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Club Clement (Part 3: Post your basses here)

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#241
shrigg said:
Ahhhhh yeah..... mandolin frets for an impossibly low action!
Thanks, Tom! LOVE IT!!!!!

Clement61.jpg
Click to expand...

It is really strange seeing a non wood finished CLement, but I like it!

164 is in the uk, so another week or so to wait I reckon. Will get some pics up with her sister when she arrives!

Was piddling around on Wilma (177) this afternoon, and got a snippet recorded, if you wanna hear it, you can find it here....

http://soundcloud.com/wavey_davey/177-airy
 
#243
Dear all,

I've been wading through the Club Clement threads, enjoying the pics and sound clips, and getting some GAS for a Clement! I played a friend's 5 and it had the nicest neck and ebony fingerboard about a month ago.

Being on the 'root note only' end of the rank amateur bass player spectrum, I was wondering if I could trouble the group with some questions. Hopefully this is OK - I'm hoping to become a fully fledged Clement member eventually :) (Although my playing may not improve as much as the instrument deserves!) If this isn't the place for such questions, please let me know. I'll go and find some flameproof clothing!

1) Choice of fingerboard wood. I've heard bloodwood is 'warmer' than ebony. Is it hardwearing enough? How about to touch? Is it as smooth? Any other differences apart from the cosmetic?!

2) Piezo & chambering. I'm intrigued by the thought of a chambered bass with piezo to give a different type of sound and have loved the sound clips from a couple of lucky owners. However, how does this impact playing with magnetic pickups? I quite like a punchy, fat sound. Is this still feasible with a chambered body?

3) Single magnetic pickup - does this give sufficient variation? I noticed quite a few of the basses in the rogues gallery had only 1 pickup, in a number of different locations. I was wondering how owners had got on with such basses and how flexible they have found them from a tone perspective? I think it was the crazy Norwegian collector of Clements who said that his latest purchase only had 1 magnetic and 1 piezo as the piezo had a similar characteristic to the neck magnetic pickup.

4) Scale length. I currently have a fretted 5 35", and a fretless 4 34". I'm thinking about getting a 34" scale fretless assuming definition of the low B is sufficiently good. Any owners with 34" scale low B's like to comment?

That's probably more than enough questions for now.
Thanks for your patience,
Phil Day
St Andrews, Scotland. (That's in the UK for our American cousins)
 
#244
If you're getting a fretless, I'm a huge fan of the articulation you get from ebony. Blloodwood is fantastic stuff. its more taste than which one is "best."

Chambering and piezo is an amazing combination. Together they yield more of a woody, "upright" sound when combined with a fretless fingerboard.

My first Clement is a solid body/peizo/mag combination. Punchy but with a nice piezo edge. I love the ability to blend the attack of the piezo with the warmth of mags.

Im not sure you need two mags if youre running a piezo. One of my basses (a Veillette) is set this way...cant say it has more versatility than my clement single mag+piezo.
 
#245
pn_day said:
Dear all,
If this isn't the place for such questions, please let me know. I'll go and find some flameproof clothing!
Click to expand...
This is definitely the place for such questions! No need for flameproof clothing, and welcome to the club. :)
pn_day said:
1) Choice of fingerboard wood.
Click to expand...
Bloodwood is lovely. :) To touch, it's not quite as smooth as gabon ebony (the ultra-black and ultra-smooth ebony), but it's not very different from macassar ebony, in my opinion. It's very smooth, and it takes the fretless wear very well. Soundwise, I think it's a little warmer, but it sings amazingly well, just as ebony does. As richnota says, it's not a big difference, but some difference can maybe be observed compared to gabon ebony. Towards macassar ebony I'm not sure there's much difference.
pn_day said:
2) Piezo & chambering.
Click to expand...
The piezo itself does not change the bass at all. It's still metal bridge saddles and it doesn't affect the sound of the bass in any way. A piezo mic definitely will give you a more acoustic variation, even if you don't do the chambering thing. As for the chambers, they might change things slightly. I've got three Clement basses with chambering. My 4-string (Lise - #089) has a hollow upper bout and is otherwise solid, and it has lots of bite and punch. My 6-string fretted (Anne - #135) and 5-string fretless (Phoenix - #169) are both fully chambered, and they have a full and round sound, but maybe not as punchy as a solid body bass. Especially the Phoenix, with its flatwound strings, is more acoustic in presence and attitude, and will maybe not nail the Jacoesque bite quite as well as my solid-body Tundra fretless (Ryan - #069). However, I haven't tested my Phoenix with roundwounds, and maybe I should, as a comparison basis for the club. :)
Here is a recording of my Phoenix, for you to check out. This is what this instrument is capable of. There's a sound sample of the Tundra on Tom's web site, so go there and check that out if you haven't already done it. Gives a good representation of what these two quite different instruments are capable of.
(First section is magnetic, second section is piezo, third section is both mixed)
Link Removed

pn_day said:
3) Single magnetic pickup -
I think it was the crazy Norwegian collector of Clements who said that his latest purchase only had 1 magnetic and 1 piezo as the piezo had a similar characteristic to the neck magnetic pickup.
Click to expand...
I believe that should be me, Sir? :ninja: I think quite a few would attest to the crazy tag, so you're probably spot on :D:D:D

