mcnach

Nice!!! 😍 I hesitated between this finish and the natural. I think this is the better looking one but I really wanted the maple fingerboard... Mine (5-string: Z7-5) arrived about 30 min ago... I haven't plugged it in yet because I have quite a bit of work to do still and I know what would happen But I'm very impressed. I had experienced Sire's rolled edges before, but I had forgotten just how nice that is. As I suspected from looking at the pickup and the polepieces, the string spacing at the bridge is 17.5mm, just like a Stingray5, which is perfect. The Z3-5 looks like it'll be a 16mm one but I haven't seen conformation yet. The neck is soooooo nice. And it weighs exactly 9.0 lbs, which for a 5-string is pretty good. I'll take a couple of photographs later... now I need to focus and finish work!

Same here I checked this morning and it said it hadn't been scanned yet... but a few minutes ago I checked again and they had updated everything... expected delivery between 3-4pm...

I think so. I think it could get scuffed but it doesn't seem fragile at all. I imagine the screen is the weakest point, although the screen itself is quite a bit under the protective window so you probably could crack the window but not damage the screen itself. The 4 rotary knobs are installed at an angle within a recess so they also seem reasonably protected. Nothing is damage proof, of course, but this thing seems sturdier than the B6 (which I also have) and especially the previous generation B1Four by some margin. Installed on a pedal board? I would not worry about it.

Oooh, I just checked and I also have a "shipped" notification! 🤗 Natural Z7-5 incoming!!!

Ignore my previous post... they are right, mostly. The black sides and bottom is metal, the red top is indeed some kind of tough plastic. I have had one for a couple of weeks and I hadn't realised! It doesn't feel plastic, apart from it being slightly warmer to the touch than the metal parts. Seems very well built.

The series/parallel option can be cool, but eevrytime I've had it I end up favouring one configuration and just stuck with that. The Ray35 has a series/series+HFfilter/parallel switch and very rarely I use it in anything other than parallel, in this case. One cool thing it has is that they put a resistor that tames the output a bit when in series, which means there is no noticeable change in levels between the 3 options. If I do again any parallel/series mod I will incorporate that as well. I had a 55-02 for a while, and I actually found I was using the switch more in that bass. I wonder if the fact that the pickup is closer to the bridge than on a Stingray plays some part on that.

Metal, just like the previous version.

I'm starting to question how much I want this, and if I do, do I want to give Andertons my money. I was not in a hurry, but I don't like feeling I've been fed stories to keep me from going elsewhere. Truth is I was ordering from them to use up about 40 quid's worth of 'points' that I had accumulated. Now they might become the shop I avoid. I do bear a grudge I only recently bought something from GAK after a 'situation' we had in 2001...

of October...

Yup, I have a Z7-5 ordered with them...

It's not too late to change it. It wouldn't be the first, or the second time...

If there ever was an overrated band...

And if that promise were true, they must be checked by the kindergarden age progeny of the EBMM people who do that for the USA instruments. From early 2022 there's been issues with tuners with gears that chew themselves and stuck truss rods. They seem to be doing better again, but... there's no way somebody checked my Ray35, maybe they just went "yup, it's a bass, how many strings? Check" I noticed the tuners straight away. Truss rod, the minute I went to adjust it. Fortunately the truss rod must have just had some glue or something because the old trick tapping along the back of the neck freed it. It's a great bass now, with Hipshot Untralites, but crazy expensive. I just wanted that particular finish so I didn't bother returning it once I found my experience was far from unique. Initially SBMM seemed great but when the main guy, who used to post a lot on TB, left, it looks like they focused on pretty looks and not so much on the quality anymore.

Yes, they haven't changed that, I wonder why... Feel free to ask EB himself in the EBMM forum.

EBMM, not SBMM

I doubt any SBMM instrument sees the USA territory, unless an USAnian buys one. They originally claimed to be built overseas and sent to EBMM for QC and setup. That has not been the case in years.

I have a Batking hollow (20") and a GoldTone solid body (23"). Both fretless. The Batking looks great but the small size and lack of weight doesn't make it that comfortable to play well. I much prefer the GoldTone, for ergonomics and sound. The slightly longer scale seems to help a lot getting the intonation... I was going to say right but who am I kidding, I'll say "close enough"

gotta be aliens...

I can't unsee that as "snot yellow"...

Maybe it'll work out better if you practiced along the songs you're supposed to have learnt, instead?

Repeat repeat repeat. Repeat until you don't have to think. Learning a song is only the beginning, if you want to remember it you need to repeat it. Lots. At least I do. When I've had a lot of songs to learn in short time I make a playlist with them and listen to them constantly: at work, in the car... It's a good way to remember things 'passively', for me.

I'm seriously considering a Z7-5. I like the MM/J configuration, the semiparametric mids and a passive tone control. The Z3-5 looks like it has a narrow string spacing at the bridge (likely 16mm by the look of it), while the Z7-5 looks wider, much like a Stingray, so 17.5mm or maybe even 18mm, which rules out the Z3-5 for me anyway. Natural, or Burgundy Mist? Hmmm...