Winter is coming. Scratch that. Winter has arrived!
On Monday I ordered a bass from the Bass Place in AZ. I've been Reverbing for a few months and saving up some $$ and when the $$ got to be enough to make a sizeable dent in the price of a bass, I placed the order.
On its way to me Monday afternoon was a CLF Research/G&L L-1000 in Pharaoh Gold. Nice deal and expected to arrive on Thursday. Until we got 8" of snow on Monday.
In a city like Seattle and its surrounding areas (where I live), we have lots of hills. And, though we get a lot of rain, we don't always get snow. And when we do, it's usually fairly manageable, and melts a few days later.
This week, it was the Perfect Storm. As we mocked the rest of the country suffering through the Polar Vortex the past few weeks, we were having a mild winter. Then, Mother Nature jumped up and reminded us who's boss.
Anyway, the snow that came was, to us, EPIC and of MASSIVE PROPORTIONS. With our aforementioned hills and usual not a ton of snow snowfalls, our cities' infrastructures aren't really set up for BIG SNOW. So of course, everyone freaks out. Two days off of school for the kids, then back to business on Wednesday.
So, come Thursday, I go try to pick up my bass and due to the SEVERE WEATHER, they couldn't release it to me as the volume of packages exceeded what they could manage in a day. I headed back to work.
Then today, I got the text. Package ready for pickup. No problem. The UPS Customer Center opened at 10, I'd be there around 11 to pick it up. Only, we were expecting another snowstorm, this on expected to dump another 8" or so on top of the 8" we just got through. I started getting nervous. I didn't want to not be able to pick up my bass today. But the day seemed mild and I went, stood in line, picked up my box.
I took the case from the box (so pretty, that case), and put it in my office at work. I was nervous about checking the finish (when the finish cracks due to rapid change in temperature) so I didn't open it for a couple hours.
It was worth the wait.
The Pharaoh Gold color is beautiful. Paired with the rosewood board and I am in love. The gold sparkles. The control plate under the knobs is beautiful and shiny. Big round knobs and a red tipped toggle switch really make the bass unique.
But I didn't play it at work. The strings were all loosened for shipping purposes. Plus I had to go because of the snow storm, so I packed it back up and drove 11 miles in 90 minutes with the rest of Seattle. Thankfully, no accident, no smushed bass in the back of my car.
At home I inspected the bass, marveled at all its bits and pieces. I took out the strap buttons and put on some old Dunlops I had in my parts bucket. Then I tuned it up and noodled around a bit. My bass rig is at the practice space and with all the power we're using to stay warm, firing up the big ol' Carvin wasn't a great idea, so into the 30 year old Peavey it went. Not a true test, but still great to hear it.
I played through headphones too and I am excited to try it full band next week.
Things I've noticed so far:
- The width at the nut is 1 5/8" and the neck profile seems thinner than what I'm used to. So a wider neck with a thinner profile. It feels like a platform for my fingers and I sort of like it. My SB-2 and Decade are both 1.5" (jazz width) at the nut and it's what I'm used to so playing the wider neck will be interesting.
- The neck appears to be straight and true with the eye test. The action is a little low so I may raise the saddles a little to mitigate that.
- The toggle switch is reminiscent of the switch I had on my old Sterling. I think I'll have it in OMG (bass boost) mode most of the time, but it will take some tweaking on the Trace to see what works best.
- I haven't weighed it but the seller said it's a 9 pounder. The hand test feels like it's lighter than the SB-2 but not as light as the Decade.
- I'll have to break in the strings. They're a little zingy now. Bonus score: The Bass Place sent a set of Fender strings in the case too!
- Though all the US basses (except the JBs) have them, I love the look of the 6 bolt neck. No one will see it as it's on the back of the bass, but I love how it looks.
- Speaking of looks, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the chrome control plate. Some of the L1Ks out there have no control plate and look naked to me.
That's it for now. Really loving the fit and finish of this bass. Will try to dial it in on the Carvin tomorrow and see how it blows. Here are a few more pics. Enjoy! And please pardon the mess.
