Another look at the Electra X-610 MPC Outlaw Bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Brady writes:

Hi, I think you should write about this [Electra X-610 MPC Outlaw Bass] on Guitarz.

I really like your blog. I have been educating myself on guitars, history and design for a while now but I know nothing about the Electra brand. I really like the odd shape of this bass. Also, what is the deal with the modules mentioned in the description?

Thanks,

Brady

Hi Brady, we looked at a bass just like this one in July of last year, but you are correct in that it is a fascinating instrument and I think that this late 1970s Japanese-made marvel is well worth a second look. Basically, the "Modular Powered Circuits" (the MPC in the name) are interchangable on-board effects that can be clipped into place in the two effects cavities at the rear of the instrument. By way of example as to what kind of effects were offered, the Outlaw we looked at last year had a Power Overdrive and a Phase Shifter.

Notice how the effect cavities are labelled 1: Input cavity and 2: Output cavity which illustrate the "chain" of effects in use, as putting one effect before another can have a very different result to chaining the same effects the other way around.

This auction for this bass finishes in under two days time, with bidding at $255 at the time of writing. For comparison, the example we looked at last year was priced at $999 although it did come complete with two effects modules which I'd imagine would be hard to track down and find these days.

G L Wilson

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