That Super 400 fretless bass

[ilan]

Uwe - can you please repost a pic of that bass? I was telling a friend about it but can't find a pic online.

[Basvarken]

[uwe]

Yup, in all it's full glory. Amplified (with a passive piezo), it sounds very much like an upright bass - like no other acoustic bass I have. The very thin top is wonderfully responsive - so responsive that you could never play this bass live except at a very quiet unplugged session, it is THAT feedback prone. An unamplified loud bass drum already gets the top a-pumpin' even in a midsized room.

But in the right surroundings and the right musical setting, the sound is too die for. Not all my expensive basses have a sound to match their price, but this one is one-of-a-kind and was worth every Dollar.

[ilan]

It is also, hands down, the best looking bass in the world, ever.

Does the fingerboard have side dots, or can you move the bridge upwards and have a 32" scale bass, for example?

[uwe]

It is a 32" scale bass! Miraculously, I don't know why Phil Jones chose that scale (not a scale I really like), but the lower tension somehow enhances the upright bass feel and sound though that doesn't really make sense as an upright has a much longer scale and a higher string tension. I wager to guess that the lower string tension sounds livelier with the almost "breathing" top. Whatever, with this bass everything fits. Maybe, if they had produced it in series, it might have gone somewhere as a specialists' instrument though the neccesary price would have most likely been prohibitive.

It has side dots, yes. In theory I could move the bridge backwards or forward to either increase or diminish scale (and then ignore the side dots and play by ear - it can be done), but in practice there is a thin chord/cable/wire leading from underneath the bridge base to the output jack through a small hole in the top and that is pretty short so the bridge is "kept on a short leash". It is the only instrument I know that has a passive piezo - I didn't even know that worked until I got this bass - and that piezo has none of the unpleasant characteristics we know of active ones. (I wonder whether the choice of medium scale also had something to do with the piezo bridge, less taut = less bony/warmer & fuller sound?)

Thanks for the compliment on the looks, Ilan, if you're ever in Frankfurt you're welcome to try it out. To me the look is very puristic and classic, sort of what you would expect on a still life painting of a bass guitar. It's not exactly a rock 'n' roll axe (and with my penchant for Explorers, Thunderbirds, Flying Vs and Icemans, I admit I have a juvenile love for those), but then that wouldn't fit with the sound it emits.

[amptech]

It is also, hands down, the best looking bass in the world, ever.

I agree, it´s soooo good looking, even better than Vixen and Cliff Williams together!
Nothing else can touch this masterpiece!

[ilan]

I'm sure I will pay you a visit one day, warm up that Ampeg. I have held McCartney's '63 Höfner and 1960 LP, I have held David Garrett's 1718 San Lorenzo Strad, the time for me to try out that bass is nearing.

I have forwarded the pic to my friend, now he's picking up his jaw from the floor.

[Dave W]

Uwe, what happened to that photo of you playing it?

[uwe]

It's still somewhere in Photobucket, but the problem is that Photobucket is no longer accessible from my office pc.

[uwe]

I sent you a bunch of pics, Herr Westheimer, post here as you like.

[Dave W]

[Dave W]

[uwe]

Is this now instagram or what? 

Danke!

[Chris P.]

No instagram, but let's make it more instagram-ish:

#fitboy
#germanhunk
#bassplayer
#slappindabazz
#teutonicplague
#wokeuplikethis
#nomakeup

[gearHed289]

That is quite an amazing beast. Bass is nice too!