My Chris Larkin 5B Custom (warning, lots of pics)

Hi all,

A couple of months back I posted a thread about a new bass my girlfriend bought me for Christmas from Chris Larkin (www.chrislarkinguitars.com), a local luthier in Ireland.

Well, I finally got a chance to collect it so here it is:

















The Specs:
Lightweight Utile mahogany body
Carved black korina top
Satin lacquer finish
Hard maple neck w/sapele stringers and graphite reinforcements
35" Scale
24 fret Ebony fingerboard bound in Ebony
Dunlop 6100 frets
Custom wound Kent Armstrong pickups (single coil neck/humbucking bridge)
Ebony pickup covers
Custom John East U-Retro preamp
Hipshot bridge w/RMC piezo saddles
Schaller tuners

I've never played, nevermind owned a custom bass bass before so all I can say is wow! It is the smoothest feeling bass I've ever played. The neck is nice and fast playing without being too thin with an incredibly smooth finish and the Ebony board feels like glass.

The bass is lovely and light, not sure how light but definately lighter than my Bongo an a Valenti I owned. When I saw that the body was made of Mahogany I assumed it would weigh a ton but I asked Chris and he said he always uses a lightweight mahogany. The body is also smaller than it looks in the pictures and sits nicely on a strap or your lap.

The electronics are mind boggling! It's a John East U-Retro that has been customised. Starting from the stacked knob by the bridge pickup, the controls are:

Master volume (top)
Magnetic/piezo balance (bottom)
Treble cut/boost w/bright switch (top)
Bass boost (bottom)
Mid cut/boost (top)
Mid frequency (bottom)
Piezo
Magnetic balance
Passive tone w/active / passive switch

Needless to say, it's extremely flexible and I'm sure I haven't tried all combinations of controls yet.

I've to head off to work now but have a look at the pics and any opinions welcome and questions will be answered.

Cheers,
John

smperry said:

I remember that thread.

What an amazing bass!!! Hold onto it (and the gf).

What do you think of the piezo tone when solo? I have a similar setup on one of my basses (two magnetics plus piezos) and I use the solo setting often, but it's fretless.

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I haven't had much time to experiment with it yet but I can tell you that with the piezo tone turned right down and gentle plucking by the fretboard you can get a nice warm woody sound and then with the piezo tone boosted it gives a nice snap to slap even without the magnetic treble up to much at all. Over all i'm very pleased with the sound, feel and fit and finish of it and i'm never letting it go

J. Crawford said:

If shes still your girlfriend, Id be buying a ring... right now.

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Sorry dude, no money for a ring. It all went on the trip to collect it That's my story and i'm sticking to it...

J. Crawford said:

Hmm.. I guess its believable.

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Only just though.

spade2you said:

How does the pre-amp filter make the piezo sound/behave?

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According to Chris the piezo signal is affected by all of the filter section including the passive tone control. I haven't fiddled with it much but any tones i've got out of it are usable. I'll look into it and get back to you

Freddy said:

Congrats, I love Chris`s basses, they are fantastic! I`ve got a few myself, but my girlfriend/wife has never bought me one...

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Thanks Are you the same freddy that owns the 9 String beast? If so, amazing looking bass!

Darkstrike said:

Man, that beast is incredible!

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Thanks man, if you're in Cork anytime you can see it. You should get one. Or a nice girlfriend I see you're from Ballyheigue. I spent a few summers in a mobile home down there in my childhood. Magic