LeftyJ

The workmanship on the body is absolutely awful. I can't imagine that came from any respected luthier. The neck maybe, but that body... The wood isn't pretty, the bodyshape is a very rough approximation of a Jazz Bass but not quite there, the shape of the horns and the edges looks rough, the neck bolts are arranged weirdly, that leather pickguard looks awful (the square cuts around the pickup mounting screws! Come on!), and what happened to the back of the neck does not look like "light playwear" as described. For that price!? Hell no.

Not a pretty sight though 😓 https://reverb.com/item/34245265-mike-lipe-the-lip-custom-5-string-jb-left-hand-1992

The Omni-Adjust (Gotoh 206) is actually narrower than the Accu-cast B IV, so it's unlikely the routing was made for that bridge. The Omni-Adjust was my favourite bridge Ibanez ever used, with everything adjustable and firmly locking into place. I had one on my 1987 SR800LE.

The only use I can think of is when you buy a new or used bass, really like the strings that come with it and want to be able to identify the brand from the colour of the ball ends or windings so you can get more.

Does anyone really need to rely on the colours to tell them apart? My Elixirs and Status Hotwires are all the same colour.

I love ATK's! I have owned two 1996 MIJ ATK300's and still own the 1998 MIJ ATK305 in the background.

Dance with the devil? And Time is Tight, also by Booker T and the MG's

That one time when the guitarist / pianist / organist of my old band emailed a sketch for a new song with just keys and guitar, and everybody actually did their homework! Next rehearsal we played it for the first time and it all clicked in one go. Just felt so good! Of my 4-5 years with that band, it's still the song I'm most proud of. 2 years later I got kicked out because they decided an upright matched their sound and image better.

Was going to post just that! Here's the Reverb store: https://reverb.com/brand/papian-ezo?product_type=bass-guitars Here's Reverb's bass category, sorted by price in descending order, for sh*ts and giggles. https://reverb.com/marketplace/bass-guitars?sort=price|desc This one has to take the cake, although I have to assume that's a typo or a mistake in exchange rate by the Japanese seller: https://reverb.com/item/27777222-atelier-z-m265-jerry-barnes-free-shipping

No doubt about it! And looks like it indeed has a U-Retro now.

Yes! Looks nicely made, and the electronics package is cool too. Old school EMG's and what looks to be a U-Retro or ACG preamp. I wonder where the hardware came from, the bridge looks a lot like a real Steinberger bridge.

Picked up a well-used Hohner B2A last Saturday, mostly out of curiosity but I happen to like it a lot. Ergonomics are weird, without anything like a body to rest your lower arm on and with the upper strap button behind the 21st/22nd fret, moving the far end of the neck really far away from your body. But it's a really fun bass to play, and was surprised how good it sounds with the preamp engaged. The passive tone is dull and weak though.

Closest equivalent Thomann has on offer would probably be these two: https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_t_tool_jack_pot_tightening.htm https://www.thomann.de/gb/allparts_toggle_switch_wrench.htm

I only have experience with Seymour Duncan Phat Cats and GFS Surf 90's (which are somewhere inbetween P90's and DeArmond 2k's / Dynasonics tonally) and I like them both. The Phat Cat is classic P90 materiaal and sounds great, and I love the chrome covers. Keeps the classic chrome covered humbucker look of a Les Paul intact.

Have you tried tweaking the two trimpots inside the control cavity? They adjust the mix of the second coil of each pickup. The tonal difference is subtle, but effective.

Yes! I read Jazz neck and the Sterling was my first thought. There's also a Jazz neck option on the Stingray, called the SLO Special. Doesn't pop up often, but worth looking out for.

Yep, those are EMG HZ (Hi-Z passive pickups).

I stand by my earlier assessment: S2000. The small knob looks added. Many of these, depending on year, had a tiny switch in approximately that position, sometimes with a red status LED next to it, so this may replace a switch but not sure. Your best bet would be contacting Rob Green or Dawn at Status and sending them the photo's and the serial number (at the end of the head clamp). He also does amazing work restoring old Status basses, someone in the Statii group on Facebook just had an S2000 restored and it looks absolutely like new!

Status S2 Classic or S3 headless neck-through 5-string with CW electronics and pickup positions Dingwall NG3 5-string Zon Sonus 5-string (a 519 or Custom preferably - but waaaay out of reach)

Came here to post this. They're great! They're everything the typical Ibanez bass is not: big, wide-bodied, and fat-necked. And they sound and play great! I've owned two 1990s MIJ ATK300's and still own 1998 MIJ ATK305 and I love it. I have owned a Stingray 5 too, and the neck profile is remarkably similar - but lacquered instead of waxed. Those are great too! The Kiloton is fully passive, but otherwise very similar to the L1500.

I bet it will look great in pink. Seriously though, I'm looking forward to pics of the finished result.

USA-made G&L Legacy Special in a blue swirl finish for 250 euros. A previous owner used to have a Roland GK2 pickup in it that was stuck to the pickguard, thankfully not screwed to the body. However, there was a little piece of pickguard material screwed to the body as some sort of cable guide for the GK2. It was a great guitar, very versatile, but I hated the finish (it was a foil wrap with a clear coat finish sprayed over, it actually had air bubbles in the cutaways!) and couldn't get along with the floating tremolo and sold it. Not such a good deal anymore: the buyer recognized it from the previous ad where I bought it from and wanted to pay no more than the same 250. I stupidly agreed. Carvin LB75 on this very forum with LOADS of finish wear all over the body but a perfectly good and unharmed neck, also for 250. I loved the tone and playability but absolutely hated the looks. Sold it for 450 to pursue another bass with the same pickup configuration and later bought another LB75 that sounded nowhere near as good as the black one. I was able to buy the black one back a couple of weeks ago for approximately what I paid for it and I'm glad I did. It still looks like sh!t but it's a great bass. I had to replace the battery box with a new Gotoh BB-02 and the frets were dented a little more than I remembered it from 7 years ago but I was able to solve that by polishing the frets.

Long lasting. I've happily been using Duracell Procell / Industrial 9V batteries for years. They're sold in boxes of 10, they're affordable (I can usually get them for around €10 a box) and I haven't experienced them being too large for the battery compartment of any of my active basses. Most of them use the Gotoh BB-02, or a battery clip inside the control cavity.

Yes, that is THE best finish for these basses! I already loved Aquamarine on the D-bird and D-roc, and it looks equally good on the NG!