LeftyJ

On 11/09/2025 at 13:03, Misdee said:

Him, and also various young men from Seattle in need of a good wash.

Funny thing: many grunge and indie guitarists of that time started playing Fenders because they were available cheaply. Especially their offset models (Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Mustang) were available at pawn shops all over the US for silly money because they were either deemed too finnicky / complex or silly 24" student guitars that no serious player would ever want to own. Fender USA had stopped building them in 1980 by lack of demand, but it's these artists that set off the Fender offset craze, first fuelled by Fender Japan who started producing them again in the late 1980s and since the late 90s there are many US and MIM models too. 

Might be the same with the basses: came back in style because influential bands could get their hands on them cheaply when they started out. 

27 minutes ago, TrevorR said:

That’s the write up on the Sweetwater page in the US. They ChatGPT really have gone to town 

Oh, that makes sense. FTFY. There's no way a store that large writes such an epic saga for every product they sell 

Atelier Z Baby Z-4J represent! Easiest playing bass I own. The knobs have been replaced with Sadowsky-style aluminium knobs (Guyker) since this picture was taken, just like Atelier Z uses now (the old ones were the stock Bartolini knobs). Otherwise it's still very much the same. I believe the Baby Z (or any Atelier Z with the KTS titanium rods in the neck for that matter) isn't actually made by Atelier Z themselves but by Fujigen Gakki. Either way, it's a fantastic bass!

Controls are neck volume - bridge volume (pull for passive) - stacked bass/treble (boost-only). It's quite a powerful EQ that can add a lot of oomph and a pleasant zingy top end, while still sounding very musical. A passive tone control would have been nice, but is not a must.

It has a slight neck dive, but nothing that a good strap can't counter. 

I traded my 1981 Ibanez MC924 for it with a lefty friend of mine in the US, and I have zero regrets. The Atelier Z weighs about half as much as the MC924, and has a lovely narrow U-shaped neck that instantly felt familiar. The 17mm string spacing at the bridge took a little getting used to, but is not unlike some of the 5-strings I've owned so wasn't a huge switch. It's brilliant! If I ever find a lefty PJ version (with a reverse split coil) I don't think I could resist. 

Tell me they're a Fender brand without telling me they're a Fender Brand.

"Well, their latest product is called the Limited Edition Pro Plus Series Pure Metal..."

Got it. 

I also love how the marketing department suddenly forgets it's a bass in the last paragraph, and quotes a 25.5" scale instead of 34". 

On 08/08/2025 at 18:38, rushbo said:

 

Exhibit A: The two "extra" screws on some BBoT bridges. Why oh Lord, why?

Exhibit B: That bonus bit of wood at the dusty end of the neck, often shaped into a jaunty diagonal. I don't know what it's called, I just don't like it. 

The bass on the right has a far worse offense going on: laminations in the center of the body to imply a neck-through-body construction, when in reality there is a bolt-on neck - and it's not even laminated the same as the body core! Can't stand it. 

And relic jobs on bass models that weren't even around 40 years ago. OK, so your Ibanez Soundgear looks like it has an original 1950s nitro finish and 60+ years of wear. Just like the early ones that were still built by Leo Ibanez himself! I remember vividly. What a fitting tribute to the legend! 

*cough*

I'd say boutique guitars and basses are very much alive though. There are many great luthiers out there who are doing really well for themselves. I feel that especially high end Fender-derivatives are selling VERY well, but the exotic wood coffee table is still very much a thing too. 

1 hour ago, TrevorR said:

It tends to pop up in December as there’re are still 3 months of temptation add good/bad decisions to go…

Good, because so far I think I've only bought g**t*r gear in 2025, and...

*shudders*

...sold a bass!

I can change, I swear! 

It was a fretless acoustic that I haven't used since 2015, so to be fair it was about time. 

On 07/09/2025 at 10:11, prowla said:

I have an Ashbory (Fender) and I find it a completely different instrument to a bass, so I'm not sure how practicing on it would be particularly beneficial.

I'd suggest a Steinberger Spirit or Hohner full-scale headless bass.

(My Rickenberger.)

Seconded. I loved my Hohner B2A, it was a full longscale bass but supercompact and easy to carry around. The ergonomics of having the upper strap button behind the 21st fret were a bit weird, but that's easily resolved with a simple mod. Only sold it because I had too many 4-strings and could use the money towards a new car or I would still have it. 

The Spirit version should be available used within your budget. 

