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Where are all the Big Al 5 basses?


stingrayPete1977
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I had 4 SSS and it was brilliant and I wish I'd kept it.
Wasn't too much of a fan of the 4 band EQ and preferred it in passive, lots of sounds available regardless just with the pickup selectors.
Nice thin sterling size neck (although the 5 will obviously be bigger) the single coils sound the dogs danglies, a lot better than the Sterling's single coil mode.

Just a shame that the pick guard hides massive river beds of wires and PCBs, without it it ould look even better.

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[quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1405926584' post='2506456']
I had 4 SSS and it was brilliant and I wish I'd kept it.
Wasn't too much of a fan of the 4 band EQ and preferred it in passive, lots of sounds available regardless just with the pickup selectors.
Nice thin sterling size neck (although the 5 will obviously be bigger) the single coils sound the dogs danglies, a lot better than the Sterling's single coil mode.

Just a shame that the pick guard hides massive river beds of wires and PCBs, without it it ould look even better.
[/quote]
Got any pics? :)

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1405926717' post='2506458']
Would I have to order new without trying one first though, does anywhere stock them in the UK?
[/quote]

Nah, not that I know of. However, Promenade Music offered to get me any EBMM guitar or bass in from the suppliers (if its in stock) to demo with no obligation. I'm certain they have both 4 and 5 string models available in the UK.

Shame you aren't closer to have a look at mine!

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Here's a four on eBay ( no connection to me )

Look at this on eBay:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=141343691839

MusicMan BIG AL 4 Frettless,Music Man Neuwertig,David Santos Bassist J.Fogerty!!

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I think they are rare because of the difficulty in breaking any guitar market, and in this case the UK, with something completely different with a lot of options.

It is a quirky shape, but ergonomically, it is very comfortable. It just 'works'.

I now have the guitar version (albeit the Albert Lee HH) on order.

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I agree with MM20 Although the shape is 'different' it's as if they took a j bass and cut around that tried and tested feel/balance to give something which looks different but feels right when on the shoulder. I had one but took a panic that it was too expensive for the dives I played. In passive mode its a beast and while I think the 5'er is just a H not SSS its still got some tonal options. Probably my fav bass to have played and I'd have another in a heartbeat. The switching options should be a standard on all basses with more than one pick up.

Good luck in your search!

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I had a lovely Candy Apple Red 3 x single neodymium p/ups with maple fingerboard briefly between July 2010 and Dec 2010, barely 5 months. I was going through a period of time where I would just buy and sell a lot of basses in my continuous search for the holy grail of bass i.e. something that I would find good enough for me to consider it a keeper, I am not a collector, so the basses I keep is because they become essential to me.

Luckily by the 2nd part of 2010 to 2011, that search did come to final stop as per the pics in my signature line.

The Big Al... well how can I put it, from one perspective it had a very wide array of sound possibilities, the Swiss army knife of basses, imagine you have 3 pickups each one can be turned on and off by a button on the pickguard, with all the pickup in the off position you get the neck pickup and middle pickups in series, you have an active / passive by-pass switch, and a 4 band eq on 2 concentric knobs, Bass / Treble and Hi Mid / Low Mid, and finally Vol and Tone knobs, the EQ only works in the active mode, and the tone control only works in the passive mode. If you work it out, that's a lot of sounds possibilities at your disposal (I make it 16 different pickup selection between active and passive),which for some it's the complete opposite of the "less is more" theory.
Despite its edgy shape it was very comfortable to play both standing up and sitting down, very well balanced and just shy of 10lbs mine weighed 9lbs 7oz or 4.42Kgs which is an average weight for MM basses. African mahogany body / Maple neck

The neck profile was an exact copy of the stingray 5, though I believe the 4 string version has a Sterling profile i.e. a bit more narrow at the top.

I had already 3 other Musicman basses (Stingray 5. Bongo 5 HHP and 25th Anniversary 5 which became the Reflex) and was hoping that this one would be a breakthrough but sadly I never bonded with it, truth is I got bored with it the first 2 weeks, why? bcause you fiddle and diddle to dial the perfect sound and never find one that really makes you go "oooooohh!" so I've put it up for sale before the end of the first month I bought, and I can admit that the Big Al was the hardest bass I've had to sell it, it took me 4 months to find a buyer, no one here was interested, and it finally sold on ebay, the only bass I've sold at a loss, every other bass I sold I either got my full money back or made a small profit, whereas with this one, I lost £190, as it went to a man in Ireland and costed me an arm and a leg to send it there. What killed my MusicMan addiction was The Bass Gallery in Camden, when browsing for pedals, I tried a Dingwall ABZ 5, and the rest is history. Search over, I haven't looked at any other brand except for the classic Fender range of which I still own 2 beautiful pieces.

A couple of pics of the Big Al 5

[URL=http://s144.photobucket.com/user/xt660/media/BigAl_zpsc3d8b1a2.jpg.html][IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r200/xt660/BigAl_zpsc3d8b1a2.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s144.photobucket.com/user/xt660/media/BigAl2_zpsc0aa8a27.jpg.html][IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r200/xt660/BigAl2_zpsc0aa8a27.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

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Pete - I've had mine for 3 years now and still find great tones. The middle P pup on its own is amazing is passive, the back bridge pup is a really nice tight snappy tone.

I still find great tones. It sounds great iin anything from funk to heavier styles of music.

Personally, I love it.

Not sure whether it matters whether you 'make' money on a bass....that isn't why it do it personally.

The UK market is quite 'conservative'.

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[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1406145209' post='2508805']
[color=#ee82ee][i][b]blah blah blah.....[/b][/i][/color]

[color=#0000ff][size=4][b]Not sure whether it matters whether you 'make' money on a bass....that isn't why it do it personally.[/b][/size][/color]

[/quote]

Gareth, it might not matter to you, but if you set on a search for the ultimate bass, [b]knowing well in advance[/b] that this will involve buying and reselling lots of basses, by getting rid of those that didn't meet your expectations, you don't want to do that at a loss do you, you clever clog? Which is why it makes sense that you must try and get most of your money back if not all of it. That my friend, it's simple mathematics and the only way you keep afloat in the game of buying & selling for the purpose of the search which I've described above!

One of the [b]many[/b] differences between me and you Gareth, is that I would flog a bass that I've bought and not liked, while you would send it back because there is a scratch on the cardboard box it came in or the box was the wrong colour and the shipping label was glued at a funny angle, or maybe because Strings & Things didn't include Nectar points for your loyalty card. :D

Edited by Grand Wazoo
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