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Sitting here thinking fondly about my first Clement project, #069 Tundra I (nick named the Tundra bass by Tom because it was going to the frozen tundra of Norway! 
). I contacted Tom because I had seen Professor X's alto Clement Ryan singlecut, and beauty of his bass just blew me away. It's one of very few times a bass thoroughly thrilled me and gave me immediate GAS. I mean, I have had GAS more than once in my life, but not many basses have given me an immediate urge to own them as strongly as Professor X's Ryan (#062 pictured below).
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
This was probably back in the spring or summer of 2007 I believe (feels longer ago, really... so many things have happened in the meantime!). I was looking to get someone to build me a very simple and powerful bass that I had figured out in my mind. It should be a singlecut, swamp ash (or alder) body, one-piece maple neck with an ebony fingerboard. Single pickup wired directly to the output jack. That was my base spec, and I contacted several luthiers to get a quote on this. Then along comes Professor X and his alto, and I was blown away. Contacted Tom, and was amazed to have his answer back within an hour or two. No delay and wasted time there! And the price quote that came back just blew me away again. I was sold on my first Clement build within hours after seeing #062. And I speced out #069 with Tom pretty quickly. The only change to my original spec came when we went looking for fingerboards and bloodwood popped up. We decided to try it out, and I have never regretted. The beauty and the sound of the bloodwood fingerboard is to die for.
I was treated to a build process I can't really believe any other luthier in the business can surpass. I have had two other custom jobs before, so I have some ground for comparison. But on a more general note, I simply fail to see how I as a customer could have been taken better care of than how Tom took care of my curiousity and hunger for updates. New pictures arrived in my inbox regularly - maybe not on a daily basis, but not far from it! It was just fantastic being a part of that process, from picking out wood, selecting which way to glue them together, deciding pickup position, all the way through to the final layers of finishing. Watching that bass come alive and getting to finally hold her in my hands after a two week shipping torment (time-wise, everything else went smoothly through USPS and Norwegian Postal Service) was one of the most exciting experiences in my life. I had a custom bass built here in my home town ten years earlier, but I was never included on a similar level during that build. This was just fantastic. My appetite for another bass was initiated almost immediately.... probably as much triggered by the process itself as a *need* for another bass. Although the bass itself GAS-sed me badly.... the dream of the Tundra II, a 6-string fretless built over the same specs as the Tundra I.
The Tundra II came alive through a fabolous process that was equally good as the Tundra I. Tom found me a beautiful maple-covered Nordstrand Dual Coil pickup, and we created #076, which was Tom's first 6-string bass, I believe. The body shape is an adapted Ryan shape (the Ryan was created as a 4-string shape and needed a little more mass to cater for the 6-string neck) and was named Jon. The *only* mistake we did was going with a 35" scale length... I never managed to get comfortable on it, unfortunately.
So we decided I needed to sell it and have Tom build me a Tundra III... a 34" version of the same bass. In the meantime, Tom was already busy working on #089 for me This is, as far as I know, the first chambered bass Tom ever built, and I'm very proud to own it. It's the exact opposite of the Tundra I. From plain one-piece swamp ash to a chambered (from the top) koa/mahogany/black limba sandwich; from a single "wired-to-output" pickup to an 18V Aguilar OBP-3, two Nordstrand DCs, a piezo bridge with a Bartolini buffer... even got a passive piezo tone control wired in there! It's a huge bass with a huge sound palette. It's very special to me... as are all my Clements...
After a break of some months, I secured a Status Graphite Jazz bass neck here on Talkbass. I had been wanting a graphite necked instrument as a reliable work horse for some time, and was looking at Moses necks for a while. Then this gorgous Status neck appeared, and I hit on it after making sure Tom would build me a Clement body for it, and #110 was underway. Tom copied his '66 Jazz and made me a beautiful eco-friendly boutique bass! The main body wood is swamp ash, the top was an old piece of sycamore with beautiful figuring, and the neck graphite... so no rain forrest went into this bass! Schaller roller bridge (my favourite bridge), Schaller tuners, Nordstrand Big Singles and a Nordstrand preamp makes this bass a true funk tool. I can dial in everything from Marcus Miller to Jaco on this bass. The neck is straight as an arrow and the body draws a lot of attention. And I will admit it's another gem I don't want to part with. As far as I know, it's one of very few Clements to feature a non-Clement neck. And probably the last?
