Question for Shadow owners

[bassduke49]

Ted, the "Scarab" Shadow bass from Starcastle went to Kevin Lange in England. He's sent me a few photos, but curiously, no shots of the full instrument. The paint job on it is amazing, although not everyone's cup of tea:

[johnallg]

Gary Strater was indeed a great bass player. RIP Gary.

[jakeox]

That is a pretty cool-looking bass, but why not start with something a little less rare if you're going to customize?

I may as well ask a legit question of Shadow owners: how do they play and sound? Comparable to other mid-late-80s 4003s?

[rickfan60]

It is basically a 4003 with a dot neck so the sound should not be different from any other 4003 of the same era. Mine is less bright than most of my other 4001/3 basses. Definitely less bright than the microdots which are from about the same time.

[ilan]

Mine has a thin, fast neck, like an early 70's. I guess all late '86 4003's had neck profiles like that.

[mikeylc]

My Shadow plays awesome, thin fast straight neck. Very low action. It sounds the same as my 4003s but then again I only have RIC basses from '86 and '87 with the exception of my '73. Of course it sounds different than the '73, pickup is hotter. The neck on my '73 is different than my Shadow.

[ilan]

Yep, ridiculously low action. It's the Les Paul "fretless wonder" of basses... It plays effortlessly. The sound is typical 4003.

[sloop_john_b]

Shadows have great necks.

[86kubicki]

I've often said that going from a current 4003 to my '86 Shadow is like going from a Precision to a Jazz. Very fast indeed! Here's a couple of pics of the Shadow when I got it last fall.

[jakeox]

OK, so now I have to set aside money to get one of these, huh? OK, twist my arm. Bunch of enablers.

[86kubicki]

That's what we're here for Jake!

[86kubicki]

By the way, I'm still looking for a black bridge pickup surround if anyone has a line on one. As you can see from the pic above, mine is in rough shape.

[rickfan60]

BT parts can be painted or powder coated to restore the original look. You will have to strip it first though.

[bottom4]

I have to say, my biggest mistake was selling my Shadow. One fine day I'll have one back

[jakeox]

This forum is magic. More pics to come after I clean this up a bit. The replaced pups fit the color scheme well. It sounds great and the neck is super comfy.

Shadow!