So we took quite some time to try out different basses and compare them to our own basses that we brought along. Unfortunately, this happy bass comparing was interrupted abruptly about one hour before the shop closed: A less generous and somewhat shocked salesguy came into the room and told us that we are not supposed to help ourselves with the instruments… That concluded our testing, because we didn't want to „order“ each single instrument for testing from him. (As I said, we weren't interested in the more expensive basses ranging from €3000 anyway.)

Looking back, it was very interesting to be able to try basses from different vendors, especially the “exotic” ones like Human Base, Clover or MTD. But it was quite a disappointment that there were so little basses that we liked. It was also disappointing that even quite expensive basses can have considerable defects, like deadspots or finishing issues. So it's not always worth it to spend more money.

So what is the result for me? I learned again that the same modell can sound very differently with different woods and pickups. For example, I played a Peavey Cirrus with a maple neck that I didn't like a lot. But the same bass with a rosewood fretboard was quite nice. I wasn't able to decide on one bass, but found out tendencies: It seems that most basses with maple necks are not for me (with the notable exception of Fender basses), that basses made of heavy woods tend to react a bit too slowly to me (my Tobias has a much faster attack), and that in generall I like the combination of swamp ash (body) and rosewood/ebony (fretboard). I still can't deal with Yamaha basses.

Interestingly enough, Station Music also carried “my” Tobias (like it was before I got a new neck, that is, with a rosewood fretboard). It was interesting to compare the two basses and it compared the impression I got after changing the neck: The ebony fretboard gives the bass an even more clear attack and more defined sound.

I also tried the Music Man Bong 6, which was quite a disappointment: The electronics tend to hiss a lot if you dial in a lot of treble, and I just don't like the sounds so much, and the bass also doesn't feel very nice.

For my search, I will now try to test more varieties of a small number of vendors. I could imagine that I could have found a good bass from Sadowsky or Lakland on Monday, if it wouldn't have been for that second sales guy… for those two vendords, Station Music has a very good selection. I also want to further pursue Clover, Human Base and Marleaux instruments.

And even though I will continue to look for six strings, I also might buy a five string. I need the B string quickly, and it probably will take a good while to find a good six string. And maybe I should give myself a bit more time for that.

Oh, and there's one thing I'd like to know: Why is there no shop that carries a good selection of MTD basses, just the cheapest models?