1986 Fleishman Instruments handmade 5-string bass
Harry Fleishman
This very cool 'dragon' is looking for a name! The inlay art of mother-of-pearl, abalone shell, and acrylics was drawn by the client who originally owned it, brought to life by artist Ann Bottone, then 'executed' by Harry Fleishman. This, however, does not make Harry a 'dragon-slayer.' Harry Fleishman is one of the top bass and guitar designers in the industry today, having designed guitars for major manufacturers, for his own private clients, and of course, for Fine Guitar Consultants.
Quoting the original owner, "The instrument has travelled and lived with me in Boston, Boulder, Tucson, Vancouver, Toronto, Seattle, and Moab, Utah. I can testify that this is by far the best sounding bass I've ever owned. Harry's craftsmanship is fabulous and the instrument is certainly unique. The tremolo bridge is of course very rare and very cool."
This perfectly balanced 5-string solid body, neck-through bass weighs in at a comfortable 9 lbs. The neck has a fairly slim profile, reminiscent of a jazz bass feel scaled up slightly for 5 strings. The nut width is 1 11/16" and the scale length is 34". The body features a carved cap of Bird's Eye maple, laminated over a Rock maple body and Rock maple neck. Sadly, the Kahler bridge and vibrato arm are no longer available in the marketplace today. Great product. Happily, they are present on this one-of-a-kind instrument, and will allow you to easily simulate fretless sounds whenever you wish. The active electronics boast an onboard 18-volt system.
This quote from the maker: "Hi Richard, this is definitely one of my 18 volters. It is a preamp I designed in the early 80's, using a ± 9volts, rather than 18 positive. This gives a true ground reference for quieter operation and compatibility with bipolar systems. I believe it is 'truer' harmonically, since it is amplifying the positive part of curve and negative separately based on 0 volts reference. That also puts it at true ground reference, which mitigates the big POP that can come with the voltage between the preamp and ground. On the other hand, whatever sounds good IS good. It is all discrete components, hand wired rather than surface mounts, but with a high definition TL074 opamp. The electronics are vol, treble, bass, and pickup switching. The pickups are Lawrence EB50s. I chose them because I was after a quiet, clear voice. I had used them on some other basses and really liked the uncolored quality of them. They are super quiet so I could preamp them, and they didn't sound like any other pickup I knew."
For those that are 'techies,' you just got the facts. For those who are into getting a groove on, this is one of the more cool lifetime instruments you can own...period. A couple of dings, but excellent+ condition.
$9,800 with clean, heavy-duty flight case
