LeftyJ

I know Yet somehow the USATK won the 1996 Music and Sound Retailer Award for most innovative bass in the USA. I looked it up, and it's not an H-beam, so it seems. It's a round steel rod, and apparently it is adjustable to some extent: [url="http://www.bunker-guitars.com/tf_neck.html"]http://www.bunker-guitars.com/tf_neck.html[/url] (Dave Bunker built the the USATK and USRG for Ibanez). The steel rod even connects to the nut, with a separate headstock mounted on the end of the neck - it's not part of the 5-piece laminated maple/walnut neck! Interesting but strange concept, and the headstock doesn't seem to fit well:

[quote name='Kongo' post='524431' date='Jun 26 2009, 02:10 AM']Yes sorry forgo to say, it took over the 24 fret, MM / J pickup ATK...Y'know, I like the ATK but I prefere the older ones. 24 frets, 2 pickups, lovely blue fiish with maple board...missing a scratchplate though...Now it's single pickup and 22 frets...Yeah ok...ROBBED![/quote] Yes, like the ATK400 (22 fret, HS), 700 and 1300. They were great basses, especially the Prestige ATK1300 and ATK1305. I've always had more of a thing for the ATK300 though, the original triplecoil model without additional singlecoil. On the HS-models, the bridge plate is slightly smaller and the humbucker is placed further from the neck to fit the 24 fret neck AND the singlecoil. I prefer the ATK300-humbucker placement. There is currently an ATK750 that has the triplecoil and a singlecoil, but awkwardly it's not available outside Japan and the US. It's a 22-fret model with the large bridge, quilted maple top and headstock veneer and the double dot inlays of the old USATK4 and USATK5 (USA-made ATK's with an innovative steel H-beam instead of a trussrod). The ATK750 can be found here: [url="http://www.ibanez.com/BassGuitars/model-ATK750QM"]http://www.ibanez.com/BassGuitars/model-ATK750QM[/url]

Be sure to contact Ken at www.guitarshogun.com too. Very friendly guy, unlike Guitar Emporium he trades directly from Japan. Guitar Emporium can quote you a price including all relevant import duties and taxes whereas with Guitar Shogun you won't know exactly how much you'll have to pay until the bass has actually crossed the border, but he is a very friendly guy, responds promptly to questions and ships lightningfast. People I know who bought from him had their bass delivered within 5 days after buying. Guitar Emporium will wait until Malcolm can place an order of about 10 instruments before the bass will actually be ordered in Japan, so he won't be able to get it to you as fast. But both are excellent companies. I've never heard of MIJFenders.com but I will check them out.

[quote name='Kongo' post='524047' date='Jun 25 2009, 08:29 PM']Swiss army bass, the ATK took over it...Shame the RD is dead. [/quote] Ironically, the RD was introduced to fill the gap the first ATK's had left when they were discontinued in '99 or '00 And as an addition, in 2003 they introduced the RKB900 that looked like a ATK that had been on a diet, with the same asymmetric belly, but a PJ configuration (Seymour Duncan Basslines Quarterpounds) and a Badass II bridge. It was aimed at professional musicians but it failed to sell.

There is no Bass V reissue Only a Bass VI.

I read something about the Fender Bass V here. Coincidentally, I just stumbled upon one on eBay at a rediculous price: [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/Ultra-rare-Fender-Bass-V-from-1966-in-Olympic-White_W0QQitemZ280361980159QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item4146e050ff&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A10%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A3%7C294%3A50"]http://cgi.ebay.com/Ultra-rare-Fender-Bass...%3A3%7C294%3A50[/url]

Aside from that hideous headstock shape, they're great basses and very versatile.

I have three Japanese-made ATK's and I love them (two of them are in my avatar). Very punchy, edgy and they look and feel great. I have a '98 ATK305 and '96 and '97 ATK300's. The '96 is my favourite, it sounds the most resonant and a slight bit warmer than the other two. I like the 5-string the least of the three, the lows are fat and powerful but the highs are a bit cold and too tight to my ears.

Only 12 hours? Wow, I thought it would be a hell of a lot more. A fully handmade instrument takes a lot more time to build.

Wouldn't so much call that a baritone, let alone a bass guitar. The Yamaha Drop 6 models only had a 26¼" scale.

[quote name='charic' post='519673' date='Jun 20 2009, 11:47 PM']theres also the musicman 6 string sillouette bass. Or however its spelt![/quote] Close call It's the Silhouette Bass. And you're right, the concept is similar. Its scale length is just under 30" and it's tuned a full octave below a guitar, like the Fender Bass VI. Schecter also builds a similar instrument, the Hellcat VI, with a 30" scale and three Duncan Designed minihumbuckers.

Well, about QC at Rickenbacker... My 2008 4003 MG had to have the nut reglued, as it leaned forward towards the fingerboard, resulting in a terrible buzz on the open G-string in the nut itself. And to be able to intonate it properly after the nut had been reglued, a luthier had to cut in the holes of the bridge to accomodate greater travel space for the G-string saddle. Stuff like that shouldn't happen with a bass in that price range. But those are the risks of buying a bass online without being able to give it a try first. The bass doesn't disappoint me though, I've wanted a Ric for a long time and I love the tone and feel of mine. And thanks to the low Pound last January, 1516 Pounds were only 1650 Euros instead of the 2400 Euros the lefties sell for over here

What's your opinion on the effect on the tone? I hear some bassists who think the somewhat bell-like resonance of the bridge cover influences the resonance of the body and is picked up by the pickups, but most think that's pure rubbish and you can't hear a difference. And there's also bassists who say the pickup cover influences the flux and magnetic field of the pickup.

