New bass day!

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laurie
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New bass day!

Post by laurie » Sat Oct 22, 2022 3:44 pm

I mentioned I had found a Crate bass over in this thread http://www.bossareaforum.com/Forum/view ... f=12&t=663

I ordered a new pearloid pick-guard, but it didn't fit. The Crate is all non-standard sizes.

I managed to get everything cleaned up and did a full setup. I just didn't like it. Even acknowledging that it was a "cheap" bass, it just didn't feel good to play.

The local Cash Convertors has had a nice looking Samick (made in Korea) bass on the wall for a while, and a few weeks ago they slashed the price because when someone tried it, it didn't work.

Long story short - I sold them the Crate and bought the Samick. Spent about 4 hours doing a full setup and fixing the electronics in the Samick and I am very happy now.

This bass feels great, has very good action and tone. This is the best cheap bass I've ever played. I'd say at least as good as a MIM Fender.
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Pepe
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Re: New bass day!

Post by Pepe » Sat Oct 22, 2022 4:26 pm

Awesome! I love white basses myself and it's cool to see that it has 24 frets.
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laurie
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Re: New bass day!

Post by laurie » Sun Oct 23, 2022 4:44 am

I've been playing it a bit more. The string height at the first fret is about 2mm.

Needs the slots in the nut lowering. Only need about 0.5mm string clearance at the first fret.

I'm thinking of buying nut files from StewMac. Anyone have any other sources for luthier tools?

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Dirk
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Re: New bass day!

Post by Dirk » Tue Oct 25, 2022 5:27 pm

Those old 90's Samick instruments are great.
I see it has the same bridge and probably pickup as my first bass, which is a '94 P-bass copy.
For a plywood instrument, it's pretty decent.

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laurie
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Re: New bass day!

Post by laurie » Wed Oct 26, 2022 12:09 am

Looking in the neck pocket when I had it apart ... it is definitely solid wood. Not sure what type, but no sign of laminations.

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laurie
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Re: New bass day!

Post by laurie » Wed Oct 26, 2022 7:19 pm

laurie wrote:
Wed Oct 26, 2022 12:09 am
Looking in the neck pocket when I had it apart ... it is definitely solid wood. Not sure what type, but no sign of laminations.
Update... I had a look in the controls cavity and, yes, it is plywood. The plywood is much better hidden in the neck pocket.

Still, it sounds pretty good and has OK sustain. As the practice/beater bass, it is more than adequate (and cost less than USD$85 including new strings!)

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Pepe
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Re: New bass day!

Post by Pepe » Wed Oct 26, 2022 7:22 pm

Samick guitars are awesome. The few that I have had in my hands were great. Is it one of the most underrated brands maybe? Or is it simply not too widespread?
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