GLWTS! I've had one for the last 16 years and I can vouch for these, I love mine a LOT. 

16 hours ago, Russ said:

I had a ATK405 about 15 years back. The 400-series were a bit different from the 300-series, and it wasn't just down to the extra pickup - they were a little downsized (the body and headstock were noticeably smaller), and the one I had was quite a reasonable weight.

A major difference between the 300 and 400 series was that the 400 had 24 frets, and a more compact bridge with the humbucker moved further back. The body was indeed more compact because of the deeper cutaways. Some later twin-pickup ATK's switched back to the old bridge, but it placed the pickups really close together because of that. 

Yes, this is a Bullet. The model has been renamed the "Classic" a few years ago. The soapbar pickup would indeed give it the addition "Booster" (now renamed to Classic Booster). 

The Basic has a stubbier, shorter upper horn than the Bullet. 

2 hours ago, Rodders said:

I maintain the 6 string/s made for Tye Zamora is the "weirdest" Fender, doesn't remotely resemble anything else they've ever produced. 

Came here to say this 

I've seen one of the two made in the flesh, at a Fender Custom Shop clinic in the Netherlands. Master builder John English was there to take the audience through their relicing process, which was really informative and interesting, and they had some cool Custom Shop instruments on display. One of those was the Tye Zamora bass. 

On 21/08/2025 at 11:17, Hellzero said:

Occupy Basschat! 

That's pretty cool! However, the basses were never called RG but RD (Roadbass series). This one looks based on the RD727. I've seen guitar versions in this finish before (the RG760 Feline and the even more rare US Custom Shop Golden Feline) but never the bass! Pretty cool 

4 hours ago, Jolltax said:

my Ibanez pickups are already 'custom' so the point is moot anyway

True, they're "regular" Nordstrand Big Splits but with a wider spacing to match that of the EHB and to compensate for the fanning. They still use a standard soapbar casing for the sake of being able to change them out without having to do routing though. Swapping pickups is most definitely still a thing, although I haven't heard of many people who weren't happy with their Nordstrands 

As much as these make sense aesthetically and ergonomically, that would make them just about impossible to replace with anything else when the tone doesn't suit the user. Using regular soapbar pickups makes much more sense because the pickups are easily interchangeable - since many soapbar sizes are standardised and used by several manufacturers. 

That said, there are some manufacturers who give their soapbars a little notch for your thumb (Yamaha did this on some RBX models, and Ibanez on the SRX series pickups, and Delano does it on those weird oval pickups of theirs) and then there's Dingwall who give the ends of their soapbars a curve so there's always a small area pointing "up". None of these use standard sizes. 

I love it! Glad it turned out to be everything you hoped for, it looks fantastic.

1 hour ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Are you aware that you have two large photos in your signature?

I was today years old when I learned this site does in fact have signatures - and I have just switched the option on to make them visible. 

13 hours ago, Jono Bolton said:

There were medium scale JVs as well:

 

https://bassbros.co.uk/sold-basses/squier-jv-precision-bass-rare-medium-scale/

Ha! Today I learned 

19 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

Were not some of the ‘80’s Squier Ps 32”scale?

Yes, I believe they did a series of these in the E-serial period (1984-1987). I've always wanted one. I once found one local to me. I made an offer and the seller accepted, but between all emails he got about the bass he lost mine and he sold it to someone else. I found out from their NBD thread on a Dutch forum 

Those 1980s MIJ Fenders and Squiers are fantastic. I have little experience with the basses, but a 1985 E-series Squier Strat has been my number one for many years. Best €175 I ever spent. 

18 hours ago, jd56hawk said:

Big Johnson

On 13/07/2025 at 11:18, Beedster said:

 

Always struck me that with graphite necks, given the cost or manufacture the relatively limited marketplace per instrument - Fender Jazz excluded  - that a modular headstock design is a route worth exploring, essentially a headless neck with either some prongs or inserts that will take a range headstocks of the major designs

The Bunker tension-free neck comes to mind. Ibanez had them make the USRG and USATK series with this neck tech, and Bunker has been building guitars and basses with this neck since the 1970's.

They use a construction method where a steel rod holds all the string tension, while a wooden "shell" around it makes for a traditional feeling and playing instrument:

13 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Although, as a Moderator there, I'm rarely overwhelmed 

I hear it's in dire need of a meme thread! 

This thread should come with a NSFW warning, for that neck alone! Wow