With Tom's help, I got a buyer for my Tundra II in Austria, and I shipped the bass there. As soon as it was gone, Tom started work on my new 6-string fretless, #114. It was basically the same as #076, only it features a 34" scale length, a wildly figured bloodwood fingerboard, and a pair of Alumitone pickups and a piezo bridge. The Alumitones are great, although I don't use the neck pickup much. The bridge pickup is also more in the sweetspot than at the bridge. So we were brave with the pickup positions on this one. We figured the piezo would cater for the bridge position sound, and therefore dared move the bridge pickup to the MusicMan sweet spot position. This is only partly true, however, as the piezo bridge does give a different character than a bridge pickup does. But the sweet spot position is great for fretless, too, so no harm done there. The alumitones are great pickups and offer a different approach. Very fascinating design. The neck pickup basically serves as a thumbrest, but it's a cute thumbrest. *lol*
After a little break, we put our heads together and came up with the Anne. The first true fully chambered Clement (Tom, correct me if I'm wrong?!). A piezo bridge with a Bartolini buffer and a passive Bartolini pickup in the sweet spot constitute the electronic part of this acoustic wonder bass. The neck is a five-piece bubinga/walnut affair, with a beautiful macassar ebony fretted fingerboard. The body is a swamp ash base that's heavily chambered with a very vibrant cedar top. Need I say more? Check out Tom's site for sound clips. It's a gem. I should add "again."
So far our last project was the Phoenix #169 (Note the number! I own #069 and #169). It's again one of the most beautiful basses I've seen. Tom showed me the Phoenix shape and I knew the moment I saw it that I needed to own one of those. It also dawned on me that I hadn't have Tom build me a bass with a spalted maple top, which was somewhat of a trademark of Tom's for a while. So it needed to be a fretless 5-string E-C tuned bass with a spalted maple top. I have always been fascinated with the Q-tuner pickups, and I had one from a previous project that I decided to have installed. And when we found the pale moon ebony fingerboard on the bay, one of Tom's most beautiful creations was in the making. The bass is as chambered as my Anne is, features the same electronics (Q-tuner, piezo bridge and Bart buffer) and hardware, and is just a wonderful instrument to play and own.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
And now I'm already pondering my next Clement build... even though my 2010 Sabbathical is not being changed, I am hoping to start something early 2011.
Oh well, thanks for reading *lol* Just wanted to share....
). I contacted Tom because I had seen Professor X's alto Clement Ryan singlecut, and beauty of his bass just blew me away. It's one of very few times a bass thoroughly thrilled me and gave me immediate GAS. I mean, I have had GAS more than once in my life, but not many basses have given me an immediate urge to own them as strongly as Professor X's Ryan (#062 pictured below).[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
This was probably back in the spring or summer of 2007 I believe (feels longer ago, really... so many things have happened in the meantime!). I was looking to get someone to build me a very simple and powerful bass that I had figured out in my mind. It should be a singlecut, swamp ash (or alder) body, one-piece maple neck with an ebony fingerboard. Single pickup wired directly to the output jack. That was my base spec, and I contacted several luthiers to get a quote on this. Then along comes Professor X and his alto, and I was blown away. Contacted Tom, and was amazed to have his answer back within an hour or two. No delay and wasted time there! And the price quote that came back just blew me away again. I was sold on my first Clement build within hours after seeing #062. And I speced out #069 with Tom pretty quickly. The only change to my original spec came when we went looking for fingerboards and bloodwood popped up. We decided to try it out, and I have never regretted. The beauty and the sound of the bloodwood fingerboard is to die for.
I was treated to a build process I can't really believe any other luthier in the business can surpass. I have had two other custom jobs before, so I have some ground for comparison. But on a more general note, I simply fail to see how I as a customer could have been taken better care of than how Tom took care of my curiousity and hunger for updates. New pictures arrived in my inbox regularly - maybe not on a daily basis, but not far from it! It was just fantastic being a part of that process, from picking out wood, selecting which way to glue them together, deciding pickup position, all the way through to the final layers of finishing. Watching that bass come alive and getting to finally hold her in my hands after a two week shipping torment (time-wise, everything else went smoothly through USPS and Norwegian Postal Service) was one of the most exciting experiences in my life. I had a custom bass built here in my home town ten years earlier, but I was never included on a similar level during that build. This was just fantastic. My appetite for another bass was initiated almost immediately.... probably as much triggered by the process itself as a *need* for another bass. Although the bass itself GAS-sed me badly.... the dream of the Tundra II, a 6-string fretless built over the same specs as the Tundra I.
The Tundra II came alive through a fabolous process that was equally good as the Tundra I. Tom found me a beautiful maple-covered Nordstrand Dual Coil pickup, and we created #076, which was Tom's first 6-string bass, I believe. The body shape is an adapted Ryan shape (the Ryan was created as a 4-string shape and needed a little more mass to cater for the 6-string neck) and was named Jon. The *only* mistake we did was going with a 35" scale length... I never managed to get comfortable on it, unfortunately.
