Beedster

It is....... different. Firstly, it is engineered to perfection. Second, it is huge. Third, the action is crazy low. Fourth, it actually makes you hold it like JE used to hold his basses. Fifth, the active circuit with the sweepable mid and boost/cut switches is very powerful. Sixth, the range is huge. And Seventh, and also most important, it makes you want to play it. Early days, I'll update as it goes, but at the moment, I'm very impressed.

So, after many years I've realised how my electric bass ownership model works. My mainstays are 1. A nice Precision 2. A nice fretless Precision 3. A unique and interesting bass 1 and 2 might change but they are there or thereabouts pretty much the same instrument nonetheless (I recently sold a FCS Precision to buy a '70's Precision, but my bandmates would struggle to see or hear any difference). But number 3 varies. Examples include Modulus Sonic Hammer/Flea (because I LOVE the playability and tone of graphite necks), Ric 4003 because I love the contrast between the two PUPs and the sheer power that you can get when using it to wind up an SVT or 400+, EBMM Bongo/Reflex because I like to try innovative and versatile instruments, and basses that stand out (Blue sparkle Flea, bright red Sonic Hammer, orange Bongo), because - shallow/unprofessional/daft as it might sound, I know when I take them to an audition/rehearsal/gig I need to be on my A-game. So, a month or so ago I started to learn a new tribute act setlist, and realised that while they should, neither my '73 Precision, my Status-necked Geddy Lee Jazz, or my EBMM US SUB were the instrument I needed/wanted for the gig. I asked a few questions here, did some homework, and then a chance encounter on Reverb sealed the deal. It meets all my criteria for 3 above, but despite this is a bass that for most of my playing career was one that I knew was never the sort of bass I'd own, and for so many reasons Pics to follow. In the meantime, see if you can guess......

So much going on underneath it all (warning: NOT hifi)

Agreed, perhaps I should have said one of their less well known 👍

Interesting evolution

Worth watching to the end BTW 👍

I'm learning a Who set at the moment. This, not one of their greatest or most recognised, takes my breath away every time I watch it. Mad, odd, loud, visceral (in places), and strangely beautiful, although not in a conventional sense

That was just what a wet Saturday afternoon needed. CB is probably the more technically proficient but man DS getting those parts and tones out of a Ric won it for me 🙏

Wish I could help but good luck finding a solution, I switched from guts to steels for a gig a couple of months back because I needed to use a mag PUP for volume/feedback reasons, and I was in pain both during the gig and for days afterwards. you're absolutely right to avoid that at all costs 👍

Exactly, designed by 4th former 👍

Especially as they look like shit, the body shape is school project territory....

There is no magic in a circuit, in a body, or in a neck. There is magic in the way the musician uses them, and perhaps makes them sing more than he would a different combination. Live at Leeds is magical 👍

I’ll see if I can dig out the interview, have to admit that if I were going to identify the active ingredient of tone in a Precision I’d have put the circuit quite low, but I suspect JE had a good feel for this stuff. When I first read the interview I remember thinking he might have found himself with an instrument with a mutant, even faulty, circuit, that just did the thing he wanted?

… but either way, if I played that bass I would never get that tone, he could play an Encore and would probably get close 👍

Well JE said he was sure it was the circuit, I’m going with him 👍

We agree then, fingers (you need them in the left hand as well) and amplification/volume. I think that’s what I said? But the tone was not in a slab body

JE's sound was 99% size and strength of fingers, plus training in instruments other than bass that gave him a less 'root-fifth mentality' plus having to compete with Mood and Townsend, plus being a naturally curious innovator. The other 1% was the bass. There's a lovely interview somewhere in which JE says he had to be THAT loud to be hear above Townsend, who says he had to be THAT loud to be heard above JE. There is something really magical about the Live at Leeds tone, both bass and guitars, it's utterly visceral at times, a great listen even today 👍

JE believed there was mojo in the circuit from the slab bass. Truth will never be known, but it does demonstrate the (potential) virtue of swapping things around until you find a combination that speaks to you. I've spent most of the last 10-yars doing it 👍

Indeed 👍