It having been almost 3 months, I feel an update is in order, now that I've used it a fair bit, although only at home.
First up, shortcomings. In addition to the slightly poor filling finish on the fret ends, mentioned above, I have been feeling the fret ends/shoulders a fair bit. They're not sharp at all, but with the reduced width and a fairly chunky fret being employed, I've felt the need to dress them off a bit more on the treble side (I also did a light dress on the bass side too). Sorted. The pickup height is almost at its highest, with the screws just biting enough, but this leads to an easily depressed pickup with only just enough resistance for my liking. Added some denser foam under the pickup and added some cocktail stick filler for better screw purchase. Again, sorted. The bulk the nut was far too big really (I've had this on other, way more expensive basses too. Yes, I'm looking at your bunch, Mr Hall), so in addition to lowering the slots for a lower overall action, I filed off a good chunk of the bulk and rounded the shoulders. Sorted. The slop in the tuners, whilst holding pitch perfectly adequately, has had me looking at some lightweight replacements (let's see if we can't shave something of that already pleasant 3.4kg). However, the tuner hole is wider than Hipshot's 1/2" replacement dimensions by at least 1mm . I have an enquiry in with them as to the best way forward (I could fit Schaller M4s, but they only do a Y tuner and that doesn't look right somehow).
Now to the good stuff. Although a little more off to left than I like when playing seated (my Mustang is perfect in this respect, offsets FTW), on the strap it's just right and that 3.4kg is very pleasant to bear. I'm really loving the 1.5" nut width, which I've avoided for years due to finding Fender basses with this width like playing broom handles, I certainly now wouldn't rule out this width in the future. Right then, super comfortable and easy to play, what about the other most important thing, tone? Winner, winner, etc. The series/single coil/parallel selector, in conjunction with the volume choke (it's so not a boost) and tone control, gives me a selection of tones that fit in with everything that I play, quickly and efficiently. A bit too mid centric? Select the single coil option (neck coil) and take the volume choke off. Want that humbucker snarl, but with a bit more clarity? Choke off, parallel mode, done. The pickup and circuity have been well thought out and is the crowning glory of this bass (although the choke/volume control described as a push/pull, isn't, it's the much better, IMO, push/push). I'd happily take this on a gig and not worry about not having the tonal flexibility of having 2 basses with different pickup configurations, not bad for a single pickup, all passive bass, not bad at all.
To conclude, overall, very happy. I'd certainly get another if something happened to this one, especially with the new black and maple finish they have coming along (hmm, I feel a potential defret coming on ).
