Ok, for those of you that know me, I'll do my best to keep this short and on point. 
For those of you that really know me, I'll likely fail. 
Here we go.
I absolutely love my current M5V.
Alder/rosewood, Duncan SC's, Bart NTMB...it's an outstanding instrument. Plays as good as it looks, and it sounds even better. It's become the favorite of a number of band leaders, producers/engineers, and fellow musicians ("Hey...you bringin' the red rocket?"). Plus, for many years I've been a big fan of Mike, his artisan craftsmanship, and the way he does business. I'm definitely what you'd call a proud owner.
Over the past nine months or so, I've been on the hunt for an ash/maple Jazz bass - one that speaks to me the same way as my alder/rosewood beast - and it took me longer than it should have to consider simply ordering another Lull. I'm lucky to enjoy a great relationship with Gelb Music, and their bass guru, Ed. I've been doing business there for 19 years now, and it took me longer than it should have to realize that Ed knows more about my sound than I do. (Are you seeing the pattern here? I'm both slow and stubborn.)
Last week I had a long chat with Ed. We took a lot of notes. Ed then had a long chat with Mike. Paul kindly chimed in, and here we are. The order is in, and Paul has graciously agreed to shoot progress pics my way. I'll keep updating this thread, so if nothing else, my TB brothers and sisters will have something to help them sleep at night.
So, what the heck did I order, already? Well...in the whole scheme of things, it's certainly not a wild custom. First and foremost, it's definitely an [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]...with just a few tweaks to make it my M5V.
Here we go...
Woods:
Ash body, maple neck, maple board. I did ask Mike to work his mojo in selecting these pieces...whatever he thinks will provide some serious beef to the sound. My only other request was aesthetic - as little figuring as possible on the fingerboard.
Electronics:
Here's where I strayed a bit. We're going with Bartolini J single coils. I've always loved the sound of these, and I'm really looking forward to hearing them against these woods. If I don't like 'em? As Ed put it..."They're pickups. We rip 'em out and put in others." The Fralins were a close second, and there's always the known commodity of the Duncans. I figure I'm taking a small gamble with the Barts, but that it's worth it - I'm hoping I'll have a semi-unique voice that will still be versatile.
The pre-amp was an easy choice. 18v Bartolini NTMB. This is my all-time favorite pre, and I'm certainly a creature of habit. Four of my current basses have some flavor of this pre-amp, and in this bass my guess is that it will add some smoothness and maybe a few extra table manners to an otherwise pretty
aggressive sound.
The control layout will be Vol - Blend - Mid (Pull freq) - Stacked Bass & Treble.
Looks, baby...looks:
Black hardware & control cover. Pearl guard. (But I'm ordering a black one too, just in case.
) No face dots on the fingerboard. Matching headstock. Finish? Saved the juice for last. Candy. Apple. Orange.
There we have it. If you've stayed with me thus far...thank you. I'll add updates as info becomes available. Captain Obvious checking in here, but...I'm excited! One final note of thanks to Ed @ Gelb and Paul @ Mike Lull Custom Guitars...my goal with this thread is to have a bit of fun with the process, and that certainly couldn't happen without their nod of approval.
For those of you that really know me, I'll likely fail. Here we go.I absolutely love my current M5V.
Alder/rosewood, Duncan SC's, Bart NTMB...it's an outstanding instrument. Plays as good as it looks, and it sounds even better. It's become the favorite of a number of band leaders, producers/engineers, and fellow musicians ("Hey...you bringin' the red rocket?"). Plus, for many years I've been a big fan of Mike, his artisan craftsmanship, and the way he does business. I'm definitely what you'd call a proud owner.
Over the past nine months or so, I've been on the hunt for an ash/maple Jazz bass - one that speaks to me the same way as my alder/rosewood beast - and it took me longer than it should have to consider simply ordering another Lull. I'm lucky to enjoy a great relationship with Gelb Music, and their bass guru, Ed. I've been doing business there for 19 years now, and it took me longer than it should have to realize that Ed knows more about my sound than I do. (Are you seeing the pattern here? I'm both slow and stubborn.
)Last week I had a long chat with Ed. We took a lot of notes. Ed then had a long chat with Mike. Paul kindly chimed in, and here we are. The order is in, and Paul has graciously agreed to shoot progress pics my way. I'll keep updating this thread, so if nothing else, my TB brothers and sisters will have something to help them sleep at night.
So, what the heck did I order, already? Well...in the whole scheme of things, it's certainly not a wild custom. First and foremost, it's definitely an [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]...with just a few tweaks to make it my M5V.
Here we go...Woods:
Ash body, maple neck, maple board. I did ask Mike to work his mojo in selecting these pieces...whatever he thinks will provide some serious beef to the sound. My only other request was aesthetic - as little figuring as possible on the fingerboard.
Electronics:
Here's where I strayed a bit. We're going with Bartolini J single coils. I've always loved the sound of these, and I'm really looking forward to hearing them against these woods. If I don't like 'em? As Ed put it..."They're pickups. We rip 'em out and put in others." The Fralins were a close second, and there's always the known commodity of the Duncans. I figure I'm taking a small gamble with the Barts, but that it's worth it - I'm hoping I'll have a semi-unique voice that will still be versatile.
The pre-amp was an easy choice. 18v Bartolini NTMB. This is my all-time favorite pre, and I'm certainly a creature of habit. Four of my current basses have some flavor of this pre-amp, and in this bass my guess is that it will add some smoothness and maybe a few extra table manners to an otherwise pretty
aggressive sound.
The control layout will be Vol - Blend - Mid (Pull freq) - Stacked Bass & Treble.
Looks, baby...looks:
Black hardware & control cover. Pearl guard. (But I'm ordering a black one too, just in case.
) No face dots on the fingerboard. Matching headstock. Finish? Saved the juice for last. Candy. Apple. Orange. There we have it. If you've stayed with me thus far...thank you. I'll add updates as info becomes available. Captain Obvious checking in here, but...I'm excited! One final note of thanks to Ed @ Gelb and Paul @ Mike Lull Custom Guitars...my goal with this thread is to have a bit of fun with the process, and that certainly couldn't happen without their nod of approval.
Dude! You're going to be the center of attention at those gigs! 
