The BaCHbird is a great bass.
Of course there are a few things that could be improved on the BaCHbird.
For example the pots. They are rubbish. No big deal: for a few bucks you can easily replace them with proper CTS pots.
By the way, I replaced the volume pot that controls the Artec humbucker with a push/pull pot. The wiring on the Artec allows for the choice between humbucking and single coil mode. I makes the BaCHbird a little more versatile without having to drill extra holes.
Speaking of the Artec; it sounds great. I raised it somewhat to get a phatter sound.
When I raised the pickup I found out that the screws are rubbish too.
The bridge is great. The sustain is incredible.
The machines heads are fine. No complaints so far.
I've heard of one guy who refinned the headstock and had to replace al the mount screws because they are made of inferior alloy.
So I guess they work fine as long as you don't touch them.
In the meanwhile I've installed a second humbucker. It's a seventies Thunderbird humbucker that I bought from Krishna a while ago.
Plus I've put a chrome cover over the Artec humbucker (check out this thread:
Artec BaCHbird pickup: bring on the chrome )
With the two humbuckers the BaCHbird now has that tight sound that I like.
I must admit I always roll the treble off a bit.
The BaCH pickguard has the wrong shape. It leaves not enough room for a second pickup.
So I had a guy in The Netherlands make me a pickguard. And our fellow outposter Saf screenprinted the bird.
The BaCHbirds of the first batch have a thick body. The bass weighs in at 5 kilo. That's pretty heavy.
From what I understand the second batch have a thinner body (the actual thickness that I gave BaCH). It weighs one kilo less!
This will make it more comfortable, weight wise. But the neck dive will be worse I guess.
But moving the strapbutton to the back on the heel will cure most of that.
All in all a great bass. Not just for the money.
Although I still can't believe that it cost me as little as it did.
The nice thing about the low cost, is that you're not reluctant to do some modiications/upgrades.
