The Last Bass Outpost

That thing is the "opti-grab".  Nikki hooks his pinkie finger through it when he plays to anchor his hand. The body wings are solid maple, the neck is essentially stock thunderbird IV. I always thought it would have been interesting if they had made a full maple neck version with a gloss finish. Really an attractive bass, but not that big a fan of the inlays.

I would have loved it if the body and neck were a bit thinner but I do like the sound of mine.  I've used it a few times in the studio and its been great. Definitely worth having one as backup.

I just used chrome versions of the stock Grovers so everything lined up and no need to drill.

Indeed they did, came new from Sweetwater that way. They also had a couple that had upside down lefty TRC's.

Ever since Stevie Wonder took over the quality department things have been slipping through I guess...

Sound, feel, classic looks, sound... sound...I can put up with some wonky finishes I guess.  And they're the only basses that offer the majestic 3-point  .   or used to at least.

Considering they shipped some of these with the TRCs printed upside down I'm not surprised a all. When things are so obviously wrong it seems like they just don't care about some of the details.  "do the strings tune and noise comes out?... if yes, ship it."

Still...I keep buying...

I got to play the new bird at Guitar Center Atlanta tonight.  The bridge looked better in person, I found it strange that  it has a small (maybe 1/8 inch) spacer underneath it. I guess this is how they accommodate different neck angles?

The finish was much improved IMO, maybe the extra money gets you more time on the buffing wheel.

Unfortunately since it was guitar center there was way too much noise to actually plug in and hear it but maybe I can stop by there tomorrow over lunch and get in the phone booth of a bass room....