So we decided I needed to sell it and have Tom build me a Tundra III... a 34" version of the same bass.
In the meantime, Tom was already busy working on #089 for me This is, as far as I know, the first chambered bass Tom ever built, and I'm very proud to own it. It's the exact opposite of the Tundra I. From plain one-piece swamp ash to a chambered (from the top) koa/mahogany/black limba sandwich; from a single "wired-to-output" pickup to an 18V Aguilar OBP-3, two Nordstrand DCs, a piezo bridge with a Bartolini buffer... even got a passive piezo tone control wired in there! It's a huge bass with a huge sound palette. It's very special to me... as are all my Clements... After a break of some months, I secured a Status Graphite Jazz bass neck here on Talkbass. I had been wanting a graphite necked instrument as a reliable work horse for some time, and was looking at Moses necks for a while. Then this gorgous Status neck appeared, and I hit on it after making sure Tom would build me a Clement body for it, and #110 was underway. Tom copied his '66 Jazz and made me a beautiful eco-friendly boutique bass! The main body wood is swamp ash, the top was an old piece of sycamore with beautiful figuring, and the neck graphite... so no rain forrest went into this bass! Schaller roller bridge (my favourite bridge), Schaller tuners, Nordstrand Big Singles and a Nordstrand preamp makes this bass a true funk tool. I can dial in everything from Marcus Miller to Jaco on this bass. The neck is straight as an arrow and the body draws a lot of attention. And I will admit it's another gem I don't want to part with. As far as I know, it's one of very few Clements to feature a non-Clement neck.
And probably the last?With Tom's help, I got a buyer for my Tundra II in Austria, and I shipped the bass there. As soon as it was gone, Tom started work on my new 6-string fretless, #114. It was basically the same as #076, only it features a 34" scale length, a wildly figured bloodwood fingerboard, and a pair of Alumitone pickups and a piezo bridge. The Alumitones are great, although I don't use the neck pickup much. The bridge pickup is also more in the sweetspot than at the bridge. So we were brave with the pickup positions on this one. We figured the piezo would cater for the bridge position sound, and therefore dared move the bridge pickup to the MusicMan sweet spot position. This is only partly true, however, as the piezo bridge does give a different character than a bridge pickup does. But the sweet spot position is great for fretless, too, so no harm done there. The alumitones are great pickups and offer a different approach. Very fascinating design. The neck pickup basically serves as a thumbrest, but it's a cute thumbrest. *lol*
After a little break, we put our heads together and came up with the Anne. The first true fully chambered Clement (Tom, correct me if I'm wrong?!). A piezo bridge with a Bartolini buffer and a passive Bartolini pickup in the sweet spot constitute the electronic part of this acoustic wonder bass. The neck is a five-piece bubinga/walnut affair, with a beautiful macassar ebony fretted fingerboard. The body is a swamp ash base that's heavily chambered with a very vibrant cedar top. Need I say more? Check out Tom's site for sound clips. It's a gem. I should add "again."
So far our last project was the Phoenix #169 (Note the number! I own #069 and #169).
It's again one of the most beautiful basses I've seen. Tom showed me the Phoenix shape and I knew the moment I saw it that I needed to own one of those. It also dawned on me that I hadn't have Tom build me a bass with a spalted maple top, which was somewhat of a trademark of Tom's for a while. So it needed to be a fretless 5-string E-C tuned bass with a spalted maple top. I have always been fascinated with the Q-tuner pickups, and I had one from a previous project that I decided to have installed. And when we found the pale moon ebony fingerboard on the bay, one of Tom's most beautiful creations was in the making. The bass is as chambered as my Anne is, features the same electronics (Q-tuner, piezo bridge and Bart buffer) and hardware, and is just a wonderful instrument to play and own. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
And now I'm already pondering my next Clement build... even though my 2010 Sabbathical is not being changed, I am hoping to start something early 2011.
Oh well, thanks for reading *lol* Just wanted to share....
Thanks Mr Walker!
Your English is pretty damn amazing!!
I don't have another custom build comparison, but I fail to see how it could be improved over the service Tom gave me. I just can't see the other (I'm not including names as I will undoubtedly annoy at least someone) major 'custom' Luthiers getting as involved as Tom.
Thinking about it.... Maybe I do have a Custom Experience.
It was my Warwick 'Vette. I opted for a different body wood - The only thing I ever had, was the Bass - Delivered!!! Otherwise no contact at all! But I really wouldn't classify it as a true custom (despite the badge on the back of the headstock) as I would imagine they have 100's of Corvette bodies, ready made on a rack, in different woods. Grab one of those and slap a neck on it - 'Custom' - NOT!!!
