molan Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 (edited) Picked this up in a recent trade deal but my decision to go back to 4's mean it's a little redundant so i thought I'd stick it up for sale and see if I get any interest Based on the serial number I think it's a '99 (possibly '98) which I think is around the time USA Fender V's were introduced in the active Deluxe variant. It's in fabulous condition with very little marking for a 10 year old bass. Very nice gentle sunburst finish. There's some light hazing on the rear (but not the nasty buckle rash you sometimes see) and a couple of small marks on the front - you really have to hold it up to the light to spot anything though. There's some hazing on the front of the upper horn so I'm guessing a previous owner played finger style quite high up the neck. I've tried to catch this wiht a flash picture on the body close-up - it doesn't look this pronounced in regular light. Pickguard in great nick as well. Neck is perfect, nice and straight, very smooth with slight flaming under lights, good action, fingerboard really clean with very nice little abalone inlays. Neck pocket nice and tight with a 4 bolt fixing. Quite cool silver Fender logo on the headstock (I think Fender called it 'dark aluminium'!). Tuners are branded Fender but I know some basses from around this time had Schaller made versions which were lighter than their in-house jobs. There's certainly no neck dive issues. Bridge offers through body stringing options and potential to adjust string spacing a little via grooves in the saddles. Fender noiseless pickups (I think designed by John Suhr) matched to 9V active tone controls with usual bass & treble plus a mid boost/cut. Basically this is just a really nice, easy to play, Fender 5 string with a classic look from the 5 in a line headstock arrangement and sunburst finish and lots of little refinements that were only added to the Deluxe package (the abalone inlays & silver logo are both really nice). There is a story that this bass used to belong to a Jethro Tull bass man at some point in its life. Based on dates, and a few pics I've seen of him with a five in a row Fender V, I'm guessing this would have to be Jonathan Noyce but I really can't say if there's any truth to this. It's hard to explain but this bass certainly feels like it's a 'pro' instrument. The 34" scale means it's not too big a jump for someone looking to add a 5 string to their playing and the B sounds good, no real issues of nasty 'floppiness' that I've seen from some 34" scale fivers (no idea if the through body stringing helps here or not!). Comes with original hardshell case (Hiscox-type thing not one of the really heavy Fender cases). Happy to ship anywhere in the world - contact me for approx costs.[attachment=41635:P1010920.JPG] Edited February 10, 2010 by molan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 So does this mean that the Alleva is for sale? Si Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 [quote name='Sibob' post='732118' date='Feb 1 2010, 07:50 PM']So does this mean that the Alleva is for sale? Si[/quote] Wow - that was quick! The answer is in the affirmative but it's already had some 'early' interest, lol. NS5XL next on the block too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I'm afraid I'm not interested, just thought it was a shame that it's going, seeing as you were one of the first to have one in the UK probably. Could you not just see about swapping it with someone for an Alleva 4? Si Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted February 3, 2010 Author Share Posted February 3, 2010 [quote name='Sibob' post='732159' date='Feb 1 2010, 08:20 PM']I'm afraid I'm not interested, just thought it was a shame that it's going, seeing as you were one of the first to have one in the UK probably. Could you not just see about swapping it with someone for an Alleva 4? Si[/quote] I would definitely consider swapping the LG5 for a similar 4 but I don't think there's many out there (well - either that or Lozbass is hoarding them all, lol). Apologies for 'off topic' nattering Had some interest in the Fender but no firm offers yet - feels like a fair price to me but happy to listen to offers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 Had a question about these eating batteries in the active circuit but as far as I know this one seems to be immune from that particular problem. Maybe it was the 18V Deluxe's that had issues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted February 5, 2010 Author Share Posted February 5, 2010 Had some interest but not sold yet so how about a price drop for the weekend Now £800. UK shipping probably around £25 - has original hard case so plenty of protection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 And down to £775 - surely that's gotta tempt someone This is a seriously nice, very playable 5 string. Would be a great first bass for someone new to 5 strings that wants a classy Fender vibe and a familiar shape, scale and spacing. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machinehead Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I had one of these. It had no problems at all with the batteries. It was a reliable bass for gigging too. These are truly excellent basses and really easy and pleasant to play. The build quaulity is as good as it gets. I'm still wondering why I sold it. Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted February 10, 2010 Author Share Posted February 10, 2010 And now sold pending usual stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts