ConorO Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 Hi folks, after playing a f/less MIM Fender Jazz for two years I'm looking about for a hollow body fretted bass. I guess I'm missing the abandon of frets & the joy of playing with a pick I've roughly £400 to play with & although I'm a little dubious (my biggest buy there was £25 on a jacket) I am willing to try ebay. I've had a nosy at the Epiphone Rivoli II, but after reading the one user review available on Harmony Central, I'm not too sure. I'm into classic shaped guitars & I'm looking for the Brit invasion sound, with total playability. Obviously after playing nothing but fretless for near two years, any fretted bass is going to be a struggle, & I don't mind a bit of a fight, but I read the Rivoli II is neck heavy & I really want to avoid that. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance, Conor. Run with those that seek the truth. Run from those that have found it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred TBP Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 Welcome to the Forum, ConorO' ! A friend recently sold me his Rogue "Beatle" bass, which retails on Musician's Friend for approx. $200-229 USD. (or 102-117 in UK pounds, you'll have to figure out VAT and shipping on your own.) Turns out it is very light and FUN to play, especially since the scale length (30") is shorter than a Fender bass. I emphasize the FUN here, but it is decently built, stays in tune pretty well and the neck pickup puts out a reasonably-close fascimile to the cherished Hofner sound. I use flatwounds on mine so the treble end on the upper parts of the G string are considerably faint, but I get what I want from it with a little EQ tweaking. I've provided these links to help you read up on it: --Rogue VB-100 (on Musician\'s Friend) --Harmony Central reviews on the bass And yes, there are other alternatives, this is just a personal preference of mine. The Epiphone Viola bass is also a great Hofner copy, but I haven't used mine much lately since I got the Rogue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikef Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 There's the Hofner Contemporary Violin Bass at The Bass Centre in London, for £449. Might be worth a look. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cthulhu Fhtagn Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 Rogue and Jay Turser both make a very affordable "Beatle" bass. There is a local Jay Turser distributer in my town, I don't know if he ships overseas. Don't like them much, can't really get over the short scale. Ibanez makes a semi-hollow with the classic "f" holes that looks pretty nice and most the Ibenez gear I've played is quite acceptable. You'll find most hollow bodies are going to be a bit neck heavy. The best cure for that is to move the strap pin to the back of the neck. Small operation, minimal cost. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 How about an Epiphone Jack Casady bass? Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cthulhu Fhtagn Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 Ooooo, forgot about Epi. I'm sure they make some kind of LP Gibson clone. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Daddy from Motown Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 Thje Jack Cassady bass is very cool also look at Ibanez they make one that looks like the Lakeland for cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConorO Posted December 10, 2006 Author Share Posted December 10, 2006 Thanks folks for the replies. In all honesty I should have prepared myself & stated in my initial post that a violin bass (yeah I know it's hollow) is not what I'm after. Why? Simply because I don't like the shape...yes I'm that pedantic! Sorry for wasting some peoples time. Conor. Run with those that seek the truth. Run from those that have found it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConorO Posted December 10, 2006 Author Share Posted December 10, 2006 Originally posted by jeremy c: How about an Epiphone Jack Casady bass? Thanks Jeremy. They're the first I looked at, unfortunately at £529, they're just a little beyond my budget. The full length scale is the main reason why I probably should hold on. Anyone any experience of Greco hollow bodies? Run with those that seek the truth. Run from those that have found it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConorO Posted December 10, 2006 Author Share Posted December 10, 2006 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=007&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=170058466510&rd=1&rd=1 Run with those that seek the truth. Run from those that have found it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afro_Man Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 I've tried the artcore, it was ok, i decided that the sound was a bit monotone for me and spent the money elsewhere. I would like to add that i tried it out about two years ago now, and my playing style and understanding of the instrument is (thankfully) vastly different from then. I would try one out, it might suit you fine. Have a look at the G&L tribute ASAT hollow body, its top of my GAS list. Nic "i must've wrote 30 songs the first weekend i met my true love ... then she died and i got stuck with this b****" - Father of the Pride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.