LeftyJ

On 26/07/2024 at 09:30, LeftyJ said:

I don't have one particular dream bass, as my taste and needs vary a lot. For the band I'm with I already have my perfect bass: my Status S2 Classic takes downtuning like no other and still sounds crisp and tight when tuned down a full step to ADGCF. It also feels great to play and I feel it looks great too (if a little tiny when played by someone my size). At home I play my shortscales the most, which are totally different little beasts. Deep down inside, I think I'm mostly a Jazz Bass person though - but more modern and high-end. If money was no objection, I would ask Sander de Gier to build me a Bebop 5 (maybe a Glenn Gaddum jr signature, with its slightly scaled-down body) in a cool metallic finish over alder, with a plain maple neck with a matching headstock and the most wildly grained ziricote fingerboard he could find, with white bindings and MOP dots rather than blocks as to not obscure too much of that lovely fingerboard wood from view. I would go with Lollar pickups and Sander's proprietary passive electronics with variable De Gier / Vanderkley FatBoost. 

I had to double-check if this was an older thread and if I had already replied to it, and lo and behold: I did, in july 2024. Maybe somewhat to my surprise (as it can change quite often for me) the above is still accurate 

I did grow more and more curious about fanned-fret basses, and would love a combination of fanned frets and headless at some point (an Ibanez EHB1005L is on my "to try-list"), but deep down I'm sure I'd prefer something more traditional. 

There was a thread about them earlier, but no personal experiences as far as i can tell!

Hagstrom Nekromant bass - Bass Guitars - Basschat

19 hours ago, tubbybloke68 said:

Think the necks did vary from year to year as mine has a very narrow (to me anyway) and shallow neck.

They did! The earliest models, from 1978 until 1982, had REALLY big necks, both thick and wide. I've had two MC924L's from that period. They were great, but incredibly heavy and while I was comfortable with the big neck, I prefer a thinner and narrower neck these days. Which is why I've only got my 1983 model anymore: it's the later model with the bevelled edges, and PJ pickups in soapbar casings. Coincidence has it this is my year of birth, the serial number dates it to December 1983 which makes it only a month younger than me. 

That does indeed look like an early 1980s Precision Bass Special. The routing channel to the battery box on the back checks out, even if (strangely!) it is not being used and the battery for the EMG's is in the control cavity!

Edit: Most likely a refinish, the Special never came in Antigua - although custom finishes have been known. John Deacon of Queen had one in Sahara Taupe (which was used on Under Pressure, among others), but the standard colours were only Lake Placid Blue, Candy Apple Red and Arctic White, according to Google. I must add the finish does look convincingly like some aged Antigua basses from around 1980 that I've found online. 

These are a Chicago Music Exchange / Andertons exclusive, and indeed somewhat limited. And thank god! That Lavender Haze sure isn't pretty. 

On 07/01/2026 at 10:08, uk_lefty said:

Lots of knobs! These are a bit excessive I think: vol vol tone, three way pup selector, active/ passive switch, bass, mid, treble... So for ease of use it's both pups on full then using the active to find the sound. 

That shouldn't be how it's wired. I've had three of these, and they were volume, tone, preamp gain and 3-band EQ, so you could boost or cut the EQ curve without having to change 3 knobs, and so you could match the output to the passive level. There is no pickup balance, only the 3-way switch. The gain knob only works in active mode, obviously. 

Love that oldschool Kahler 1026-BD Heavy Resonator bridge! Looks a lot like the bridges on the 1980 Precision Bass Special, Fender's first active offering, but the saddles are different. 

I'm a bit thrown by the hole below the bridge. I've seen those on 1980s US Fender bodies, and on few else. Do you have pics of what it looks like underneath the pickguard? I'm wondering if this actually could have been a Precision Bass Special. That would be routed like this, with an extra channel to a battery box on the back (but minus the bridge pickup route, which was added later), but I don't think it came in Antigua:

Wonderful! I also wish i still had my first TRB5II in Amber. It was my first proper bass, after starting out on an old Japanese Condor Jazz Bass. I bought it new around 2003 and loved it. I sold it after getting a used luthier-made 5-string with a 34" scale, which suited me better than the TRB's 35" scale, but I did end up missing it somewhat. I later had a used trans blue one for a while, but sold that when I got a Stingray 5. I have fond memories of both TRB's though, they were incredibly solid and sounded fabulous. 

10 hours ago, crazycloud said:

 

The 200 is a dual coil more like an MM, not the triple coil of the originals.

I see! I was confused because they've still put them in a casing that mimics the look of the 3 blades on the original triple coil. 

Interesting! On the old ATK's it was parallel - north - north with a treble cut (and the center coil activated in both single coil settings as a phantom coil). 

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

It is on the chonky side of things - 4.7kg/10.34lubs according to the bathroom scales.  

Can you believe this is actually a smaller-bodied model compared to the original ATK shape? Those can be even heavier! The 200 (and several other more recent models) have a slightly slimmed-down body shape, it's not as wide as the original ones. Helps when looking for a case that fits. And the headstock is just slightly narrower as well.

I've had three MIJ ATK's from the 1990's and all of them were boat anchors - especially my 5-string ATK305. They were wonderful basses, and I somewhat regret selling my first one. 