Your English is pretty damn amazing!!
I don't have another custom build comparison, but I fail to see how it could be improved over the service Tom gave me. I just can't see the other (I'm not including names as I will undoubtedly annoy at least someone) major 'custom' Luthiers getting as involved as Tom.
Thinking about it.... Maybe I do have a Custom Experience.
It was my Warwick 'Vette. I opted for a different body wood - The only thing I ever had, was the Bass - Delivered!!! Otherwise no contact at all! But I really wouldn't classify it as a true custom (despite the badge on the back of the headstock) as I would imagine they have 100's of Corvette bodies, ready made on a rack, in different woods. Grab one of those and slap a neck on it - 'Custom' - NOT!!!
- Jun 6, 2004
- 6,353
- 544
- 66
- Disclosures
- Owner and builder Clementbass
*blush* thanks guys, you flatter me!
I'm just a dumb bass playing Viking, remember.
And my favourite Norweglish is this one (allegedly uttered by our fellow Norwegian Petter Solberg, former World Rally Champion):
"It's not only only, but but..."
I guess the fact that I sang along to The Bee Gees from the age of 4 may have helped some? *hehe*
Tom, do you think there's a connection, however? I'm tempted to see if my English improves if I get a couple more of your basses!
----
Oh, and Tom and I also have a secret that is a really well kept one. I am actually the proud owner of a Clement guitar prototype! 
It's an adaptation of the Ryan shape and it sports a Warmoth neck and - hold on to your socks - a nitro finish!
It turned out good for me, but I know Tom struggled intensely with the nitro finish, seeing as it requires good equipment and dust and moisture free environment. There's a reason why the Wiz doesn't offer a nitro finish, it was a real pain in the ass! But the guitar works fine and plays as great as his basses does. The Warmoth neck is wonderful, the swamp ash one-piece body vibrates like hell, the Nordstrand humbuckers sound great, and the Hipshot hardware keeps it in tune.
This guitar was basically a prototype and a test bed, and never really got a serial number... it could have one, though, it's a great guitar and has my other electric guitars parked in the guitar stand.
I'm just a dumb bass playing Viking, remember.
And my favourite Norweglish is this one (allegedly uttered by our fellow Norwegian Petter Solberg, former World Rally Champion):
"It's not only only, but but..."
I guess the fact that I sang along to The Bee Gees from the age of 4 may have helped some? *hehe*
Tom, do you think there's a connection, however? I'm tempted to see if my English improves if I get a couple more of your basses!
----
Oh, and Tom and I also have a secret that is a really well kept one.
I am actually the proud owner of a Clement guitar prototype! It's an adaptation of the Ryan shape and it sports a Warmoth neck and - hold on to your socks - a nitro finish! It turned out good for me, but I know Tom struggled intensely with the nitro finish, seeing as it requires good equipment and dust and moisture free environment. There's a reason why the Wiz doesn't offer a nitro finish, it was a real pain in the ass! But the guitar works fine and plays as great as his basses does. The Warmoth neck is wonderful, the swamp ash one-piece body vibrates like hell, the Nordstrand humbuckers sound great, and the Hipshot hardware keeps it in tune.
This guitar was basically a prototype and a test bed, and never really got a serial number... it could have one, though, it's a great guitar and has my other electric guitars parked in the guitar stand.
----
Oh, and Tom and I also have a secret that is a really well kept one.
Pictures please !!!!!
- Jun 6, 2004
- 6,353
- 544
- 66
- Disclosures
- Owner and builder Clementbass
Never had a headache as bad as when I shot that guitar 
I know, and I still remember the despair in that mail after the moisture unexpectedly set in and dimmed the entire front
There's a *VERY* good reason Tom doesn't offer nitro finishes, folks. It requires the appropriate boot and spray gun equipment to do that without killing our Wiz!
And you have to admit, Tom, it's not the first time I've been a pain in the... head....
There's a *VERY* good reason Tom doesn't offer nitro finishes, folks. It requires the appropriate boot and spray gun equipment to do that without killing our Wiz!
And you have to admit, Tom, it's not the first time I've been a pain in the... head....
- Jun 6, 2004
- 6,353
- 544
- 66
- Disclosures
- Owner and builder Clementbass
Well-I took the ebay shortcut to getting into the club. I heard about C basses a while ago and have been following the thread and enjoying all the eye candy. Then I read Tom's bio on the website and it said something about ebay, so I headed over there and saw #202 sitting there looking like it needed and nice home and before I knew it I was hitting the "confirm bid" button.
