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Overwater Aspiration Elite 5 - I'm very impressed!


franzbassist
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I don't know if used to belong to a BCer, but I recently bought the 2011 Overwater Aspiration Elite that was on sale at Bass Direct and I am really impressed with how good it is.

 

I was in the market for a nice but inexpensive fretted 5 as a second bass, and this fits the bill really well.

 

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First of all, it's in great condition.  I don't think there's a mark on it anywhere.  The fingerboard needed an oil, but other than that all is good.

 

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It's a five piece neck through, maple and something walnut-like would be my guess, with what appears to be an ash body capped with a burl maple top.  Very nice.

 

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It's 35" scale, so a nice tight B string, and the 19mm spacing at the bridge is perfect for me (same as my Franz basses) and the main reason I got it.

 

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EQ is a three band Overwater system designed by John East. The control cavity is thoroughly shielded using paint and copper tape.  The bridge and pickups are Overwater branded too, but I assume made in Korea along with the bass itself.  The standard tuners were mini Gotoh-like ones, but as the bass was a bit neck heavy I have swapped them for Gotoh ResOLites which take the weight to bang on 9 lbs and have sorted the balance.  Other than that the bass is stock.

 

Live, the bass is really articulate: every note comes through crisp and clear.  I honestly wasn't expecting it to sound as good as it does!

 

I've played basses way more expensive than this that weren't half as good! :)

Edited by franzbassist
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3 hours ago, franzbassist said:

The bridge and pickups are Overwater branded too, but I assume made in Korea along with the bass itself.

 

Apart from the tie-up with Tanglewood, AFAIK, all Overwater basses are made in the UK.

 

You could always email them and ask for some details on your new bass.

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Great basses! And congrats on snagging your bass🙂

I had a couple of Elites - a flame maple 5 and a wenge 4 as well as a cherry red fretless 5 Deluxe. Mine were all bolt on.

Only moved them on as part of a general cull of my bass collection  which had gotten out of hand at the time. Really liked them, played the Elite 5 a fair bit in the band I was in and it always sounded really good, especially with the pan pot in the middle and a smidge of bass boost.  The pull up for prescence/hi treble was a handy feature too. 

Would definitely buy another if I had the funds. 

 

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