Can someone tell me what the difference is between the Series 3000 and an early Energy?

Both have graphite necks, two J style pickups, vol-blend-treble, angular shape, headless design and wood types.

As far as i can tell not a lot of difference, my 3000 is American Cherry, but it also came in Mahogany & Black Walnut. I think that chris (Status) had an energy for a short time that i had a go on, and as far as i could tell it was much the same bass but in Walnut. The electronics seemed the same vol/bal/tone. The tone control was as tilt, bass boost or top boost. I didnt get on with mine so replaced it with a obp-3 pre amp!

Have a look at the Catalog collection, there is some info there as well as a review of the 3000

Correct - however the active control was simply a treble boost/cut. Certain Series 3000 models featured an opaque block' finish on the back of the neck; I remember trying one out up in Leeds as a nipper and being upset that the weave was not visible!

The 3000 was replaced by the resin-bodied Series 4000 (the Series 5000 being a 5 string 4000!) and was indeed re-introduced as the Energy bass circa '91/92 following Rob's introduction of the Matrix basses in '90. The headed Energy bass featured a slightly more rounded top and lower horn whereas its headless version featured the regular angular' shape which I personally feel is THE shape for Status! (don't get me wrong, I love the new stuff but being my age, I always loved the original shape!!!)

Nick

yep, mine has the solid black neck....

Ok, so that is one of the differences, view of the "weave" or not. I have an early Energy and the "weave" shows. Same for the angular shape, so it's a real Status. ;)

After reading the catalogii on this website the question occured to me!

The only thing I can think of is that the early Energy was produces to create some sort of step-in model, not that expensive as Statii used to be. And the Series 3000 was a regular (read: real) Status model. But I don't know if this is true ?

Don't get me wrong; I still love my Energy. And this after playing it for 17 years now. My Electro is my main gigging bass, but for at-home playing I still use the Energy...

Hello all,

The black necks were moulded slightly differently to the woven version but the main change was cosmetic. At the time (late 80's ?) the necks were moulded by another company who sometimes had cosmetic issues. These necks were also slightly heavier than our current versions. Soon after, I decided to develop our own moulding techniques and we have been doing everything 'in-house' ever since.

The 3000 was originally a simpler and less expensive model which was introduced after the Series-2 and Series-2000... 3000 seemed like a logical path.... which led on to the 4000 and 5000 (4 and 5 string)models. The 3000 had wood bodies (often cherry) whereas the 4000/5000 models had moulded bodies. All these had bolt-on necks. The Energy was a revised version of the 3, 4 and 5000 but as far as I am concerned, they are all 'real' Status basses. They were more simple with less exotic finishes but still sounded great.

Pip-pip, Rob.

Rob is absolutely right: the Energy tone is amazing.
Wherever I go and I plug my Energy (serial 3542; mahogany body and maple neck) into whatever amp, somebody asks me: "What kind of bass are you playing? It sounds really good!"
Never had a problem. Always got a good sound even on crappy amps.
And I must mention also that I love Rob Green's way of crafting a rosewood fingerboard: I've been playing fretless for more than 20 years until last year when I happen to play in a shop the Energy which is now my #1 bass. Because of this Energy bass I got back to play on fretted fingerboard.
I'm really mad about my Energy.
Ciao