So I promised Cliff and a few others I would do a detailed review of my new custom CB bass. I was going to post it in the Bordwell Thread but decided it might be easier if I just started my own. Sorry if this thing drags on.
I will preface by saying that I have always either played Fender, Lakland, Ibanez basses and this is my first ever custom build. Cliff has made the experience extremely easy and was always more than helpful.
I will do this harmony central style so I only have to type this once
Features
5 String Singlecut. Butternut Core, Nicely figured walnut back (a great bonus) and Zebrawood top. 34 in scale, 24 fret Modern Maple and Wenge Neck. 2 nordstrand dual coil pickups with Series/Parallel/Single Coil switches under a single zebrawood cover/ramp. Audere 4 band pre amp with Z mode switch and active/passive switch. This bass had every option I wanted.
Sound
This bass kills... period. It has punch for days. It cuts in the mix and sounds great solo'ed or in any ensemble size. The pickup/preamp combo allows for endless possibilities for usable tones. Acoustically it is very full sounding with pronounced low mids.
One of the only major issues I had with this bass was when I received it the pickups were wired up incorrectly and were phasing each other out when the balance knob was dead center. I brought the bass to a great local tech and he told me that the pickup wiring diagram that Cliff was sent (and sent me before I brought it in) was wrong. So I do not blame Cliff for this issue... he was just following incorrect directions. The plus side to this problem was that i only had 1 pickup or the other for the first 2 gigs I brought it out on.
I used only the neck pickup in series on the first gig and was getting some great P bass type tones out of it. One the second gig I used the Bridge pickup in Parallel with the Z mode switch on low Z mode. Once again great usable tone. Sort of a huge sounding jazz bass. The Z mode allowed me to get around not having a neck pickup.
This bass really came alive after I got the pickup blend was fixed. I used on 6 gigs and multiple rehearsals in the last 4 days and it has been awesome on every one. Everything from hip hop to brazilian to R&B to Fusion to rock... it sounds great in every setting. I have been able to dial in my tone relatively easily and the 4 band eq allows me to instantly adjust to the nuances of every room. The scary thing is I still have so much ground to cover... I have not even scratched the surface of the tonal options.
The audere preamp is extremely versatile and very "transparent". It does a great job of letting the natural tone of the bass come thru and coloring that tone when boosting and cutting eq. I have heard people say that when you get an audere you hear the sound of the bass and not the preamp. This is certainly the case with this bass and pre. I also have to add that the audere does not have a huge output boost which is very nice.
Action/Fit/Finish
The woodworking and attention to detail on this bass is immaculate. Cliff is a truly outstanding Luthier. The neck/body joint is amazing with layers of Walnut, Butternut and Curly Makore all elegantly fit together. The walnut back has a very nice flame to it which I was not expecting. The zebrawood is exactly what I wanted with thick accenting grain lines and even some small birdseyes scattered about. The neck is the most comfortable neck I have ever played. It is smooth and has a great profile. The cutaway allows for easy access to all the positions and even allows me to play across from the B to G string in almost every position. I can play stuff on this bass which I never thought possible. It actually makes me play and sound better and that means everything for me.
The only other places where I could be critical is with the setup and bridge. The bridge is a hipshot A bridge and unfortunately a few of the allan wrench holes on the saddles are not catching on the wrench. Once again I do not blame Cliff for this problem. Cliff has already sent me 2 replacement saddles and another wrench... incredible service.
Setup. I must say first that I am extremely anal about how my bass is setup. The bass came out setup with the action way too high for me. It took a couple days of slight tweaking of the truss and lowering the saddles for it to settle in. The good thing was that once i did get it dialed it played like butter. There is very little annoying buzz and none of the notes are choked out.
Reliability/Durability
I see no issues with this bass. It is built solid and I intend on playing it until I can no longer play.
Customer Service
Cliff is the best when it comes to returning emails. I never had to wait for more than a day... and in most cases I would get a response within the hour. He helped me with all the decisions I had to make and his expertise and patience were top notch.
Overall Rating
This is the best bass I have ever played. I was very nervous about receiving it and not being happy with certain specs. I thoroughly researched every detail and decision that went into this bass and I couldn't be happier with the results. It took me no time to get used to it and i felt right at home as soon as I got the setup dialed in. The pickup/preamp combination is incredible. I have to give a lot of credit to the guys at Audere and Nordstrand.
If you have been thinking of ordering a Bordwell... DO IT. Cliff is most certainly the real deal and his pricing/options are better than anybody out there. I have received tons of compliments on this bass in the last 2 weeks. Everybody who has played it loves it and agrees that it is superbly comfortable and looks extremely elegant.
I was so confident in Cliff's abilities that I ordered a fretless with very similar specs before I even received this bass. I am very happy with that decision and look forward to writing another review for that one on a few months.
Now for pics. I also hope to get some sound clips up within the week.
