Madzää

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg72....jpg&res=medium

So this is my first BOTM, I am doing my main bass, a Fernandez FRB-100 from 1991. They were listed at 100.000 yen back then, or 1400 US dollars. The FRB line is the japanese market version, the american export line would be called APB-5, since it is a five string. This bass was built in japan, and it plays like a dream!

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg86....jpg&res=medium

As for the specs: they are as follows:

Body: two-piece Swamp Ash
Neck: Maple Bolt-on with a Rosewood Fingerboard (24 frets)
Pickups: Active Fernandes
Preamp: Fernandes 2-Band EQ
Tuners: Golden Gotoh
Bridge: Golden, 18mm spacing, I believe it´s a Gotoh bridge.
Scale: 34"

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg83....jpg&res=medium

It´s a little bit hard to see the grain of the wood here, partly because my phone does not have an acceptable camera, but you can still see some of it here.

These basses are very underrated nowadays, even to the point where there has not been a single post about this line of basses on this site until now. This is truely a world-class bass. The neck is very comfortable and smooth, and the active pickup give a great sound. Mind you, I´m nearly exclusively playing jazz, and I believe this is one of the best sounding electric basses you can find.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg26....jpg&res=medium

This is the back of the bass, here you can see the battery case, as well as the two holes for the low B and the E string. The bridge was routed this way that these 2 strings can be strung string-throu, or at the end of the bridge. While this is a great method to get more sustain, I couldn´t find any sets of flatwounds to put on there. The strings are definitely tight on this bass, even the low B, although it´s a 34'' scale. I think this is partly because I strung them through the body.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg19....jpg&res=medium

It is currently strung with D´addario Halfround strings in super long scale, gauge 045-130. It has a great, smooth yet punchy bass sound, with a thick defined bottom without icy highs. It is great for jazz, and other stylistics, but the slap sound needs some adjustment on the amp.

Now, my bass is not in top condition. It has been in heavy live usage over the years, and since then the Neck pickup has failed on me, after I´ve literally worn it out on the bass. I kind of hesitate replacing it, since I haven´t found the exact same pickup anywhere. The neck pickup itself has been a great pickup, really giving off a P-Style sound, but I´m not missing it much since the bridge pickup is probably a tiny bit better. It gives off a rich, warm tone full of deep bass, yet still balanced. Kind of unusual for a bridge pickup, but I like it that way. Keep in mind, they are Fernandez pickups, no external. The active preamp offers a bass boost at 85Hz, and a treble boost at 3500hz, both up to 12db.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg40....jpg&res=medium

Overall, I think this is a great bass, and sadly nearly forgotten nowadays. So if you´re looking for a cheap, pro-boutique instrument, these sometimes go for under 500 dollars on ebay. If you are looking for a new one, you might want to try the Gravity line of Fernandez, which was put into production after this FRB line was discontinued.

If you have any questions about this bass, feel free to ask me. Again, I´m sorry I could not deliver better pictures of this one, but I felt the need to share my bass with the world! At last, here is a picture of it in action:

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg20....jpg&res=medium

I´ve uploaded some more pictures, so that you can view them in this album if you like:

http://imageshack.us/g/205/inuse1size.jpg/

Edit: Here are the promised sound clips! They are from a show my old band did rather recently!

Caravan:
http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/...all/play1076800

Ladybird:
http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/...all/play1076805

Fusion Elevator:
http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/...all/play1076814

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In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.



please check out my own album:
almilano.bandcamp.com

Nutter_101

Very nice bass indeed! Reminds me of the Yamaha TRB basses to a certain extent!

I love older Japanese basses, they got the cooler stuff!

Looking forward to hearing some sound clips!

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skater dan0

We haven't had a BOTM for nearly 9 months so thank you Mazdaa I'm sticking this. I have to agree with Chris here, it is a tasty looking bass and we need some soundclips especially if you're a jazz man

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Madzää

You are quite right! I also had a mid 90ies Yamaha BB G-5 bass with 2 single coils for a few years, which is essentially a modern TRB without the body curve cutouts! They do indeed feel kind of similiar. However, the Fernandez did seem a little bit "tighter" to play. My set of strings seemed a little more sloppy on the BB. Not that that´s a bad thing in any way!

__________________
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.



please check out my own album:
almilano.bandcamp.com

anarkee

Sweet looking bass! Its nice to see something a bit different.

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"I have suffered for my music and now it's your turn." Neil Innes

Cantplay4penuts

Very nice bass you have there! Beautiful!

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Madzää

I´ve uploaded some soundclips. I´m sorry the quality is not the greatest, but they are from a gig my old band did rather recently. The first one is a reinterpretation of "Caravan", the second one is "Ladybird" from the soundcheck. If you´d like to hear our own songs, please tell me!

Caravan:
http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/...all/play1076800

Ladybird:
http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/...all/play1076805

Actually, here´s one of our originals, "Fusion Elevator":
http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/...all/play1076814

__________________
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.



please check out my own album:
almilano.bandcamp.com

zacker

The first one is a reinterpretation of "Caravan", the second one is "Ladybird" from the soundcheck.[img]************************/g.gif[/img]