Clover basses

[Direct Box Rox]

Anyone own one of these Clover instruments? I discovered them today and would like to play one.

[TolerancEJ]

Subscribed. I'm also curious about these instruments. Clover basses always seem to look great, but maintain reasonably low prices.

[Wallace320]

I chose it, adviced by a close friend, and very good bassplayer, of mine who dealt with my problems with action on the Fender active deluxe V I initially planned to record with.

I play a full step downtuned and those Fender deluxe strings couldn't cope with low tension, high factory nut and difficulty to sound precise on very first frets

Clover Apeiron solved the problem with its "0" fret and wide and almost flat neck (very much "Yamaha" in a way) while Delano pickups were aggressive and true whenever dialed passive (dedicated switch to the pickups: front single and nearest to the bridge humbucker bobine only) as much as they sounded hifi and defined whenever dialed active (dedicated switch to the bridge: full dual band equalizer and "J" and humbucker both on fire)



Now you're possibly guessing: "how came you then got rid of it?"
Well I bought my lava red Yamaha Attitude Limited II thanx to it



Cheers,
Wallace

[Direct Box Rox]

Thats great information. Thank you. I am almost positive I am going to replace my Duncan Designed pickups in my jazz with Delano's (the model with the giant pole pieces).

[Diesel Kilgore]

Really nice stuff. But not available in the USA? Bummer.

[fuzzychaos]

Originally Posted by Diesel Kilgore

Really nice stuff. But not available in the USA? Bummer.

Thelowend.net was carrying them. Not sure if they still do.

[TN WOODMAN]

Brian has a nice Inca Silver p/j variation with Delanos still in stock last time I was in the store.

[fyziqs]

I purchased an XP15.5 from TheLowEnd.net without ever having played a Clover - I typically don't take this kind of chance with instruments, but I'm glad I did on this one. This bass has become my go-to bass for recording and live gigs. The bass has a deep low-end without being muddy, and a punchy high-end without being painfully bright. The mid control is very handy at times, and is pretty powerful. I find myself playing with flat EQ, sometimes boosting the lows a bit. A little goes a long way on this bass!

The build quality is excellent - tight neck pocket, smooth matte finish, and really comfortable contouring on the front & back of the body. The neck is one of the thinnest I have every played, and is very comfortable. The zero-fret makes the open strings very useable (for my playing style, at least) - you can dig in and get a very uniform tone & volume compared to fretted notes.

The neck does move a bit more than I'm used to with humidity / temperature changes. I'm used to wenge necks with ebony boards, which tend to be freakishly stable. Fortunately the neck is easily adjusted (I took off the truss rod cover and left it off - looks better to me) and once adjusted, the bass stays in tune for hours, even days, if the conditions are pretty stable.

I would love to try an Argo by Clover someday - there are only a handful of 3-pickup bass builders out there, and this one in particular interests me. Since TheLowEnd seems to be the only retailer for Clover in the US, and they don't seem to have them very often, I might have to wait a long time!

Bottom line - I really enjoy this bass onstage (very light for a 5er) and in the studio (very clean tone that stands out in the mix). I play finger and slap styles, and the bass easily handles what I throw at it!

My bass:

[Direct Box Rox]

Thats great that you rely on your Clover that much. It looks pretty good. I definitely want to try one. I'll check out that website you mentioned (lowend) and see what they've got. I am surprised I've been playing bass since 1991 and have never even heard of the company before.

Cheers.

[TolerancEJ]

Originally Posted by fyziqs

I purchased an XP15.5 from TheLowEnd.net without ever having played a Clover - I typically don't take this kind of chance with instruments, but I'm glad I did on this one. This bass has become my go-to bass for recording and live gigs. The bass has a deep low-end without being muddy, and a punchy high-end without being painfully bright. The mid control is very handy at times, and is pretty powerful. I find myself playing with flat EQ, sometimes boosting the lows a bit. A little goes a long way on this bass!

My bass:

That's great to know! The one that caught my eye was the EX15.6.

[kjpollo]

The mahogany and walnut Xpression 5 is the exact one I've had off-and-on GAS for.

Sucks that they dont list USA dealers anymore. There used to be 2 or 3 places that carried them.

[niceguyhomer]

I've owned a 15.5 just like the one above and it was a truly great bass



but I've had this for about 3 months, it's a work of art

[kjpollo]

Whats the going rate for these if you can find one??

[niceguyhomer]

I'm in the UK so it's probably more expensive over here in Rip-Off Britain. My 15.5 new was about £1400, I bought mine used in top condition for £750. The Avenger Custom was £1850 new but I bought it used for £950 in mint condition.

[TolerancEJ]

Wow! Is that white model also an XP15.5? I was initially taken by the earlier pics posted. Damn, that white (maybe light cream?) finish, pearloid-looking pickguard & set of white pickups really look great together. I sort of like the 2 single coils at the bridge. I imagine if you can turn them on/off individually, you'd essentiall have a humbucker like the first pic anyway. Now I don't know which finish I like best.

Edit: I read where you indicated it's an Avenger model.

But Wow, that finish!

[niceguyhomer]

Thanks ToleranceEJ, it's an Avenger Custom, the finish is off-white and it's put together beautifully. All the pups are humbuckers and there's plenty of switching options as well as the usual pan.

I know everyone says this but it really does sound immense, very powerful, very versatile, you can get everything from old school thud to a Telecaster through a Fender Twin sound.......ok not quite but you get the idea

[fyziqs]

Originally Posted by niceguyhomer

Thanks ToleranceEJ, it's an Avenger Custom, the finish is off-white and it's put together beautifully. All the pups are humbuckers and there's plenty of switching options as well as the usual pan.

That is a tasty bass, if I do say so myself! Did you spec this bass yourself through a Clover retailer?

I know everyone says this but it really does sound immense, very powerful, very versatile, you can get everything from old school thud to a Telecaster through a Fender Twin sound.......ok not quite but you get the idea

How does the Avenger sound compare to the XP? Can you get that full humbucker tone out of the PU combinations?

If you ever need a bass-sitter, let me know

[niceguyhomer]

Hi fyziqs,

I bought the bass second hand from a guy I've done a few deals with so I didn't spec it with the dealer (Bass Direct in the UK). I've owned a 15.5 and played 3 or 4 other Clovers and loved 'em all and is this was going for half its new price I snapped it up. It does sound quite different to the 15.5, more in-your-face aggression which I like and there's more low end , I never have to boost the bass with this.

I can get the full humbucker tone from every pup combination, it sounds fantastic. There's a review of it here;

http://www.bassguitarmagazine.com/co...-issue-33.html