razor5cl

As the almost exact target market for a bass like this I'm seriously conflicted. It looks stealthy and super slick and cool, and I am a HUGE fan of the Jackson headstock over all else. Nice binding and luminlays too, real sexy. I'm also a big proponent of the Jackson "sharktooth" fret inlays, so sharp and much cooler than dots. But £1400, really? The body shape is nothing special and aside from the inlays and headstock shape I see no real benefit over a Fender Aerodyne or even something like the black Yamaha BB734a. Hell if you want something rock and roll get a used MIJ Charvel with the same headstock, real 80s heavy metal/shred heritage and made by the real Jackson before they became part of Fender. And most importantly cheaper too.

I hadn't consciously noticed this but I've been combing the classifieds for a while now and it checks out! I'm actually on the lookout for some cabs myself since my rehearsal space has two mismatched and rather knackered old boxes, a Warwick 4x10 and a Laney 1x15 and one of them is definitely blown since it makes an odd farty sound when I play hard with my distortion pedal on. It's a buyer's market these days it seems! Especially if you're not so bothered about lugging around heavy gear - my 90s Peavey head is heavy enough as is! Plus most venues we get offered to play have their own cabs these days.

You need to play like Cronos from Venom - make a total bloody racket and mainly use that fretless upper register for slides and making various ungodly noises

I also have an irrational fear of batteries dying! I'm just a miserable young scallywag. Thankful my bass only has two pickups though and no piezo volume knob! That sounds awful

It is an option I think but I'm not 100% sure. EMG seems to have thousands of wiring diagrams on their website and it seems that in addition to the handful they provide with the pickups there are also other options that they don't tell you about. They do sell an active blend knob I think but I'd have to check. Basically I'm too lazy to check their website, buy the parts, and figure it out myself/take it to my tech 🤣

I'd consider it for practice or in the studio but on stage I have an irrational (heh see!) fear of using pedals during a performance. I'm just paranoid that cables will get tangled or me or someone else will step on it by accident or unplug it. My tuner and distortion pedals live in front of the amp at the back of the stage and I strictly forbid any of my band mates from going anywhere near them lol

Someone here mentioned separate volume knobs and it's currently driving me mildly loopy. Just had the electronics swapped on my Jackson Kelly and I have two active EMGs with no preamp so separate pots it is. How does one deal with this? Having played for almost 9 years now and gotten used to having a master volume to quickly mute/unmute my bass with. I can quickly turn both down easily enough but turning them both back up is a faff. It's especially annoying since one of my band's tunes has a part where I do a volume swell up on a big power chord. So far I've been doing it with just one knob and then turning the other one up once it's already ringing out at full volume but sometimes I forget to turn up the other knob (like on stage this weekend oops!)

That thing looks really cool! How does it sound? I've Googled but can't seem to find a black one for sale anywhere. Each to their own but glam isn't really my thing apart from maybe W.A.S.P. I much prefer the cult classic German underground death/thrash metal band Poison! BC Rich are still at it today with their guitars! Look here for example, tonnes of purples and yellows and crackles: https://www.andertons.co.uk/browse/guitar-dept/electric-guitars/?cio_brand=BC+Rich A mate of mine has a crackle Ironbird and I just can't wrap my head around it. The over-the-top glam finish is totally not my thing anyways but each to their own. But on an Ironbird? A guitar shape famous for black/death/war metal bands? The mind boggles. I'm sure Suffolk is very nice but I think my band mates and musical friends would immediately disown me if I was caught dead with that thing lol. Really not my thing at all, and now I don't have to spend 4 hours before a gig getting my hair and makeup done.

Spotted this one on Reverb a week or two ago and it's been on my mind constantly. Killer looking bass, love the RG shape - hardly ever see it in bass but the guitars are just so timeless, reminds me of the 80s shredders. PJ pickups and a nice looking neck, Gotoh tuners too. It's got my name written all over it, and I'd already be thinking of buying it but for one fatal flaw. What on Earth is that finish? Glam went out of fashion almost 40 years ago! https://reverb.com/uk/item/89622765-ibanez-rg-bass-1989-feline-limited-edition

When I picked mine up from my luthier he mentioned how if they made a reverse version of the body then it would maybe balance a bit better since the strap button would be closer to the headstock. Yours looks like a lefty but actually if a righty were to play it upside down it might balance pretty well! Would also have a reverse headstock which I'm particularly partial to but I know some pointy guitar aficionados hate them haha

I think if you don't look at least a little bit ridiculous on stage then you're doing it entirely wrong! Preferably more than just a little too...

It's odd how my Kelly is one of the biggest basses you'll ever see, and is actually surprisingly very light. My Yamaha BB feels heavier! And comparatively that Jackson bird looks like a smaller body but weighs a ton. Is it made of mahogany?

She's an absolute beauty! Looks extra mean in black. Also probably in better nick than mine - if it's sitting in storage then you can't bang any of the pointy bits on anything 🤣

Ooooh I have been looking at some Charvels online recently, mainly for that headstock! That and they seem like cool basses. Is the Charvel headstock much different? It looks the same in photos and AFAIK they were made in the same factory no?

The points aren't the uncomfortable part, the body is actually quite nicely shaped. It's a big old thing but I'm 6' 4" so it actually looks and feels fairly natural on me! And I've managed to wrestle the neck dive under control too so it's really not too bad. I can certainly say that the very pointy headstock is fine for me but not very comfortable for my singer's head, both my guitarists, my drummer's hi hats, or my mates who came to watch us rehearse. Ask me how I know...