LeftyJ

Came here to say this I was just looking up the story on that bass and stumbled upon a story by someone who claimed to be a friend of Tye, who says it never evolved past the two or three prototypes (one was a fretless apparently) because the involved Fender custom shop Master Builder got caught with porn on his work computer and was subsequently fired (?). There were also the Fender Heartfield DR-6 and DR-6C (the latter is a neck-through version) which have a reasonably goodlooking 3+3 headstock - though one could argue they're not true Fenders.

When specifically searching for "stainless frets" on the Thomann website, the cheapest 5-strings that pop up are the new Sire Z7-5 Stingray-inspired basses at €709 euros. Maybe have a look at these? Edit: Ha, great minds think alike!

I had an Italia Torino Bass a few years ago. My 2 cents: yes and no To elaborate: because of the large body, and the bridge sitting relatively far forward, it was a fairly big bass. It had a separate tailpiece which sat farther back, enabling the use of normal longscale strings. That said, because of the weird plucking position relative to the size of the body (and to counter its tendency to topple over forward, because of the arched back) I always wore it somewhat to my side so the 12th fret was more or less dead center in front of me. This added to the shortscale feel of the bass to me, despite the larger size. It was a fun bass, with a big mudbucker up against the fingerboard and a guitar humbucker underneath a closed cover close to the bridge. It sounded big and thunderous and looked great. It was surprisingly heavy due to the solid maple center block below the bridge and pickups, but played great.

Cool! When I saw them on Later with Jools Holland once she played a gold Fender PJ Mustang. Sounded great too.

With bonus t*tty veins!

With the Marshall JCM2000 series, stick to the DSL models and leave the TSL models alone. They're less reliable. Great call on the 6505 too! Great metal tones - but yes, the clean and crunch could be better. And Blackstar... I don't know with Blackstar. I always feel they sound good on their own, but get lost when playing with others. They look cool, they're packed with useful features, but the HT series lacks top end presence to cut through a mix.

Looks like this one: https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/ksm-4-string-bass-bridge/

With amp modelers and multi FX-units being the norm in metal these days, a good used valve amp can be had for silly money - but can be a tough sell once you want to get rid of it again. For modern rock and metal I agree about looking at the Orange Rocker series. They're cool little amps, but I do feel the controls on the smaller models are a bit limiting (like not having an EQ on the clean channel on some) - and their "clean" isn't exactly clean, with little headroom. The drive channel is great though! I would also take a look at Laney. Their Ironheart series are great high gain amps. Stay away from the small heads (the IRF-models) but look at the IRT30-112 and IRT60-112 instead. And maybe have a look at ENGL amps, they have some smaller combo amps too and especially the older models (Thunder and Screamer, both 50 watt 1x12 combo's) are high quality amps built tough. The Thunder has shared controls between the two channels which can be a bit limiting, whereas the Screamer only shares the EQ section. Look for one that has the original footswitch / floorboard included, they're expensive to buy separately - especially the 6-footswitch affair that pairs with the Screamer, that switches between 4 different sounds (two channels, each with a boost), the reverb or contour filter, and a second master volume for a solo boost.

These are made by TubeAmpology. When they first came out I ordered one directly from the source for my '09 Ric 4003. Unfortunately back then they didn't have all the different varieties of built-in thumb rests yet, so mine was a plain one. Shop Treble Bezels — The Original Treble Bezels By TubeAmpology (thetreblebezel.com)

Nice! That teaser pic suggests they've come up with a better looking headstock shape too - although the tuner placement looks very irregular and weird. I'm really curious to see the final design!

I've had numerous basses that I just wasn't ready for at the time, and that I would appreciate a lot more with what I know now. I had a rather lovely Sandberg Bullet 5 fretless with a simple Noll 2-band preamp and two covered J-pickups that I loved on its own, but I had no idea how to make it work in my band - sonically, mostly. I couldn't get it to cut through and be heard in my bands. Back then I thought it was the bass, but now I know better As far as taste in appearance goes, like @Jason Karloff, I was always into fancy natural woods. Add to that the old "Guitar companies give us lefties only black and sunburst with white pickguards!" - which I both hated. Nowadays I love a well-executed opaque finish, especially metallic or sparkle. And I used to think shortscale basses were for small people and beginners - and apparently, so did many guitar manufacturers because there was hardly a quality shortscale on the market for a long time. But I'm having so much fun playing my Atelier Z Baby Z-4J and my Sandberg Lionel, they're both absolutely brilliant!

