

From what I understand the Thumb was originally known as the JD bass after an American bass player based in Germany called John Davis.He seemingly had a hand in the design and development.Not only was he one of the actual singers of the lip syncing Milli Vanilli he was a slap and pop player hence the "Thumb". I believe the intention was to wear it high and play...with the thumb! This story won't make playing one any more comfy for those who find them challenging but it might explain the design to a degree. Definitely quite niche.Mine isn't going anywhere.

I'm still yet to understand why electric basses that need amplification are judged acoustically. I'm always willing to learn however so what exactly am I missing with this? If the amplified sound is good isn't that the point?

Do you remember Rock-a-Cha that was upstairs in Kensington Market on High St Ken?

I remember American Classics on the Kings Road very well. Just up from The Garage,an indoor market that always had a classic American car parked in the forecourt.

Back when I played 4s I had the Squier version in the buttercream finish and black pickguard. Loved it. I have one eye looking out to see if any manufacturer dares to build a 5 string version 😁 Yours looks great.

Absolutely love this band 🥰

I'm a collector of vintage clothing and I went crazy during this period ordering stuff from the states via Ebay. Good times 😁

Wow that's quite the markup from £6k 🫢

There's some gear owned by the late John Giblin (who I'm not familiar with) for sale at the Bass Gallery. Included is a Lakland Skyline 55-02 for £3k and a 5 string Mexican jazz bass for almost £2k. Like the OP I may be missing something there.