My fretless sound lies in the bridge pickup on a magnetic pickup position. Therefore, on my Tundra and the Phoenix, the pickups are fairly close to the bridge. On my Tundra VI (Jon - #113) I have two magnetic pickups, one in the MusicMan Sweet spot position and one closer to the neck (in addition to a piezo bridge). The bridge pickup (sweet spot) nails most of the sound I need, although I wouldn't mind it to be closer to the bridge to get even more bite. The neck pickup is not much used on this bass and could easily have been left out. But you may be looking for that sound, it's closer to the sound Ed Friedland gets out of the Clement he reviewed for Bass Gear Mag a few weeks ago. The piezo is capable of giving you a very bassy and full sound, which I find more appealing than the neck magnetic pickup, at least on a fretless bass. But it's hard to say... listen around, try to get it tested out, and find what works best for you :)

And if you'd like to take a trip to norway, I'd be happy to let you fiddle around with all of my Clement basses any time. :) The flight shouldn't be that outragous to Bergen?
pn_day said:
4) Scale length.
Click to expand...
34" on all my basses. B-strings are no problem on mine, and I have 3 of them and played a couple more. And Ed also discusses this in his review. No worries there, at all. :)

Hope to welcome you soon as a member of the club! :)
 
#246
pn_day said:
Dear all,

I've been wading through the Club Clement threads, enjoying the pics and sound clips, and getting some GAS for a Clement! I played a friend's 5 and it had the nicest neck and ebony fingerboard about a month ago.

Being on the 'root note only' end of the rank amateur bass player spectrum, I was wondering if I could trouble the group with some questions. Hopefully this is OK - I'm hoping to become a fully fledged Clement member eventually :) (Although my playing may not improve as much as the instrument deserves!) If this isn't the place for such questions, please let me know. I'll go and find some flameproof clothing!

1) Choice of fingerboard wood. I've heard bloodwood is 'warmer' than ebony. Is it hardwearing enough? How about to touch? Is it as smooth? Any other differences apart from the cosmetic?!

2) Piezo & chambering. I'm intrigued by the thought of a chambered bass with piezo to give a different type of sound and have loved the sound clips from a couple of lucky owners. However, how does this impact playing with magnetic pickups? I quite like a punchy, fat sound. Is this still feasible with a chambered body?

3) Single magnetic pickup - does this give sufficient variation? I noticed quite a few of the basses in the rogues gallery had only 1 pickup, in a number of different locations. I was wondering how owners had got on with such basses and how flexible they have found them from a tone perspective? I think it was the crazy Norwegian collector of Clements who said that his latest purchase only had 1 magnetic and 1 piezo as the piezo had a similar characteristic to the neck magnetic pickup.

4) Scale length. I currently have a fretted 5 35", and a fretless 4 34". I'm thinking about getting a 34" scale fretless assuming definition of the low B is sufficiently good. Any owners with 34" scale low B's like to comment?

That's probably more than enough questions for now.
Thanks for your patience,
Phil Day
St Andrews, Scotland. (That's in the UK for our American cousins)
Click to expand...

Hi there and welcome!

Most of your questions, I can't comment on, as I have no piezo and solid body basses only.

What I can say is the B on my 34" scale is superb.

As far as fingerboard woods go, I have a macassar ebony on my Clements (164 is still in shipping) and it really sings, compared to any other bass that I've owned. How much of that is down to the wood itself and not other factors, who knows. But compared to the Wenge warwick I had and all the rosewood boards I've played in my time, the ebony seems to have the most articulate sound. Crisp and clear, but probably not what I would describe as warm and round.

Like I said, how much of that is the wood as opposed to Tom's craftmanship (no dead spots, even timbre across the full length and width, open or fretted)... I can't really comment.

I wholeheartedly agree with you, Tom's necks are top drawer stuff, the feel and playability are incredible.
 
#250
pn_day said:
2) Piezo & chambering. I'm intrigued by the thought of a chambered bass with piezo to give a different type of sound and have loved the sound clips from a couple of lucky owners. However, how does this impact playing with magnetic pickups? I quite like a punchy, fat sound. Is this still feasible with a chambered body?
Click to expand...

174 is heavily chambered body. I have found that the piezo translates the chambered sound much more effectively: a warmer and fuller resonance. Of course that also depends on wood choice for body and fingerboard as well as string choice. , I am totally sold on chambered basses.

pn_day said:
3) Single magnetic pickup - does this give sufficient variation? I noticed quite a few of the basses in the rogues gallery had only 1 pickup, in a number of different locations. I was wondering how owners had got on with such basses and how flexible they have found them from a tone perspective? I think it was the crazy Norwegian collector of Clements who said that his latest purchase only had 1 magnetic and 1 piezo as the piezo had a similar characteristic to the neck magnetic pickup.
Click to expand...

184 is a double chamber with single pup at bridge for a more "punchy" attack. On both basses, the tone is managed through a stellartone tonestyler passive tone conntrol - lots of variation.

Please see and hear these on -
Invalid Link Removed
These basses have re-energized my desire to play and record again.

Currently working out the details for a chambered Phoenix with Tom. 4 string fretless bloodwood / single Magnetic and piezo. I'll have a better idea of how the different woods play and electrics sound together.

Whatever setup you decide to go with, you wont be disappointed.
 
#258
Just got home. Nice shots Tom I really wish I had kept one of those Walnut slabs. If that little guy needs to leave you I hope you contact me first.

Will try to get to e-mails soon. BBQ contests are fun to judge this befitted the Ronald Mac Donald house so that was cool too. Tom
 
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