Why do I have to look at gear on the net? (Douglas semi-hollow)

[daan]

http://www.rondomusic.com/spb1100wh.html




I'm a sucker for semi-hollow basses, I used to have a Hofner that was really nice

and an Ibanez that was also nice,

both of which I had to sell to pay bills. I also had a fake EB-2 that was terrible and don't miss at all.

So instead of actually working on the bass I have now (Hondo fake Jazz bass) I'm farting around on the net and see this Douglas thing that really reminds me of my Ibanez. I think I had that bass for about 3 weeks, and really regretted having to sell it. Now I see this thing and I can almost afford it (well, if I actually finished some of my crap so I could sell it). So somebody on here needs to buy this, so they can tell me it's a dog and I'm not missing anything.

[exiledarchangel]

Nice bass, but that MM pup looks really out of place.

[Highlander]

Nice enough for a starter at that price...

[Pilgrim]

Nice bass, but that MM pup looks really out of place.

...Perhaps, but only if you have a pre-conceived idea of what a semi-hollow should look like.  The Ibanez Artcores (see pic above it) have a similar pickup. Doesn't put me off.

[nofi]

probably because the artcore pick up is not sitting on top of a glaring white bass.

[Pilgrim]

Yes, the contrast in color is much greater.  I admit that I like chrome pickups on white basses, but that wouldn't be a non-starter for me.

And BTW, I have my own share of pre-conceived notions....

[leftybass]

I have a large number of hollowbodies, including a black Douglas(and an Ibanez as pictured above, which I am not using), its a great bass for the price. I usually have black nylons on it to max-out the thump. A cool thing; it's 32" scale but is the same size/length as a 30" EB-2 so it fits the Gibson's case. The bridge is set further back.

[Alanko]

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days!

I have one of these basses on order. I tracked down one in Sweden. Oddly the seller tells me it is red! Never seen one of these in that colour. Seems that the Douglas SPB1100H, and the Shine bass of the same name is the exact same thing; a loose EB-2 bass with a MM pickup in the P-bass position. Rondo currently have one in Sunburst, if ye fancy.

I will post some photies when it arrives, if it arrives. I've just sent a mystery man a bunch of Swedish krona.

[Dave W]

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days!

I have one of these basses on order. I tracked down one in Sweden. Oddly the seller tells me it is red! Never seen one of these in that colour. Seems that the Douglas SPB1100H, and the Shine bass of the same name is the exact same thing; a loose EB-2 bass with a MM pickup in the P-bass position. Rondo currently have one in Sunburst, if ye fancy.

I will post some photies when it arrives, if it arrives. I've just sent a mystery man a bunch of Swedish krona.

They do look the same. AFAIK Douglas is the house brand of Rondo Music and I believe Shine is the name used in the UK, at least for this bass. Looking online now, it seems Shine is the brand name of Saein Musical Instruments of Korea. They may be the manufacturer or only an exporter.

Do you have doubts about the seller? I hope there's no problem.

[Alanko]

The seller is Tip Top Musik in Stockholm, Sweden. Apparently he/they are good, if idiosyncratic. I've had to use an international bank transfer to pay for the instrument, which I set up on Tuesday, and I've heard nothing yet from the seller.

[Granny Gremlin]

Hope that works out for you.

At that price, with medium scale, and considering it looks like a mudbucker will fit nicely in there, it is very GAS inducing.  Love the white.

[Alanko]

I'm leaning more towards sticking other pickups in MM cases to fit the existing route. I suppose the guts of a mudbucker could be shoehorned into there...

Still nothing from the seller.

[Dave W]

Not much info on seller's website. At least there's a physical store. May be a one-man operation considering the limited hours.

Why are you planning on replacing the pickups before you even have it in hand?

[Alanko]

I don't like the sound of MM-type pickups with the coils in parallel, whilst in series they can be overly mids-heavy. I trust Shine to make a great quality bass in terms of fit and finish. I'm looking at the bass as being 95% brilliant, whereas the pickup might be the weak link in the chain, purely because fat humbuckers tend not to crop up in the middle position of 32'' scale length instruments.

It is a big pickup of a known, fairly standardised size that is in a good position on the bass. Too many hollow or semi-hollow basses use idiosyncratic pickups in weird locations, either right up at the heel of the neck or right up at the bridge. I've never been that impressed with the Epi Jack Casady basses I've tried, and again that pickup is pretty much a bespoke item. The Aria TAB66 bass has weird minibuckers right up against the bridge and neck, with a gaping void in between. The Epi Casady bass has that transformer system, which I'm not dead against, but it is more idiosyncratic technology on a fairly budget bass. The Warwick Star bass is out of my immediate price range, the Fender Coronado is sodding heavy and the couple I've played have felt totally dead. Everything Italia make is ugly, in my opinion. The Guild Starfire II reissue is more my thing, but again it is out of my price range.

[Dave W]

Fair enough.

The MM pickup (with coils in parallel) was designed for use with their preamp. To me, that pickup/preamp combination works great, as a single pickup in the original position. Anything else, I'd have to hear before passing judgment.