Not sure about the specific properties of Dymondwood (as is the correct name. It's a registered trademark of the Rutland Plywood Company, but it's no longer being made after their factory burned down in or around 2014). I know Status Graphite does recommend some maintenance for their phenolic resin fingerboards. They recommend using WD40.

Funny thing is it wasn't supposed to look like this. The prototypes they showed at NAMM had a 3+1 headstock like the Stingray. But a certain mr. Ball probably asked them kindly and politely to drop that design.

Coldplay comes to mind, with their latin version of Clocks.

I had a set on my Atelier Z Baby Z-4J and loved them. They have a round core rather than hexagonal, but despite the supposed lower tension of a round core they felt relatively tight even on my 30" shortscale (I used 045-105's). They were great, and defined but not overly bright. I've been using nothing but Elixirs for almost 15 years until I got my first headless bass, and Elixir don't do double ball end strings so I had to start using uncoated strings again. It has led me to try different string types on several of my basses and it's been a fun journey so far - but I've come back to Elixirs on most of my headed longscale basses as I just enjoy the feel of coated strings and love how long they hold that "new string-tone". I have GHS Boomers on the Atelier Z shortscale now (and a set of Slinky's waiting to go on next after the Boomers die), and La Bella Deep Talkin Flats on my Sandberg Lionel.

Stiffness is inherent to flatwounds because of the way they're wound: the square wire surrounding the core won't allow for much movement in the string. I've been using thinner strings on my 5-strings for the last couple of years, with a .125 B-string, and I've been having great results with them - and I only have 34" scale 5-strings. I have Status Hotwire strings on my S2 Classic, and Elixirs on my Warwick Streamer LX5 and Ellio Martina Forza and love them. The Warwick can get a little floppy but the Forza is by no means, despite using the same strings. No idea how or why! They're set up similarly. I just don't like a thicker B-string because to me anything thicker loses definition and note separation on the lower frets.

Lovely! So far I've been hearing nothing but praise for the new Series 23 and CW-2. I tune my headless S2 Classic (with graphite neck) down to A with fairly light strings (040-125) and although the tension is low it still sounds tight and punchy. I use mine in a doom metal band with two 7-string guitars to punch up to, and it sits really well. I would love to try one of the new ones, but as a lefty I would have to order one to be able to - if Rob still makes lefties, that is. I'm so happy with my current Status basses I have no desire for another though

And the Ritter! My phone's photo gallery app thought it was about time to remind me of a lovely weekend in Oldenburg, Germany, exactly 6 years ago today. It decided to do so with this pic that I had all but forgotten: There was a beer tasting festival in the city (by chance we happened to visit on that day, and my girlfriend and I love a good craft beer). This was clearly afterwards.

That's beautiful! Any luck with the saddle insert yet?

I believe @wombatboter owned it for a while, among two other Bas Extravaganza basses.

Came here to say exactly this. I've always thought Nash overdo their relics, especially on the necks. The one in this thread takes the cake though.

Cool idea, do buy one and keep us posted I have my doubts about how well this works, I would guess you need to at least set up the action at the bridge for this to work - even though it ends at the 14th fret. The raised area that replaces your nut makes it incredibly tall, it would seem. I also really wonder how well it will stay in place (won't it rattle against your frets higher up the neck?) and how good it will really sound. And how durable it will be when using roundwounds that dig into the plastic. But I'm intrigued!

Nothing else about it looks out of the ordinary, when you compare it to this one for example. Aside from the heel, it looks perfectly legit. Is the chrome battery cover on the back in its usual place? Maybe that could help indicate if it's a modified original body or a replacement body altogether. It very much looks legit though, down to the downward facing angle of the upper strap button. I suppose taking off the neck should help: it will hopefully expose any stamps and/or writing in the neck pocket and maybe some plugged holes where the neck screws usually are on one of these. I did that with my 1998 Ernie Ball Silhouette just last week for maintenance and because I was curious, and it revealed a date stamp, a stamp indicating the factory finish colour, and one additional screw hole - presumably where the paint stick was held in the factory. The heel of the neck on mine has a handwritten date, the initials C.S. and a small B stamped into the wood.

We definitely need more pics now, maybe it'll help identify it It's not in this list: Music Man Bass Global - Neck Plates Pre-EB & EB (but then again it only discusses neck plates so it makes perfect sense a bass without one would not be in that list )