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Best custom built basses?

#44
RS Guitarworks in Winchester Kentucky. 3-4 month lead-time. Cost about 2-3k. I was so pleased with one they did for me I had them do a second one a couple years later. They're my only experience in custom bass guitars.

So there's a name for you, they have a website.
 
#46
@Kristian thank you for the question. There were a couple smart aleck answers but mostly this thread has been kind of exciting for me. I'm finally considering a true custom bass after playing standards for 45+ years.

Thank you to the TB'ers for the excellent examples and links. Such a simple question yielded some outstanding results. If I could custom order a bass it would be an aerodynamic MM bass with a hot rod MM pickup, active electronics with a passive/series/boost and on/off passive/active switch. Throw in a highly polished sandwich body and please make it around 8 pounds. Anyway, thanks guys for the cool answers.
 
#47
After some thought, just from my point of view-- I like exciting designs and thought provoking concepts. I guess I'm saying I'm not particularly interested in more Fender clones. If I want a Fender I'll buy one. But the design to me anymore is so tedious. Give me a design that's unique and maybe futuristic. Push the boundaries!

P.S. I hope you all continue to post the pic's and links! :thumbsup:
 
#50
Here's one that really caught my eye. If he could drop a MM pickup in instead of a P I'd definitely be interested. Sadly, I don't have a first-born to sell to buy it... Elrick.

ElrickE1719A.jpg
 
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#52
Kristian said:
hi everyone,

Who builds the best custom basses these days and what are the prices?
I'm looking for a new instrument but haven't played electric bass for many years so I don't know where to look...
Thanks!
Click to expand...

In terms of built quality Lefay is the first that comes to mind - their attention to detail is vertigo-inducing.
(<Invalid Link Removed>)
But the real question should be; of all the builders out there , whose work resonates with you the most.?
One of my personal favourites is Magnusguitars (<[This invalid link has been removed]>). He builds basses that sound fantastic whilst not being all too heavy (un-chambered)and more affordable than the work some others offer.

Another guy that manages to build basses that sound really good whilst being really not very heavy is Elrick.(<Invalid Link Removed>)


But ...there are sooo many out there!
And...It's gonna be quite hard, finding a 'bad' one these days.
 
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#54
There's two kinds of guys buying 'custom basses': The 'more money than sense club', and guys who've been around plenty, know what works and what doesn't for them, and are savvy enough to know roughly what kind of axe they want built that they can't buy from the off-the-rack major companies.

After having the joy of having a custom Elan five-string built for me just like I wanted it from Alembic, I'd offer two thoughts:

1) There's 'custom' with a little c, which is more or less some builder's standard model with some different woods or electronics, but no major deviations from one of their standard designs. These have a better chance of coming out like you expected, and they didn't have to 're-invent the wheel' to get you what you envisioned.

Then . . . . . there's 'custom' with a big C, which is where you want a triple-neck 4,5, and 6-string shaped like the Starship Enterprise. An exaggeration, but you get the idea. Here you need to bring cocaine cowboy bags of money, be prepared to wait a LONG time, and probably be unsatisfied when the transporter materializes it in your front room one day. And surprisingly, it's partly your fault: You went to Ford to have a Corvette built for you, it's tough to suddenly do something completely different . . . . . once.

And in any event, unless you live where visits to your builder are possible, you may be doing this all over the phone or internet with someone a long way from you, building a one-off, so you're essentially arranging a 'blind date' of a purchase. If this new axe is something where you've never seen or held one of their other models before, you're taking a big chance, with a lot of money involved. Do your homework. . . . . which includes . . .

2) Aside from the instrument itself, MAKE SURE you are spending your money with a solid, established business, with customer service, warranty, some recourse to solve problems should any arise. It's not real hard to find someone here on TalkBass that is in a hassle with someone building them an axe where they've lost money, waited for years on an axe with no delivery in sight, and on and on. You are ultimately spending hard-earned money on an instrument, not some fancy website that promises a lot but may not deliver anything.

When I ordered the Alembic, I paid in full, up front, and expected a year-away delivery. I never once worried about a scam, and received my axe, perfectly built to our agreed upon feature set in 11 months. That's the kind of people you want to deal with, and there's many more builders with that sort of track record.

And I'd also say that with the depth of the market out there now, I'd be hard pressed not to find what I was after in an already-existing manufacturer.
 
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#58
Hi Kristian,

It took many years for me to come to understand what I like and what I do not like about an instrument. As it is a combination of quite a few variables (body wood, neck wood, fingerboard wood, neck joint topology, metal components, nut, pickups, electronic circuit including a preamp, etc.) and each of these variables contributes to the sound and playability of the instrument to some extent, it requires time to figure out what you like and what you don’t.

To cut the long story short, I would not go the custom route at the beginning, but rather pick a generic instrument (like a Squire P or J, or a Jaguar) and see what the shortcomings are, if any, to your liking. By modifying that kind of an instrument, you can still achieve an amazing bass at the end. If you still like to go for the custom route, I would start with the simplest design (passive, one pickup, no control, etc.) and over time I would add options.

I see that you are based in Turkey, where I recently moved back to. If you would like, I would be more than happy to sit with you and chat over some options. Also talking to some local luthiers like Erkan Sizarlar (Izmir), Ozgur Turan (Eskisehir), Veli Boyraz (Balikesir), Briken Aliu (Istanbul) would help. Apart from Veli, I know the other three and I can hook you up with them.

Best,

Alper


Kristian said:
Who builds the best custom basses these days and what are the prices?
I'm looking for a new instrument but haven't played electric bass for many years so I don't know where to look...
Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
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#60
Alper Yilmaz said:
Hi Kristian,

It took many years for me to come to understand what I like and what I do not like about an instrument. As it is a combination of quite a few variables (body wood, neck wood, fingerboard wood, neck joint topology, metal components, nut, pickups, electronic circuit including a preamp, etc.) and each of these variables contributes to the sound and playability of the instrument to some extent, it requires time to figure out what you like and what you don’t.

To cut the long story short, I would not go the custom route at the beginning, but rather pick a generic instrument (like a Squire P or J, or a Jaguar) and see what the shortcomings are, if any, to your liking. By modifying that kind of an instrument, you can still achieve an amazing bass at the end. If you still like to go for the custom route, I would start with the simplest design (passive, one pickup, no control, etc.) and over time I would add options.

I see that you are based in Turkey, where I recently moved back to. If you would like, I would be more than happy to sit with you and chat over some options. Also talking to some local luthiers like Erkan Sizarlar (Izmir), Ozgur Turan (Eskisehir), Veli Boyraz (Balikesir), Briken Aliu (Istanbul) would help. Apart from Veli, I know the other three and I can hook you up with them.

Best,

Alper
Click to expand...

Hi Alper!
I came to one of your concerts in Istanbul, great playing!
I just left Turkey for Wien so it won't be that easy for me to buy from a Turkish Luthier. But thanks a lot!
I play tuned in fifths from low c to high e (five strings) on my double bass and i would like to try the same concept with an electric, that's why I'm considering a handbuilt bass. I'm also thinking of adding a piezo, to get a more "acoustic" sound.
Maybe it's unnecessary to get a custom built bass but since it will be a quite unique setup, I thought it would be the easiest to search like this first.
 
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