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NBD: Atelier Z Baby Z-4J


LeftyJ
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Today I took delivery of this wonderful, tiny beast and it's absolutely brilliant! Pics are from the seller, he did a much better job at them than I could have. It's a 2015 model, but there are absolutely no traces of use whatsover. It's like new! 

 

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I've been lusting after one of these for over a year now, especially the PJ version but I have yet to find a lefty version of that. This one was offered to me in a trade against one of my Ibanez MC924's and I gladly took it! I haven't owned a shortscale in years, but it's such a breeze to play that there won't be much of a learning curve! 

 

It clearly borrows its design from the Fender Mustang and Musicmaster, but aside from the (rounded slab) body and pickguard shape and the narrow 16,5mm string spacing, that's where the similarities end. This thing is a scaled down active Jazz Bass, and it sounds very modern! Controls are neck volume, bridge volume (push/pull for passive), stacked bass and treble (boost only). Tuners are Gotoh, bridge is a custom aluminium Hipshot style B with extra narrow string spacing. Frets appear to be stainless steel and are very narrow and low and I love the feel! Neck is reinforced with titanium rods. 

 

There are a few minor things that annoy me and need to be taken care of: pickup height adjustment doesn't work (in either direction. They're completely stuck at their current height!), and I hate the looks and feel of the control knobs and the pots themselves. The neck volume feels solid and stays in place, but the others turn too lightly to my taste and are very touch-sensitive. I still have a set of Fender Jazz Bass knobs and two Fender Am Dlx stacked Jazz knobs that I hope I can get to fit.

It also has a bit of neckdive, but not so bad that a rough strap can't cure it.

Otherwise I'm very happy with it, and it's incredibly fun to play! 

Edited by LeftyJ
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