Until then here is some youtube footage from one of my gigs on friday
enjoy
I will preface by saying that I have always either played Fender, Lakland, Ibanez basses and this is my first ever custom build. Cliff has made the experience extremely easy and was always more than helpful.
I will do this harmony central style so I only have to type this once
Features
5 String Singlecut. Butternut Core, Nicely figured walnut back (a great bonus) and Zebrawood top. 34 in scale, 24 fret Modern Maple and Wenge Neck. 2 nordstrand dual coil pickups with Series/Parallel/Single Coil switches under a single zebrawood cover/ramp. Audere 4 band pre amp with Z mode switch and active/passive switch. This bass had every option I wanted.
Sound
This bass kills... period. It has punch for days. It cuts in the mix and sounds great solo'ed or in any ensemble size. The pickup/preamp combo allows for endless possibilities for usable tones. Acoustically it is very full sounding with pronounced low mids.
One of the only major issues I had with this bass was when I received it the pickups were wired up incorrectly and were phasing each other out when the balance knob was dead center. I brought the bass to a great local tech and he told me that the pickup wiring diagram that Cliff was sent (and sent me before I brought it in) was wrong. So I do not blame Cliff for this issue... he was just following incorrect directions. The plus side to this problem was that i only had 1 pickup or the other for the first 2 gigs I brought it out on.
I used only the neck pickup in series on the first gig and was getting some great P bass type tones out of it. One the second gig I used the Bridge pickup in Parallel with the Z mode switch on low Z mode. Once again great usable tone. Sort of a huge sounding jazz bass. The Z mode allowed me to get around not having a neck pickup.
This bass really came alive after I got the pickup blend was fixed. I used on 6 gigs and multiple rehearsals in the last 4 days and it has been awesome on every one. Everything from hip hop to brazilian to R&B to Fusion to rock... it sounds great in every setting. I have been able to dial in my tone relatively easily and the 4 band eq allows me to instantly adjust to the nuances of every room. The scary thing is I still have so much ground to cover... I have not even scratched the surface of the tonal options.
The audere preamp is extremely versatile and very "transparent". It does a great job of letting the natural tone of the bass come thru and coloring that tone when boosting and cutting eq. I have heard people say that when you get an audere you hear the sound of the bass and not the preamp. This is certainly the case with this bass and pre. I also have to add that the audere does not have a huge output boost which is very nice.
Action/Fit/Finish
The woodworking and attention to detail on this bass is immaculate. Cliff is a truly outstanding Luthier. The neck/body joint is amazing with layers of Walnut, Butternut and Curly Makore all elegantly fit together. The walnut back has a very nice flame to it which I was not expecting. The zebrawood is exactly what I wanted with thick accenting grain lines and even some small birdseyes scattered about. The neck is the most comfortable neck I have ever played. It is smooth and has a great profile. The cutaway allows for easy access to all the positions and even allows me to play across from the B to G string in almost every position. I can play stuff on this bass which I never thought possible. It actually makes me play and sound better and that means everything for me.
The only other places where I could be critical is with the setup and bridge. The bridge is a hipshot A bridge and unfortunately a few of the allan wrench holes on the saddles are not catching on the wrench. Once again I do not blame Cliff for this problem. Cliff has already sent me 2 replacement saddles and another wrench... incredible service.
Setup. I must say first that I am extremely anal about how my bass is setup. The bass came out setup with the action way too high for me. It took a couple days of slight tweaking of the truss and lowering the saddles for it to settle in. The good thing was that once i did get it dialed it played like butter. There is very little annoying buzz and none of the notes are choked out.
Reliability/Durability
I see no issues with this bass. It is built solid and I intend on playing it until I can no longer play.
Customer Service
Cliff is the best when it comes to returning emails. I never had to wait for more than a day... and in most cases I would get a response within the hour. He helped me with all the decisions I had to make and his expertise and patience were top notch.
Overall Rating
This is the best bass I have ever played. I was very nervous about receiving it and not being happy with certain specs. I thoroughly researched every detail and decision that went into this bass and I couldn't be happier with the results. It took me no time to get used to it and i felt right at home as soon as I got the setup dialed in. The pickup/preamp combination is incredible. I have to give a lot of credit to the guys at Audere and Nordstrand.
If you have been thinking of ordering a Bordwell... DO IT. Cliff is most certainly the real deal and his pricing/options are better than anybody out there. I have received tons of compliments on this bass in the last 2 weeks. Everybody who has played it loves it and agrees that it is superbly comfortable and looks extremely elegant.
I was so confident in Cliff's abilities that I ordered a fretless with very similar specs before I even received this bass. I am very happy with that decision and look forward to writing another review for that one on a few months.
Now for pics. I also hope to get some sound clips up within the week.
Until then here is some youtube footage from one of my gigs on friday
enjoy
