interesting Shine Telecaster bass - model SBA704

[mcnach]

Not today, but a couple of days ago, I took delivery of a very nice cheapie bass, prompted by this thread over here:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=144970"]Cheap bass has got my attention thread[/url]

At £127 plus delivery it just looked fantastic, and I had to give it a go despite not having a maple fingerboard

I wrote a bit about it on the thread above, but after playing it a couple of days, I decided it deserved its own thread.

This is the bass and what I wrote two days ago:












I have to get back to work, so I didn't have a lot of time to play with it, but here are the first impressions:

1) this is a light package. Is there really a bass inside?
2) wow, that's a pretty piece of ash
3) I'll have to fix the action
4) hey, this sounds like a Jazz on steroids
5) if I forget where the floor is, I'll just let the neck go and follow it.

It is a very light bass. VERY. That is good. Except when it cannot balance the neck, and where the design means the strap button falls at the 17th fret rather than nearer the 12th: neckdive issues.
I already suspected it'd suffer from it, and the one video in youtube confirmed it: the owner moved the strap button to the neck heel which cured it for him (his words).

It's very pretty Really nice grain, similar to my G&L L2500. Fretboard has very close grain and it's nice. Could use a bit of lemon oil.

Finish is good. A lot better than I'd expect for the price. No issues on first inspection. String spacing a touch narrow for the pickup, but polepieces align sufficiently well. The neck pickup was always going to be a compromise unless they use a different sized one, still, alignment is reasonable.

The two pickups seem to be alnico, as the specs indicated (judging by the polepieces, I haven't opened it up - yet).

Action is high, I'll have to fix that later, adjust intonation etc. Fret ends are ok, no sharp edges. I was looking for obvious levelling issues, but I did not find anything. Hopefully I can get away without fret levelling, but I'll find out when I lower the action.

The neck is like a P-bass more than a Stingray or a Jazz. Slim neck? Not here. Like P-basses? Then you may like this. I do. Satin finish on the back, smooth.
The shape of the neck where it meets the body is not square: what you see is a small overhang. The actual shape is very much like the Squier CV50s P-bass I have next to me. Square-ish, but with round edges. It makes me wonder whether it would fit... If I keep this bass, I can only imagine what it would look like with a nicely tinted all maple neck. But that would be long into the future, if ever. If I keep it it will also host a preamp eventually. The control cavity is huge, which is great. Lots of space to play with.

Sounds... like a Jazz.
Not like a Jazz, but Jazz-like. Certainly not Stingray. Not surprising when you look at the position of the pickups: Jazz positions. On the picture above, the 5-string Jazz does *NOT* have the pickups at their usual jazz spots, but follow a Stingray pattern, interestingly enough... Check with the OLP next to it. I should have put the Jazz too in the group to best illustrate my point, but you can mentally compare it to a Jazz by looking at the distance from the bridge.
Jazz-like, but heavier. Those pickups sound nice. I wonder whether they're wired in series or parallel... first impression says series to me. I'll check it out some other time.
The bridge pickup is more nasal than a Stingray. It will certainly cut through. The passive tone control has quite a wide useable range, and with it entirelly rolled off I had something that I'd be happy to play reggae with. Not thin whatsoever.
The neck pickup reminded me of a P-bass. No, it doesn't mimic a P, but you get that mid-range thing going on and a LOT of bottom that describes the P bass so well.
Both pickups on have that "hollow" quality of a Jazz with both pickups on, but again "ballsier".
Overall, a good range of sounds. Nice. I like it.

I really like it.

Will I keep it? I don't know. You may have noticed I said a couple of times "IF I keep it..."
Why?
The first thing I mentioned: neckdive.
Some people are ok with it, but it is one of the things that end up annoying me a lot. Every guitar or bass I ever owned that suffered from it ended up the same way: abandoned in my guitar rack gathering dust, no matter how lovely they were, and finally sold on.
It may be possible to make it better by moving the strap button. My personal experince is that it doesn't always result in a good balance.
It's not a worse neckdive than, say, a Thunderbird bass (the ones I've tried), or a Warwick Thumb, and those particular basses have LOTS of fans out there, so this bass is perfectly playable and there will be lots of people who feel absolutely fine with it as is. Just not me. So, if you absolutely hate neckdive... this may not be for you. If you don't mind it, then it's worth checking out. At £142 delivered? You can do a lot worse after spending £350.

I would hate to part with this, because it looks great on me (ok, so I'm vain ) and as stock it already seems to be a very interesting bass. As a subject of modifications... I just drool about what can be done to it... For fun and giggles, not because without the mods it's useless, you understand.
But I'm a neck-dive nazi, I admit it... and I am not sure I will be able to tolerate it beyond the honeymoon period.

