Howdy folks...

[aliendogbrain]

I have a general question, not specifically about Music Man though. I do like them, Tony Levin is one of my IDOLS. I have been playing since early teenage years, though I never made any real money at it. Though I have had other basses, I have always ended up preferring the Fender P feel to accomodate my wussy fingers and my love for "meaty" material.
I have just recently come out of some financially crippling times, and after nearly four years of bass-less-ness, last week I got a good deal on a beautiful (looking anyway) Austin 4string Eclipse. Well, after some bridge-tweaking I got out the CDs and tried to tackle an old YES favorite, Close to the Edge. IS IT ME OR IS IT AUSTIN??? The non-curvature of frets, the spacing, I don't know, but DOING WHAT I LIKE (OR TRYING TO) ON THIS THING IS GIVING ME FITS OF RAGE!!! Anyone else ever experience this with Austin basses? It looked so pretty I HAD to buy it, but do I have a lemon?

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

>>>>Anyone else ever experience this with Austin basses?

Never heard of 'em.

Have you considered a SUB4 Bass?

 

[shamus63]

I just went to the Austin Guitars website...checked out the Eclipse basses...wasn't impressed. And, I'm not just saying that because I'm on this board.

The first thing I look at when shopping for a bass is the headstock; if it looks cheap or cheesy to me, 9/10x it's a cheaply-made bass. Next was the bridge...again, not impressed.

More than likely, the cosmetics were what drew you to this bass (I'm not knocking you for it; been guilty of that as well).

Are you able to return the bass at this point? If so (or even if not), get rid of it and maybe take Rod's advise about trying out a SUB bass. If you live anywhere near a Guitar Center (cringing for personal reasons), go there and try one out.

They're available in both Ray and Sterling versions.

Good Luck!

 

[aliendogbrain]

Are you able to return the bass at this point? If so (or even if not), get rid of it and maybe take Rod's advise about trying out a SUB bass. If you live anywhere near a Guitar Center (cringing for personal reasons), go there and try one out.

They're available in both Ray and Sterling versions.

Good Luck!

Judging from the web pics, the SUB looks like a shortscale. Shorties are a breeze to play, but you lose some sound qualities. I guess that's why the P bass (to me anyway) always seemed to hit the balance of "easy to play" VS "good sounding." I have never been in the right place and time to get a MusicMaster... mostly deal with used stuff.
I once had a new headless Westone Quantum, Steinberger style (without the double ball strings). Playing it was like free flight. Next to the old Fender Musicmaster I started with, which was just too small to get a good sound, this was the easiest bass to play I ever had. Then this guy who wanted me in his band told me I needed to ditch the headless and get one with a solid wooden body.... well, I wanted to be in this band, so I swapped it out... on a PEAVEY FOUNDATION! Talk about big and cumbersome... Finally, after the second swap in a two month period, I ended up with a Squier P bass.
Hell, I don't know. I do notice that the top nut, as well as the frets, on the Austin bass, have hardly ANY curvature at all. This feels strange to me.

 

[smallequestrian]

Most definitely not shortscale. What about the pics make them look to be so?

 

[MingusBASS]

Welcome to the forum but... I'm curious why you came HERE to ask about Austin basses and their lack of playabilty. I mean, this board is payed for and ran by EBMM so out of respect for that fact, there isn't a lot of talk about other basses. I doubt you'll find too many Austin players here.

Andrew

 

[maddog]

Judging from the web pics, the SUB looks like a shortscale. Shorties are a breeze to play, but you lose some sound qualities. I guess that's why the P bass (to me anyway) always seemed to hit the balance of "easy to play" VS "good sounding."

Fender P-bass scale = 34", SUB/Stingray/Sterling/Bongo scale = 34". Sounds like a SUB would fit the bill.

I have never been in the right place and time to get a MusicMaster... mostly deal with used stuff.

What is this MusicMaster that you speak of?

Tom

 

[prickly_pete]

I don't understand what you mean by p-bass and wussy fingers. How exactly does a p-bass accommodate wussy fingers? I guess anything would be easier to play than that harp in your avitar The sub is 34 inch scale, same as the Stingray, and p/j bass.

