My new Vintage Sunburst, unlined SR4, arrived today. Its been a long three months, but it was well worth the wait. First, I have to say that the photo on the website does not even come close to doing this finish justice. In fact, I have not been able to find a very good photo of vintage sunburst on the web anywhere. All the pictures, either fail to show all three colors, or make the finish appear very harsh. Unlike the photos I've seen -- at the basscentral website, for example -- the three colors blend very smoothly together. All the photos I've seen make the colors in the finish appear to bang together to starkly -- for lack of a better term. I ordered it with a black pickguard, and it looks really classy, but I'm going to order a tort pickguard for it too.
The tone is simply amazing. I encourage anyone considering a fretless to try out one with the piezo system. With the piezo on full, the bass has a very deep, but bright sound. Picking near the neck gives an almost upright tone, With the humbucker on full, it sounds like a classic Ray fretless should, warm, but good midrange and much wahhhhh, with a blend of piezo and humbucker, the tone is very fat and clear, with good midrange wah, and smooth low end. In a word, the piezo makes a huge difference in tonal variations. I've never heard a piezo system in a fretted Ray, but I think I might like that too.
Fit and finish are virtually perfect, as one would expect from EB. Neck to body fit is as tight as a drum, the action and setup were almost perfect (everyone has their own ideas regarding setup, so a tweek here and there is to be expected). The pau ferro fingerboard is beautiful, and seems very hard -- harder than rosewood, I'm sure.
The case is a little larger than the one for my last EB -- they are both SKBs -- so that has changed in the last year. Anyone know why?
I carefully took off the stock strings (I usually cut them to make them easier to pull through the bridge without scratching anything), because I couldn't bare to trash brand new strings. I put on the GHS bright flats I had waiting, and I'm currently testing them out. So far I like the way they feel, but the G and D strings have a different tonal character than the E and A strings, which is more evident with the piezo, than the humbucker. I'm going to let them break in for a while, and then probably replace them with TI flats. I do really dig the sound with flats, I think.
One thing, I noticed right away that the G string sounded a little different with the piezo on, versus the humbucker. I also, noticed the G string crackles a little when holding a note. This was more pronounced with the EB rounds, than with the GHS flats. I called EB and talked to Scott, and he is sending me a new saddle for the G string. He offered to have it done at EB, but I told him I could handle the surgery, and that I didn't want to part with the bass for a while. Got to love EB support, thanks Scott! And they actually answer the phone when you call too, no computer automation -- WOW! First class!
Anyway, I am completely satisifed with my new toy. I just wanted to take a break from playing to brag a little
Pictures to follow tomorrow, when I can get some decent lighting.
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Originally Posted by bovinehost
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