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attn: custom bass owners
- Thread starter beebassdude
- Start date
What up B! Right on man, i wanna bring it to the next Los Angeles GTG, that is if i get it by then. pm me so we can exchange emails.
You're so cool! I bet your mom is proud.I guess that explains your choice in instruments.
Excuse me while I answer this call for another paid gig.
Right on, ive never been to one of these GTG things, but ide really like to crash one and get crunk & shoobie doowhap some tunes with new friends. Yeeeeah.
I gotta check the fretless out, i never played one.
Fender's conventional design is adequate for those applications. While it's a good design and has stood the test of time, this doesn't mean there can't be improvements.
The boutique "long horn" design has several benefits by itself. It improves balance and often shortens first position reach. Since it's usually thinner by design, this elongation doesn't usually add weight. Sometimes this design allows for chambering and/or lighter woods that ordinarily might cause the bass to be unbalanced. Additional benefits would include adding more strings, increasing the scale length, etc. It may sound counter intuitive, but the longer horn bringing in the first position can be very beneficial to shorter players. This is part of how I can play a 35" scale 6 string with minimal effort. Usually anything that defies convention needs to offer a few benefits or it becomes yesterday's trash.
I can identify with this, although this was more or less started with my Peavey Cirrus and Millennium basses.Light, comfortable, and low action!
I know it gets us boutique players labeled as snobs, but my luthiers have certainly earned their keep! Although, part of why I own boutique is because what I want isn't usually a production instrument. If you can find me an unlined fretless 6er under 10lbs with a piezo bridge, magnetic pickups, and an awesome pre-amp for under $1k, lemme know.
Well not snobs, just sometimes not very smart shoppers.
I can recommend the Carvin as an alternative that practically meets those needs. It also does away with the boutique ambiance as well as the parting with a significant chunk of your estate, but you end up with practically an equivalent instrument. With the piezo option and the newer 18V electronics carvin puts in the basses now you can do a 6 FL unlined for around 1200 or 1300 depending on options that virtually matches the requirements you just described. Unlined FL boards are a no-cost option.
If you do the Bunny for 100 more you also get correct balance, an unusual feature even among boutiques (I don't know how well balanced the LB or Icon series is, but I'm told the Icons have good balance as well. The cost and available options are similar on both).
The pickups are installed in the right places and they even put shielding in the electronics cavity - very nice touches that are no-cost options.
I literally no longer need any of my other basses anymore (tho I'm keeping my G&L's for sentimental/resale reasons) and my GAS seems to have suddenly gone away as well.
PS: here's a crude photo of mine while I was still setting it up.
LS
I have a couple customs, but I'm way more drawn to my P Lyte and my cheapo POS basses than the customs. Honestly, I just don't see or feel that much of a difference between high end basses and low end. Yeah, OK, there's SOME differences, but not enough to make me think that customs or boutiques are definitively better. They certainly don't make you play any better, that's for sure.
Carvin has certainly come a long way and seems to have doubled the amount of options they now offer. I can't say I've seen any recent guitars or basses, so I really can't offer any useful comments towards quality. When I ordered my Conklin, I can tell ya that they weren't offering multiple mid frequencies. Other than the 35" scale and Dymondwood fingerboard, I'd agree that Carvin comes pretty close.
Just a side observation, Bunny's bass seems to have a bit in common with the Peavey Millennium in overall shape and pickup config. I don't know which design came first.
I see your point. I must say though that I am glad that I don't have to worry about all of these design issues because I am very comfortable with my '77 P-bass and my Aria SB-R60.
One of the reasons for the low resale value of carvins (besides the fact they just don't cost much to start with) is because of the improvements, particularly in the last decade or so.
The biggest improvement comparing mine to older carvins I've listened to is the electronics. The preamp is quiet and has lots of control in the tone and sweepable mids.
It even has a very serviceable sound with both PU's turned on (listen to attached clip. Note virtually no hum just a very high freq buzz in the quiet part at beginning, notes are very clean with no mud with the PU fader centered. A lot of basses just get really muddy when you run both PU's together).
