One year! :-)
This one had a better start than the Elan, IIrc I had to wait over a year for the first gig with the Elan.
The Europa got it's gig debut a couple of days after delivery and has seen many stages in Holland and Belgium since. :-)
Until recently it has been the only bass I've played, it's almost impossible to put this one down.
For gigs I took the Elan as backup, needless to say; never needed :-)
With the bigger pickups, it has also replaced the 4 string basses. I Used the '83 Spoiler mainly for fingerstyle playing, with the Elan I would hurt my thumb when using the "sharp" edges of the J pickup as thumbrest.
We will be playing some D-tuned songs again, for those I will be using the Elan (which was the task of the '88 Spoiler) Also we will be playing some half step down tuned songs, for those I will be using the '88 Spoiler.
Also plan to take the '83 Spoiler out again for some older songs. (f.i. Orion on a 5 string would be blasphemy imho)
So despite this extreme takeover, I've found a purpose for almost all. :-) (nothing in sight for the fretless yet)
A preview of what is to come, short clip of me practicing for the brutal downstroke series on YouTube:
-Warning, serious Alembic abuse!-
That has a nice crunch to it!
It's an Ampeg SVT 3 pro through a classic Ampeg 8x10, with gain at 11 and master at 11 (!)
A week before the gig we were informed we had to use their backline, so pissed and juvenile me crancked it all the way up...
So this is just: Bass - Cable - PS - Amp :-)
Oddly enough I did not get pushback from the monitor and foh people at all, they thought (rightfully so) it sounded great!
Guitar players used their backup heads (Line 6 and Kemper) and drummer only had his cymbals and snare, in hindsight this was our easiest gig ever! :-)
