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Bass suggestions?


xgsjx

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I'm looking at getting a nice 5er in the next couple of months & looking for suggestions on what basses I should definitely try.  I'm going to try as many basses as I can & then hopefully narrow it down.

I'd really like a fretless, but it's not 100% (probably about 75% set on fretless).

I've spent ages going over different ideas on the Maruszczyk configurator & the Sandberg one too.  I'm not a fan of the traditional shapes (e.g. Fender clones), but it's not a dealbreaker.
The Warwick Alien fretless 5 seems to tick a lot of boxes on paper, but I've not tried one (yet).
I'm also a fan of Dingwall basses (having played one a decade ago in Vegas & kick myself to this day for not buying it!  I had the money too).
I've drooled over some of Skelf's instruments & I'd love to get a UK built bass, but I think they're a wee bit out my budget.  I can go a little over £2k, but I'd rather be under & have spare pennies to maybe spend on a DI pedal.

If you had about £2k to spend on a bass, what would you get?

 

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Some good suggestions.
I never thought ACG or Shuker would be in my price range.  I think I'll have to take another look at both.  I like most of Skelf's designs & the Shuker Uberhorn with the infinity fretboard is rather tasty too (though I'm pretty sure that one's gonna be about £1k over budget at least!).

Status basses are a good shout.  & the Celinder does look the part (even for a F***er lookalike :P).
 

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What I would get might not be what you would get. It will depend on how you like your string spacing, the sound, pickup configuration etc

Having said that, if I was in the market for a 5 string fretless then it would be without a doubt a Stingray

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Skelf (Alan) has definitely had basses for sale recently which are under £2k. It’s definitely possible to get something beautiful within budget. Just one example: http://www.acguitars.co.uk/project/0282-retrob-5-2/

Re: Sandberg, since you’re not a huge fan of the Fender clone shapes you’ll be pleased to know that their newer “California II” range have redesigned bodies which no longer look like Fenders. They also have a number of completely unique body shapes such as the Classic, Basic and 48.

@xgsjx, where are you based? A trip to BassDirect in Warwick or The Bass Gallery in London will answer a lot of your questions and be a ton of fun too.

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Given that you could get down to ACG with not too long a drive and talk face to face with Alan, I’d probably go that way. I’ve had an off the peg Sandberg Basic and I currently have 2 custom Maruszczyk Elwood Ls, all three are very fine instruments and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them. However, being able to be more ‘hands on’ (or at least eyes on) with a build would swing it for me. The instruments that Alan had at LBGS were stunning, I was there another BCer who has an off the peg Elwood L and a custom headless Maruszczyk Frog and he very nearly bought one of Alan’s creations as he was blown away by the build quality, feel, etc.

Edited by ezbass
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Sounds like a message to Skelf could be on the cards next month (I'm moving house first).

@CameronJ, I'm up in Perth (not Oz, thankfully), but soon to move down to Falkirk, so ACG would be a little over an hour's drive away (about 70 miles).  Though I'm not against the idea of a wee drive down to Warwick & London.  If I wait until July/August, I'll hopefully have a lekky car, so no congestion charge.

Guitar Guitar stock Sandberg, so a trip to Glasgow/Edinburgh is imminent too.  :)

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52 minutes ago, xgsjx said:

Sounds like a message to Skelf could be on the cards next month (I'm moving house first).

@CameronJ, I'm up in Perth (not Oz, thankfully), but soon to move down to Falkirk, so ACG would be a little over an hour's drive away (about 70 miles).  Though I'm not against the idea of a wee drive down to Warwick & London.  If I wait until July/August, I'll hopefully have a lekky car, so no congestion charge.

Guitar Guitar stock Sandberg, so a trip to Glasgow/Edinburgh is imminent too.  :)

Nice! Alan’s a really nice guy so I’m sure a trip to ACG headquarters would be a fruitful one. 

Looks like GuitarGuitar in Glasgow have a few nice ‘Bergs in stock right now actually: https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/sandberg/guitars/bass/solid-body/5-string-sb/

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44 minutes ago, CameronJ said:

The black one or the natural bubinga one? I’m gonna pour some fuel on that GAS fire of yours now:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F273181547136

The natural one for me, although the black one isn’t horrible and I wouldn’t return it if someone gave it to me.

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If you were looking at the Warwick Alien, check out the Godin A5 Ultra. I have the A4 and love it, Bass Direct have a used A5 for sale too:

http://bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Godin_A5.html

Well worth getting the Ultra version for the extra magnetic pickup, it sounds middy and growly like a fretless 'Ray. Older ones are piezo only.

Demo of the A4:

 

Edited by dannybuoy
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