Cliff Bordwell chambered six string mini review

I was blessed to aquire this bass Last month.



Six string
Fretless
lined bubinga fingerboard
34" scale
Burl Maple Top
Chambered walnut and spruce body
active/passive
Nordstrand pu's

I love the bass. I have had it for about a month and wanted to let it sink in before I tried to give the bass a fair review. I'll start a thread and let everyone know what I think of the Bass. I'll say this now you can't go wrong with Cliff and his designs. I was more concerned about the Bass being fretless than chambered as I wasn't until this time very much of a fretless player.

First the wood, the build the neck joint, the electronics the entire package is top notch. The fingerboard is a work of art. I do mostly jazz and gospel I knew the bass would work for the jazz stuff but I am surpirsed how the bass lends itself to the gospel arena as well in which the playing can get quite agressive - I can get a distinct slap tone out of the bass and fingerstyle I can get both the burp and mwah that define a high quality instrument.

I normally play the bass in the passive mode. I get a very organic wood tone out of the Bass, hard to describe but pleasing. The chambered nature of the bass makes the body somewhat thicker - but gives a lot of tone - the bass is like a mixture of the best qaulities of my Eminence EUB and my MIA Febnder Jazz in the passive mode and more than holds its own with my Roscoe in the active mode while maintaing a definitive organic tone.

I don't solo bass but I do do bach and paly the head and chords of the standards (real book). This bass is excelent for this work as well. To date I have played this bass with the Jones High Scholl Alumni Band (Big Band lots of horns). The Bernie Lee jazz Trio. Bill White ( he does Louis Armstrong Covers) Soul for Real ( Smoth jazz /standards). The McKinney Gospel Chior (Moderen urban gospel) and worship services for St. John A.M.E. Church - So as you can see the bass gets a workout and fits in in every circumstance - I leave all my other bases at home now.

Ergonomically the bass sits both in the lap and on the shoulder well. some people may find the thickness of the body - like an acoustic somewhat - different. No neck dive.

If you are considering having a bass built I suggest you look at Cliff's work. I am extremely satisfied. If you are in the Orlando area pm me or call me and I'll bring the bass out for you to see.

 

I got an additional picture from Cliff today should have more by the end of the week - I'll have to figure out how to post them as I have no URL for them. I am in the middle of a busy week but I'll figure it out.

NickyBass & Lomo, I really like the Chambered design. IMO it gives the bass a quite unique tonal characteristic and enhances the fretless quality of the bass. In the passive mode the Chambered design really sticks out - the bass has a richer quality of sound than the previous fretless acoustic (Godin) that I had at one point which to my ear at times sounded a bit thin in comparison. In other words better sustain and depth of tone - no feedback issues - so far - and a more organic (woody) tone than my solid body basses (Roscoe, Fender, Tune). Passive the Bass really emphasizes the mids and it is this mode that I enjoy the most, however in some circumstances when I am provided with a thin amp as a baclkine or the room acoustics demand it or I am teamed with a thick keyboard and loud active drummer I can throw on the aguilar pre amp and boost the bottom and get a ton of tone that really cuts through.

The bass is definitely not a one trick pony. It is not a beginner bass (you have to be on point due to the fretless nature and the fact that the bass is unforgiving - slight shifts will alter your pitch - and the bass reproduces even slight changes in pitch quite accurately and evenly) - but it is a bass that I would recommend to anyone who is interested in being serious about the instrument.

 

Here are some additional pictures that I got of the Bass



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