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Clevinger bass guitar by Robert Lee
- Thread starter igor kondur
- Start date
These were another 'gee, we got to make us a steinberger-y kinda bass to keep up' that went on with a lot of manufacturers in the 80's after the Steinberger XL's became a thing. Yamaha had the B1X, Washburn had the Bantams, this thing here, and more. Just like at various times there were very Alembic-influenced neckthrough basses, everybody and his uncle makes Jazz and other Fender-shaped objects today. Clevinger made their bones with an electric upright with very little body (like the Steinberger uprights, the Yamaha Silent basses, the OG Framus, etc.) and were well thought of. Not fond of the bridge . . . .
It's a VERY 'me too' business, and in this case, a lot of builders 'lost their head' (stocks).
It's a VERY 'me too' business, and in this case, a lot of builders 'lost their head' (stocks).
Looks Soviet lol I have no doubt it's great though. Those lads knew what they were doing.
Looks like it was beaten into that shape
The headless explorer EUB. Goddang.
The headless explorer EUB. Goddang.
I though he was a Confederate
Wait….
There's an "E" missing.
Definitely should wait to post until after my coffee.
Anything resulting in that level of break angle over the bridge has got some serious design flaws. Why is the entire bridge and pickguard (and presumably the fingerboard) raised up so high? I remember all the 80's Fauxbergers, most were.... not good.
That bridge and the platform it sits on can't be original. The strings hit the platform before the saddle and the action is a mile high. Couldn't find this model with an image search, but found a similar one and it's definitely got a different bridge system
The more I look at it, I don't know if that pickguard is original either. Looks really rough compared to the rest of the bass. Appears to be a piezo pickup under the bridge, I wonder if the raised pickguard was added to mount that soapbar pickup?
Martin Clevenger was a bass designer and builder in San Francisco. At one time he had several EUB that he built for professional bassists. Tony Levin can be seen playing one with Peter Gabriel. This bass guitar was an of shoot of his DB models.The bass were looking at was a hybrid Bass Guitar with a
Custom built bridge pickup system.
Custom built bridge pickup system.
Where are the tuners? the tuners?... hey where are the tuners?...
There you are! Hi, tuners! That seller has a different Clevinger bass but the body shape is the same.
I don't get the hate on this, myself. It's not as severely minimalistic as the Steinberger XL and the upper horn puts the strap button where you'd expect it to go. I'd bet the ergonomics are good when played on a strap.
Way back years ago, I thought Clevinger EUBs looked really cool and I kinda wished I could play one some day. If you haven't seen the standard Clevinger EUB, it's the same shape as the bass guitar but longer and without an upper horn...
Clevinger still has a website but unfortunately hasn't been updated in what looks like a couple decades, so I don't know what the status of the company is aside from, apparently, somebody still being invested enough in it to pay the hosting bills. The website says they still make bass guitars, albeit with relatively conventional body shapes.
Hello, I'm pretty sure I bought the bass you have pictured here, I was trying to find more information about the builder and came across this thread. I really like odd stuff and this definitely fits the bill. I can give some information off the bat before I dive into it more and take it apart:
It's neck through with an ebony fretboard and Grover tuners. The nut and top of the bridge also look like ebony. The fingerboard has a radius almost like an upright, maybe it can be bowed? It's 34" scale and has 26 frets. The action does get brutally high after the 12th because it probably hasn't had a setup in forever. It does have a truss rod that needs a very small wrench which I don't have at the moment. The Bartolini is mounted into 1/5" pickguard plastic, which is in turn mounted to the body on springs and thread protectors so the height AND angle of the pickup can be adjusted. The body is solid underneath that. Controls are I think, Bartolini volume, piezo volume, and either a passive tone control or combined bass/treble boost like an Ibanez Affirma. It sounds reminiscent of the Affirmas from 2019, and it only weighs 8lbs. Lastly it's got 2 rubber feet like a Steinberger, one of which has a metal "cap" on it that I think might be an extendable playing stand. Here's another of this one that was a fretless.
It's a fusion of a Steinberger, Affirma and EUB and someone loved the heck out of it. It needs some work, but for me, I think it's a keeper. I'll post more info as I take it apart to make repairs.
It's neck through with an ebony fretboard and Grover tuners. The nut and top of the bridge also look like ebony. The fingerboard has a radius almost like an upright, maybe it can be bowed? It's 34" scale and has 26 frets. The action does get brutally high after the 12th because it probably hasn't had a setup in forever. It does have a truss rod that needs a very small wrench which I don't have at the moment. The Bartolini is mounted into 1/5" pickguard plastic, which is in turn mounted to the body on springs and thread protectors so the height AND angle of the pickup can be adjusted. The body is solid underneath that. Controls are I think, Bartolini volume, piezo volume, and either a passive tone control or combined bass/treble boost like an Ibanez Affirma. It sounds reminiscent of the Affirmas from 2019, and it only weighs 8lbs. Lastly it's got 2 rubber feet like a Steinberger, one of which has a metal "cap" on it that I think might be an extendable playing stand. Here's another of this one that was a fretless.
It's a fusion of a Steinberger, Affirma and EUB and someone loved the heck out of it. It needs some work, but for me, I think it's a keeper. I'll post more info as I take it apart to make repairs.
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