Chris2112

I can't reconcile with them being anything other than £500 bass on a good day. I don't think they're worth any more than that, whatever you rose-tinted glasses might say.

I spotted this online the other day and thought it looked quite naff and generic. Not at all exciting, with the sort of spec that just about anyone could make.

Yes, the bass was modified before my brother bought it and has remained unchanged since. I was a little skeptical because I had little experience with Lace pickups, and I questioned if the addition of a bridge pickup in this context was useful or necessary. Well, for my tastes and usage, and I suspect for most players, I find myself more in need of bridge pickup than another neck pickup to bi-amp out for a big, bassy tone. I tried using both the pickups on full today for a bit, playing the same parts back to back and switching from just the splitcoil to the P/J split. Usefully, the volume balance for both pickups is very even. On something like my Pentabuzz, the splitcoil always dominates even when both pickups are running on full. The P/J mode on this adds a little more snarl and notably more 'tightness' in the low end, which may be a result of the inherent mid-scoop of running two pickups together like that. Either way, it makes an excellent noise, almost a Geddy-esque bark, and that's through the EBS Billy Sheehan pedal rather than the GED-2112. I suppose my results in playing this bass must be tempered by the pairing with that EBS pedal, it really does what it says on the tin and gives you that Billy Sheehan overdriven sound on tap, with an almost unseemly ability to let the clean tone through with the overdrive almost on top, rather than just blowing out a foul, brash overdriven sound into your amp. The EBS engineers clearly put the work in studying Billy's Pearce preamps to emulate their sound like this in such a small unit. Gushing about the Attitude aside, I really think that is the best pedal I've ever played through. I wouldn't be without one now.

One supposes there might be a few fans of Yamaha basses, Billy Sheehan, Lace Sensor pickups or a mix of all those things to make this an interesting enough read. The Yamaha Attitude bass is one of those iconic instruments that has always fascinated me. Billy Sheehan has long been a favourite player of mine and I have long considered him one of the finest and most distinctive players in the rock field. I've seen him live a couple of times with Steve Vai and left those shows absolutely convinced he has mastered his art. Anyway, about six or seven years ago my brother acquired this Seafoam Green Yamaha Attitude Ltd II through Basschat. I agreed with his reasoning, that if he was to get one it had to be Seafoam Green, because that is the colour and the one you'd know from performances like the Steve Vai live at the Astoria in 2001 etc. I'd seen it round at his house, played it briefly but never spent much time with it. My impression on seeing and hearing it is that it is so obviously a flawlessly made instrument. The famed Yamaha fit and finish on full display. I was lucky enough to borrow the bass from my brother recently. He's moved back to playing guitar full time and has amassed a fantastic collection of guitars since. His basses collection has been sold off over time leaving just a Warwick Thumb and the Attitude. The top picks of what he had, really, with things like a Pedulla MVP and Ken Smith BT5 having gone long ago. So, what do I think of this Attitude? Well, you'll notice that it's modified, with Lace Sensor pickups fitted to replace the original Dimarzio Willpower splitcoil (the 'woofer' pickup hidden next to the neck remains untouched). This is probably one of the only Attitude basses with a bridge pickup out there, but more on that in a bit. Hanging the bass on your body, there is a slight neck dive to where the bass settles. However, it will sit above level on a strap without holding the neck, so it's no leaden Thunderbird in terms of balance. It gives a feeling similar to a P bass, albeit a little more sleek and slim. The neck is an absolute joy. My initial impression was that it was thick, even for a 'super P', but the absolutely flawless carve and oil finish mean that it is lightning fast. It has a substantial profile, front to back, though it is not at all fatiguing to play. The fretwork it absolutely flawless too. It's currently strung with Billy's signature Rotosounds, which are quite a stiff-feeling string. I need to read up about those a bit more to see what is so special about them, I assume they're just Billy's preferred gauges. I've been playing it through my Markbass Jeff Berlin CMD151P combo amp, using either a Sansamp GED-2112 or EBS Billy Sheehan Deluxe Overdrive for drive. I had actually found that the EBS gives a better tone with the Attitude (hardly surprising, I guess, if you want that Sheehan tone). I was after a 'big' sound with punchy mids and bright treble meshed under a wave of just-there overdrive. Enough gain in it that it sounds 'naughty' but not so much that it gets screechy. I still like to be able to hear the notes in a chord further up the neck, for instance. I don't have a bi-amping solution or a stereo 2 to 1 cable to blend the Woofer pickup, although given the amount of low end that the splitcoil produces I don't think I need it. I would like to try that out at some point though, maybe when I've rejigged my spare room and moved my bass gear in there. The Lace splitcoil is hot, bright, and full of character. It's clean and absolutely noiseless. For a splitcoil, it sounds very tight and characterful, and when played over the pickup it is very much 'precision and then some' territory. Running both pickups together, I find a very punchy tone that works well for most any rock. However, despite finding this sound to be inherently pleasant, I haven't wanted to use it all that much. That is entirely at odds with my usual tonal preference, in which I would always want some bridge pickup blended in somewhere to help me cut through. When you've got this thing barking through the overdrive, you really don't need anything brighter than the splitcoil. Quiet the drive down and you could slot this into any mix but I really think a lot of the fun is running it hot like Billy does and really getting to grips with it. Oh yes, it also has a Hipshot D-tuner fitted on the E string. I won't say too much on that as they're well documented and discussed elsewhere, other than to say that it has been a bit of a revelation to me in terms of convenience. I may end up getting one for my Dolphin. Anyway, I have found this to be one of those iconic instruments that really lives up to the billing in every way. If you consider it as just a variant of a P bass - and it is, and that's how I use it - then it's absolutely brilliant. I never thought I'd say that about a Precision 🤔🤔🤔

Oasis are absolutely crap.

