It's taken a while to get used to the missing head. My normal point of reference - well, it's simply not there! Consequently I seem to be about two frets out half of the time, but I'm getting better.
It's a very robust instrument, the legacy of one piece of graphite I guess. It's beautifully well made too.
I opted for a board upgrade on it, so instead of having just a volume, pan, bass and treble control, it's also got a midrange control and a switch for that, which is cut / flat / boost.
Blue side LEDs too!
It plays amazingly - the action is lower than The Dragon's Wing, which is no mean feat in itself. Every time I look at it, I think that physics should dictate that it shouldn't play, but it does and without squeaks or rattles.
The sound is crystal clear, which I guess once again goes back to the one piece graphite construction. It's a myth too about graphite basses being less warm than wood ones - there is no difference to any of the other basses I own, all of which are wood.
With all of those tone controls, the variations in tone are massive. The midrange works at +/-5dB, over the range 300Hz to 3kHz. Bass is +/-12dB at 100Hz, treble is +/-14dB at 7kHz. Matching the sound of the DW is possible without any real difficulty - I would say though that without the midrange control, that wouldn't be possible.
Sustain is about the only other thing I haven't mentioned. It rings forever...longer than the DW in fact. It's an easy bass to play, but it really shows poor playing, just as Alembics do. But get it right, and it is immensely rewarding.
I first played a headless Stealth in the late 80's, but I couldn't afford it and bought the JayDee (sold last year). So I've finally got something I've wanted for a long long time - and it's also a bass I can take out of the house!
Cheers,
Rog
