Did you ever find your perfect bass.?

[bubinga5]

I had given up on jazz basses to be honest and I had this up for sale. then I played and got to know this Atelier Z . Just an incredible instrument. 

 

Its hard to describe how fat and huge this 70s jazz bass sounds, not many people mention the necks on these basses. .the action is crazy low and has that growly string sound going on.  I thought the Lakland 5594 was a fantastic instrument but this AZ blows it away.

 

Did you find a keeper.?

Edited January 13, 2022 by bubinga5

[AndyTravis]

This is doing a good job recently…bit of everything I like. 
 

Give it a month 😉

[jd56hawk]

Funny, but I posted this maybe half an hour ago at Talkbass.

 

"I can’t get no, satisfaction."

                            ○    

Well, I can, but how about you?

I have ten basses.

From my least expensive to my most expensive, I'm completely satisfied.

No need to change pickups, no need to change the preamp or add one, no need for a different neck, etc.

Sure, I put on my favorite strings, but who doesn't?

Not just here but on other boards, I constantly see people who feel the need to make their bass better.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

So, who here is constantly searching for the perfect bass, either buying and selling again and again, modding what they have, or building their own "perfect" bass?

And who will never achieve a state of bass bliss?

 

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by jd56hawk

[Passinwind]

On 08/01/2022 at 18:27, bubinga5 said:

I had given up on jazz basses to be honest and I had this up for sale. then I played and got to know this Atelier Z . Just an incredible instrument. 

 

Its hard to describe how fat and huge this bass sounds, not many people mention the necks on these basses. .  I thought the Lakland 5594 was a fantastic instrument but this AZ blows it away.

 

Did you find a keeper.?

Over fifty years of playing I've owned all of 8 bass guitars and four are still with me, so yeah. One lasted 40 years and was my only bass for half that time. The other three I no longer own only stuck around for a year or so at most, and my oldest keeper was made for me in 2003. I do tend to mod everything sooner than later though, often multiple times over.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Passinwind

[Lfalex v1.1]

There's some fine instruments out there. And some that I'd surely keep. 

But none that would eliminate the need to own any others. 

[lownote]

Yes.  But I love the thrill of the chase too much so I find the perfect bass, then flog it - and then maybe even buy the same again.  Four Sires, three Hohner B Bass VI... and so it goes. 

[Rayman]

Yep. Kinal MK5.  It was perfect. I actually owned it twice, but both times because I needed the money I had to sell it. I regret it bitterly every day. 

 

I'm still on Mikes' endorsees page,  and unfortunately it didn't go with me to my grave.... unless I'm a ghost. This picture was about 10 years ago, before I sold it to David Eubassix. 

 

If anyone knows where it is I'd love to know..... the inside of the control plate was signed by Nathan East.

 

 

[Doddy]

I think I've found the perfect bass for me. 

I was looking to buy a bass for a birthday present for myself. I'd already got a few nice instruments, and I've played a lot more but after I visited F Bass, I knew that I needed to buy one.  My BN5 is seriously the best instrument I've played. It plays and sounds amazing.

 

 

[Rayman]

49 minutes ago, lownote said:

Yes.  But I love the thrill of the chase too much so I find the perfect bass, then flog it - and then maybe even buy the same again.  Four Sires, three Hohner B Bass VI... and so it goes. 

My Hohner B Bass is awesome. Very surprised as it was just a passing purchase, but honestly I don't know why they aren't more highly regarded. 

[Lozz196]

Fender US Standard Precision. Although I have my faves amongst them any US Standard just works for me.

[Doctor J]

I have, more than once, then my tastes and requirements have changed and I'm on the hunt again. Those moments of contentedness are quite delicious, however.

[Machines]

I think the issue with searching for 'the one' is the assumption that your desires are static. My solution (so far) is to have a moderate number of 2nd hand mid-level instruments that can be sold/replaced at little cost (usually just shipping).

 

None of them are duplicates in terms of appearance or sounds, so that helps me cater for what I want that day, or hour etc. That said, this new Euro 4LX is quickly ranking up the 'best i've had' chart.

[Old Horse Murphy]

This one. It's a Trigger's Broom as I had to replace the neck and electrics. It also has a 62 Reissue pickguard on it. The strap buttons aren't original either!
 

It started off as a 1989 Fender US P Bass that I bought secondhand with money my family gave me for passing my GCSE's. 
 

The neck finally developed a fatal curve in 2010 (I think) so it now sports a 2007 US P Bass neck with Sims LED's. I also took swapped the bridge at the same time.
 

It really is an extension of me and I'll never part with it. Not that anyone would ever want it!
 

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by Old Horse Murphy

[neepheid]

Vote for no. I don't believe there is such a thing. I keep changing, not the basses. Right now I'm going through a "death to bridge pickups" phase. I'd like to think that I'm more evolution than revolution so maybe some time when my fingers are too arthritic to play I'll have defined what my "perfect" bass is. And if everything else comes true, much like my appetite for finding new music has all but dried up like I swore blind it never would, it'll be a P bass, the bass of choice in heaven/hell's waiting room.