Edited July 16, 2011 by mcnach

[Hobbayne]

What do the pickups sound like when turned up loud? Is there a significant loss of top end?

[mcnach]

That was then.
This is now, 2-3 days later, and a few hours playing it under my belt.

First thing I did was sort the action. I looked into it, and I figured that the truss rod definitely needed straightened up a bit. So I turned the truss rod nut... and hey! that did the trick! I didn't touch the saddles, the action was lowered already enough, and it plays beautifully without fret buzz anywhere. That was easy!

I have been playing it almost exclusively for the past couple of days... and I'm wondering whether to take it tonight to our gig. Probably not, as I'll have to fiddle with my settings a bit (difefrent basses, different settings) and I feel a bit lazy, I just want to play and have fun without thinking much. Maybe tomorrow, a longer gig in a very relaxed environment... we'll see.

Anyway... the sound. The sound. I love the sound of this thing!
Definitely nothing Stingray about it. Not one bit. It's a Jazz bass. A Jazz bass that worked out intensively while your Fender was out chasing girls, but a Jazz bass. At least when it comes to sound, that's the best way I can describe it.

I use only the bridge pickup. Well, 95% of the time.

The neck pickup sounds fat. But I never liked much the neck pu in a Jazz. It's got a certain precisiony flavour, just like a Jazz... but it doesn't sound like either. Very deep, very powerful.
Both pickups on is a bit too hollow for my liking... just the way I feel about the same option in a Jazz. It can sound great by itself, but it gets lost in the mix easily. Rolling down the neck pickup a bit gives you a slightly more cutting sound... but it just makes me want to roll it off completely, so that I just have the...
Bridge pickup alone.
Bridge pickup. Yum.
With the tone control fully up this pickup is fat, midrangey, a bit nasal, and will cut through very easily. Growl, you say? Well, growl you have.
Now, roll off the tone control a bit. It still cuts through but it seems fatter, rounder and creamier. I think that the first 10-20% of the travel removes just the strongest "nasal" qualities and leaves a very nice fat bass tone. High output. Powerful. It sounds great with the stock strings (look like Rotosounds).

So, two days after receiving the bass, I am very happy with it, and enjoying it a lot. It's bridge pickup + tone control for me, that's all I need.

Neck dive issues?
Still there.
I tried using a neck screw to hold the strap... and it does help matters, but I don't quite like the way it hangs then. So I've decided to live with it. It's such a light bass, that I can tolerate a bit of neck imbalance. At least for now.

Changing the neck for a maple one from a Squier CV50 Pbass? No chance. 21 frets vs. 20 make it complicated... the bridge on the Shine cannot realistically be moved... so it's not an option. Anyway, it's only aesthetics, as I am very happy with the original neck.

Great bass for the money. Well worth it, in my opinion.

[mcnach]

[quote name='Hobbayne' post='1305080' date='Jul 15 2011, 07:57 PM']What do the pickups sound like when turned up loud? Is there a significant loss of top end?[/quote]


I haven't tested the bass yet in a proper "wild" environment.
I played it only as loud as it's reasonable to do so without making my very tolerant neighbours mad at me, and only by myself or along to backing tracks, CDs and some band demos.

Under these conditions it "shines".

As I said earlier, it's the bridge pickup for me all the way. I just use the tone control to tame the top and make it cut more or less. If I just want a fat bass that sits in the mix but it's not prominent, then roll off tone all the way.

Until it's tested in a real life situation, it's impossible to tell for sure. But as it sounds so much like a Jazz, only fatter... I suspect it will do as well, if not better, than my Jazz basses.

I'm not gigging with it tonight, I decided. But I'll take it with me tomorrow along with the Stingray, and I will take my trusty Zoom H2 to record the results.

[mcnach]

Last minute rush, no time to change strap buttons and didn't have a "plain" strap to hand... meant I grabbed the Stingray as it was already packed and ready... so this bass is still "virgin" when it comes to band/live playing. Soon...

[mcnach]

I used it tonight for rehearsal with Radge Against The Machine.

Outlook: very positive!

My main concern, the neck-dive, is not bothersome. I wore it on a strap for 2 hours solid... and it felt very comfortable. Yes, if it had a better balance it'd be better, but not a deal breaker afterall.

Sound? A couple of surprises.
These humbuckers are powerful. Very.
And all three positions are very useable, not just the bridge.
In fact, I used it with both pickups on most of the time and the tone control fully open. If I wanted to get a more "middy" sound, more prominent, then I'd back off the neck a bit, which makes the bass a bit louder and more "nasal", which cuts through very nicely. Lots of growl. With overdrive (Ashdown Hyperdrive) is was very nice. You can get very deep tones with enough "clang" over the top... good bass for metal
I did not use the neck pickup alone, except to try it a bit. With the tone rolled off it's quite deep. Would go well for reggae.
The bridge pickup alone is a bit brash unless you back off the tone control somewhat. Of course I can tame that at the amp, but then the two-pickups-on position would not sound as good.
I think the bridge alone positoon sounds best with the volume down a tiny bit, and the tone slightly down too. I will probably screw the pickup further into the body and see whether it helps, but I'm afraid it would take away from the both-pickups-on, which is the position I liked best today.

