I got this from the kotzman about 3 months ago, and found that a solid traditional body works out better for me insofar as standing playing position. That being said.....
This is probably the best fretless I"ve had the pleasure to play/own. The natural tone is punchy and authorative from the Low B up until the high E on the G string. Absolute clarity of pitch and balance of timbre with each single note!!! Then only other bass that I've owned that had that kind of accuracy with each note was a Graphite-Necked Modulus Q5.
Except add in the warm lows of an all-koa body with the attack of the ebony board.
The versatility of tones is completely dependant on two simple things: the active tone knob and your hands. With the tone knob set at about 50-70%, the harmonic detail and growl of this thing is downright vicious. But yet, it retains the musical highs of a real acoustic instrument, rather than the (to my ears) 'quacky' piercing hi's of most piezo pickup designs. For my needs, I left it completely off.
The instrument shines with the tone off as well. It's not a traditional tone knob that gives you sonic 'mud' when turned off. All the mids and highs are still there and I had no problem cutting through at all. It was all up to the hands at that point. Played closer to the bridge, you can easily nail 'that jaco tone' if that's your thing. Instant punchy latin tone as well. I generally plucked exactly in the middle of the bridge and neck block, and the notes had both swell and punch in equal measure. Played directly over the neck, I even nailed a reggae-dub tone on a song. But even played over neck with no highs added with the tone knob, there was nero mud, even from the low Eb to the low C.
This instrument is ultimately hard to describe, but the above should give you an idea. If you've ever played a standard model Ren, with the spruce top and rosewood board, as I have many a time before owning this one, this is NOT the same thing!. Now, I like the standard model just fine, and had GAS'ed for one each time I played/heard one. But this instrument surpasses them all.
Here is a quote on the specs, directly from the original owner, kotzman:
Also, let me mention that the kotzman is an amazing photographer as well. Here are some pics of this instrument that I couldn't even dream of approaching. Enjoy!
Thanks for looking!
Price is $2400 Shipped and Paypal LOWERED TO $1900 SHIPPED anywhere in the Continental US. Comes with a serious, heavy-duty case that is literally 10lbs heavier than the actual bass, which is right at 5.5 lbs.
This is probably the best fretless I"ve had the pleasure to play/own. The natural tone is punchy and authorative from the Low B up until the high E on the G string. Absolute clarity of pitch and balance of timbre with each single note!!! Then only other bass that I've owned that had that kind of accuracy with each note was a Graphite-Necked Modulus Q5.
Except add in the warm lows of an all-koa body with the attack of the ebony board.
The versatility of tones is completely dependant on two simple things: the active tone knob and your hands. With the tone knob set at about 50-70%, the harmonic detail and growl of this thing is downright vicious. But yet, it retains the musical highs of a real acoustic instrument, rather than the (to my ears) 'quacky' piercing hi's of most piezo pickup designs. For my needs, I left it completely off.
The instrument shines with the tone off as well. It's not a traditional tone knob that gives you sonic 'mud' when turned off. All the mids and highs are still there and I had no problem cutting through at all. It was all up to the hands at that point. Played closer to the bridge, you can easily nail 'that jaco tone' if that's your thing. Instant punchy latin tone as well. I generally plucked exactly in the middle of the bridge and neck block, and the notes had both swell and punch in equal measure. Played directly over the neck, I even nailed a reggae-dub tone on a song. But even played over neck with no highs added with the tone knob, there was nero mud, even from the low Eb to the low C.
This instrument is ultimately hard to describe, but the above should give you an idea. If you've ever played a standard model Ren, with the spruce top and rosewood board, as I have many a time before owning this one, this is NOT the same thing!. Now, I like the standard model just fine, and had GAS'ed for one each time I played/heard one. But this instrument surpasses them all.
Here is a quote on the specs, directly from the original owner, kotzman:
Also, let me mention that the kotzman is an amazing photographer as well. Here are some pics of this instrument that I couldn't even dream of approaching. Enjoy!
Thanks for looking!
Price is $2400 Shipped and Paypal LOWERED TO $1900 SHIPPED anywhere in the Continental US. Comes with a serious, heavy-duty case that is literally 10lbs heavier than the actual bass, which is right at 5.5 lbs.
