1) Diego Napoli from Milan sent in these two photos of his red SB-R60.
When I was young I used to think more meant better, but increasingly I find I like things nice and simple. One pickup, one volume pot, one tone pot. Wonderful! Less wood has to be cut away to accommodate the extra pickup and circuitry, and the bass seems more solid.
In fact I have been on the look out for an SB-R60 for a while now, and have just bought one (March 2008). It is similar to John's bass, 4) below, and I may post some photos later.
1) Diego Napoli from Milan sent in these two photos of his red SB-R60.
Now be honest, isn't it a handsome instrument?
2) I was recently highly tempted to bid for this next bass, an absolute cracker which came up on eBay here in the UK. A 1981 fretless SB-R60! It went for £310 ($560), a very reasonable price for a quality instrument with case included.
What's this, a third knob?! Can anybody tell me what that does, and whether the bass is active?
Fitted with flatwound strings.
And the original case to go with it, sir?
3) One of the first contributions to this site was sent in by Lionel Ganier of France.
Lionel says,
“I have had this bass since 1988. My first impressions were that it's a very heavy bass with a very good finish and rock-solid bridge.”
“Now, 15 years on, I still think it's a very heavy bass - oh my shoulders!!”
(Players who suffer from this might like to try Overwater's new Supasoft strap which is specially designed to cushion and distribute weight evenly.)
“The sound is nice and deep, but well-defined and trebly enough to play metal. The neck is long and the heavy string gauges I use (105 or more) are sometimes sore on the fingers.”
“Over the years I have played in ten bands, in different styles (blues, rock'n'roll, heavy metal, punk...). The bass was always up to the job. The neck has never needed adjusting.”
Lovely bass, Lionel!
4) John McAleer sends in this photo of his SB-R60, which I have kept large.
He says, “I just recently purchased an '82 SBR-60 from Japan (Yahoo auctions).”
Please continue to send in your SB-R60 photos and stories folks, but only if your bass is in some way different to the ones already shown on this page.