I didn't love it for slap style. A bit too "in your face" until I switched the compressor on the amp on. I don't normally use the built-in comrpessor on this amp (a Laney RH4 I think, the one at the rehearsal place) when playing the Stingray. It was necessary for me with the Shine. But maybe I'm just getting used to it still.

It does not the "oomph", the "body" of my Stingray. But it's a very different type of sound. It doesn't have the body of my Westfield jazz + John east preamp. Hmmm, maybe i'm just used to active basses? It actually compares favourably, very favourably, against a Squier VM Jazz that I sometimes used in this band. So there you go. If you think a VM Jazz is good enough... then don't sneeze at this one either.

Now I'm looking at that huge control cavity and thinking... I can put a lot of electronics in there

[Big_Stu]

On 7/15/2011 at 19:49, mcnach said:

At £127 plus delivery it just looked fantastic, and I had to give it a go despite not having a maple fingerboard

Apologies for resurrecting a zombie thread; but there IS now an all "maple" board version, I saw one in passing in Manchester (at £189) and intend going back for a closer look.

I happen to have a spare levy suede strap and am wondering whether it'll be enough to fix the neckdive. In effect it's a Fender shaped bass with a missing top horn so the neck dive is to be expected. I also like the sound of the large control cavity as I'm wondering if splitting the coils is a possibility.

[mcnach]

3 hours ago, Big_Stu said:

Apologies for resurrecting a zombie thread; but there IS now an all "maple" board version, I saw one in passing in Manchester (at £189) and intend going back for a closer look.

I happen to have a spare levy suede strap and am wondering whether it'll be enough to fix the neckdive. In effect it's a Fender shaped bass with a missing top horn so the neck dive is to be expected. I also like the sound of the large control cavity as I'm wondering if splitting the coils is a possibility.

 

I haven't seen the new all maple bass, but if it looks half as good as the one I used to have, it'll be a beauty.

However, the neck dive was annoying in the end. It was made worse by the fact the bass was very light, but I wouldn't want a heavy body just to help a bit with the neck dive. A suede strap (which I also have) just grabs whatever you're wearing: it's ok if it's a jacket, but if it's a t-shirt, you end up with a diving bass anyway and a t-shirt pulling out from the side looking very odd.

It sounded good, 'though.

Edited March 13, 2018 by mcnach

[Big_Stu]

On 3/13/2018 at 00:39, mcnach said:

I haven't seen the new all maple bass, but if it looks half as good as the one I used to have, it'll be a beauty.

However, the neck dive was annoying in the end. It was made worse by the fact the bass was very light, but I wouldn't want a heavy body just to help a bit with the neck dive. A suede strap (which I also have) just grabs whatever you're wearing: it's ok if it's a jacket, but if it's a t-shirt, you end up with a diving bass anyway and a t-shirt pulling out from the side looking very odd.

It sounded good, 'though.

It would normally be a jacket I'd be wearing to use it; but it would be a PITA to have to wear one just to suit a base. I'm not expecting miracles for a sub £200 bass, but did you have any issues with squealing or microphonic pickups? I'm just wondering whether, if I coudl get past the neckdive whether any upgrades would be required, on electrics or machines?

Many thanks for your observations.

[mcnach]

4 hours ago, Big_Stu said:

It would normally be a jacket I'd be wearing to use it; but it would be a PITA to have to wear one just to suit a base. I'm not expecting miracles for a sub £200 bass, but did you have any issues with squealing or microphonic pickups? I'm just wondering whether, if I coudl get past the neckdive whether any upgrades would be required, on electrics or machines?

Many thanks for your observations.

 

Not really. And the neck dive wasn't as bad as some other basses I have tried... but it was annoying nevertheless. The pickups were pretty good sounding, powerful beasts. 

If a bit of neck dive doesn't put you off, it was a pretty cool bass. 

I was looking for the all maple one... (just looking, I promise ;)) but I could not find it. Do you have any links to it? I'd love to see it.

[Big_Stu]

On 3/15/2018 at 01:41, mcnach said:

I was looking for the all maple one... (just looking, I promise ;)) but I could not find it. Do you have any links to it? I'd love to see it.

