16lb Solid Gaboon (?) Ebony Custom 5 String

[Stingray5]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SOLID-GABOON-EB ... 41617a214a

[blankrider]

looks really cool but 16 lb? damn

[Frenchy-Lefty]

I am a little dubious as to using ebony for the body as well. If I can take a guess, the wood is so hard it must sound incredibly cold and harsh but maybe I am wrong.

[blankrider]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 4414858567

There's a WALNUT body between an Ebony front and back slab. While it's not fully ebony, i think it sounds good

[Basshappi]

Holy Toledo! Probably sustains for days.
I bet even at that asking price he's taking a bath on it!

[gravesbass]

I checked it out in person. His reserve was 2k when we talked. Its true 16lbs. I could barely remove it from the case with 1 hand.

[Frenchy-Lefty]

It must be a heavy baboon...
But seriously, the seller repeats that he won't make another one at three occasions...he must have had a lot of fun working the ebony and probably got to find out why nobody else uses ebony for other parts than fretboard and hardware. It is hard indeed.
Jim, how does it sound?

[AzWhoFan]

I popped a hernia just looking at it

[bigevilrobot]

Nice, I've always wanted a 5 string piano…


or

That's the nicest coffee table you'll ever play?

[gravesbass]

It's a Warmoth body and neck. Kit bass. The body is 4 pieces glued together, not 1 solid piece. Supposedly Warmoth will not offer these woods anymore (probably due to supply, upcharge and weight). Its got routs underneath for the whammy springs like a Fender Strat. The fingerboard is ebony with black dots. Bartolini pups and unsure the preamp. I played it acoustically and it sustained big but the action was very high. I can now say I played the world heaviest bass. My heaviest Spector it 12.5lbs. I play it live but it hurts. I could not imagine playing a 16lb bass. A Stand would be recommended.

[thumbslam]

Original listing had different pics and you could see the neck was a banana...So much for ultra-ridged stiff ebony

[LHBASSIST]

I work with Ebony all the time. It is a wonderful wood...great for fingerboards, and it polishes to an almost glass like sheen. Hard and dense- it also undergoes by far, the MOST dimensional movement I see in my repair work. Even more than spruce. I see a lot of instruments every year, both vintage and new, that undergo dimensional shrinkage to ebony that requires repair work. An entire instrument made out of it? Wow. It looks amazing, but I cannot imagine anyone wanting to actually play that bass on a gig, unless you have an iron spine. The possible banana neck...well, maybe that can be adjusted. Someone will find a use for it.

[fivebass52]

No takers at $1000.... could be used by the police to break open crack-house doors....