So, I had the chance tonight to finally spend some time with the SB5000. It rocks! And darkkent added some goodies into the sale - besides the original Maple neck, there's a set of H50A's that were in the case, and a set of new Dunlop nickle strings, as darkkent is an endorsee for them. The bass is fitted at this point with J99A's.
Christmas has come early, I've won my own little lottery, and got such a great deal on all of this, I feel a tad guilty about the price.... OK, I'm over it! But, darkkent is a very generous guy, and great to work with. Anytime he puts something up for sale, buy it! You won't be dissappointed...
Really want to put the Maple neck on, but am going to wait for a bit (which could be in two days or two weeks!) It's interesting to think that the J99's (which are single-poles) open up the Rosewood neck, and the H50's (humbuckers) might tone down the Maple...
Tonight I spent some time going over the bass... tweaked the truss-rod and lowered the action a bit, looked in the control cavity just for the hell-of-it, and changed my strap-locks and comfort strap over to the SB so the weight difference will seem minimal. Showed it to my roommate (a fellow bass player), and my two cousins, who are staying with me, and they all were impressed by the look, and sound.
Speaking of sound, after pulling it out of the shipping box, I played it just for a minute or two through my little battery powered Roland bass cube,then had to go back to my job site. Tonight I set up my Accugroove Tri-112 through my Walter Woods, and started shaking the pictures and my other basses that hang on the walls! Great tone, and the active EQ system sounds very usable! I am normally not a big fan of active EQ's, but the Carvin sounds nice right away, and allows me to find nuances and styles with easy adjustments.
Also plugged it into my Roland GT-10B, and stomped through various patches... that was fun! I'm inspired....
Now that I think of it, I haven't seen an SB5000 over here, but I'm sure it will generate a lot of interest! Will be playing it at a Rock Club this Saturday, along with three other bands, so I'm anxious to see the reactions it is sure to generate.
Have a good friend, who's like my bass-guru, who is very interested in seeing it, and another friend who has been talking of getting one, but I think the only reason he doesn't have one already, is he has a preference for six string basses. His misfortune!
So, these are my first impressions, with more to follow as I play it out, and change it over to the Maple neck, and try the pickups against one another. There's a bunch of fun coming up in my future!
Alohas...
Ian
|
the bass is beautiful, everything is like new. It's as if I ordered it direct from Carvin. Thanks again darkkent! I'm working, so more later....