LeftyBassist.com

Atkinson Precision Bass

So finally after 8 weeks my Atkinson P Bass showed up at my door yesterday afternoon! It was very tightly packed in its box with about sixteen million packing peanuts and thirty layers of bubble wrap, but eventually I was able to unsheathe the instrument from its protective layers and get a good look at it. And as the pictures from the previous thread suggest, she certainly is a stunner. Observe:





The very first thing I noticed upon picking her up was how incredibly light she was. My other basses, the Frankenjazz and the Jag, are quite jealous. I haven't had a chance to weigh the Atkinson but I suspect she hovers right around 8 lbs. I suspect the Hipshot Ultralites have something to do with that:





I played her for most of the day yesterday and I must say she sounds and plays fantastic. I mean, it's hard to go wrong with a P Bass, and this one certainly delivers. I threw on some TI flats (more on those later) and she really thumps a good one. Now let's take a good look at the neck, which was built by USACG:



The neck is fantastic, there's no two ways around it. It needs a couple days to stretch out but so far it's straight as an arrow, and the craftsmanship is absolutely top-notch. Take a look at this Rosewood board. I've never seen one so vibrant:



Moving on to the body, the finish has been expertly applied by Dan, and presents itself in a sort of a semi-gloss. The finish is very fragile, and one of the few regrets I have is not asking for a couple of clear coats over the top to protect it a bit better. Already I've spotted a couple little dings here and there. One other small issue is that the pickguard doesn't seem to fit very well with the body, and there are gaps here and there:



Not really a big deal, and not something Dan had any control over. Maybe someday I will replace it with a better fitting one. This Atkinson sports Fender Original Vintage '62 pups, which sound fantastic, Orange Drop caps, a Switchcraft jack, and CTS pots. Dan made a small goof by putting right-handed pots on this bass, and they of course turn backwards. He's sending me some lefty pots soon. Anyways, let's take a good look at the finish:







One final issue I had is that when I threw on those TI flats, I started getting some buzzing on the A string. Looking at the nut, I can see that the slot is too big for the string and is causing the buzzing. TI flats have weird gauges, and the A string in particular is quite light. So this is not really a problem with the bass but the strings I bought. Has anybody here had similar issues with TI flats? Is there anything I can do to quelch the buzzing?

So overall I am about 85% happy with the bass. It has a couple of small issues out of the box, but those will be quickly resolved. It was a great experience dealing with Dan, and I'd be happy to do so again.

Here are the specs:

-Alder USACG body
-Maple/Rosewood USACG neck
-Fender Original Vintage '62 pups
-Fender Vintage bridge
-Switchcraft jack
-Orange Drop caps
-CTS pots
-Hipshot Ultralite tuners
-3 tone Sunburst finish in Nitro
-Amber tinted neck in Nitro

Very, very nice!
If I may ask, how much did you pay for it?

I paid about $1,140 including shipping.

Great looking bass. What was the original idea behind the pickup covering. Always wondered.

As a designer, I've always been captivated by the designs of the P-Bass and especially the Jazz Bass. They are both incredible works of art, and represent what I consider some of the best designs of the 20th century. So without knowing a lot about the specific history of the bridge and pickup covers, I would make the following assumptions about them from a design-point of view and a player's point of view

1) Bass players at that time tended to use either their thumb or a pick, and the covers don't really get in the way of those playing styles like they do with finger-plucking, which didn't become popular until some years later.

2) The bridge and the pickups were the two functional pieces of the instrument that could not be cheaply designed to be sleek like the rest of the instrument and still be high-functioning. The covers hid those two elements which were considered pure function with no form.

That's my two cents anyway. I'm sure more knowledgeable people here could either corroborate my theory or prove it to be absolute bunk.