I've not been able to find any pics online either, I phoned the shop (Chase in Manchester) and the assistant just said that the Shine range is so wide that they don't put everything online, especially new lines. I need a new guitar stand anyway, so that's my excuse for going back for another look.

[Geek99]

[Big_Stu]

4 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

You'll have a to use your vivid imagination to see it with a maple board. 

Apparently the neckdive can be helped - a bit - by moving the front strap button onto one of the neck plate screws.

[mcnach]

9 hours ago, Big_Stu said:

I've not been able to find any pics online either, I phoned the shop (Chase in Manchester) and the assistant just said that the Shine range is so wide that they don't put everything online, especially new lines. I need a new guitar stand anyway, so that's my excuse for going back for another look.

 

Sneaky mobile phone picture?

[mcnach]

9 hours ago, Big_Stu said:

You'll have a to use your vivid imagination to see it with a maple board. 

Apparently the neckdive can be helped - a bit - by moving the front strap button onto one of the neck plate screws.

 

it makes me want to buy another! 

[uk_lefty]

I think Bach do, or did one like this with a spalted maple top...

 

Updated with link

http://www.bachmusik.com/en/music-instruments/bass-guitars/model-btc-bass

Edited March 17, 2018 by uk_lefty

[Dom in Dorset]

My solution to the Telebass neck dive problem. I've also moved the other strap button to the back of the body about 6" from the bottom.
 

[Big_Stu]

Well, I went back for a proper look; sadly the non-rosewood board version had gone. They still had a very well demoed rosewood version in the shop, which I thought about asking for a substantial discount on, though not impressed at all. The shop manager spent all of his time telling me how terrible the neckdive is on it. But having a closer look I'm not surprised. The body is about half the thickness of my Tele guitar, so must be a massive loss of weight there. The round Fender-esque string tree was bent, and on the neck pickup the E & D strings were onl;y barely passing over the large MM style pickups.

It looked good, imho - and that was about it.

[yorks5stringer]

Thinking back I had one of these Shines years ago, bought on eBay  and sold there about a year later. Can't remember any neck-dive, possibly cos I wasn't aware of it then!

[mcnach]

Mine had neck dive but it wasn't terrible (ever tried an Epi EB3?), however I really really do not like neck dive, so it had to go. A shame, because mine was pretty nice otherwise. It sounded great stock, and I didn't have to do much to it to set it up nicely. The body wasn't particularly thin... so I wonder if they've changed the way they're built.

[alyctes]

3 minutes ago, mcnach said:

Mine had neck dive but it wasn't terrible (ever tried an Epi EB3?), however I really really do not like neck dive, so it had to go. A shame, because mine was pretty nice otherwise. It sounded great stock, and I didn't have to do much to it to set it up nicely. The body wasn't particularly thin... so I wonder if they've changed the way they're built.

You sold it to me, and I've still got it.  I never play it (partly because I'm almost exclusively fretless these days).  It's decent enough and very good for the cost, but doing something about the strap button position would really help.

[mcnach]

2 hours ago, alyctes said:

You sold it to me, and I've still got it.  I never play it (partly because I'm almost exclusively fretless these days).  It's decent enough and very good for the cost, but doing something about the strap button position would really help.

 

Oh!!!

I was trying to remember who I sold it to and could not remember... (sorry, I've sold far too many things... in fact, since I joined BC, I have bought far too many things!  )

Button position... I'm not sure it would help that much on that bass. I had an old Tanglewood Warrior once, the one that's shaped like a Warwick Corvette but with both horns short and a single MM pickup. Brilliant bass... but why the second horn so short??? I tried all kinds of things and I gave up. Putting the button on the neck heel helped with the dive, but the position while standing was wrong for me... I think it's a question of putting up with it. As far as I recall the dive was not as bad on the Shine as it was on other basses I've tried with neck dive... but it's there.

Hey, if you ever think you'd like to let it go, please get in touch . I can't see myself using it a lot (I have already those 2-3 basses that do 99% of all my gigs) but it is an interesting bass and I liked the way it sounded. I would not mind buying it back at some point.

[alyctes]

I've been wondering if I should move it on.  It's not as though I need it.

[mcnach]

16 minutes ago, alyctes said:

I've been wondering if I should move it on.  It's not as though I need it.

 

oh...

[mcnach]

On 3/12/2018 at 21:16, Big_Stu said:

Apologies for resurrecting a zombie thread; but there IS now an all "maple" board version, I saw one in passing in Manchester (at £189) and intend going back for a closer look.

I happen to have a spare levy suede strap and am wondering whether it'll be enough to fix the neckdive. In effect it's a Fender shaped bass with a missing top horn so the neck dive is to be expected. I also like the sound of the large control cavity as I'm wondering if splitting the coils is a possibility.

 

See what you have done?

It's all your fault!

 !!!