 

[aliendogbrain]

I guess I was wrong at first, after finding one pic of a SUB4 online, and the camera angle made it look rather short.
About how I arrived here...
I was "googling" for a bassist forum concerning which basses were a bitch to play, and this one came up as number one, of course the actual thread was about which SONGS were the hardest to play bass to... and I DID have some definite opinions there. And even though I have never owned a MM bass, I have used EB (and RotoSound) strings exclusively. I have never had the funds available to be VERY particular about having a "dream" bass... And by the way, as one could guess, that avatar is not MY bass... it's a Roscoe custom ten-string, very similar to the Warr and Stick instruments. I found the pic in the "Bunny" bass gallery.
Just took some webcam pics of the frustrating Austin, but trying to attach photo... seems you have to link to a url

maybe I can put it in Yahoo photos.

 

[prickly_pete]

I'm still curious what you meant about the p-bass and wussy fingers?

 

[bovinehost]

Well, I reckon I know doodly-squat about Austin basses, so I'm not even going to try to tell you anything about that.

What I can say is that saving your pennies and buying a good and decent EBMM bass (SUB's a good start) will save you loads of frustration with trying to.....well, the Austin, it's kind of inexpensive, right?

 

[aliendogbrain]

I'm still curious what you meant about the p-bass and wussy fingers?

OK, maybe I should have said "small" fingers...at least when compared to guys like Levin and Squire, who are both much taller than me, and can wrap their hands round a bass neck like I could a mop handle. My other 'icon,' Geddy Lee, remains a mystery... he's pretty short. For me though, I have always been more agile on a shorter bass, but size improves sound, so I found the P to be not too small and not too big.
The other 'wussy' thing about my hands involves a work accident in 92, at a bottled water factory. A 5 gallon glass cooler-top bottle broke in my arms, and my left ring and pinky fingers were cut off and reattached. A tenolysis (cutting the tendons which are fused together with scar tissue away from one another to allow finger flexion) was performed a year later, after much pleading to the workers comp people about my 'diminished' quality of life. They paid out around a quarter mil for all the medical expenses between reattachment, tenolysis and VERY PAINFUL therapy. Nerve tissue grows about a 32nd of an inch per year, so the docs told me, so to get the feeling back to my fingertips took about a decade.
Anyway, that's why my fingers sometimes piss me off. Yeah, the Austin only cost 200.00 at a pawnshop.

 

[Aussie Mark]

OK, maybe I should have said "small" fingers...at least when compared to guys like Levin and Squire, who are both much taller than me, and can wrap their hands round a bass neck like I could a mop handle.

In that case I'm very surprised you prefer a Precision width neck. Sounds like you'd be more a candidate for a Jazz width neck, which in Ernie Ball terms translates to the Sterling.

 

[aliendogbrain]

Fender P-bass scale = 34", SUB/Stingray/Sterling/Bongo scale = 34". Sounds like a SUB would fit the bill.



What is this MusicMaster that you speak of?

Tom

WHOA! I just realized that... sorry, typo or brainfart. The Musicmaster is this cheesy sounding shortscale Fender, the first bass I ever had, picked up in a pawnshop of course. I MEANT to say that though I have occasionally picked one up in a music store and played around on it, I have never been in the right place, right time, and right cashflow to get a MusicMAN to call my own. Big fan of the EB strings though.

 

[maddog]

WHOA! I just realized that... sorry, typo or brainfart. The Musicmaster is this cheesy sounding shortscale Fender, the first bass I ever had, picked up in a pawnshop of course. I MEANT to say that though I have occasionally picked one up in a music store and played around on it, I have never been in the right place, right time, and right cashflow to get a MusicMAN to call my own. Big fan of the EB strings though.

No worries man. Just got confused. Kinda figured you meant MusicMan but thought I would ask to be sure.

I second, third, fourth, fifth... the SUB. All the same playability/quality of the SR and Sterling just more inexpensive parts and finish. Hopefully you'll be able to get your hands on one of these yourself to try. And maybe the price tag will have the "Nice Price" on it.

Welcome aboard.

Tom