I've had them alongside a Stingray 5 for a few years, and as far as comparison goes I think they were very similar - both in weight, tone and feel. The neck shape of the ATK305 was a really close match to the SR5. The main difference in feel was the satin lacquer finish on the ATK (but polished to a gloss by years of playing) versus the oil finish on the Ray. Tonewise, the Ray had more clank and less mid scoop with all set to neutral, and was overall the more agressive sounding of the two. The ATK had a trimpot on the preamp board to adjust the output level, but even when matching it to the Ray it was still the more polite sounding of the two. Both had that distinct brightness but on the Ray this started at a lower frequency, it seemed, which helped it punch through a mix just a bit better. Both were fantastic basses though, and the ATK punched well above its price point. 

Enjoy! 

Höfner posted an update on their socials today to clarify one or two things:

Dear musicians, Höfner fans & friends,
some of you may have already heard: our company has been going through a difficult period - especially since the introduction of the US tariffs - and filed for insolvency on Thursday, 11 December 2025.

We would like to clarify a few things: We are not discontinuing production, distribution or our media channels. In Germany, there is a three-month period before the actual insolvency procedure is opened. This period offers the opportunity to consolidate the company and restructure it for a better future.

Within this period, we will continue to build and sell our instruments and the Höfner team is doing its best to provide you with the support, service and warranties you expect.

We would like to express our appreciation to all of you who continue to support us even in these difficult times!

Thank You!
The team at Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG

On 16/12/2025 at 16:56, warwickhunt said:

'Blade' used to be a top quality Japanese Swiss manufacturer but I'd be surprised if this is the exact same outfit even though the name and logo look the same.  

FTFY. It is very much still the same company. To be fair though, Gary Levinson operated from Switzerland but no guitars or basses were actually built there. The manufacturing was done in Japan at first, and later in Korea. The one @Brian18242 posted is the Blade Austin Classic, and is made in China. 

That's sad, such an iconic brand. I'd love to own a Club Bass one day, but they're too expensive to justify how little I would play it (as there were never any lefty Icon, Ignition or Contemporary Club basses, only Violin basses - but I really don't care for those even if it is arguably THE most iconic lefty bass out there). 

That's certainly an acquired taste! Somewhat reminds me of the Jackson Anti Gravity too, which was designed by the late Harry Fleishman. This was the original prototype, which borrows heavily from Kubicki. The production instrument by the Jackson Custom Shop kept the overall shape, but without the fanned frets, with regular magnetic pickups and with a pointy headstock:

And this one, about that same awful song:

And this classic:

At first glance I thought they only changed the saddle design, but I see they went with intonation screws instead of the free sliding saddle that locked in place. Interesting choice. 

I can't recall any bass gear purchases in 2025. The sad truth is I've barely touched my basses all year, I've decided to leave my doom band and I've had a renewed interest in guitar.

Because boy did I make some guitar purchases! I have long been interested in Fender's offset offerings, and have had lurking GAS for a lefty Jazzmaster for years now, and a short stint with an Ibanez ORM-1 left me madly in love with te 24" scale but hankering for something that also had a neck pickup. So lo and behold when in February both a Jazzmaster and a Jaguar popped up used for fair prices! Of course I did the sensible thing and bought both of them, and I've been playing both a lot but especially the Jaguar. The Jazzmaster is an American Professional II from 2023, and the Jaguar is a Mod Shop instrument from 2020 that had its electronics slightly (and badly) modded. I had the electronics tidied up and added the classic "strangle switch".

And then a few weeks ago the same seller I got the Jaguar from offered a MIC Danelectro DC for sale, that I also really wanted to try. At just €150 I couldn't resist. And I've been having a ridiculous load of fun with it so far! It looks like a toy, it feels like a toy, it's built like a toy, but it's REALLY fun to play (even unplugged, as the hollow construction makes it surprisingly loud) and the amplified tone is fantastic. The lipstick pickups by themselves are nothing impressive, but they have great clarity. The real surprise was the middle position of the switch, because as it turns out both pickups are then wired in series and sound surprisingly powerful and wonderfully chimey. 

There's some comfort in knowing it was a one-off at least. 

I guess Rickenbacker lost the blueprints of these:

Now that's a proper shortscale 4001. The proportions are slightly weird, but it's very cool. 

3 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

Hope you played plenty of Blues (the devil's music) on it.

Worse! Metal! 

I don't really see myself playing my air phallus behind my back, and especially not with my teeth, sorry.

When I bought my (nowformer) Stingray 5 in an eBay auction, the seller (the bass player of IONA) let me know his band would be coming to a venue near me in a few weeks time. Rather than shipping the bass to me, he suggested he'd put me on the guest list so he could hand it to me personally. I gladly accepted! To add to that, I was allowed to bring a friend, and he suggested I pay him my winning bid in Euros rather than Pounds (saved me about €100), plus I got a live DVD from their merch shop with the bass in action. The bass came in a well-traveled aluminium Stagg case with many airline stickers which I still have (I later bought a real Music Man case for it because the Stagg would leave sticky residue on the bass every time I used it). Very cool experience! The band played folky prog rock and I greatly enjoyed the evening, even if the band were very vocally christian and I'm usually not into religiously themed music. It was a wonderful bass too, that I kinda wish I still had. I traded it for a Status S2 Classic 5-string that is my current number one, so I guess it was a happy farewell! 

I have no basses or guitars with roasted necks, but I do have 2 cents about Music Man necks moving: I had a Stingray 5 which was very susceptible to changes in humidity, and would move quite a bit with the change of the seasons, but it got a LOT more stable when I had the neck re-waxed by my favourite luthier. The Music Man necks are oiled / waxed rather than lacquered, which should seal the wood just the same against humidity, but unlike lacquer an oiled / waxed neck does require regular maintenance.