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I didn't know that Ash Customworks made bass guitars as well. I have a Radian Les Paul that I bought from somebody in nzguitars for a great price. Great guitars.

jhyang549 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 02, 2022 6:23 pm I didn't know that Ash Customworks made bass guitars as well. I have a Radian Les Paul that I bought from somebody in nzguitars for a great price. Great guitars.

It’s an excellent bass, as was one of the others I played. I think Adrian’s own bass prowess influenced his skill with them.

jhyang549 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 02, 2022 6:23 pm I didn't know that Ash Customworks made bass guitars as well. I have a Radian Les Paul that I bought from somebody in nzguitars for a great price. Great guitars.

He made at least 3 Fretless Basses.

One ended up on the West Coast/ Hokitika. Fijian Kauri with Seymour Duncan electronics

There was one with Bartolinis which I probably should have purchased from Ben / Manicbanjonest. I ended up getting a Fretless Jazz ($ price was cheap) but I think I should have been more adventurous.

Rather a tasty amp there Mr Foal. I have long been curious but never played through one.

hercules wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 10:19 am Rather a tasty amp there Mr Foal. I have long been curious but never played through one.

The CTM-300 is very good

Definitely a try before buy amplifier though. The EQ is quirky and in some ways counterintuitive. I wouldn’t call it multi-purpose but it’s just what I wanted from a valve head

If you like flatwound strings and a touch of OD it’s way cool.

Yum. Even with the Markbass/Origin Bass Rig setup, I still miss tubes

hercules wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 2:56 pm Yum. Even with the Markbass/Origin Bass Rig setup, I still miss tubes

Miss that tube vibe of epic dynamics.

First time I fired up an SVT I was scared of how limitless it felt

New Bass Day

Introducing my new bass guitar, the Cort A4 Plus FMMH (Open Pore Black Cherry).

This will be an upgrade to my existing, cheap (but good) Artist JB2 (which is a Jazz Bass knockoff).

The price I was looking to spend was around $1k, and I spent a lot of time trying out the best basses I could get new or used for that money. Squier Classic Vibes 70s P Bass, G&L Tribute, Epiphone, Ibanez soundgear, Jackson etc. Basically, guitars that were either made by Cort or Samick in their Indonesia factories. I also spent a lot of time browsing Trademe, Facebook marketplace and this forum.

Knowing that Cort makes a lot of instruments for Squier, G&L Tribute, Ibanez, Jackson etc, I've decided to take a chance on a Cort instrument. Rubber Monkey had some stupid discounts on them (it's ended when I checked a few minutes ago). Their retail price for the Cort A4 Plus was $1399, which was discounted to $979 (over 30% off). At that price, they were definitely making a loss and trying to get rid of their old stock.

It's a lot nicer than I anticipated. Neck thru design. Hipshot bridge and tuners. "Bartolini" pickups and preamp (equivalent to Duncan Designed). Fretwork is great and the abalone inlays look really nice.

I expected that it would really need a setup because it was sitting in the original box in Rubber Monkey's warehouse after being shipped from Indonesia for over 6 months. But actually, it was playable right out of the box. It would need its intonation calibrated once I receive my Sadowsky Blue Label Stainless Steel Flatwounds. Neck relief looks good. Good action too (just a hair high than I would like).

Also nice that this comes with a standard 1 year warranty from Rubber Monkey. Their support was really good too.

Very happy with my new bass!

Nice one

Let me know how you like the strings, I got some SS Rounds and Flats from Gheraldo but yet to fit them

foal30 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 6:45 pm Nice one

Let me know how you like the strings, I got some SS Rounds and Flats from Gheraldo but yet to fit them

I'll buy them from you in 2 years

jhyang549 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 6:56 pm

foal30 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 6:45 pm Nice one

Let me know how you like the strings, I got some SS Rounds and Flats from Gheraldo but yet to fit them

I'll buy them from you in 2 years

Hopefully next week, highly likely given weather forecast

TmcB wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 3:00 pm

hercules wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 2:56 pm Yum. Even with the Markbass/Origin Bass Rig setup, I still miss tubes

Miss that tube vibe of epic dynamics.

First time I fired up an SVT I was scared of how limitless it felt

Did you keep the GB 2x12” cabinet?

No, eventually sold it. Kept that for a long, long while until I ended up just going ampless for all my gigs.

Bought a Fralin P pickup just before so it’s not all sadness

I have the Bugera knock-off SVT, and I'm scared how little the knobs affect the tone - other than quiet, loud, louder, lower louder, hi louder. Not sure what the preamp valves do as no matter where the knob is set, there is no grind. I take a valve out and it stops working so they must be in the circuit somewhere.

It was cheap and the graphic eq works at least. As does the mute button. Having said which, it shakes my window frames and annoys the neighbours so its a win

I've had success intonating a Hipshot TransTone bridge, which was more complicated than my Jazz Bass knockoff. I'll adjust the saddle height later.

Oddly, the Hipshot TransTone bridge allows strings to be top loaded and strung through the body. The factory strings are strung through the body but the angles look... pretty dodgy. Once I have my new strings, I'll just top load for peace of mind.