BassAgent

Well, the story is at an end: I drove to his house today to deliver the bass. He paid me everything I put into it and that's that. The weird thing is if something like that would happen to me, I would be overjoyed that I had the bass back that got stolen seven(!) years ago. I'd buy the finder/buyer a good bottle of wine and be super duper excited that I had it back. I would be a tiny bit sad that my old stickers were removed, but I would also be happy that the new owner refreshed the strings, gave it a good setup and some love. But there was none of that. He even seemed a bit offended that I removed his precious stickers and made him pay for the bass. He didn't seem happy at all, to be honest. Such a weird guy. He had told me that he played John Peel sessions with it, the Lowlands festival (60,000 people) and so forth and I was hoping he'd share the story of this bass with me, but it seemed he wanted me out as quick as possible. Left me with a bit of a weird feeling. Did I do the right thing? If I knew he'd react this way, would I have acted the same? Meh. Weird. I thought I'd be happy with the result, but I'm not, actually.

Thanks guys! I am going to offer him to buy the bass from me. I've put quite some money into it (€275) and I think that's a pretty decent way of rewarding me for finding it. Legally, I'm not even obliged to give him the bass back, especially since he never filed a police report. It's legally my property.

So let's bump this topic for a surprise twist to this story. I restored it in the past week so I could put it up for sale, which I did yesterday. Within a few hours, I got a message: "I saw your ad for the G&L and I think I recognise it as the former bass from [Dutch bass player], which was stolen a few years ago. The bass has a huge sentimental value for him (if this is it). Could you please get in touch with him before you sell it?" So I got in touch with the guy and there's no doubt about it: it's his bass. The stickers check out, the damage, the story, everything. It's his. So he's getting it back from me next Wednesday, and I hope the stupid pawn shop will give me my money back, for selling a stolen bass.

There are certainly some similarities, but the headstock is way different...

Wow, cool! Here's a colour photo: I'm currently googling, no results yet.

Good one, forgot about that

The weird thing is they originally advertised it for 220, and I got it for 200 "because it's so damaged".

Lighting could be better, but this is the current collection after the monster deal on the G&L. Pretty decent.

So here's a story for you. I am a music teacher at a secondary school here in Amsterdam. About five minutes walking from the school is a pawn shop, which occasionally sells guitars, mostly cheap knockoffs and old Cimars, Sigmas and the likes. I was checking out the Dutch marketplace website for acoustic guitars and there was a Fender guitar which I wanted to get (nylon strings but a slim neck, perfect for my students). And then I saw it: they were selling a G&L SB-2 for a little over €200. I thought: wow, a Tribute SB-2 for 200? That's a great deal. So I walked to the store and checked out the bass. It wasn't a Tribute. It was a 90's era USA SB-2! The neck was very hollow but not warped and it had some stickers on it. I even got a discount because it's damaged (it has some damage on the finish). This is how I got it: After a good clean, new strings, new pickguard screws and the likes, it now looks like this: I have to wait what the neck will do overnight. Hopefully it'll settle a little bit so it's more playable, but the whole bass works, the pots are silent and that MFD split coil is freakin' loud! Now, there's one more question: how can I date it? I've had the neck off and I can read "Jun 13 xxxxx" but the xxxxx is unreadable for me, I also can't read the date in the neck pocket.

Speaking of cheap: is there an indication of price on the new MarkBasses?

I just noticed: this is not a real photo. Those knobs are photoshopped on there. That. Is Weird. Funny how they strung it with D'Addario by the way. I think I would string my promo bass with unrecognizable strings (so no Fenders or D'Addario's).

Oh and blimey, I just saw the opening post. It's very very pretty in green as well.

That is pretty bloody sexy but I'm not a fan of the PJ configuration. Just not my taste. Binding, oly white and tort pickguard is amazing though

Might also be the quality of the video, and I think the ZON is tuned like a tenor bass. Very different sound.

Look who I found playing a ZON on Dutch tv about 15 years ago:

I'm pretty confident they wouldn't.

But those exist I don't understand that Markbass does this. They revolutionised the bass amp world with their light weight stuff (I don't like how they sound, but that's a different story) and now they make a bass that already exists? Even Squier made them.

As someone in the Talkbass topic mentioned: that J/P-thingamabob is something we as bass players don't need, and that Kilimanjaro looks suspiciously like a mix between the Zon Sonus en Legacy... Lots of Hyperbass styling in there as well. I'm not a big fan of Markbass amps (which is an understatement) and not a big fan of these either.

I don't practice a massive amount but I do use some exercises from time to time to keep my hands trained. I borrowed this one partly from my former teacher and (in The Netherlands) well known session player Michel van Schie. PDF is on my web site, check it out here!

There are only two that I've owned and haven't enjoyed playing: This was a 1997 MIM Deluxe Jazz V. The preamp was rubbish (so I took it out, made it passive), the pickups were rubbish (so I replaced them with Nordstrands) and it weighed a million pounds. Sold it. Guild M85, was an impulsive moment for me and I shouldn't have bought it. Me being a Fender-ish kind of person and this being something totally different meant my hands hurt after an hour of playing. Couldn't get a sound out of it that I liked, either. Traded it for my Fender VI, which was a great deal

Any reason to show my 2nd favourite bass of all time is a good reason! 2002 fretless, new bridge (Gotoh), new pickguard, epoxied fingerboard and Lollar pickups. 1 of the best basses I've ever played.

Standard (MIM) Fender Jazz, modded with new bridge (gotoh), epoxied fingerboard and Lollar pickups. And a setup to die for.

I have owned quite a few fretless basses but I've sold them all because of this beauty I got 16 years ago.

Forgot to mention this: the body was eventually delivered and it was perfect! So I had one of Holland's finest luthiers (Ellio Martina) replace it. I put the old body up for sale. I have the idea it's still a bit too expensive. But you never know.