TUNE Syncron SB-4S LTB

Just went into the old file cabinet and the basement and found the product lit for the old Tune bass. The most popular model was the Bass Maniac--sold a lot of those. They also made all kinds of high-end neck-through models. Didn't like any of those. The best one was the one I owned--a basic bolt on.

The model I owned was a Tune Syncron SB-4S LTB. It's identical to the red one pictured here, but in transparent blue. It was cool.



You can see the transparent blue finish below. Body was basswood (ash), and the neck was maple with an ebony board. The thing was light. The active P/J pickups sounded a lot like EMGs. This was a great gig bass.



I ended up returning it because the truss rod had a ring in it. It was part of a brand new line the store was taking on, and my manager threw his weight around to get the American distributor to take it back. In retrospect, I should have kept it. You only heard the truss rod ring when slapping and without the amp. No matter how I tried, I could not get the sound to come out of an amp. And since it's an electric bass, who cared what it sounded like unplugged?

I just remembered that when Diatribe went into the studio, I took a fretless TUNE Syncron that I borrowed from the store. It was just like my blue one, but it was black, fretless, and had a J-Bass pickup set. Not sure if I played it on any of the scratch tracks, but it never made it on anything even if I did: I had to re-record every bass part in one session all by myself because the DI box we used had a short in it! So I re-recorded everything listening to the scratch on headphones. I used my Fender Jazz for those takes.

WARNING: UGLY PHOTOS!

And to cap off all this nostalgia, here are two really ugly shots of me playing that bass at a houseparty. I remember this one. Yes, that is me playing with TWO accordion players--it was Zydeco night! The second shot is me looking pasty-white and very Ian Curtis-like. I am just about Ian's age there. Longish hair and unfortunate floral silk shirt. Circa 1989 or 1990.




There's a good look at my rig in the last photo: Peavey MegaBASS head (400w); Hartke 2x10; MESA/Boogie 1x15. That Boogie cab is the best sounding bass box I ever heard. It made that house shake like a mot%erf*ck&er!

For photos of me with other basses from my past, click here.

My previous basses

• MX P-Bass copy (red--my first bass)
• MX P-Bass copy (black--homemade fretless)
• Rickenbacker 4001 (homemade fretless--borrowed)
• Charvel/Jackson PJ
• Japanese Fender Jazz
• Tune Syncron SB-4
• Teisco Del Rey EB-200
• 1964 Fender Jazz Bass
• Late 80s Fender '62 Reissue P-Bass (Japan)
• Squier 60s Vibe Jazz Bass