mikeswals

usually you only get three pics: the neck, and then when the body is done all before paint/clear coating, and then last when its all finished sitting in the case.

Fantastic looking Mk3! can't wait to see the final product with the black neck.

My 64 & 65 Jazzes. My 78 Ray still has 3.2 years to go!

I have 8 Wals, and all are usually strung with stainless DR Hibeams. For a short period I used R Cocco stainless whenever I could find them, but it got more difficult finding them in the US, and I hated their B strings, so stopped. But my Wal 5's only get Hibeams, the B strings sound perfectly consistant with the rest. I have never worn frets in nearly 3 decades using DR. Lately I had checked out some others, and I have a 4 string MK2s strung with SIT Foundations stainless, and those have been on there for over 2 years now and still bright and zingy!

My GLXD16 is one the best pieces of gear I invested in. I've had it since 2015 and done well over a thousand shows. I have two transmitters for it and kept in Neotech pouches, and have done all the current firmware updates from Shure's site.

If the retaining ring (aka the barrell) for the 3-pin socket has loosened up that it can rotate, then you probably have a failing solder joint. Mine did that and when I realized it wasn't the cable, but in the socket, I was way out of any warranty and had no choice but to open the transmitter up and repair by resoldering the tiny wires back to the socket pins. Work carefully and pay attention because the rubber door can get pinched and not open correctly, but was relatively easy fix. So yes, periodically check that the retaining ring hasn't unscrewed itself.

I have been using the Shure GLXD16 (before the +) since 2015 and absolutely love it still. Rechargable and lasts many hours, unlike my previous G50 that ate batteries like crazy. Built in tuner is great with a 5 string, range isn't an issue at all, and the gain adjustments if you want to add more transmitters with basses with different outputs is great. Firmware updates are easy to load in, and the signal search locks me in every time. I use a Neotech pouch to attach it to my strap.

Aria calls it "high-end revisit". Aria has been making the SB1000 again since about 2009. this time they're using Gotoh bridges and tuners, and to me the new bridge makes way more sense...I never dug the tight spacing. https://ariaguitarsglobal.com/product/sb-1000rib/

Re: string guides. For the Customs, initially started with only one short string guide on A&D strings on 81-82 basses. Around 83 transitioned to two short guides. This lasted into early 88, then the large single guide came out. I've had knobs of all sorts of shades from pitch black to brownish and almost translucent on old Wals. Wal sends the plating work out in small batches at a time, so I guess it's however the plating shop decided to run them that day. Even my new build Wals still have varying degrees of black...and my last one (2022) was satin with almost a texture rather than glossy and smooth.

Thanks! My last Sabre I had a couple of years ago was a 2013 Sledge, and it was absolutely fantastic! I loved the ability to run HS on it vs the vintage ones. As for rotation, I play in two different gigs: weekends is a casino circuit band in the region. I use my Wals for that, its average 2-3 weekends a month. My other gig is a weekly live karaoke band on Wednesdays and occasional corporate parties, and I use my Musicmans here. As you say about the nuances; the Wal exposes all if you flub a song! So I prefer using the MMs here as they're a little more forgiving. As if that isn't busy enough, sometimes I get called for sub gigs, I'll usually play whatever else is in the closet like Ric or Jazz that doesn't get out a lot. Paul's production is slow, and slower every year. I've had 4 builds done (2016x2, 2018, 2022), and I'm still waiting for my last one that I ordered Oct 14 2020! I do appreciate all that Paul has done for me, but I won't be ordering any more, its gotten way too expensive!

It's a good thing I didn't say I'd eat my shoe or something over dual pickup Rays, but I did say I like the HS's. Two days ago I got a 20th Anniversary HS SR5. Had to do a quick cleanup and restring for last night's weekly gig. But it sounded pretty good. The special pickups, switching options, and mahogany toneblock in this package would almost make it out to be the Sabre 5 that never existed. The timbre is different than any ash/ceramic dual pickup SR5 I've owned or tried. It's a nice difference to my '93 SR5.

I've had many HH musicmans, to me the neck pickup is in the wrong place. Its in more of a gibson mudbucker position than anything else. All my HH's sounded too scooped in full HH mode. Only settings I like were the 'single coil' modes or rear H only. Got rid of them all and went back to single pickup StingRays and Sterlings. The Sabre is different and I very much loved those, and the neck pickup is placed further back in a spot that makes more sense. The HS also made more sense than the HH.

The Sterling is a great bass. I sold off a minty very limited run 2006 green one a few months ago, was spectacular player. I didn't want to, or didn't really need to, but wanted to make sure I had enough money to pay for my kids' summer Europe trip (I'm in US). Earlier this summer, a member on talkbass said he had to contact EBMM directly and they built him a new 4 string Sterling. Same with another guy that wanted a new Sterling 5, they built him one. These both had the new build features: roasted necks and stainless frets. Since you're overseas (from both me and EBMM) you'll probably have to contact whoever the distributor is in your country. There's a few Sterlings for sale in the talkbass classifieds. I saw a bunch on reverb too

US Sterling 5 is the same neck width as the SR5. But the headstock size is scaled down. The rear shape really boils down to which worker was final shaping them that day; some feel a little a tad clubbier, some slimmer. My 93 is fantastic, great slim C and rolled edges. Much different than any of the 2001-2012 5 strings I've had as well.