prowla Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 (edited) I took a drive up to Dudley to pick up a bass cab and had a good old chat with the chap I bought it off; I mentioned that whilst I was in the area I might take a wander into town and see what was there, to which he suggested going to Wolverhampton instead, as there was a guitar shop there. So I drove across there, parked in the shopping centre, came out onto the street and searched google for guitar shops; two blocks down the road - nice and easy. On the way, I stopped in a 2nd hand records shop and came out with a bunch of CDs and had a nice chat with the two ladies who run the shop and then carried on down to the guitar shop. Well, it was quite small but well stocked and then I looked up on the wall and there was a very interesting bass there:[list] [*]Status Graphite neck - I've been after one of those for ages and missed one on ebay last year, but swored I'd buy the next one I saw for the P-bass I'm building. [*]Warmoth Jazz-style body - well they're not cheap! [*]Schaller machines and a Hipshot D-tuner - I just put a D-tuner on my P-bass, last week. [*]Active electronics (not sure which brand of circuit) - this one has three stacked pots plus two micro-switches. [*]Not sure of the pickups. [*]Gold hardware. [*]Badass II bridge - I have one of those on the P-bass too. [/list] I nonchalently asked the chap in the shop the price, expecting it to be around the £800 mark and he came back with less than half that. He said he'd just had it in the day before and hadn't been to sure about it and had said to the seller that it would either go straight out or hang about for ages. Well, it just seemed like there was so much in parallel with what I was doing on my P-bass that I had to have it, so (after checking it over and having a quick play) I ended up with a new bass. What a result - I never thought I'd come home with that when i set off out this morning! Edited January 22, 2017 by prowla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harryburke14 Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 oooh thats pretty. I went to play some of the Ibanez 2017 range today and left with a Squier 50s P bass (of course on accident). Happy NBD to us both sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted January 21, 2017 Author Share Posted January 21, 2017 Virtual handshake, sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealting Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I'm going to guess that's a John East J-Retro preamp. Quite some score, I am envious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 [quote name='therealting' timestamp='1485043873' post='3220750'] I'm going to guess that's a John East J-Retro preamp. Quite some score, I am envious! [/quote] Well, I just opened it up to have a look and it says E-Pro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I'm thinking that's an East also. Do you have any other pics of the unit. What's the tone like by the way with that Status neck. I presume it's very modern sounding.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Yep - I looked up E-Pro and it took me to the East website; the controls match the J-Retro, so I'm good with that. (And I downloaded their PDF saying how to use it.) The neck - that's interesting; I've really got to plug it into my setup to see what it sounds like. I can say that in the shop, and not particularly loud, turning up the bass control it went seismic! I've two other Statuses (Statii) one with a graphite through neck and one wooden; the graphite one sounds artificial/modern and the wooden one sounds more (erm.) woody & natural! But it's really their pre-amp which defines the sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Will there be a better bargain in 2017? Doubtfull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 [quote name='owen' timestamp='1485104905' post='3221139'] Will there be a better bargain in 2017? Doubtfull. [/quote]Cheers; £369 for a good grand's worth of parts is a score - heck, the body is more than that alone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Well done! Great bass. Suppose with all of these things whether bitsa/ warmoth or complete custom it is hard to find a second hand buyer who wants exactly that so you have to price low or break it up for parts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 [quote name='uk_lefty' timestamp='1485111266' post='3221198'] Well done! Great bass. Suppose with all of these things whether bitsa/ warmoth or complete custom it is hard to find a second hand buyer who wants exactly that so you have to price low or break it up for parts [/quote] Yep - that was the shop's logic; I just happened to be that buyer and just happened to walk in the day after they got it and before they even spent any time on it, so it was an easy flip for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkHeart Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Love that colour and if anyone thinks gold hardware looks tacky on a bass.....think again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markstuk Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Result 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 [quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1485125928' post='3221463'] Love that colour and if anyone thinks gold hardware looks tacky on a bass.....think again! [/quote] I have to say that I've always thought gold looked tacky on a bass... ...now I'm not so sure, in fact I rather like it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 [quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1485045568' post='3220761'] I'm thinking that's an East also. Do you have any other pics of the unit. What's the tone like by the way with that Status neck. I presume it's very modern sounding.? [/quote] The preamp looks like this. The active makes a big difference; turning it off and it's about half as loud. I think I'd be unlikely to use it in passive mode! In active mode, with all controls on mid (and volume on full) it sounds characterful; turning up the bass and it goes deep deep deeper than Eddie Murphy undercover! The general feel is that it is a pro instrument, probably the most of all my basses; whether it suits my scrappy style of playing I'll have to see. I'll get more familiar with it over time and figure out its character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Christ!! That's not a lot of money for a lot of bass, and a great looking bass too! Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Cracking buy. Well done. Can you not adjust the pre-amp to bring it down to the passive level. I see there are 2 small pots in the photo. ?? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealting Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Don't forget that on a J-Retro, the bass is boost-only... so you actually want to turn it all the way down to match levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 I've definitely got to spend a bit of time with the actives to get to grips with them. The active volume is roughly the same as another active bass I've got, so I don't think it's OTT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Cloud Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Absolute beauty, you could probably flip it right here at BC for a handsome profit (nudge nudge wink wink!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) - Edited February 24, 2022 by Jus Lukin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joebethell Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Congratulations I just picked up a status necked Jazz also but cost me a hell of a lot more than yours. Guessing you stepped into Big Deal Music I can remeber lusting over some of the secondhand deals when I was a teenager in wolves. Bargain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 Yep. Big Deal. Nice bloke there; I may have met him at a guitar fair previously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joebethell Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Yeah nice chap good old school music shop really I should drop in next time I'm back visiting the parents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 And this is why I have given up modding stuff. Resale is always horrific. Really great if you are buying though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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