LeftyJ

So it's a Sandberg 48 then?

Only once have I been in the position you're describing: really searching for that one perfect bass. It was when I wanted to upgrade from my old Condor Jazz Bass to my first proper 5-string. Being a lefty, I couldn't really be picky: what 5-strings within my budget are on the market, and is there a choice of colour at all? This was in or around 1999-2000 and most Dutch music retailers didn't have much of a webshop or a way to view their stock online, so I had to do it the old-fashioned way and took the train to Amsterdam to visit as many music stores as I could in one day. At the end of that day I had a list of 3: Cort Artisan B5L, Ibanez SR885L and Yamaha TRB5IIL. I went with the latter based on feel (very solid and with a smooth and chunky neck), tone (warm but tight, almost piano-like on the high strings, possibly due to the 35" scale) and playability (it had the widest string spacing of the 3, a regular 19 mm at the bridge which I liked a lot). They had a choice between trans blue and amberburst, and I chose the amberburst. Nowadays I just browse classified ads and once in a while one will grab my attention and call my name. Often I buy to try, and sell when I don't gel with an instrument. Looks are usually the first thing I go off on, and often the trying doesn't really start until the instrument is at home with me, has had a thorough cleaning, polishing and adjustments to my taste. There have been many examples of me buying instruments which were outside of my comfort zone, just because I wanted to give them a go and was unable to try one in a store.

I quite like the tone of my Lionel's stock pickup. Ironically, the previous owner sold it because he thought it sounded too modern - even after replacing the stock pickup with a Fender Custom Shop '64 P pickup. So he put the stock pickup back in and put both the bass and the replacement pickup up for sale. I have to add mine has a heavy ash body, I'd imagine the alder version (which is basically all the glossy and aged finish versions) may sound somewhat less bright. I do feel the stock pickups are fairly cheaply made, with non-magnetic slugs for pole pieces and a big ceramic bar magnet glued to the bottom. I don't associate that construction with a high-end German-made instrument. But I'm happy with the sound so I guess it doesn't really matter.

I used to love modding mostly my guitars, but for some reason I've left nearly all my basses alone. I have modded my '75 Jazz Bass reissue pretty heavily (Hipshot tuners, Badass II bridge, MEC pots, De Gier / Vanderkleij FatBoost, battery box routed in the back) but all the others were pretty much left unchanged save for new Sadowsky-style aluminium knobs on my Streamer LX5 and Atelier Z Baby Z-4J. I just never felt the need to change anything. I've more or less stopped modding my guitars too in previous years, and embrace their quirks and specific characters. If they don't sound the way I want to I always used to blame the gear, but now I've come to terms with mostly having myself to blame

Thanks for inquiring, but I'm afraid I have long since sold it. I just looked up how long it's been, and apparently this was in November 2011. Time flies when you're having fun

I have both, but I rarely touch the active EQ on my active basses, and I never touched the tone control on my passive basses, except sparingly on my Jazz Bass. That is, until I got a (sort of) P-bass. Suddenly that control made sense, and became incredibly useful. My ideal control layout for my needs is very simple: I'll just have a master volume, a buffered pan pot (if twin-pickup), a passive tone control and an active bass boost and I'm happy as can be.

Hold on, Fender do a faded aged sage green too. Getting closer!

OTM was a standard finish option for several MIJ Fender basses for years. It's a shame they don't use it more, it's so tasty! I'm with @BassAgent though. When I Google aged OTM most results have a more blueish hue. I think it might very well be an aged sherwood green finish. The Fender Custom Shop do a finish they call "faded aged sherwood green" which looks like this:

That's lush, but the combination of sparkle AND crackle is a bit much IMO. I can't help but think of crackled gold foil.

No glittery basses for me at the moment, unfortunately. I love a good sparkle finish! My Status 5-string is somewhat metallic (anthracite) but very subtly. I do have this though: Carvin DC727 7-string guitar. One-piece maple neck-through, alder wings, ebony board with MOP blocks, matching headstock and very elaborate active electronics: 2-band active EQ, passive tone (only works in passive mode), coil split for each pickup and a phase switch. She's a real beast!

Absolutely nothing, but it looks cool. This was the earliest iteration of the Jaguar Bass, built in Japan with 70s bridge pickup position and somewhat noisy active 2-band electronics (that can be switched off). I believe the roller knobs up top are the EQ controls. The one in the pic appears to have had its bridge replaced with a Gotoh 201. In a way it is more limiting in tonal options than a Jazz because the pickups have on/off-switches rather than separate volume controls or a pan pot. They look tremendously cool though.

Yep, that's accurate.

Nice! I don't really like the tort guard, but I love everything else about it! These are great little basses, I love mine. Mine is a brownburst with pau ferro board and black guard.

Dear lord, the fingerboard on that sunburst one is gorgeous! What is that wood?

Ned Steinberger just announced a limited production carbon composite multiscale 6-string . According to someone on Reddit they're only making 12. I'm afraid to find out what it's going to cost. NS Fin

If my instruments have any signature wear, it's from standing in my rack for too long in neglect... I'm not even kidding. Some of my guitars and basses have a light spot on the back of the neck where my rack blocks the sun. I have too many and only have a few in active rotation Currently it's my Sandberg Lionel, my Status S2 Classic 5-string and my Music Man Silhouette Special that get all the playtime.

I use shortscale strings (currently LaBella flats) on my Sandberg Lionel which is top loading, and medium scale (DR Sunbeams) on my Atelier Z Baby Z-4J which can go either way, but I chose to string it through-body.

And the fact Atelier Z don't build these themselves. I think they're made by Fujigen. Any Atelier Z with the KTS titanium rods in the neck is not made by them.

I love the look of these! I love my Baby Z, but it lacks the contouring of the ZPO (it's a slab body, there's no tummycut or forearm contour) and mine has a slight tendency to neckdive whereas the ZPO looks like it might balance a lot better. If all else is the same (neck, electronics, pickup positions) the ZPO Jr might be a real winner!

Aye, same - but it was a long journey for me to come to that epiphany. I've spent years looking for ultimate versatility in a single instrument before coming to terms with that. Now I just need to convince my girlfriend that I really DO need all these different instruments with their unique characters and that yes, in fact, the audience will hear it too

Is this a triple-coil like the original ATK pickups, or is it just disguised as one with the three rails? Because the original ATK300 wiring is very functional too, and maybe worth investigating. It uses the center coil as a phantom coil for hum cancelling in the single coil positions, and rather than offering series/parallel/single it gives you parallel/single/single with treble cut. The latter gives very useful P-like tones despite the pickup being closer to the bridge on the ATK's than it is on your Jaguar. Having owned both a couple of ATK's and a "proper" Stingray 5, I would say the series/parallel option on the SR5 was the more useful switching option to have - but I would have loved to have the treble cut of the ATK in the singlecoil setting on the SR5.

Is... Is that a Boss delay in a huge box with a tap tempo switch added? Lovely setup, and beautiful basses!

If you mean this, it's a Peavey T-40:

Thanks for the reminder, I need to check that Gator one out! My Atelier Z Baby Z came with a similar gigbag as Fender Japan used to include with their guitars and basses, and it gets the job done but it's low quality and nearly all zippers have had their tab broken off. And my Sandberg Lionel came with a flimsy Sandberg longscale bass gigbag where the little fastening loop for the neck ends up somehere between the A and D tuners. So I could really use something better...