MassBass 5 strings single cut lined fretless SOLD £580

[Sumatra]

Guys,

try also here to put up for sale my Italian made MassBass 5 strings.
As the title says this is a 5 strings, lined fretless, single cut: Alder body, bubinga pommelle top and back, maple neck (2 bubinga stripes), macassar ebony fingerboard, matching headstock.

It's passive with 2 Nordstrand dual coil: I had them professionally installed by italian luthier Carlos Micheluttis in Cremona, who build two ebony spacers to adapt them to the bigger recess.

The bass was originally equipped with custom made MassBass pickups: when I got the bass from the previous owner he had only tghe bridge one (the bass was used as a Gary Willis on steroids).



Out at 700 euro.

I'm located in the North of Italy.

[attachment=149600:full front.jpg][attachment=149601:MBBass retro 2.jpg][attachment=149602:body detail.jpg][attachment=149603:headstock detail.jpg][attachment=149604:tastiera.jpg]

thanks for looking
Luca

Edited December 5, 2013 by Sumatra

[ZenBasses]

Jeez that's a lot of bass for the money

Gorgeous fingerboard with the sap wood running through it.

Having something similar on my new build although it will be cocobolo sap wood.

)

Edited December 1, 2013 by ZenBasses

[Dazed]

That's nice. Very w&t ish

Do you know the weight, nut width and string spacing at bridge?

[Dazed]

Also rough shipping cost to uk?
Thanks

[Sumatra]

Thanks a lot guys


I'll let you know all the infos as I'll be back this evening.

Regarding the shipping costs I'll ask tomorrow to MBE, I guess it may be around 70-100 euro.. ? Let you know tomorrow!


thanks
Luca

[Sumatra]

The bass weights 4.2-4.3 kg on my kitchen scale, nut width is 4.5 cm and string spacing is 18mm

It is to be noted that in order to accomodate the Nordstrand the luthier told me he needed to drive the saddles all the way open.
Honestly, to me there still a little increase that can be made for the B string, however to me it sounds balanced and I didn't need to do anything else so I left it as Carlos set.


I add here another pic with the detail of how the pus have been fitted: I increased sharpness and contrast to highlight this as much as possible.

[attachment=149654:pu detail.jpg]

[Sumatra]

Guys,

asked Mail, Boxes & etc and they told me that shipping to UK should be, as I thought, around 70-80 euro, but they make the final quote only when I bring the bass and have the exact address.



thanks
Luca

[lozbass]

I love the look of this - the build quality appears to be excellent and a fantastic spec for the price. I couldn't find much on the builder but a few more basses are featured here (hope this helps): [url="http://www.mercatinomusicale.com/ann/search.asp?ns=1&kw=massbass&x=0&y=0"]http://www.mercatinomusicale.com/ann/search.asp?ns=1&kw=massbass&x=0&y=0[/url]

[Dazed]

Thanks for the info Luca.
Shipping in a flight case ?

Almost forgot, is it 34 or 35" scale?

[Sumatra]

Dazed,

I will ship in a flight case, but I was not including it in the listed price.
The exact diapason that I measure for each string goes from 86.6 to 87.6, should be a 34".


Lozbass,

you're right, those are other MB Bass (sorry, correct name of the brand is "MB Bass") sold on the Italian market.

This is what I remember about the luthier: I may be quite imprecise as I got the info from forums and newsgroup during the years

As far as I know the builder (Massimo Scibilia) was a fine luthier for a big name among the most famous brands (brand as Fender, Gibson, Yamaha or Warwick can be) and after a period of time he decided to settle by himself.
He was getting quite a good reputation in Italy, especially for the use of Wenge, Ovangkol and Bubina for his instruments, but if I remember correctly some customers complained about him on the forums (could be related to poor communication or delays in shipment but to be honest I didn't really follow so I may be very inaccurate) and from there a lot of flames developed.
I looked for his website last year but it was no more online.

Here is what I found, I remember all of these instruments as at that time I had no money and could only lurk on the web
[url="http://s21.photobucket.com/user/massbass/library/?sort=3&page=1"]http://s21.photobucket.com/user/massbass/library/?sort=3&page=1[/url]

Here's a brief review from an Italian pro (quite known on the forums) that got an instrument quite close to mine:
[url="http://www.robysalomone.com/SK_MBBass_6Fretless.html"]http://www.robysalomone.com/SK_MBBass_6Fretless.html[/url]
Sorry that it's Italian... he's basically saying that built quality is good, that the instrument has very good response to the player's touch, that the 33" scale is not easy above 12th fret and that if you like very "mwaaa"-ish fretless this may NOT be the real thing for you as the mwaa doesn't jump out of the bass by itself.





thanks,
Luca

[lozbass]

Luca, thanks for the extra details - always good to learn more about the niche producers. This looks like a lovely instrument - the builder is clearly very talented.

[Sumatra]

I think the same Lozbass,

hope he's planning on getting back in business soon..

[Sumatra]

And finally gone!