Derek Lavington

Apologies for being somewhat late to the party, but I played an SB1000 back in the day, not coz of Cliff Burton or even John Taylor but simply coz the thing was so much superior to anything else. Through loads of agency gigging and studio work, no one ever complained or questioned why I played an SB1000 rather than a Precision/Jazz. Fair to say the SB1000 was far more hard wearing, versatile, faster playing, better sounding, and a damn sight cheaper than the alternatives. So after some 30 years after my aspiring musical career inevitably foundered on the rock that is family, career, and responsibility, I found myself at a time of life where I had both the time and money to indulge in literally whatever bass I wanted. While my first thoughts were towards a second hand SB1000, i was intrigued by reports that Aria had rereleased the model. However, try as I might, no UK distributor had the model or was able to order it. Even US distributors indicated that they had no stock and no foreseeable hope of getting any. In the end, contacting Aria distributors across the world, even Japan, either resulted in disappointment or concerns over the provenance of what was being offered. Online searches pretty much suggest the rereleased SB1000's were a limited run and got snapped up literally as soon as they hit the ground. In the end, I ended up getting a Specter NS Dimension which, while being an incredible bass, is about as far from a an SB1000 as you can possibly get. Then Karma struck in the way she so often does in the form of a dealer in Denmark (nope, not Bass Buddha) with a (very) limited stock of SB1000's. Not believing a word of it, I asked the chap to confirm and he remained entirely admanant he had the 'real thing' and not some second hand monstrosity or, worse still, a 1GB-50 (to be fair it's not a bad bass, but certainly not an SB1000). Bear in mind that this kind of unicorn doesn't come cheap, even more so when you live in a country that has stupidly and pointlessly left the European Union in such a way as to incur exorbitant import duties on said already expensive bass. However, buying a real brand new SB1000 isn't something to be undertaken on a limited budget or any kind of common sense. Anyhow, my Danish friend was as good as his word and is someone I would go out on a limb to recommend. So how does a brand new SB1000 compare to current basses? Well the neck is still a thing to behold, being thinner and faster than younger peepz and Fender afficionados will be used to. The fretboard together with the neck-thru construction still impresses with its incredible sustain and, yes, it's still as ridiculously heavy and back breaking as ever it was. This isn't a bass for the feint hearted. Whereas today you might just get an oak top, the wings on an SB1000 are pure un-adulturated oak. While not a believer in tone wood, I would really love to think the extra density contributes to something more than aching shoulders and lower back problems. I guess the upside is that it looks impressive as it feels. The same thing goes for the monolithic bridge, industrial strength tuners, and brass nut. Everything is geared to scare the s**t out of you in order to totally max the sustain. And there's no delicacy in the design of the single massive pick up, or the controls that go with it, which were likely conceived in a first world war trench with a view to beating an unsuspecting enemy to a pulp. In every respect, the instrument looks and feels like it was built to last at least another 30 years while still reminding you of everything cool about John Taylor playing 'Rio' back in 1982. Clearly it's a personal opinion, but this is one of those instruments worth selling your kids, wife and whole damn family for. It looks, feels, sounds, entirely different from a modern bass, but not in the same way as your grandfather's crappy precision, ridiculously overpriced Ricks, or weird shaped neck-diving Gibbos. To be fair, the SB1000 is best played sitting down (unless you want to make frequent and repeated visits to a chiropractor). However, it is still arguably the pinnacle of Japanese bass design in terms of its sheer playability and sound. Alas, the cost and difficulty of getting hold of one of these unicorns makes it very much a cult instrument which I suspect will appeal only to those who find impossible missions impossible to resist.