LeftyJ

That there is a stunning example of functional art! There is nothing quite like a Lefay. I played a lefty Herr Schwarz once, some 10 years ago, and it still haunts me. So well thought-out, beautifully made, great playing and sounding, and stunning to look at. Enjoy!

Do you need to use the shared backline / cabs to get yourself heard, or are they just there for personal monitoring? If the latter, I would consider a powered wedge to place in front of you as a personal bass monitor, if there's usually enough room and time to set it up. You can use the same power source as for the Helix (assuming you're using the pedal version and not the 19" one, and that you're using a power strip on stage).

Awesome! Lovely Mike Watt vibes emanating from that.

Who needs metal when you can have THAT for a boat anchor?

Looks like a set-neck design too, without the thinner body wings of the regular model, so it's in fact fatter over the full width of the body.

The springs can be replaced by silicone hose too. I use them in one of my Strats and they work great in it.

30"

Here you go: Atelier Z Baby Z-4J

Don't forget this one 😉

I just took delivery of a shortscale last Thursday (Mustang-like with string-through-body) and it's strung with roundwound DR Sunbeam 045-105's. I was amazed by how "normal" the string tension feels compared to my longscale basses! I dare say I have experienced longscales that feel floppier with D'Addario 045-105 than this shortscale does with the Sunbeams. I have yet to experiment with this and find "my" ideal strings for this bass, but so far I like what I'm hearing and feeling.

Then what would you call a fretless Precision Bass? An Approximation Bass?

The Atelier Z arrived today, and it's brilliant!

Today I took delivery of this wonderful, tiny beast and it's absolutely brilliant! Pics are from the seller, he did a much better job at them than I could have. It's a 2015 model, but there are absolutely no traces of use whatsover. It's like new! I've been lusting after one of these for over a year now, especially the PJ version but I have yet to find a lefty version of that. This one was offered to me in a trade against one of my Ibanez MC924's and I gladly took it! I haven't owned a shortscale in years, but it's such a breeze to play that there won't be much of a learning curve! It clearly borrows its design from the Fender Mustang and Musicmaster, but aside from the (rounded slab) body and pickguard shape and the narrow 16,5mm string spacing, that's where the similarities end. This thing is a scaled down active Jazz Bass, and it sounds very modern! Controls are neck volume, bridge volume (push/pull for passive), stacked bass and treble (boost only). Tuners are Gotoh, bridge is a custom aluminium Hipshot style B with extra narrow string spacing. Frets appear to be stainless steel and are very narrow and low and I love the feel! Neck is reinforced with titanium rods. There are a few minor things that annoy me and need to be taken care of: pickup height adjustment doesn't work (in either direction. They're completely stuck at their current height!), and I hate the looks and feel of the control knobs and the pots themselves. The neck volume feels solid and stays in place, but the others turn too lightly to my taste and are very touch-sensitive. I still have a set of Fender Jazz Bass knobs and two Fender Am Dlx stacked Jazz knobs that I hope I can get to fit. It also has a bit of neckdive, but not so bad that a rough strap can't cure it. Otherwise I'm very happy with it, and it's incredibly fun to play!

This is new to me, and totally not what I was expecting but I like it a lot! Thanks for posting

What @naxos10says, but I'd like to add there are both long scale (30") strings and medium scale (32") scales. Both might work, depending on how far the tuning posts are from the nut, whether your bass is strung through body or through bridge, and if the bass has a separate bridge and tailpiece or a one-piece bridge. These two basses both have a 30" scale, but this Gretsch: ...will have very different string requirements than this Mustang: The Gretsch will happily accommodate long scale strings, but the Mustang likely will not.

I thought this picture looked familiar. Hey there, ch willie! Jeroen here

In either direction

I'm not quite going to be able to top @binky_bass's purchase, especially in the necks or strings department, but here is mine (well, technically this is not mine but one just like it): It's a Longbow Bass and it's been sitting idly behind my rack of basses and guitars for the last few years. It's a surprisingly fun and good sounding instrument, but an ergonomical nightmare. It's tuned E-A, strung through-body (if you can call it a body), it's got a stacked humbucker for each string that sits roughly in the P position, and its recommended way of travel is the most American thing you can imagine: in a rifle bag (which I also bought for it, but it never leaves the house so I've yet to explain to an officer what I'm doing walking around with a rifle bag). I may consider selling it at some point, but for now it's sitting fine.

"It needs new strings too." "Which one?" "Yes."

I have so many questions 😆

Good call! The AB40 doesn't have the florentine cutaway and better matches the shape in the video. I think you're right.

Can't get a clear view, but since the body is fairly thin and I don’t see a soundhole I'm leaning towards a Washburn AB10. They were immensely popular in the 1990s and can be seen in numerous MTV Unplugged shows. Edit: nope, cutaway and headstock don't match. Edit 2: kinda arguing with myself here, but on second thought it does appear to be a Washburn. The bass player is James "Hutch" Hutchinson, and he can be seen playing it here: What's funny is that he has a signature Kala U-bass too that mimics the Washburn's slotted soundhole:

Interesting pickup switching options, and it also really surprises me which one stands out to me: in nearly all of these samples, I preferred the tone of the middle pickup stand-alone . After reading through the list of settings, my first thought was "I wish it had a Bridge + Neck option and an option to use the Neck pickup alone" but that faded after listening to your samples. I was also surprised by the similarities in tone to a Stingray, in some way. I've never played one or heard one in the flesh, and have yet to encounter a lefty I can try out (they do lefty Combustion 4 and 5-strings and lefty NG2's and NG3's), but now I'm aching to try one

The new basses (and especially the new finishes!) look impressive. I've been intrigued by the SWB basses ever since first seeing one. Congrats on the big step up, and all the best!

Perfectly reasonable argument to me. I hadn't thought of it, but it should be on my list too. Along with matching headstocks on necks with maple fingerboards.