Who has ordered a custom bass that ended up not being right for them?

[Baird6869]

I dont want to hear stiries about bad quality, the luthier taking forever, or the bass not being as advertised.

Really more curious to see if anyone has ordered a custom bass and the spec you thought was perfect.... ended up being not so perfect.

Wrong scale length for your hands, wrong body wood for metal, wrong fretboard for tapping, wrong pickups, etc.

I have spent a lot of time deciding on specs for a custom recently and I can see how one could order a bass not perfect for them due to the sheer # of options available.

Why was your custom not perfect and what would you have changed

[bikeplate]

Sure. Many times

[Art Araya]

i'm always very conservative with a custom build. i simply have no idea how all of the choices available interact and will sound or look when all is said and done. i'm one of those guys that has to see the assembled bass and be allowed to listen to a sample of it in order to choose what I want. from that starting point I can make small cosmetic variances.

[BrentSimons]

Hi There,
Twice actually.
1)Back in the late 80's I ordered a custom Carvin LB70 in black with a Kahler tremelo ( Why I have no idea! ) Beautiful bass! Unfortunately it had a twisting neck issue which my tech/luthier could never fix.
2) A G&L L2000 in gorgeous redburst with a birdseye maple fretboard, custom #8 (jazz style) neck and special (k) single coil wiring. The bass almost made your mouth water. The problem was it weighed over 10lbs. I think one of the guys on here still has it.

Brent

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by Baird6869

I dont want to hear stiries about bad quality, the luthier taking forever, or the bass not being as advertised.

Really more curious to see if anyone has ordered a custom bass and the spec you thought was perfect.... ended up being not so perfect.

Wrong scale length for your hands, wrong body wood for metal, wrong fretboard for tapping, wrong pickups, etc.

I have spent a lot of time deciding on specs for a custom recently and I can see how one could order a bass not perfect for them due to the sheer # of options available.

Why was your custom not perfect and what would you have changed

In my case, my efforts with different basses have boiled down to minor ergonomic issues. It's never (anymore) things like what kind of wood or scale length (the whole thing could be made out of oak for all I care).

I have lots of injuries from years of playing non egonomic instruments like Rickenbackers and P basses. So I have a very specific need to keep my fretting wrist (left hand) as straight as possible at all times. I can't tolerate anything other than just the slightest bending of the wrist; otherwise just one song can lay me up for weeks. I also play seated the majority of the time these days (since I don't gig anymore, too much hearing damage) so it has to rest on the leg in an ergonomic way.

So I have to hike the bass up and not have it launching the neck way way out to the left.

For the right hand, I pluck over the bridge PU which has to be positioned in just the right place, between 2 1/2" to 3" away from where the strings break over the bridge saddles. I use the PU face as a ramp also, so I prefer a fairly wide face.

Finally, fretless is a hard requirement. It makes the neck thinner for my busted up hand and I can't get a good tone out of a fretted bass.

Right now the best fit for all of these for me is my L2000 with the #8 unlined neck. The next best fit is my Carvin Bunny 4 FL and I've even come up with a mod to be able to play my Bunny 6 FL without destroying the wrist.

So the ideal best fit is somewhere among all 3 of these. The ideal positioning of the L2K, the good construction and tone of the Bunnies and the narrow spacing of the 6 string one.

Not sure what I'd do for a custom build. Right now it'd be a race between a Carvin B40 or a Bromberg B24S....

LS