The electronics have been the weak spot and listening to older ones yeah I'm inclined to agree.
Not anymore.
Meanwhile, I've been looking mine over the last 2 weeks trying to find little bits of crappiness here and there that I can always find on my other basses (like my beloved G&L's) and there just simply isn't anything. Carvin even uses threaded brass inserts in the wood for the preamp cover screws to screw into........
It really is just impeccable workmanship with excellent hardware. I just can't believe it cost only 1300, given the level of quality and what you'd have to pay elsewhere to get it...
PS: I borrowed a friend of mine's peavy for a while some years ago, an older model, and it was a great bass...
LS
I HEART MY FODERA WITH A FLAMED BURLED TOP MADE FROM A DRAGON'S CHEST WITH A 78 LAMINATE 1337WOOD/AWESOME NECK I WILL NEVER PLAY ANYTHING AS DEGRADING AS A STINGRAY OR A CRAPPY MIA FENDER EVER AGAIN
really tried to avoid hopping
into this but im seriously wondering if you just defined all MIA Fenders as "crappy".ive played my fair share of boutique basses and ive played some gems but my 93 P plus is an amazing bass, sure ive loaded it with barts, but other than that no changes..the wood grain is beautiful, its perfectly weighted, i have super access to all of my frets , the neck is a dream and i dont like bringing it out around other bass players simply based on the fact if they play it they wanna try and talk me out of it...i think alot of custom jobs are ugly and a total waste but i refuse to generalize them as crappy.
JAUQO III-X
Inactive
I don't know if OneMoreRobot was just joking around but in his profile,he's listed as having a 2004 MIM Fender P bass and that he's building his own bass as well.
I've had my fair share of Boutique/Custom basses, and eventhough I currently own an Elrick (Boutique bass) and a Garz (Custom bass) ... I know that somewhere down the line ... there's another Fender waiting for me.
No matter how much I try and stay away from Fender ... I can't seem to stay away for long.
So for me ... it's definitely not out of the question to go back to "off the rack" brand basses. IMO ... it's all about where you're at musically... and what best fits your needs.
Companies like Fender and EBMM have been around for quite some time, and their basses are played by some of the best bassists in the world. So they can't be that bad.
No matter how much I try and stay away from Fender ... I can't seem to stay away for long.
So for me ... it's definitely not out of the question to go back to "off the rack" brand basses. IMO ... it's all about where you're at musically... and what best fits your needs.
Companies like Fender and EBMM have been around for quite some time, and their basses are played by some of the best bassists in the world. So they can't be that bad.
BAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Well, it was interesting story, CHEETO -- but quite frankly, that avatar creeps me out . . .
Well, it was interesting story, CHEETO -- but quite frankly, that avatar creeps me out . . .
kinda makes me think of an aphex twin video
it doesn't matter what you kind of bass you play. one must play at ones best at all times and play for the music not an image, but one must also be comfortable and connected to ones instrument as if it were a part of the body.
i think this quote from Anthony Jackson best summs it up
"As for career achievement, the instruments invention ranks lower than my art. I love making music on the bass guitar, and the music is what people come to hear. If I was told I could only play a 20-fret 4-string from now on, I could handle that. The 6-string was a dream; I dont need it to make a living, but I most definitely wanted it. The contrabass guitar has been a path to ecstasy for me, my Eden."
SO... play what you want and play your best at all times and focus on the music...me..i'm going to practice now.
i think this quote from Anthony Jackson best summs it up
"As for career achievement, the instruments invention ranks lower than my art. I love making music on the bass guitar, and the music is what people come to hear. If I was told I could only play a 20-fret 4-string from now on, I could handle that. The 6-string was a dream; I dont need it to make a living, but I most definitely wanted it. The contrabass guitar has been a path to ecstasy for me, my Eden."
SO... play what you want and play your best at all times and focus on the music...me..i'm going to practice now.
