franzbassist

I was once told not to play a 5 string as it wasn't a real bass.....

Sorry, should have been clearer, this is an Overwater by Tanglewood bass!

I don't know if used to belong to a BCer, but I recently bought the 2011 Overwater Aspiration Elite that was on sale at Bass Direct and I am really impressed with how good it is. I was in the market for a nice but inexpensive fretted 5 as a second bass, and this fits the bill really well. First of all, it's in great condition. I don't think there's a mark on it anywhere. The fingerboard needed an oil, but other than that all is good. It's a five piece neck through, maple and something walnut-like would be my guess, with what appears to be an ash body capped with a burl maple top. Very nice. It's 35" scale, so a nice tight B string, and the 19mm spacing at the bridge is perfect for me (same as my Franz basses) and the main reason I got it. EQ is a three band Overwater system designed by John East. The control cavity is thoroughly shielded using paint and copper tape. The bridge and pickups are Overwater branded too, but I assume made in Korea along with the bass itself. The standard tuners were mini Gotoh-like ones, but as the bass was a bit neck heavy I have swapped them for Gotoh ResOLites which take the weight to bang on 9 lbs and have sorted the balance. Other than that the bass is stock. Live, the bass is really articulate: every note comes through crisp and clear. I honestly wasn't expecting it to sound as good as it does! I've played basses way more expensive than this that weren't half as good!

Gives me late 70s vibes. I love the TF basses, and that looks a stunner.

I'd just leave it - it's mojo!. Trying to repair it might make it more obvious, plus it's likely to keep recurring if that's how you play. Random question but how long is your thumbnail? Could you keep it shorter?

If we can have a clean 100 watts of valve goodness then colour me interested

FMC cabs from Germany are also superb.

Try this for some pretty full on playing, with Jack Bruce on bass and Simon Phillips on drums.

I dropped a set of Barts in my Cort SCMS, which also has 16.5mm string spacing - they sound great!