#202 is a 2 piece mahogany body, one piece maple neck w/ ebony fretboard. It has Nordstrand 70s pups and it is a tone monster. I played it through my LMII/fEarful 15/6 setup, and man it just kills. I dont describe tone very well, but it is bright on top and really present in the low-mids. I can really only describe it as a boutique tone that blows any Fender I have heard out of the water. And it is incredibly playable with low, easy action and well balanced. Of course, this is all stuff yall already knew, but it is worth saying again. Also, I just love the subtle, elegant look of the wood.
Here are some pics, and I think you will understand my impulsiveness.
First from Tom's website:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Attached are a couple of pics from my house. The first one is hanging on my wall in crappy lighting. But when I hung it up there my wife said it looks like art! The second has my happy ugly mug in it.
So far I only plan to change out the pups as the singles are too noisy for my church gigs. Right now I am debating between either Nordstrand NJ4SV or Delano JC 4 HE/M2 humbuckers that Brian Ristola at bestbassgear recommended. If anyone has suggestions/experience I am all ears.
My first practice with 'er will be Tuesday. I can't wait to hear it in the mix.
Now I have to start planning out my lightweight 5er!
#202 is a 2 piece mahogany body, one piece maple neck w/ ebony fretboard. It has Nordstrand 70s pups and it is a tone monster. I played it through my LMII/fEarful 15/6 setup, and man it just kills. I dont describe tone very well, but it is bright on top and really present in the low-mids. I can really only describe it as a boutique tone that blows any Fender I have heard out of the water. And it is incredibly playable with low, easy action and well balanced. Of course, this is all stuff yall already knew, but it is worth saying again. Also, I just love the subtle, elegant look of the wood.
Here are some pics, and I think you will understand my impulsiveness.
First from Tom's website:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Attached are a couple of pics from my house. The first one is hanging on my wall in crappy lighting. But when I hung it up there my wife said it looks like art! The second has my happy ugly mug in it.
So far I only plan to change out the pups as the singles are too noisy for my church gigs. Right now I am debating between either Nordstrand NJ4SV or Delano JC 4 HE/M2 humbuckers that Brian Ristola at bestbassgear recommended. If anyone has suggestions/experience I am all ears.
My first practice with 'er will be Tuesday. I can't wait to hear it in the mix.
Now I have to start planning out my lightweight 5er!
Attachments
Welcome to the club, M2! that is beautiful bass and I'm sure you will be pleased with it! I can see how single coil jazz pickups would be too noisy in some settings. I've heard a lot of good things about Delanos, and I'm sure that bass will sound huge with humbuckers in it. I had a bass once with Barts where I had individual coil split switches for each pickup, so I could get that jazz bass tone easily, too. It was surprisingly useful, actually. My point being simply that adding something with coil split capabilities would give you a bass that sounds like this one does now, + a noise free dual coil and tighter/bigger sound. just a suggestion.
your membership number is #071, I'll go back and add you to the list above!
Happy gigging, M2!
your membership number is #071, I'll go back and add you to the list above!
Happy gigging, M2!
It is definitely nice to be here. Thanks for the switch idea MrW- that sounds like a good best of both worlds solution. I will let y'all know how practice goes tomorrow. So far this is my favorite bass I have ever owned. Now I have my keeper 4 string jazz. Next up a lighter weight well balanced 5er that I can wear for a 3 hr practice. I think Mr. C should be able to help me out
I have no doubt that he will be able to come up with some nice solution for you, M2! He usually isn't hard to beg.
And you should allow yourself the treat of doing a complete custom project from start to goal. It's just a fantastic opportunity!
Oh, and I wanted to say that if Brian recommended those Delanos to you, you can rely on them being good. He's a very nice guy and never failed to give me solid advice that fulfilled my expectations completely. I think Tom and Brian are two of the most valuable assets to the bass community in my search for great tone (I'm referring to me personally...). I have a lot of good things to say about Mike Tobias and some others, too, but that is mostly in a more general perspective. But Tom and Brian has really helped me find my tone and get my tonal needs satisfied.
He usually isn't hard to beg. And you should allow yourself the treat of doing a complete custom project from start to goal. It's just a fantastic opportunity!
Oh, and I wanted to say that if Brian recommended those Delanos to you, you can rely on them being good. He's a very nice guy and never failed to give me solid advice that fulfilled my expectations completely. I think Tom and Brian are two of the most valuable assets to the bass community in my search for great tone (I'm referring to me personally...). I have a lot of good things to say about Mike Tobias and some others, too, but that is mostly in a more general perspective. But Tom and Brian has really helped me find my tone and get my tonal needs satisfied.
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