three

Fabulous basses and a brilliant seller - the best Fender-type necks I've ever played (by miles!)

These come up very rarely on ebay but usually in the US. I had one cloned around ‘82. Not a difficult job for a decent electronics engineer

Fantastic basses with superb playability and fat, tight tone (well, with the EMGs, I can't comment on the Aguilars).  Superb design and build quality is excellent - everything is entirely solid.  Very comfortable to play with real attention to ergonomics.  As a short-scale player, I doubt any prospective purchaser would be disappointed - a really high-end bass in a relatively diminutive package

11 minutes ago, burno70 said:

I'm definitely interested in this bass. Anyone have any idea of the price range?

About £1800 (from a quick check)

Thanks for the review Alberto, as a short-scale player (mainly) it's good to see a run through of this model.  Some very useful tones and I'd suspect playability is impressive.  I'm not too sure about the shape but for me, it's actually ergonomics, playability and tone that really matter.  On the basis of the review, I'll be seeking to try one of these soon. 

As for the 'decent player' comment, I'm sure this wasn't intended as a criticism, just an unfortunate construction in context.  I'm with Cuzzie on this, you're certainly a better player than me

Dear me, what a collection.  This all makes sense - I used to see a lot of Sai cabs around Manchester, where I lived in the '70s and '80s - I've returned now, though not so many Sai cabs.  I had no idea that Sai was a Chorley firm.  I saw both the disco and band gear but never anything in Orange - a special order no doubt.  Those four ported bins look astounding.  I used to work with a very similar pair, though JBL loaded with on board horns (as the Sai design).  They were immensely heavy but sounded fantastic - great for smallish FOH use.  Lovely to see some of this vintage gear in such good condition, and hopefully still earning its keep.

On 04/11/2019 at 07:53, matbard said:

I would like to live in England...
 

Swap?

On topic, I have never played a rig that sounds anything like as good as the Hellborg (I don't use mine with the Hellborg cabs but it sounds pretty marvellous with Berg).  For me, this is off the scale, especially the preamp.  Everything is super over-engineered and beautifully designed to perform like high-end studio gear.  Just wonderful.  If you can carry it, £1300 is an absolute bargain in my view

I remember these from the ‘70s - I was a big bin user back then. However, I know very little about Sai. Gauss were as good as it got in those days. Fascinating find. Heavy I’d suspect?

1 hour ago, Am7 said:

Hi I am manchester based

? Able to come over to look

Hi, I've sent a Personal Mail

4 hours ago, Telebass said:

This was great, but stupidly heavy at nearly 14 pounds!

Was this the one that Andy Travis built?  I recognise that Celinder pickup - 'think it used to be mine

To continue the plexiglass theme, I was in a famous Manchester music shop late on a '70s Saturday afternoon.  A mate of mine that worked there offered me an original Dan Armstrong plexi bass for £40.  I just about had the money but wanted a pizza on the way home.  I'm sure the pizza was lovely but not the best decision

Thanks for all the very lovely comments - if there's any sun in the North this week, I'll try to get some further and more detailed images

What!!! Unbelievable... a stunner

An absolutely gorgeous instrument - fortunately for my bank, I don't play fives or 35" scale.  Otherwise, I'd be in trouble.  Astounding craft work and a bass to treasure

40 minutes ago, Clarky said:

Bargain now at new price £1300. 

Outrageous - some of the finest luthiery and carving I've ever seen for the price of production line instrument.  I play one 34" bass and the others are all 30" - weirdly, 32" doesn't suit me at all.  If it did, this would be on its way up north.  One of BC's finest sellers too... I'm starting to crack

I'm not a massive fan of singlecuts but this looks gorgeous - beautiful choice of wood throughout.  It looks like an utter bargain too.  I suspect that playability is guaranteed given the maker and provenance.  Is it a 1.5" nut?

My dream speakers and from one of BC's most generous and helpful sellers.  Currently well out of range for me but as Owen has implied,  this is as good as it gets

Booked Parcelforce collection for a bass last Friday - really urgent with Sat delivery (very expensive). No collection, rude response and a 450 mile round trip by train to hand deliver on Saturday afternoon. No more PF! In the end, pleased I delivered it to guarantee safety - quite an expensive instrument. I’ll be looking at Eurosender in future - thanks!

33 minutes ago, Marc S said:

Though I'm a fan of TI flats (on the right bass, of course) I found TI rounds even lower tension, and I just couldn't get on with them at all
For my playing, there was little or no "resistance" and "recovery" of normal string position was off-putting - at least for my playing
So I've a set going, if anyone wants to try them.... I tried them on a couple of basses, but just didn't gel with them at all

Not sure what the quietest rounds I've played are, but I seem to remember playing some strings (which may have been "Elites") which were quiet - but I've a feeling they were not nickel, and may have been chrome?

I’d agree re: TI rounds and tension. I play with a very light touch so fine for me. A more aggressive style may be more problematic. A very kind offer too - these are nearly £50 a set!

Possibly worth a look at TI rounds - by far the quietest I've played (low tension too if that's your thing).  I use them on fretless and have been very pleased with the results.  Alembic too are quiet as Jazzyvee suggests - possibly a function of the elliptical wrap?  Alembic don't supply the gauge that I'd prefer (very light) but they're high quality strings. 

As a Lakland player I can imagine that this bass plays beautifully and sounds wonderful. Davidak is a highly trustworthy seller (and Lakland expert) too! I don’t need a hollowbody but I’d love this and one of my favourite colours too. GLWTS, I doubt this will hang around 

Officially named and offered as a Brown Bass

A really beautiful bass and I'm surprised that it's hung around - an incredibly good price (IMO) and as Sibob says, these are constructed with the quality materials and all the care of the USA Series.  Having played countless Fenders and clones, I've not found anything as impressive as a US Lakland in terms of playability and tone (and the search has included CS, Masterbuilt, Alleva, Sei, Sadowsky and many more).  The necks, in particular, are superb.  The only Fender-type I've had that was in the same ballpark was an outrageously expensive Celinder.  GLWTS - not that it should be needed

A friend of mine went to see it and play it recently - very beautiful apparently but didn’t feel it was worth the uplift in price against his (new) Wals. I’ve owned a SI with the same body shape and point but 34” scale - I struggled with the balance but purely a personal issue. I’m sure that the new owner of the BD SII will be delighted. There appears to be a relatively small but buoyant market for top-end ‘bics

26 minutes ago, bassfan said:

Cat included? 👍🏻

lovely bass. GLWTS

Hahaha, thanks - you can have mine (wicked beast) - the one in the pic is the neighbour’s - beautiful and incredibly friendly

If you can find one, I'd try a Warwick Hellborg PR40.  I've been through countless pres, all with their benefits and plus-points, though it's the Hellborg pre that I've found to have the qualities that I prefer.  It's super clean, very responsive and has an extremely fat, almost slightly compressed tone.  It offers a sort of produced gloss to pretty much any bass that you use with it.  Horrendously expensive when released (around £1800 I think) but they pop-up occassionally at more reasonable prices.  Indeed, I think there's one on BC now (certainly on e-bay for around £400?)