LeftyJ

The bio on their site is quite ambiguous about it, but the concept was in fact designed by this guy, who founded Catalyst Guitars. He called the material he came up with "SoundCompound", which was cast around a carbon graphite base structure. Aristides' bio doesn't mention a previous company using it, and only names "a team of Dutch scientists at Delft Technical University", but Catalyst were a pretty cool company. Their designs were more traditional than what Aristides does, but the technical concept was definitely very cool: Catalyst Instruments est 1996. – Jedistar

Done! Will you be sharing the results of your survey / thesis once it's done? Might be an interesting read.

Fujigen yes, Ibanez no. The Roland G33 is more related to Greco, and borrows some features from the GOB-II range. Ibanez (Hoshino Gakki) and Greco (Kanda Shokai) did work together and share some designs between them for a while, and both had their manufacturing done at Fujigen Gakki.

Modified Roland G33 midi bass Edit: not midi but it does have a hexaphonic pickup to hook it up to a bass synth.

It only just struck me that "Owno" and "Owjeej" are in fact the same guy. Hi Tim

Yep, this one has been posted here before. That's @sblueplanet's. Looks lovely with the anodized aluminium pickguard

Good call! I came here to say Status Graphite. With Rob Green's recent semi-retirement, and his departure from all-graphite necks, I expect prices on used models to go up. Same for Pedulla and Vigier, Michael and Patrice have also retired but their instruments remain popular.

I was wondering that too. And there is the little thumbscrew that locks the sliding part to the upper rail. That could serve as a ground connection too if it's metal on metal.

Nice. They must have gotten a lot of positive feedback on the Ultraburst finish on their current American Ultra line, to introduce a more affordable version of that. I think Ultraburst looks sweet too, but a bit more "orange" than this more classic finish on the Player II. I like it a lot.

This could read like the start of a long list of Chuck Norris-style Spector Facts.

Children - Robert Miles

Ooof! Sorry to hear that. I've seen more stories on this. In other cases I've seen it had something to do with fingerboard glue getting into the thread and effectively freezing the truss rod nut in place. Absolutely should not happen, that's a really bad flaw in their manufacturing process.

They had a single that was on quite heavy rotation on my favourite radio station in the Netherlands in 2021 ("Billy goodbye", which I think was a farewell song to their drummer leaving the band in 2021). They released a new album last January indeed!

That actually sounds great to me, I always feel toggle switches move way too easily But seriously though, if it feels off you could try lubricating it. Don't use contact cleaner, and don't use anything that contains silicone as it will leave a residue that could stay behind on the contacts. There are special switch cleaner products for these. There are some good suggestions on this page: Lubricating a 3 way toggle switch - what’s best? - Guitar Discussions on theFretBoard

Die laughing - Therapy?

I'm hearing very mixed reviews for the Darkglass. Their concept of replacing the treble control with a high mid control is a clever one, but it's the treble band that can really make a bass come to life IMO if the frequency band and bandwidth is chosen well. I played a Dingwall NG3 recently that had the stock Tone Capsule preamp replaced with the BQC and it was brighter, punchier and more lively than with the Darkglass. It's all a matter of taste in the end so YMMV of course.

The one in natural looks slightly better, but that black one is just wrong! Yes, that would bug me too.

Assuming you're in the UK, I'd take a look here. BTN Music have many parts in stock. Measure the saddle height screws you do have to make sure you get the correct length and diameter (Imperial thread).

He played a Fender MIJ/CIJ Marcus Miller Jazz Bass back then, but it obviously wasn't his signature bass. It was just my first time seeing one, and without knowing about Marcus Miller, I associated it with Mendez. And I guess I always will There's some slapping from 9:04 on, so I guess still a little bit in Marcus' vein?

Can imagine, I have two Streamers from this era and they're definitely not for everybody. My 4-string Streamer LX has a pretty narrow nut width and near the nut the back of the neck is pretty much round, but the higher up the neck you go, the flatter the back gets and the more those shoulders stand out. On my 5-string Streamer LX5 it's almost ridiculous - but it hasn't stopped me from playing it as my main bass for a few years because the tone fit my band's sound so well. I can only imagine what it must be like on @Terry M.'s Broadneck

When I first heard of Schecter (mid 1990s) I don't think the more affordable Far East Diamond Series was around yet. I just remember me and a classmate lusting over their sexy carved top USA Custom Shop superstrats like the Hollywood Classic and Sunset Classic on the internet. It wasn't until many years later when they finally got a distributor in the Netherlands but I still don't think I've ever seen a Schecter in a Dutch store in my life. Their popularity peaked in the Nu Metal days when bands like Alien Ant Farm and Papa Roach were endorsed by them - and then we all laughed when the infamous crabwalking clip of Attack Attack!'s "Stick Stickly" came out with the whole band sporting Schecter guitars and basses

I'm not a fan of Marcus Miller - I will always associate the Miller signature with Martin Mendez of Opeth . When I first started listening to them in 1999-2000 I didn't even know who Marcus Miller was - but when I first saw Opeth live I was struck by that beautiful Jazz Bass and its interesting control plate. Martin has since moved to Sandberg and has a signature bass with them based on the California VT shape but with two Jazz pickups moved closer to the bridge - but to me the Miller is still the Opeth bass and I still think they look (and sound) incredible!

I always feel that you can't amplify what isn't there in the first place. Resonance and decay time of a note can't really be added with a different set of pickups or a different preamp. The irony in this is we're all looking for basses with endless sustain, only to put much (if not most) of our playing effort into muting I love my 2023 Sandberg Lionel. It's surprisingly heavy for its diminutive size (I have one with an ash body) but it feels great to play and sounds fantastic.

Oh, maybe the basses do. It's not mentioned in the specs of my guitar

I can see where you're coming from. I've never tried an Ultra or Elite so I really can't comment on those. I really haven't been keeping up with Fender's USA basses range, because as a lefty, I've simply never encountered one out in the wild to try! However, I do have some experience with their USA guitars, having owned a '00 American Standard Tele (from just before the introduction of the American Series) and currently own a '20 Mod Shop Jaguar and a '23 American Professional II Jazzmaster and I must admit: while they're silly expensive new compared to the prices of 25 years ago, they're a huge step up in terms of fit, finish and QC. My Jazzmaster does have a very obvious flaw that should'nt have slipped through (it has a flipped righty nut, so the top is angled in the wrong direction!) but the necks on the newer guitars feel amazingly smooth and everything else is just impeccable. I won't compare the Jaguar as it is a bit of an oddball, and I suspect the neck for the lefty Jaguars involves more manual labour, because the Mod Shop and the Custom Shop are the only routes to get a lefty 24" scale neck from Fender USA (there hasn't been a factory lefty USA Jaguar since 1975). Based on my experience with the Am Pro II Jazzmaster I don't really see the added value of the Ultra II over the Am Pro II aside from maybe the graphite rods in the neck and maybe the different electronics.