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Anyone play a Carl Thompson Bass?

#2
I have a 4 string bolt-on. It is his "no-frills" version of a bass. I can't speak to all of his basses, but mine plays like a dream. there are a lot of subtle differences to the CT bass that i have vs other basses i love that just make it feel more 'right' to me. for example, the neck is angled slightly so that playing position feels more natural. the neck is extremely thin and perfectly even. it just begs to be played. lots of attention to detail seems to be what sets it apart. there are some very smart subtle differences that make sense. position of the strap buttons, elevated bridge for better angle leverage with the neck, perfectly matched neck joint, sleek thin body, unreal lightweight ~ 6lb, quality hardware that is light and well made, super awesome body shape with perfect carving, perfect balancing.

it's also fully passive with a single kent armstrong pickup. has one volume knob and one tone knob and a mute/normal/treble cut switch. the passive tone control provides drastic changes in the tone. just a killer bass.

here's some pix of mine (sorry my photoshoping is pretty weak):
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#3
I have played two. Neither was my cup of tea. One was a 34" four string from the 80's with one EMG, the other was a 5 string from the 90's with a 36" scale and a single pickup under a wood cover, the guy who owned it did not know what kind of pickup it was.

Some people love them, because they are their ideal bass. Others love them because Les Claypool plays one.
 
#7
a doubleneck CT??? wow! i never knew he built one of those...i've always womdered about getting a CT, but for some reason i always felt like it would be a crap shoot...not sure why...i've seen some really gorgeous CT's and some that i feel like would be the bees knees if not for a few of the features
 
#8
neptoon said:
a doubleneck CT??? wow! i never knew he built one of those...i've always womdered about getting a CT, but for some reason i always felt like it would be a crap shoot...not sure why...i've seen some really gorgeous CT's and some that i feel like would be the bees knees if not for a few of the features
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Looking forward to some decent double neck pics - the one's I've seen of this instrument are of low quality.

There are some downsides about ordering a CT bass, that's for sure. The main two are: (1) it's a long wait unless you order a no-frills, (2) you don't get as much choice about the final product... and this is understandably a major hangup for customers. For people that have in their mind exactly what they want in an instrument, I'd advise them to go elsewhere. There are lots of excellent luthiers out there that will build a bass to a set of specs provided by the customer.

There seem to be a group of people who are CT bashers and another group that are CT enthusiasts. While I am a huge fan of Carl and the instruments he creates, I can completely understand why these don't work for everyone.

Anyways, enough about this, let's see those double neck and piccolo pics!
 
#9
Charles Farley said:
There seem to be a group of people who are CT bashers and another group that are CT enthusiasts. While I am a huge fan of Carl and the instruments he creates, I can completely understand why these don't work for everyone.
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+1. you've got a beautiful pair of CTs as well. Also, anyone know of any used 36" CTs? I'm shooting for a new job right now and if I get it, was thinking of picking up another CT as a thank you to myself (and the wife approves!!!).

Haven't gotten the job yet, but things are looking good so I'm starting to shop around for a new bass!!!
 
#10
cosmicevan said:
+1. you've got a beautiful pair of CTs as well. Also, anyone know of any used 36" CTs? I'm shooting for a new job right now and if I get it, was thinking of picking up another CT as a thank you to myself (and the wife approves!!!).

Haven't gotten the job yet, but things are looking good so I'm starting to shop around for a new bass!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Here's a 36" CT for sale: Invalid Link Removed

If this one has sold, I'd get in touch with Ray from Ray's Guitars because he frequently gets No-Frills basses from Carl.
 

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