....and I still need help.

I am trying to decide between a Stealth, a Streamline, and an S2. I also am unsure as to what electronics to get.

I'm 48 years old. Playing guitar 35 years, bass about 4 years. I play in a rock cover band. I like all types of music. My bass tone preference is for classic, Motown type, flatwound/string mute type tone. However, that is a preference only...I like many other types of tone and use them.

I am a novice at slap and just barely learning this, and have not incorporated the technique into my band play, but I intend to.

I have a Fender jazz, a couple of Carvin SB4000 basses, and a custom Zachary 5-string. I play the 5 string mostly.

I want a five string bass; I want a lightweight instrument; all of my existing basses are around 9 lb (4.1kg).

My favorite bass, the Zachary, has an annoying dead spot/frequency for the low E note....which is really a pain. I know this type of thing is unavoidable, but it's one reason I am leaning toward a graphite through neck instrument.

For pickups, among my existing basses, the Zachary has humbuckers with coil splitters but is all passive. The Fender is single coil of course, classic Jazz, passive. My two Carvins have extremely nice, fender-type single coils, with active electronics. Of these, I think overall I like the Carvin tone spectrum the best. But I'm not a tone snob and I can generally dial in what I like for the song without too much difficulty. But I do like the flexibility of the active circuits.

Any suggestions?

I am wondering what the stealth and streamline would sound like with a really odd configuration, for Status basses at least, such as single coils, active 302 preamp, and flatwound or half round strings?

My gut tells me to just get all standard specs, meaning the status humbuckers and roundwound. But I do like classic tone, and I wondered if Status single coils sound good in these instruments?

Also, if I used, say, half-rounds, would I lose alot of the tonal spectrum, or would the preamp and the graphite construction still give me lots of room for more modern, hi fi, funk/slap biased tone?

Thanks for entertaining this long and boring email. I have $$ to burn and will order whatever I want, I just have to know exactly what it IS I want.

Thanks.

JP

I have an S2 classic ant it's pretty versatile, but always modern sounding with a nice midrange that cuts through everything (you can cut the midrange too).

According your tone goals, i suggest you take a look at the status t-bass. I would suggest the retroglides too, by i believe they are available only in 4 strings.

If your a Tone Freak (in a good way) take a look at the Paramatrix on the King Bass. They are starting to put that config in other basses. It gives you the option to split either or both of the humbuckers to single coil and has 2 bands of parametric eq.

You might struggle to get the Motown sound out of a graphite necked instrument, there's a bite to the note that you just can't get with a wooden neck which is kind of the opposite of what you're after. However most Status basses do a good job of sounding like a Precision bass on the front pickup whether they're humbucker or single coil.

I have both S2s and Stealths, the S2 has it's own tone that comes through to a certain extent whatever strings I put on them. It's a modern sound but closer to the sound of a wooden bass.

The Stealth is much more resonant and acoustically it's louder and bassier, maybe has less character of it's own but seems to take on more of the characteristics of whatever sounding strings it has on. It's a different animal to any wooden bass I've ever played and it's much more sensitive to technique, you can use your fingers to get several different tones out of it before even touching the controls.

I would imagine the Streamline sounds close to a Stealth but you might find there isn't room to get the 303 or Paramatrix circuits in it though, you'd need to check with Rob.

Weight wise, the S2 can vary due to the woods used. I have a couple that are about 8lbs which sounds and feels great, but I also have a bolt on that is about 11lbs and is starting to sound a bit nasally. The Stealth and Streamline are nice and light (hence the resonance) and there shouldn't be any variation as there's no wood involved in the construction.

I'm pretty sure single coil pickups are possible for any Status bass, however you could get coil tapped humbuckers so you've got both options covered. I like the 303 series active circuits best, they give you three different sounds at a flick of a switch, and a mid frequency sweep which opens up all sorts of options. I personally think the Paramatrix is too complicated, it'll certainly allow you to nail any frequency you want but changing between sounds might require a lot of twiddling. Maybe you get used to it once you've used it enough.

Hope that makes some sense, when I get the chance I'll weigh a Stealth and also try some ground wound strings on it.

Rich probably nailed that in the last post. The S2 is a very versatile bass and I can get a very passable p bass tone out of mine. I also have a P bass with a Status neck on it, still sounds P bass but with a bit more life in it, it has quarter pounder pups in it and I may add a Stellartone pot to it it too for extra tonal possibilities.

Have you checked out the Status 'vintage' range?? This may be a new build option for you?