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SOLD Overwater 5 string Progress 3 Deluxe

daflewis

By daflewis,
in Basses For Sale

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daflewis

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Been meaning to put this up for months and now i'm lusting after hugee's status s2 this really has to go.....

It's the reissued original body shape (2001) with the new 3 band eq and has a poplar top (apparently cut from the same piece of wood as the one made for john entwistle).

It's 36" scale, and there lies the root of the problem for me - i suffer from tendonitis and the extra stretch seems to make things worse. it's in great condition with just a few small pressure dings but nothing you'd notice unless you were really looking for them. i think that it may have had a refret at some point as the tops of some of the frets have a small amount of filler added (see pics), again it's really nothing but i want to mention everything. it used to belong to lozbass and below is his (far more detailed) description from the ebay ad when i bought it if you want a bit more background.












Lawrence's description (hope that's ok lawrence!!)

This is a custom order Overwater 5 string bass. This is a beautiful, near-mint, hand-built instrument, completed by Chris May in 2001. The bass is essentially an Overwater Progress III Deluxe but built around the company’s ‘Original’ body design. I had the pleasure of discussing the instrument with Chris at UK BassDay in November and he informed me that it’s almost unique – he’s just delivered a bass with the same spec (Progress III with an ‘original’ body) to the bass player in Alanis Morissette’s band.

If you’ve played an Overwater, you’ll know what to expect. The craftsmanship is stunning and this particular instrument is very beautiful indeed: it plays, sounds and looks breathtaking. This is a real pro-quality bass and has a feel and finish that only comes with high-end, hand-built custom instruments. It’s a neck-through design (maple with purpleheart laminates) with Alder body wings (I think), a dark-reddish wing laminate and a beautiful figured-poplar full-face top. Chris confirmed that the poplar is from the same piece that was used for the facing on John Entwistle’s Overwater. The fretboard is an extraordinary, thick slab of birds-eye maple – the marking is subtle but lovely and a fabulous complement to the figured poplar body and head facings. The marker dots in the front of the board are gorgeous and highly-figured blue-green abalone. The small dots in the top of the board appear to be made from wood (ebony or black stain?).

All the fittings, electronics and hardware are absolutely top quality. The fret and nut work is amongst the best I’ve ever seen (the bass looks almost unused and there is no fretware). The bridge is the standard, high-end recessed Overwater unit with heavy brass and multi-adjustable saddles. Tuners are Gotoh and extremely well-engineered and accurate. The electronics package is that found in the Progress III – two proprietary Overwater hum-cancelling soapbars and the John East designed three-band pre-amp (master volume plus bass, middle, treble and pickup blend with centre detents). The finish is tinted (honey-blond) lacquer with 35% satination (this brings out the grain of the timbers beautifully and looks really classy).

Playability – the bass has a 36” scale. It was professionally re-strung and set-up (with new Overwater light guage strings) by Ade at Music Ground in Manchester (Ade is luthier to the stars – his client list is incredible). The intonation is perfect with gorgeous harmonics all over the board and no dead spots (you wouldn’t expect them in this price range but I’ve certainly found them on other high-end, custom instruments!) The neck has a medium D profile and is super-stable and extremely playable (it’s also super-fast!) The 36” scale delivers a fantastically taut and focused low B (honestly the best I’ve heard – have a look at some of the reviews). String tension across the instrument is generally very light. The scale is also very comfortable – I’m not tall but have no problems with the length – C and C# on the B are easily reachable with minimal wrist rotation. IMO the bass is fabulously playable – it’s a joy to look at and own and very hard to put down – it’s a real fun and funky instrument that just begs to be played.

Sound – the electronics are superb – silent and powerful and eminently usable (I’m a big fan of East pre-amps – nothing extreme and unusable). There’s a massively wide range of tones available from the onboard pre and the instrument is highly versatile in general. With the eq flat, the sound is pokey, immediate, authoritative and controlled (indeed, it sounds slightly compressed – something I really love about boutique electronics). Judicious use of the eq can deliver pretty-much anything from gritty, aggressive, bright rock tones, through rich, lush and fat jazz tones, to mid-scooped, deep and fizzy slap. This bass has done everything I’ve asked of it tone-wise and always with real articulacy, class and authority.

Condition – the bass is generally in superb condition with no nasty knocks, dings, scratches or dents. It was completed in 2001 and had clearly spent most of its life in the case before it came to me (and I’ve been very careful with it!) The hardware and electronics are all in superb condition and, overall the finish is near-mint (it was sold to me as ‘mint’ and I’ve caused no damage whatsoever). However, I’m very picky and always aim for full-disclosure…so, prospective buyers should note that the bass does have a few minor pressure indentations at the upper and lower bout edges. These do not go through the lacquer and are not visible from the front of the bass (indeed, you need to look to find them – I’ve seen ‘new’ basses on showroom floors with more - and more prominent - marks). There is also one very small indentation (almost unnoticeable, about 1 x 3mm) in the rear tummy contour and a tiny knock at the end of the head – beyond these minor flaws, the bass is in fabulous condition throughout. I asked Chris May and Ade about touching up the marks and both were incredulous – ‘why bother, they’re irrelevant and you’d have more than this in another fortnight of intensive playing’.

Flight Case – the bass comes in a custom-built (for this instrument) full flight case supplied by ‘Specialist’ in Devon. I’ve played for years and this is honestly one of the best cases I’ve ever seen – top-of-the-range fittings and some lovely touches. It’s heavy but offers ultimate protection. It’s also in excellent condition – it has a few insignificant scrapes but looks almost new. To buy a new case like this would cost around £200.

This is a stunning, custom bass built by one of the world’s top luthiers. The finish, sound and playability are exemplary – if you’ve never tried a top-end, hand-built, this will be a real treat! If you have, you still can’t fail to be impressed – this bass is something well out of the ordinary, even for a high-end instrument. It’s also a real head-turner - I used it on a couple of rock gigs a couple of months ago through a hired Ampeg SVT – apart from sounding thunderous it attracted a lot of attention and some serious admiration and compliments. I think the starting price represents a ridiculous bargain and the buy-it-now is more than realistic – this bass would come in at over £2400 if ordered from Overwater today (with the flightcase a very expensive additional cost).

Edited by daflewis
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daflewis

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[quote name='ste_m3' post='270982' date='Aug 27 2008, 01:37 PM']My Lord I think thats the most beautiful bass ive seen on here!!

If you want a Bacchus Jazz with a J-Retro Let me know, eesh![/quote]

Thanks man,
yes, she's a beaut' and I know lawrence was also very sad to see her go.
another time and i may have been interested in the Bacchus but i have my Valenti jazz and that s2 classic is giving me what someone else described recently as "pocket pains" - PP.... mmm could this be the successor to GAS!? :)

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daflewis

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[quote name='cd_david' post='271051' date='Aug 27 2008, 02:59 PM']Stunning Bass, but i hate to be pedantic , Its not a "Progress" its an "Original"
Wish i needed one Id have this off you in a shot
Good luck with the sale[/quote]

cheers for that, though the east built electronics package is the newer three band that they use in the progress 3, which is better quality than the original. perhaps the "custom" tag is better as it is a Progress 3 Deluxe with an original body shape.

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