crazycloud

A piece of flat steel, say 10mm wide by 2mm thick, 300 or so mm long with 3 holes drilled in it, one extra on the body and 15 mins work. Not difficult with even basic hand tools and costs maybe $5. Most of the time will be spent working out the length of the bar, it's positioning above the neck line etc to place the bass at the angle and reach you want. A friend can be a big help here to hold it whilst mocking it up with the bar and gaffer tape. The real hidden beauty of this mod is that you can place the bass exactly where you prefer it and you're not limited by the bass shape and the position of stock strap pin locations. The original pivot plate is genius but unnecessary once 'you' have it positioned where you like it relative to your body. If I extract my digit, I may do this to one of mine next w/e as I'm going to change the PUs as well as fix the dogs breakfast of wiring it came with. I need the pots (mail order as I'm rural) and the steel bar from the metal shop near the shed I use.

I think there's an enormous amount of cork sniffing that goes on with PUs and pres on basses. I've owned a huge variety from Status to Alembic Series II and Bart Mk1s and the latter are nowhere near as bad as many make out. You may have different preferences, especially when listened to isolated, but there is nothing 'bad' sounding about this bass. Note, I own one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EThymuEtxw I also own an Ibanez SR706, with Mks that's getting EMG45DCs, because I'm looking for that EMG tone and am prepared to (slightly) rout the bass to fit them in, especially as it cost me so little and isn't collectable in any real way. This, or the A6, could play just about anything I could consider ever playing and with some slight EQ tweaking, both could be used in a long, wide ranging cover or wedding gig, with just about zero chance of a negative comment on tone.

See if you can find a BTB845v; 33" scale and 17mm. Save for it if you need to. I have the 6 and it's awesome.

SR700, assuming you mean the 2008-2015 version. I have the 706 and it's great. The finish is hard gloss and much more resistant to wear then the brown 500s of recent years. I have 3 other models in the brown and have no issues, but mine were all purchased new and I'm gentle with instruments.

If you can do the work yourself, and it's not hard, and sell the Nords you'd be out a small amount only. Nah, but some of those wenge tops are really pretty. Not 600 pretty though.

Yep, but I don't own any at the moment. The main differences are aesthetic, and PUs from Nords to Barts, which you could do easily enough if you wanted to the the 1345B. Plus the Prestige are MIJ, which I suppose is nice but in reality doesn't get you very much. I'd love a 5006 myself, but wouldn't pony up the stiff premium for one here, about 2x over a 1346B. Save your money unless the 5005 in your actual hands is the most awesome bass you've ever played, or in net terms swapping it for the 1345 gives the tone you prefer, and the changeover is only a couple of hundred quid.

It sounds like an EMG P. There's no real P sound as even Fender branded Ps vary a lot, but EMGs are much more consistent in my experience. Edit: crappy grammar.

The jobs in Indo building guitars in these factories are highly regarded and sought after and from what I understand well paying with regard to local conditions and opportunities. So, should the Indonesians not have decent jobs?

I have purchased 3 new Corts, 2 BG and a AG in the last year, 23 and 24MY and they're superb. For the prices paid, they are some of the best value instruments I've ever owned, out of about 300, from budget to boutique (Alembic, Status etc). Because they make more instruments than any other company in the world and they have phenomenal buying power (materials, parts), and experience. I can dig around and find many threads on the net where instruments from small manufacturers are also less than perfect.

Ibanez EHBs.

ATK PUs and pres are great, I've never seen any point in changing them.

Buy a HB Block 800B and go into the FX return from the BDDI. Uses an Icepower 700AS module. No fabrication or soldering needed, working within 10 mins of the parts arriving and has resale. And this is from an EE who can, and does, design a lot of electronics; current project is a pair of 3 way bass (guitar) speakers and a very large 10ch Hypex NCore powered hi-fi system.

If not stuck on FSOs, look at Ibanez SRs, of which there are dozens of models new and S/H. Or Cort. Cort also have the GB Series, and the Elricks if you are in the FSO-ish category and the A, B and C series; if you like the more modern. I've owned many SRs and still own 7. The necks are smallish and fairly consistent in feel between all the SR models (Atlas variants are a bit chunkier) and have a large variety of pickup configs depending upon the years. If you can, try some, even so you know if you like the ergonomics of the neck, and the much smaller bodies, compared to FSOs. I have 2 Corts, A6 and A5 Ultra Ash, and they're both great, even though they have larger necks than the SRs. But not hugely.

Good grief. Apart from the pot, which shouldn't be hard to fix, they are the most trivial quibbles for the price.

A charcoal or blue 6 would be nice depending on the price and the neck dimension and bridge spacing. I also hope the Klos PUs are a common size like EMG45.

If I lived on that side of the world, I'd probably have popped for one of these by now, even though I can't stand bursts and tort. And I have SRC6s. The HB looks really awesome.

All relics are awful, but I've seen worse than these.

I just threw up a little in my mouth...

I just threw up a little in my mouth...

I've owned at least 250 guitars and basses, and played at least twice as many more. In there have been a lot of boutiques, like my 5 Alembics, but not many of the smaller brand boutiques like Sei, ACG, MTD USA etc, though I'd like to try them if I ever found one nearby. As I live in a small town in rural Australia and the nearest big city is BrisVegas at 3hrs away, that's unlikely to happen. Most of the stores in the larger Aus cities have little that's unusual, and those that do tend to specialise in vintage which doesn't interest me at all; I've tried lots and simply don't get the attraction. At all. Same with FSOs and later Leo designs. I've settled on Ibanez SR and some BTBs as well as my new love for the Cort A series. Aside from some PU changes in some models, and I'm not afraid to rout to fit EMG sizes as these aren't expensive or collectible and the HW more than serviceable stock. Some like my Cort A6 has Hipshot HW standard and was less than 600 quid delivered new! Right now I think that for almost everyone, almost always there is little to nothing to be gained with boutiques beyond flash. Try one with a strap pin extender as it totally changes the ergonomics.

I've never broken a string on stage, so not an issue for me.

The XL2 part of it is indeed perfect.

I humped my late wife's Rhodes in and out of 1500 or so gigs and it was a PITA (and back) as she'd had a custom road case made for it because she was told 'they're a tad delicate'. Not wanting to damage it I was always careful and it never once played up. As I did the PA for many of our gigs (I owned it), one more heavy road case was the least of my issues. She loved it almost as much as her baby grand. It would be nice to still have it, but I went nomad for a few years after and only kept my XL2. There are good emulators available and I might pop for one.

Same here. I've had several Alembics, Status, Kubicki, Steinberger and many others, but none of them as stuck, except the XL2. As I play 6s mainly the Steinie isn't quite enough, though the Hohner woodberger 5 does for that, hence the desire for a 6 string version. In the interim, I'm happy with my Ibanez SRs, BTB and ATK as well as the Cort A5/6, and the woodberger.