The conventional choice of 'dream bass' for me was always a Dolphin. I've wanted one for as long as I could remember. The bass that I didn't know would be a dream instrument, the one that was really more of a curiosity backed by an inkling I would love it, is the Basslab. Of all my basses, if I could only keep two it would be these ones. Always. It's a funny thing to own a dream bass. You never stop looking at other basses but the acquisition of such an instrument and the discovery that you love it, that it really is as good as you hoped it would be, significantly quells the desire to buy more. I've had an idea for a dream bass in my head for years now. It'll never exist, and hence will always remain a dream. It would be a Spector NS 4 string with a carbon fibre neck. Exposed graphite weave including on top of the headstock. Solid quilted maple wings, two EMG single coils and an EMG BTS or Hazlab preamp. Natural finish, gold hardware. The wings on the facing would be cut to cover the 'cricket bat' of the neck on the front, but I'd like it exposed on the back. Gloss finish.

It probably was one of his. I had the John Entwistle 'bass culture' book a few years ago as a coffee table piece and I remember in that there was a white or cream Precision with P/J pickups and a Modulus neck on it. I recall it had a comment with it saying he had kept it as a 'messing around' bass. Very similar spec to what you have.

They look really shonky. I'll admit, I quite like a natural finish poplar burl if the piece is nice and it has a gloss coat to make it look glassy and 'pop'. I really don't think it takes colour that well at the best of times, but these two examples above are particularly poor. Over time we've seen more and more poplar tops because it's a cheaper wood. I do still think that when I see it on ever-pricier basses. I also remember a few years ago when a customer was in dispute with Kiesel because he had been sold a guitar with a blueburst finish over poplar burl that looked pretty rich in the colour-graded photos but was pretty washed out and you looked at it and Kiesel blamed the wood. I've heard other luthiers also saying that burled poplar can be hit and miss as to how well it takes colour.

How did it end up with an oil finish? The manual always said to leave the neck untreated, even with the body wax, because the oil from your hand was sufficient to keep it conditioned.

I had a 1999 Thumb BO 4 with a wenge neck that was very slim. I've got a 2009 Dolphin Pro-I 4 string now with an ovangkol neck on it which is definitely a fatter 'D' profile than the older Thumb but not as far as the earlier Millennium era 4 strings. I quite like being a versatile player as I've found most Warwick necks, most necks on most basses actually, quite playable.

Those are absolutely beautiful. With an EMG, Haz or Tonepump I can imagine they'd be pretty heavenly sounding.

@EddieG, I was entirely sympathetic to where you had ended up in this farce until recently. The way Jon Letts has treated you has been beneath contempt. Once the case has been to court he should have paid you back and settled the judgement. His lack of talent as a luthier and apparent inability to make a viable business out of making and selling instruments are key factors to consider - a previous poster had suggested that he should stop arsing around trying to make a living out of building basses and get a job, at least until he has paid his debt to you. If he doesn't fancy stacking shelves once that's done, he can always go back to ripping off other mugs hoping for a cheap boutique bass. I think by offering him the chance to build you another bass, you just invite more pain and disappointment. As has been noted, you also let him off the hook for the court judgement you had received as you're effectively renegotiating the settlement with Mr Letts by entering into a contract for a new bass (your consideration for that contract being the money already paid years ago). Job Letts surely isn't the only crooked builder out there, nor the only fool who took on too much work to get through. It's a tale as old as time that was born with the internet bass community, where a builder could quickly fill their order book and and have more on the build table than they could possible finish in a reasonable time frame. So the complicated outstanding orders get left sitting whilst new basses are made and sold off to keep the lights on and the circus going... FFS it happened with Joe Zon! One of the most renowned and longstanding luthiers in the field managed to get himself into a situation where his once-good name was dragged through the mud because he seemed unable or unwilling to finish a handful out outstanding basses over the course of several years. Oscar Pratt seemed like he could build a good looking bass but he too found himself apparently unwilling to finish outstanding orders leading to him being pilloried on Talkbass. I've always been skeptical of the business model of Jon Letts. I saw the instruments when they were first going round Basschat and frankly, they looked like some shonky shite that had been knocked out in a shed. You get what you pay for and they looked rubbish (well actually, Carl Thompson basses aren't cheap and the look rough and basic too). The world is full of dreamers hoping they're going to get a champagne experience for a lemonade price. Letts' work actually reminds of a Cristian Grosu of Grossman Guitars, another builder who appeared to hope to fill his order book by offering cheap builds and ultimately has delivered some very poorly made instruments. Guys like ACG, Fodera, Sei, Drozd etc have full order books because they're a proven quantity and the price they charge can be taken as a guarantee that they'll probably get it right.