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Custom 5 String Jazz Bass. Spalt/Flame Maple. Bartolini/Schack pups/pre. Professionally assembled and setup.


douglas81
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5 String jazz-type bass.

The bass body is a solid 2 piece spalt/flame maple body. As you can see from the pictures, it's nicely figured and a comfortable shape. Whether sitting or standing, I found that it balances really well. And it's not too heavy. On ther rear there is a twin battery compartment and a spacious control cavity.

Inside the cavity is an expensive and rare Schack three band Pre-amp (Note these are not made anymore) The pre-amp has three sets of mini switches on the circuit board for even more tonal range. These are the pre-amps that are put in high end Fodera basses. It is currently running on 18volts however the pre-amp is also designed to handle up to 24volts if you so wished. For more info on the pre-amp, see [url="http://www.thebassgallery.com/schackelecy.html"]http://www.thebassgallery.com/schackelecy.html[/url]

The pickups are Bartolini Jazz Bass pups. As you can hear from the sound clips (see below), between the two pickups there is a wide range of tone possible and it's very clean sounding. Also installed is an active/passive switch & a mute switch. The controls are as follows: balance, volume, bass, mid, treble.

The jack is a strat style plate which is securely mounted on the back of the control plate. It is angled so that you can easily thread the lead through your strap pins without stretching your cable unneccesarily.

Currently the balance pot is just a normal linear pot. This means that there are only three positions: bridge solo, neck solo and both pickups full on. This can be replaced with a proper balance pot (about 3 quid) to acheive full balance controls. As you can see form the picture, one of the control knobs is missing. A replacement would be very cheap, I'm sure.

The neck is a high quality Mighty Mite 5 string P bass neck, maple with rosewood board. 4/1 headstock (This style of headstock is no longer made by Mighty Mite). Scheller lightweight tuners. High quality string tree. The original 4mm truss rod has been replaced with a stronger 6mm rod. The frets have been filed and dressed.

The bridge is a high quality/mass Schaller 5 string bass bridge. Dunlop Straplocks have also been installed.

The bass comes with a Kinsman Hardcase. I'll also through in a nice leatherette strap with the Dunlop pins installed.

I bought this second hand from a fellow BassChatter last month. As much as I want to love this bass, it just isn't right for me. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just feels too different to my previous bass (a 36" scale Overwater). However, it sounds great and has a realy slim, fast, silky smooth neck. The body has a nice natural finish (though I must admit, the varnish on the varnish isn't the most professional I've seen) and the electronics and hardware are really excellent.

When I bought the bass, the action was too low, so I took it along to my prefered luthier and had it set up. While I was at it, I got the nut replaced with a nice graphite one. Also, the neck needed realigned. When I got the bass back, there was a marked improvement and everything now feels right and intonation is spot on. The action is still nice and low and you'll have no problem pulling out the chops on this bass.

I'm looking for somewhere in the region of [s]£600[/s] £500. I'm open to sensible offers and I'll send it out anywhere in the UK for £20, or you can come and pick it up from Glasgow.

Edited by douglas81
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Nice to see another bassist in Glasgow!

Just to say that I have the Schack circuit in one of my basses and it's a great piece of kit.

The dip switches mean that you aren't stuck with one eq which might not be suitable for a particular musical situation. Change the dip switches and the whole eq of the bass is shifted. No need for another bass or another amp!

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[quote name='joe_bass' post='311434' date='Oct 21 2008, 04:54 PM']Is this Shockwave's old bass??[/quote]
Yes - bought it off him last month. It's a great bass, but not to my tastes. I really wanted to like it, because it's a lot of bass for the money!

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By the way, I'm serious when I say "make me a sensible offer". I'm surprised there has been no interest as yet. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. And, if your in or near Glasgow and can pay with cash, make me a cheeky offer and I may well accept...!

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Oh man that is sick!
Wish I had the readies to take it off you hands.

I'm almost finished a 4 stringer project very similar to this 'un. It's an ash J body that I've fronted with a tiger stripe maple veneer (might be changing this to something a little more "boutique" looking soon) and a P neck which I've converted to a 3+1 headstock. It has 5 pots and 2 switches and all black hardware too. It would be a great stable mate for yours - they'd look like brothers.

The bridges were the last job I did so there are still pencil marks but...
[attachment=15974:proj_bass_controls.jpg]

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