NBD: SGC Nanyo Bass Collection SB310 (I think)

[neepheid]

As mentioned in the SGC Nanyo thread, I have joined that gang - yesterday I acquired what I think is an SB310 with a Glockenklang preamp.  Spent the afternoon restringing it (it came to me strung BEAD - my poor little brain can't handle that!) and giving it the once over - a clean, lemon oil on the fretboard, new strings, full setup, sorted out a little niggle where there was an odd screw in the bridge which stuck out because the head was too big to fit in the hole - found an M3 machine screw in my spares which had a small enough head to fit in the recess.  Chrome instead of black, unfortunately, but it's a lot less noticeable than before!

 

Only thing left to do is new knobs - these are press fit knobs but the pots on the Glockenklang are solid shaft so they kinda work but want to keep turning after the end of pot travel.  Got some tasteful black flat tops coming in which are set screw fitting.  I tried to find period correct ones but it seems the bevel topped ones with the white dot like the ones which SGC Nanyo used back in the day are only available as press fit - boo!  I might revisit this though, been looking at ways to convert press fit knobs into set screw...

 

Anyway, enough guff, here are some pics:

 

Edited yesterday at 07:17 by neepheid

[80Hz]

I had the distinct pleasure of a brief noodle on this bass yesterday. Being tuned BEAD it felt a bit like the time I tuned my baritone to Bolt Thrower tuning (whatever that was).

 

My point of reference for basses of this era is my ‘94 Ibanez Soundgear (also a PJ). In comparison the SB310 felt a little bit more substantial (perception more than reality I would say, maybe a slightly deeper neck profile) but both seem to spring from the same design brief.

 

Anyway I appreciated the chance to play something a bit esoteric that I’d hitherto only read about!

 

[uk_lefty]

Something about this design just makes me think it would be great as a fretless. I have no idea why, having never played one. I've only heard good things about them, and with a fancy preamp I'm sure this is quite the versatile, playable bass 

[HeadlessBassist]

These are lovely basses. I played a few of them back in the 80s. Not the most interesting thing to look at, but a fantastic sounding and slick to play instrument. Congrats

[pete.young]

6 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

Something about this design just makes me think it would be great as a fretless. I have no idea why, having never played one. I've only heard good things about them, and with a fancy preamp I'm sure this is quite the versatile, playable bass 

 

Like this? It works very well, although the original preamp isn't great.

 

[Terry M.]

Briefly had a 5 string version in black. The preamp had to go so in went a Glockenklang. Really great basses these. Good find 👏 

[tauzero]

17 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

Something about this design just makes me think it would be great as a fretless. I have no idea why, having never played one. I've only heard good things about them, and with a fancy preamp I'm sure this is quite the versatile, playable bass 

 

I had a fretless. Really nice to play, the reason I moved it on was that it was incredibly light and I was coming from a succession of basses that started with a Hayman 40/40, then a couple of Ps, then a Warwick Thumb, and it just felt so insubstantial. I'd like to try a fretless 5 sometime.

 

Edited 8 hours ago by tauzero
Added piccie

[crazycloud]

I've had a couple of these, especially in the 90s when I was importing direct from Japan, mainly lawsuit era basses and the Bass Collection basses were really very good. I think they're why I like Ibanez SRs so much nowadays.

 

One thing I have noted though, is the PUs seemed moved bridgeward compared to classic F positions. This is most noticeable on the P. 

[neepheid]

Having let the new strings/setup settle down, I had another razz on it last night, this time using the TC BH250 into a decent set of headphones.  Sounds good to me!  One thing I noticed is that with the Glockenklang preamp, passive with the tone all the way up sounds pretty much identical to active with the treble all the way down and bass at neutral.  Dunno if that's how it's supposed to be but I found it quite amusing - a sort of "huh" moment of realisation.  Still unsure if I like the sound of it better in passive or active - won't know that for sure until I play it with a band.

 

Concerning weight/lightness, I find it odd - I weighed it on the bathroom scales and came back with 3.4kg/7.5lbs.  Now normally I'm not keen on how anything below about 8lbs feels (insubstantial/throwaway/toy-like) but this one doesn't feel that way - there's heft or substance there which shouldn't be and it feels both light and serious at the same time.  Brains are soft and squishy and very suggestible, dunno what else to tell you.

[80Hz]

12 minutes ago, neepheid said:

there's heft or substance there which shouldn't be

 

Interesting that that was also my general perception, can't say I was paying too much attention to overall weight (I expected it to be light!). My theory (and it's just a theory) is it has a slightly deeper neck than I was expecting, yet still very slim, coupled with that tiny headstock - so the weight of the instrument is more "centered" than other small body designs. I could be talking absolute nonsense 😆