Way overpriced one-off smart wood les paul bass off to ze Reich!!!

[Psycho Bass Guy]

None of you held me back. As usual.  

Perhaps a post mortem comment? Gotoh-style bridge+ Barts = ass tone.

Of course, that's just my assessment.  

[TBird1958]

ass tone   

[uwe]

Hush. It's for my Level 42 tribute band.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

ass tone   

...not the good ass: the bad one, like a midrangey fart, only with less substance and more nasal honk. I don't care if you're into double anal fisting ala John Waters' standup routine, that bass is going to sound like garbage.   

[uwe]

Clickuh-dee-clack & snap!

I'm no Barts fan myself. They sound alright on my fretless LPs, but that isa about it. That sound - state of the art as it was at the time - has aged about as well as shoulder pads.

[uwe]

But I don't find it middish at all. The issue is that it lacks mids, it's all sparkling presence and subwoofish lows, no gut in the middle. Hence my slap-bass allusion.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

To me, there are good mids, around 200-300 Hz, and bad mids, anything 500Hz on up. (Can you tell I LOVE the Ampeg tone stack?) Those pickups have, as you said, 'subwoofery' lows, but no low-mid girth to help define the note and set it in a mix. To try and make up for it, they have an insanely exaggerated top end to put "clack and sizzle" in there in an attempt to help give the instrument a voice.  The Les Paul bass sounds good and unique because it has a natural low-mid boom that Fenders and Fender-types usually lack. The Barts completely negate that, and add a crappy sound of their own to boot.

Can you guys tell that I'm beginning to get the Gibson bug?  What the hell have you done to me? I've always been a passing fan of a GOOD T-Bird or Les Paul bass, but never really considered them "my thing." The ONLY set neck instruments in my house are my Waterstone 12'er and my wife's Guild Bluesbird. Now I find myself drawn to the "mudbucker side."

[uwe]

Your slowly recovering from fenderitis, a common and vile disease that needs to be eradicated off the face of this earth.

I agree with everything you wrote about the Barts. I wonder if they sound any better without the TCT active circuit?

[Highlander]

Now now, Herr Bassmeister... as Dave explained to me quite succinctly... Fender's have their rightful place...

[Pilgrim]

Your slowly recovering from fenderitis, a common and vile disease that needs to be eradicated off the face of this earth.

HEY!  I resemble that remark!!

[hollowbody]

That LP bass was on craigslist in Buffalo for $1400 a week ago.  That might help you in choosing a price if you were to put an offer in on it.

Oops, I see that you already put a bid in on it.

[Highlander]

Missed something... "Smart Wood"...?

[Hornisse]

Clickuh-dee-clack & snap!

I'm no Barts fan myself. They sound alright on my fretless LPs, but that isa about it. That sound - state of the art as it was at the time - has aged about as well as shoulder pads.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm.............Shoulder pads........

[Dave W]

http://cgi.ebay.com/GIBSON-USA-LES-PAUL-EB-650-HOLLOW-BODY-BASS-W-OHSC_W0QQitemZ330404219587QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item4ceda04ac3

EB-650, seems to me like a decent deal, pretty rare basses

GROSSLY overpriced.

We just discussed this over at Jules' place because another EB-650 just went for $1026.11 http://forums.vintageguitars.org.uk/showthread.php?t=2508

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I agree with everything you wrote about the Barts. I wonder if they sound any better without the TCT active circuit?

I doubt it.  My G&L (another company whose bass sound is normally very pickup-defined) L5500 which has EMG's (another 'neutral sounding' pickup) and a similar preamp, sounds great, but it doesn't sound like any other G&L. The Bart equipped Les Pauls just sound bad. I guess you could compress the crap outta them in the studio for a psuedo-Ken Smith tone, but it's a crying shame to take such a naturally raucous instrument and for all intents and purposes, neuter its sound.  The Designing Women picture is an apt comparison.