I currently only play bass guitar, but used to own an EUB (a Big Kydd converted to lefty for me) for about a year that I've gigged with a few times. In the end I found myself playing it very little, and I found myself able to mimic the tone very closely with my fretless Sandberg Bullet 5, so I ended up selling it and have not regretted it. From the money I got for it I bought my Rickenbacker 4003 and I couldn't be happier.

[quote name='mrcrow' post='519317' date='Jun 20 2009, 03:30 PM']always a wal[/quote] Same here. Preferably three: a Mark I fretted and fretless and a Mark II 5-string

Yes, the current models have thick and wide necks. I have a 2008 and in feel it's closer to a P than anything else in my collection.

If you like the Ibanez SR505, you may also like the Cort Artisan B5. It's very similar specwise, but besides mahogany it's also available with an ash body. It has the same Bartolini MK1 electronics as the Ibanez, and it's built on the exact same production facility of Cort in Korea. Very well-made, great feel and a very punchy and versatile tone. It's also more affordable than the Ibanez.

Love the Tyler! Does it have that incredible Demeter preamp?

[quote name='Hellrazor' post='500090' date='May 28 2009, 06:39 PM']Here's mine, it's actually an '04 S1 USA body with a Geddy neck and a Badass 3. Bit of a FrankenGeddy really but sound fantastic - just love that neck![/quote] I like the look of that better than a singleply. I do not like how the strings travel over the pole pieces of the pickups though, and there's a lot of fretboard width left above the E-string. Doesn't the BadAss 3 have more grooves so you have some room to position the strings better? With the stock '75 reissue bridge of my MIJ JB75-US the strings wouldn't travel over the pickups properly either, but when I had my BadAss II installed I requested to have the saddle slots filed to accomodate perfect travel over the poles.

Lovely! I don't like the tortoise guard though, I would replace that with a prettier tort (darker and with a less 'painted on' look) or another black 3-ply. But otherwise, nice collection! I bought a MIJ '75 Jazz reissue last March, and I love it. They're incredibly well-made instruments and they play and sound amazing.

So do I, it is an incredible bass, especially at the price I paid. It plays great, sounds great, and the electronics are brilliant! The controls consist of volume, passive tone and a pickup selector switch (unfortunately no balance pot), and a 3-band EQ with a master preamp boost/cut control so you can dial in any EQ setting and then set the active level at the exact same level as the passive output. Why didn't anyone else think of that? That feature has only been available briefly, in 1982 a new more ergonomic version came out with different pickups (a split-coil and a J-style singlecoil) and a different preamp with a pickup balance pot instead of the preamp boost/cut. I've only had it for just over two weeks now, but that was long enough to decide this is a definite keeper! The electronics didn't work properly at first from 20 years of lying in its case unused, but the active/passive switch and the pickup selector switch are now replaced (luckily the brown switch tip fits on the new switch too) and all works like it should.

Thanks! But I'm afraid that one's not going anywhere but here for a long time I've only had it for a short while now, I bought it on [url="http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180333894807"]eBay[/url] in March. It's a great bass. I had the original '75 RI bridge replaced with that Badass II last week because of an annoying buzz in one of the saddles, and I have some Hipshot tuners and a D-tuner waiting to be installed. I also added the pickup cover, because I love the look and it doesn't interfere with my playing. This baby will be seeing a lot of playing time!

My 1981 [b]Ibanez MC924[/b]. 5-piece maple / walnut neck with ebony fingerboard and mahogany body wings with ash facings (front and back), Ibanez Super-4 singlecoils in brown bakelite casings coupled to an amazing preamp (with a JRC4558 opamp, like a Tubescreamer!) and a big brass AccuCast B-bridge. Incredible bass. I had long lusted for one but was unable to find one. I was pointed towards this one by someone on a Dutch bass forum. I hesitated at first because a fellow forumite was interested, but when he pulled out I took my chance and bought it at an absolute steal. With original case, and original receipt from 1981! My 2008 [b]Italia Torino Bass[/b]. Semihollow body with a laminated spruce top, laminated maple back and sides and a solid maple center block, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. Bound top, back and fingerboard, and pearloid block inlays. Pickups and hardware are all by Wilkinson. Incredibly affordable, and incredible fun to play! My [b]Sandberg Bullet 5 fretless[/b]. Sandblasted swamp ash body, one piece maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, ABM Mueller bridge, Sandberg tuners, Noll preamp with 2-band EQ and Delano J-style pickups.

Here are some pics of some of my basses Click for a bigger version. My [b]Ellio Martina Forza[/b], custom made. Swamp ash body, 5-piece maple/purpleheart neck with maple board, coiltapped singlecoils (switchable from 7200 to 9200 windings for more output and more pronounced mids) wound by Ellio himself in ebony casings, Aguilar OBP-3 preamp, ABM Mueller bridge and Schaller tuners. My [b]Fender JB75-US[/b], made in Japan. Ash body, one piece maple neck with walnut skunkstripe, white bindings and pearloid blocks, Fender USA '70s Jazz Bass pickups, upgraded with a BadAss II (the original '75 reissue bridge had a very annoying buzz), Hipshot HB-2 tuners and a BT-2 X-tender (the Hipshots were yet to be installed when these pics were taken though). Two of my [b]Ibanez ATK's[/b], a '96 [b]ATK300[/b] and a '98 [b]ATK305[/b], both MIJ (I have a second ATK300, a '97). Ash body, 3-piece maple neck with maple fingerboard, bigass bridge, ATK triple coil humbucker and the ATK preamp with 3-way selector for the pickup. More in the next post because of the 10 picture limit per post