LeftyJ

Atelier Z Baby Z-4J represent! Easiest playing bass I own. The knobs have been replaced with Sadowsky-style aluminium knobs (Guyker) since this picture was taken, just like Atelier Z uses now (the old ones were the stock Bartolini knobs). Otherwise it's still very much the same. I believe the Baby Z (or any Atelier Z with the KTS titanium rods in the neck for that matter) isn't actually made by Atelier Z themselves but by Fujigen Gakki. Either way, it's a fantastic bass! Controls are neck volume - bridge volume (pull for passive) - stacked bass/treble (boost-only). It's quite a powerful EQ that can add a lot of oomph and a pleasant zingy top end, while still sounding very musical. A passive tone control would have been nice, but is not a must. It has a slight neck dive, but nothing that a good strap can't counter. I traded my 1981 Ibanez MC924 for it with a lefty friend of mine in the US, and I have zero regrets. The Atelier Z weighs about half as much as the MC924, and has a lovely narrow U-shaped neck that instantly felt familiar. The 17mm string spacing at the bridge took a little getting used to, but is not unlike some of the 5-strings I've owned so wasn't a huge switch. It's brilliant! If I ever find a lefty PJ version (with a reverse split coil) I don't think I could resist.

Tell me they're a Fender brand without telling me they're a Fender Brand. "Well, their latest product is called the Limited Edition Pro Plus Series Pure Metal..." Got it. I also love how the marketing department suddenly forgets it's a bass in the last paragraph, and quotes a 25.5" scale instead of 34".

The bass on the right has a far worse offense going on: laminations in the center of the body to imply a neck-through-body construction, when in reality there is a bolt-on neck - and it's not even laminated the same as the body core! Can't stand it. And relic jobs on bass models that weren't even around 40 years ago. OK, so your Ibanez Soundgear looks like it has an original 1950s nitro finish and 60+ years of wear. Just like the early ones that were still built by Leo Ibanez himself! I remember vividly. What a fitting tribute to the legend!

*cough* I'd say boutique guitars and basses are very much alive though. There are many great luthiers out there who are doing really well for themselves. I feel that especially high end Fender-derivatives are selling VERY well, but the exotic wood coffee table is still very much a thing too.

Good, because so far I think I've only bought g**t*r gear in 2025, and... *shudders* ...sold a bass! I can change, I swear! It was a fretless acoustic that I haven't used since 2015, so to be fair it was about time.

Seconded. I loved my Hohner B2A, it was a full longscale bass but supercompact and easy to carry around. The ergonomics of having the upper strap button behind the 21st fret were a bit weird, but that's easily resolved with a simple mod. Only sold it because I had too many 4-strings and could use the money towards a new car or I would still have it. The Spirit version should be available used within your budget.

A major difference between the 300 and 400 series was that the 400 had 24 frets, and a more compact bridge with the humbucker moved further back. The body was indeed more compact because of the deeper cutaways. Some later twin-pickup ATK's switched back to the old bridge, but it placed the pickups really close together because of that.

Yes, this is a Bullet. The model has been renamed the "Classic" a few years ago. The soapbar pickup would indeed give it the addition "Booster" (now renamed to Classic Booster). The Basic has a stubbier, shorter upper horn than the Bullet.

Came here to say this I've seen one of the two made in the flesh, at a Fender Custom Shop clinic in the Netherlands. Master builder John English was there to take the audience through their relicing process, which was really informative and interesting, and they had some cool Custom Shop instruments on display. One of those was the Tye Zamora bass.

Occupy Basschat!

That's pretty cool! However, the basses were never called RG but RD (Roadbass series). This one looks based on the RD727. I've seen guitar versions in this finish before (the RG760 Feline and the even more rare US Custom Shop Golden Feline) but never the bass! Pretty cool

True, they're "regular" Nordstrand Big Splits but with a wider spacing to match that of the EHB and to compensate for the fanning. They still use a standard soapbar casing for the sake of being able to change them out without having to do routing though. Swapping pickups is most definitely still a thing, although I haven't heard of many people who weren't happy with their Nordstrands

As much as these make sense aesthetically and ergonomically, that would make them just about impossible to replace with anything else when the tone doesn't suit the user. Using regular soapbar pickups makes much more sense because the pickups are easily interchangeable - since many soapbar sizes are standardised and used by several manufacturers. That said, there are some manufacturers who give their soapbars a little notch for your thumb (Yamaha did this on some RBX models, and Ibanez on the SRX series pickups, and Delano does it on those weird oval pickups of theirs) and then there's Dingwall who give the ends of their soapbars a curve so there's always a small area pointing "up". None of these use standard sizes.

I love it! Glad it turned out to be everything you hoped for, it looks fantastic.

I was today years old when I learned this site does in fact have signatures - and I have just switched the option on to make them visible.

Ha! Today I learned

Yes, I believe they did a series of these in the E-serial period (1984-1987). I've always wanted one. I once found one local to me. I made an offer and the seller accepted, but between all emails he got about the bass he lost mine and he sold it to someone else. I found out from their NBD thread on a Dutch forum Those 1980s MIJ Fenders and Squiers are fantastic. I have little experience with the basses, but a 1985 E-series Squier Strat has been my number one for many years. Best €175 I ever spent.

The Bunker tension-free neck comes to mind. Ibanez had them make the USRG and USATK series with this neck tech, and Bunker has been building guitars and basses with this neck since the 1970's. They use a construction method where a steel rod holds all the string tension, while a wooden "shell" around it makes for a traditional feeling and playing instrument:

I hear it's in dire need of a meme thread!

This thread should come with a NSFW warning, for that neck alone! Wow

I'm definitely holding on to both my S2 Classics. My 5-string headless has been my go-to for the last couple of years. Music Man prices are already going up. I remember all too well when you paid used Fender money for one but they've gone up ridiculously. I paid €900 for my 2003 Stingray 5 in 2009, and then traded it for my 5-string S2 Classic + 100 GBP in 2017. I got lucky with my Music Man Silhouette Special for €1300 in 2023, I'm seeing them for around €1800 now

It was a huge departure from the original Fender Dimension bass from the early 00s. I never understood why they kept that name around when it was originally on a bass as ugly as this:

It always seemed strange to me these were called the RGB, when in a way they were a reissue of the EXB series from the 90s.