[BigRedX]

Yes. However there is no single bass that does everything I need so my perfect basses are:

 

My two Gus G3-5s (one main and one spare for gigs) and my Eastwood copy of the Shergold Marathon 6-string bass (I may even get a second one so I have a spare for gigs).

 

Unless I find myself playing in a band that needs some fretless bass sounds I can't (at the moment) see myself buying another bass again. 

[neepheid]

1 minute ago, BigRedX said:

Yes. However there is no single bass that does everything I need so my perfect basses are:

 

My two Gus G3-5s (one main and one spare for gigs) and my Eastwood copy of the Shergold Marathon 6-string bass (I may even get a second one so I have a spare for gigs).

 

Unless I find myself playing in a band that needs some fretless bass sounds I can't (at the moment) see myself buying another bass again. 

 

Proud of you for reaching your bass nirvana, but be prepared for a lot of tutting and eye contact avoidance at the pearly gates!

[jazzyvee]

Yeah I found a bass that is perfect for me, (maybe slightly different meaning to the OP). What I like is that the pickups have a really even sound throughout the sound spectrum.

Whilst i can use it successfully for all genres I get to play, I am particularly choosy about when I take it to gigs.  Like someone else pointed out perfect is not a static thing. So while this one is the most perfect of my basses, there are others that i choose when I want a different kind of perfect :-).

[Paul S]

My Squier JV Precision.  Yum.

 

 

[gjones]

 

My Jazz is a close as it gets to my perfect bass. I wanted a MIJ Jazz but couldn't find exactly what I wanted, at the right price. So I bought the body, neck, pickups and bridge separately and put it together myself. I also added a John East J-Retro pre amp, which makes it incredibly versatile.

 

I've got more expensive basses, which have pro setups and are easier to play but the sound, action (I sometimes have to play with a pick so the action is not stupidly low) and versatility of this Jazz means when I leave the house for a gig or rehearsal, this is the bass I usually take with me.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by gjones

[TrevorG]

YES!!!  But I bought another one anyway.

[Mikey D]

Over 25+ years of playing my tastes have evolved slightly. But to this day originally my overall nearest bass was my trb6. But then I didn't play for a long time and then just played a GWB fretless for many years and firmly in the 5 string high c camp and completely different picking style now closed hand/3-4 fingers with ramp. The neck on the GWB if fretted may have been perfect but couldn't bring myself to do it. Past 2ish years all of the above combined with short scale dabbling means my customised Ibanez TMB35 witgh Aguilar and ramp is pretty pretty close for me today. Necks just a bit too wide with spacing and a bit too heavy still. Plus it doesn't have 24 frets. But still my most played bass. Which is funny being so budget.

 

I've basically almost convinced myself a Fodera mini MG is my ideal package of scale, format, electronics etc. But know I'll almost definitely never own one. So I'm trying to meet in the middle and ordered an EHB1005sms that I hope to mod a bit and make high c. 

 

 

[Owen]

The One there is not. The Chase only there is.

[ped]

12 hours ago, bubinga5 said:

I had given up on jazz basses to be honest and I had this up for sale. then I played and got to know this Atelier Z . Just an incredible instrument. 

 

Its hard to describe how fat and huge this bass sounds, not many people mention the necks on these basses. .  I thought the Lakland 5594 was a fantastic instrument but this AZ blows it away.

 

Did you find a keeper.?

The pic doesn’t work, is it the black five string you were thinking about respraying? I’m not surprised, my Atelier Z was amazing. It’s been interesting to see you try out so many basses, as I think we probably have a similar taste in 70s jazz type basses. 

[Old Horse Murphy]

12 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

This is doing a good job recently…bit of everything I like. 
 

Give it a month 😉

What's that green one in the background Andy?

[KingBollock]

When I was a kid, around 1990ish, I was asked what my ideal bass would be. At the time BC Rich didn’t actually make what I described, which was basically the Warlock NT with the Widow headstock. When they did make them they only did for ten years, but I wasn’t in a position to buy one. Then, one day, one turned up on eBay for £215 including postage (which also included a Warwick coffin case that wasn’t mentioned in the advert). It was a gamble because that was still a lot of money for me, and the photos were terrible. I had no real idea what condition it was in. Cosmetically it was perfect.
 

However…

 

When it came it was unplayable. The action was like a suspension bridge and must have come out of the factory like that. Being a neck-through, I couldn’t shim it, and I couldn’t find a new bridge thin enough. I tried making new saddles from aluminium, but they were so thin that I struggled to tap them for the screws without deforming them. In the end I ground the bottom off the existing saddles and that fixed it.

 

I also struggled to find strings that it liked until last year when I decided to try a really light (40 - 100) set. And now it plays and sounds ace.

 

There are things I would like to do to it, but I don’t really have to. I like the idea of a more versatile preamp, but I don’t think there’s room in the cavity. I also like the look of the DiMarzio DP127 blade pickups, but I don’t know if they would sound right, it’s just the look I would be going for. But it would need two sets. So none of that will probably ever happen. However, I would like a Hipshot D-Tuner on it, which would mean matching the other machine heads. I almost certainly will do that.

 

So, after saying all that, it’s not perfect, yet, but I love it.