LeftyJ

Sure you can. Ibanez will build anything for their endorsees. For example, some of their current signature artists (Mike d'Antonio of Killswitch Engage and Peter Iwers of In Flames) specified twin-pickup active basses based on the SRX, but with only a volume knob. If you never use anything other than the volume and set everything else neutral all the time, why would you place 5 knobs on the front? Looks very nice and clean too. I suspect this TR was a custom job too. I know Jason Thirsk played TR's when he was still in Pennywise, and his successor Randy Bradbury did too. Jason Thirsk with an Ibanez TR: Randy Bradbury with a similar TR:

That. I was thinking TR too, looks like a custom job.

http://www.ibanez.com/BassGuitars/model-GSRM20

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1337845520' post='1666180'] Just noticed this thread and hoping I can contribute... Here's my Sonus Special. I got it from Deezbar of this forum as a trade for a vintage Jazz bass. I'm not completely sure of it's age, but Dave told me he thinks it's mid-90's (i.e. a very early one). If anybody knows more or can offer advice about it then I'm all ears, as I don't really know much about them (other than the quality of course, which is superb!). [/quote] That's stunning! That one and your SEI. If you ever decide to part with them...

I don't have experience with the Hagstrom either (never saw a lefty in real life) but I have owned an Italia Torino for a while that I really liked [IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f74/de_slager/Italia%20Torino%20Bass/DSC02808small.jpg[/IMG] All hardware and pickups are Wilkinson, the design is by Trevor Wilkinson too (he's the man behind Italia) but they're made in Korea. Very well-made, looks very appealing (fully bound, although it's hard to see in this cream finish), plays great and sounds great, and because of the long distance between the bridge and the tailpiece you can use any longscale string. I did need to place a piece of foam beneath the tailpiece to stop the string ends from resonating.

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1345730018' post='1780995'] Ah, like this? This looks much nicer: ATK800, not on the Ibanez website. (unless I'm looking at the wrong region) [/quote] Is that a wooden pickguard? A little too posh for a basic workhorse like the ATK imho I love ATK's, I own two and used to have two more, but I prefer the old ones with the triplecoil humbucker. They now have quadcoil humbuckers with different switching, and they slightly slimmed down the bodyshape. I do like the addition of a J singlecoil, but they should have moved the humbucker closer to the bridge on the twin-pickup models, like they did on the old 400 and 1300.

There hasn't been a passive SR400 since 1995, all 400s were opaque finishes with a maple body, and no pre-1996 SR400 was available in a transparent finish. But the 400 does seem to be the closest match! Strange.

I'm guessing Sage Green Metallic? Here's mine: Fender MIJ '75 Jazz reissue, upgraded with Hipshot tuners and X-tender, Leo Quan BadAss II bridge, MEC pots and a switchable active 6 dB bass boost (not installed yet when I took the pictures, it now has a 4th knob controlling a rotary 2-way switch and the jack was moved to the side of the body). [IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f74/de_slager/Fender%20MIJ%2075%20Jazz/DSC02791.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f74/de_slager/Fender%20MIJ%2075%20Jazz/DSC02786.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f74/de_slager/Fender%20MIJ%2075%20Jazz/DSC02785.jpg[/IMG]

[quote name='oli@bass' timestamp='1344011826' post='1758761'] DD I is simply the best finish they ever did. There are quite a few other brilliant and great looking rare EBMM finishes, but this one tops all of them. Love those inlays! [/quote] I agree! I also particularly love some of the amazing sparkle finishes EBMM have had over the years. Think Copperhead, Autumn Redburst Sparkle, Autumn Redrise, Medallion Gold... Here's mine.

Had a USA-made SB-2 for a while, loved it. Jazz Bass-like feel, Precision-like tone on steroids. The splitcoil in these basses is so incredibly loud! It's already at Fender Precision level with the volume knob at just 80%, and then there's still some left! At first I was missing a tone pot, but when I got to know the bass better I started to appreciate the simple VV control layout. I didn't like the bridge pickup stand-alone, but if you take the splitcoil as your base tone, you can use the two volume controls to dial in many great in-between tones. Turn the splitcoil down a little to lift off some highs. Turn the bridge pickup up a little and it will add some top end and scoop the mids a little. Turn both pickups on all the way for great modern rock tones but also a great slap! The Tributes are fantastic basses for the money. Tried several Tribute L2000's, all of them were excellent! Great necks, great playability, great tone, great finish.

I play in a modern female-fronted metal band. I usually play a 5-string custom Ellio Martina (basically a Jazz on steroids, with custom large singlecoils and an Aguilar OBP-3 preamp) or a Stingray 5 through Ampeg tube preamps (usually my SVP-PRO, with an SVP-CL as backup) straight to the PA. It has a great overdrive section which I usually set to a mild drive. I keep the EQ section slightly scooped. I have to compete with two 7-string guitars through an ENGL Powerball and a Mesa Mark 4, and the Ampeg provides massive bottom end and nice cutting highs so I have no trouble being heard. And because I don't use any cabs onstage (neither do our guitarists), sound engineers are usually very happy too . We bring our own engineer whenever we can, so we can be sure we sound exactly the way we want to.

[quote name='Nodd' timestamp='1344516520' post='1765775'] I noticed that the 'U' shaped strap end had turned around and with the open end up it was easier for the strap end to pop off the button. [/quote] The open end is [i]supposed[/i] to be up. The U-shaped bit supports the weight of your bass, not the little lock pin inside. But you're right, Schallers do wear. I have them on most of my basses and on my main gigging bass I have to replace them every 4 years or so because I'm able to slip the lock right off the strap button without the need to pull the pin out. I also have to fasten the nut that holds my strap to the straplock once in a while. I therefore kinda favour the Dunlop system nowadays.

[quote name='merello' timestamp='1264537013' post='725669'] B4 [url="http://www.carvinguitars.com/customshop/boltneckbasses.php"]http://www.carvingui...tneckbasses.php[/url] [/quote] I recently bought one of those right here on this forum. It's not as luxurious as the one you picture, mine doesn't have a flamed maple top and no gold hardware. It's a great instrument, especially for the mere 250 GBP I paid for it! Very well-made, plays like a dream, and sounds great. I've never understood why Carvin never managed to gain more popularity here, and why their resale value is so poor. Here's a review I wrote: [url="http://www.leftybassist.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3557"]http://www.leftybass...php?f=16&t=3557[/url] [quote name='7string' timestamp='1264549502' post='725911'] Carvin never sold their products outside of the USA until recently. [/quote] Here in the Netherlands there have been two dedicated Carvin stores for a long time. One was a webshop that acted as an intermediary between the customer and Carvin and had basses built to order. The other was an actual store that had Carvin instruments in stock and was called the Carvin Music Store. They went bankrupt several years ago, unfortunately. I've also seen some new Carvins in another store here, but I suspect they bought some remaining stock of the Carvin Music Store after their bankruptcy.