Brand new Streamline 5





- J neck pickup
- MM bridge pickup
- 4mm fretboard dots
- Side white LEDs
- Active/passive switch
- Slightly deeper lower cut

I also did some extra-mods:
- I shifted the frequency of the treble control. When I boost the treble it gives a little bit more zing without enhancing the sound of strings hitting the fretboard. When I cut the treble I get a slightly more Jaco sound.
- Added a series/parallel switch for the bridge pickup.
- Changed the balance knob with a small one.










Series/parallel switch

Overall, I really like it. It is a great bass. Exceptionally light, well balanced for the form factor and with a good sound.

- It sounds very nice. Not too bright and not too dark. I don't know if it a positive thing or not but it sounds like a non-graphite bass. Not too dissimilar from my Sadowsky NYC 5. The Low-B sounds is very good. It is naturally balanced with the other strings and has a solid sound.

- It is very comfortable to play. It is 10 times better than the Steinberger XL2 I used to have.

- Light. It is incredibly light but at the same time it is firmly "connected" to the body. Considering the constraints related to the form factor, Rob and his team deserve 10/10 for the design. I would have liked a better access to frets 22-24 but I can live with it.

- LED brightness is just right. I tried other basses with side LEDs and they were so bright that I needed sunglasses.

- Colour. I'm probably wrong but the graphite colour looks slightly darker than I remember it but it is a good thing. I like it darker.

- I asked Rob front dots between G and D string. During the building SG contacted me and asked me if I preferred small or big dots. Based on the assumption small bass = small dots I went for the small ones. I’m glad I did it. The small dots look great.

Lucky man! That looks fantastic. You'll enjoy that.

That's really sweet! How complicated/ expensive was it to order the deeper cutaway, if you don't mind me asking?

Trev

Wow.......that is a really really nice idea all around for customising the Streamline!! But, I would expect this from you anyway :)
Cutaway looks very natural and the pickup configuration....well, you know I will agree with that :)

Beautiful bass, great pics of exactly everything we want to see and nicely detailed post!!
Thanks for sharing Sir ()()()

P.S.
Will we get any sound samples?

I envy you and congratulations B)

Regarding how complicated it was to do it I don't really know. Rob didn't look too worried when I asked but I recommend you contact SG/Rob for more details and the cost.

A pleasure.


I'll see what I can do but I recommend you don't hold your breath :)

Some of the customization choices are very personal. The front dots or the pickup configuration for example.

The mod I definitely recommend is the treble frequency shift. It takes away the clang sound when the treble is boosted but it gives a nice treble zing that is great when I play slap. When I cut the treble some of the high mid still go through and sound has much more body.

Very nice, congrats!

I presume you did the treble frequency shift by yourself?

Yes, I did it myself following Rob's indications. It was a little bit tricky as I had to remove the knobs and lift the circuit board but it was worth doing it.

Great Streamline. Love the slightly deeper form.

Got to agree with a lot of your review as well. I especially love playing live.

I found the access to higher frets odd at first...but not so at all now.

Mods sound great, but messing around with the board would scare me witless.

And most of all I agree with amasing job Rob did with the form of the bass, it is a delight to play and feels very natural when standing up.

Quick update

I went to an audition with my Streamline a few days ago. It was a good opportunity to try pickups, EQ, series/parallel switching.

I found difficult getting a bad sound out of it :) The bridge pickup is dynamite. It is so funky and punchy it hurts :)

Hello, congratulations for your streamline !!
I bought one streamline similar to yours !!
Can I ask you two questions?
The first is this: going from passive to active you feel a slight "pop"?
The second is this: The high frequencies Hz to those involved? (? Hz; + -? DB)
I am an Italian bassist, thanks a lot and best regards,
Mauro Tozzi