Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
Welcome to TalkBass! Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
The official "Show your basses" thread part 19!
- Thread starter smperry
- Start date
Left to right: 2023 Squier Rascal in Metallic Black (wanted green but bought this one off the wall because it felt so good), October 1985 Ibanez Roadstar II Mystery Model (blend between RB 680 and 686) Fretless, 2024 Walter Bass Co. H32, 2009 CIJ Geddy Lee Jazz. The quiver is full now I swear.
OK so the fretless 1994 Music Man Stingray showed up.
It's probably going to be my new number one. Best bass I've owned and top 2-3 best basses I've played.
Holy sh1t.
I've played a few fretless Rays but this is a WHOLE other thing.
After 30 seconds I completely forgot it was fretless.
And the condition... This is a 30 year old bass. It has 2 dings and a small scratch. Gotten B stock in worse shape.
100% original.
Now... Should I try and get a matching fretted bass from the same time period? Incredibly tempting.
To get this and the fretless 79 P in the same week is a bit overwhelming.
Surprised how different the 2018 is compared to the 1994, even considering the extra feet.
It's probably going to be my new number one. Best bass I've owned and top 2-3 best basses I've played.
Holy sh1t.
I've played a few fretless Rays but this is a WHOLE other thing.
After 30 seconds I completely forgot it was fretless.
And the condition... This is a 30 year old bass. It has 2 dings and a small scratch. Gotten B stock in worse shape.
100% original.
Now... Should I try and get a matching fretted bass from the same time period? Incredibly tempting.
To get this and the fretless 79 P in the same week is a bit overwhelming.
Surprised how different the 2018 is compared to the 1994, even considering the extra feet.
Last edited:
- Dec 2, 2003
- 4,461
- 5,361
- 6,206
- Disclosures
- Official artist: Eich Amplification
I just showed my gf this and she said, "if you EVER buy that many basses...."My house is too small.
- Dec 2, 2003
- 4,461
- 5,361
- 6,206
- Disclosures
- Official artist: Eich Amplification
When I bought the Sterling on the left my gf said "well, all your stands are full, are you FINALLY finished" and I said "never say never".
same problem, except it's motorcycles.My house is too small.
- Dec 2, 2003
- 4,461
- 5,361
- 6,206
- Disclosures
- Official artist: Eich Amplification
That is beeaauuuuuutiful. Lovely fretless. Congrats!
Thank you!!
Seriously considering going fully fretless now. Easiest playing instrument I've owned.
Mine is a drummer. So let's just say her gear takes up more space than mine.
Currently
Added this one recently. Ampro P5. I added the gold anodized PG.
Last edited:
A rick, Destroyer and Jackson V with a reverse P and Kahler vibrato? I like your style.
Thanks. I think if I ever go 5 string, I’ll probably go with a Modulus in blue, green, or natural grain. The Destroyer is strung up BEAD right now though.
Yes, it's a short scale and the body is actually the same as the Bass VI.
I don’t know about you, but I feel like the rascal could have been the Bass VIs 4-string cousin from the 60s, too. Somehow, to me, it fits right into the Fender pantheon. Paranormal indeed.
I would say you're likely correct in that someone in R&D must have been at least thinking about a 4 string version back when the Bass VI was in production. I do know this though, many years ago I wanted a VI and due to their rarity and ever-rising pricetags, I decided to build one, then two...using parts from Musikraft and then all the hardware from the usual vendors. Enjoyed them immensely, but an idea began to form - why not a Jazzmaster VI? I can't remember how, but someone put me onto a gentleman who was part of the team who developed the Bass VI, and we got talking on the internet. Turns out he was a big Jazzmaster fan and even though he was in his 70's back in the 2010's, he was still fondo of winding pickups. I told him of my plan to build a Jazzmaster VI, and he casually mentioned that he'd done one back in the 70's, using a stock JM body and a Bass VI neck. He also of course had to custom rout the trem cavity further back and the bridge posts to accommodate the 30" scale, an easy task when you work at Fender...
So he wound me a couple of JM pickups for my project, and they are still in it, well one is and the other is actually in a JM guitar. The bass sounds even better than the original spec Bass VI's that I built. A friend from Costa Rica was milling up aluminum widebody Bass VI bridges at the time and I was lucky enough to get one from him. The body was made by another buddy in Seattle from a barn demolition at a farm that was built in the 1800's, it's very dry, very dense western red cedar we think, but it absolutely sings. As Nigel Tufnell once said, "Listen - can you hear it, can you hear the sustain?..."