Club Clement (Part 4: Post your basses here)

[MrWalker]

D...O...H!!!

roflmao

hey, tom, you could get some tops out of those floor boards!!!
or would those be bottoms???!!!

 

[M2roger]

It does look sexy.... just look at Bass #046:
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It has a birdseye maple pickguard, but the top is wenge and the fingerboard bloodwood.

Oooo-That is awesome. The wenge looks a bit different finished than I thought it would.

 

[M2roger]

Let it be known that I'm biased as mine is just that, as you know....I love it though! We could have sibling basses!!!

Any feelings about pickups or a preamp yet?

I didn't have time to call-so I emailed Brian yesterday and haven't heard back from him. Very strange since he is usually quick to respond. Maybe he is on vacation...

 

[M2roger]

Wood is Good!!

I'm a bit stacked at work, but I wanted to put together a couple of Photoshop on those body choices.

One question though - the cherry is wildly different in colour between the halfs. which would be the more accurate final colouring?

cheers

Lookin forward to the cherry photoshop job

 

[MrWalker]

Oooo-That is awesome. The wenge looks a bit different finished than I thought it would.

Yes, the figuring will become more visible with finishing, but there might also be color differences between various tops. Wood is organic and bound to be different from log to log

I didn't get around to do a photoshop attempt myself yesterday, but if Mr. Wavey turns out to be too busy I can do a test tonight.

 

[emjazz]

I didn't have time to call-so I emailed Brian yesterday and haven't heard back from him. Very strange since he is usually quick to respond. Maybe he is on vacation...

Nah, he's just not answering because I told him you're a friend of mine.

 

[M2roger]

Nah, he's just not answering because I told him you're a friend of mine.

Crap-now what do I do? Actually he got back to me today in spite of that and had some good suggestions. Basically he is liking the bart and delano soapbars with bar magnets for the 17mm spacing. I like the barts in my fretless, but there I am looking for the darker warmer tone. I am leaning toward delano for the clarity but still researching. Feel free to chime in.

Also, does anyone have experience with a 3 band preamp that will allow independent volume control each pup? It looks like the Nordstrand 3B-4a will do it but I don't know much about their preamps. So many fun decisions to make!

 

[emjazz]

Crap-now what do I do? Actually he got back to me today in spite of that and had some good suggestions. Basically he is liking the bart and delano soapbars with bar magnets for the 17mm spacing. I like the barts in my fretless, but there I am looking for the darker warmer tone. I am leaning toward delano for the clarity but still researching. Feel free to chime in.

Also, does anyone have experience with a 3 band preamp that will allow independent volume control each pup? It looks like the Nordstrand 3B-4a will do it but I don't know much about their preamps. So many fun decisions to make!

Mike, I have the Nordstrand pre in my bass. You should check it out some time. it's a good pre. If were to do it again I'd go for the Glock. I know you have that pre in your Human Base. You'll have to compare it with my bass/preamp.

 

[GODSBASSMAN]

Sound clips of these preamps? Also Aguilar will support volume volume with the other bmt pots.

 

[M2roger]

Mike, I have the Nordstrand pre in my bass. You should check it out some time. it's a good pre. If were to do it again I'd go for the Glock. I know you have that pre in your Human Base. You'll have to compare it with my bass/preamp.

Yea-let's get together sometime when you aren't too busy.

The glock is definitely transparent and very nice. On the human base I think the Delano pups and glock combo are a little too transparent and it could use a little mojo.

 

[emjazz]

Yea-let's get together sometime when you aren't too busy.

The glock is definitely transparent and very nice. On the human base I think the Delano pups and glock combo are a little too transparent and it could use a little mojo.

...when I'm not too busy...that's a good one! Ha! We'll just make the time, that's easier.

Why the vol/vol configuration? I hate not having a master volume myself, but I know others greatly prefer the vol/vol thing.

Yeah, it doesn't sound to me you're looking for transparent really, although I may be wrong. If you go Delano duals it'd be too much of a good thing probably. If you went Barts that would be different. The Nordstrand is pretty transparent as well though. Don't rule out a Bart pre. It adds some compression which can translate into punch with the right pickups. The Aguilar preamp is very powerful and aggressive. Do you ever use the mid eq on any of your basses? The Aguilar OBP-1 is a simple but very effective preamp....2 band. The Delano duals and that pre would be really nice. You'd get a clear sound with a bit of low mid boost from the pickups, and the preamp would fill in the low end or add some sparkle if needed. The Bart deep coil pickups with a clear pre like the Glockenklang is a great choice as well. It'd be a little darker but it'd also be a little punchier. That's a great combo....stick with the ebony board to add some ping on the top end and you'd get a really great combo there.

 

[tombowlus]

Also, does anyone have experience with a 3 band preamp that will allow independent volume control each pup? It looks like the Nordstrand 3B-4a will do it but I don't know much about their preamps. So many fun decisions to make!

My three favorite preamps are the Nordstrand/Homebrew, Glock, and John East (but specifically without the blend). Carey's preamp is really, really good, and I have it in my Clement fretless (totally happy with that choice). I have a Glockenklang 3-band pre in my Dingwall Z3 (which uses a selector switch instead of a blend), and I will have a slightly tweaked version of it if I ever get my Groove Shoppe 5 done (long story...). At one point, I did own a J-Retro Deluxe, but I actually don't like the stock blend (at least not in passive mode). However, I have the John East Deluxe preamp in several of my Skjolds (most of which have a selector switch, but one is vol/vol), and that preamp is just amazing. I also have a John East Deluxe pre (set up vol/vol) in my ACG Recurve 5 (which had a custom East-built ACG filter-based preamp when I reviewed it).

So there's my two cents.

 

[M2roger]

Andy and Tom-Thanks for all the preamp feedback.

I like V/V because I am trying to cover a lot of different music styles, and I think v/v gives me more tone control than the blend. I had a bass that was V/T/V/T one time, and that was great control, but too much. I was constantly tweaking and it got distracting.

After the input so far I am leaning toward the bart deep tones with a nordstrand pre (the glock doesn't do v/v). It sounds like I could be a nice combo. And they are the same size as the Delanos so I could try those at some point as well.

 

[emjazz]

Andy and Tom-Thanks for all the preamp feedback.

I like V/V because I am trying to cover a lot of different music styles, and I think v/v gives me more tone control than the blend. I had a bass that was V/T/V/T one time, and that was great control, but too much. I was constantly tweaking and it got distracting.

After the input so far I am leaning toward the bart deep tones with a nordstrand pre (the glock doesn't do v/v). It sounds like I could be a nice combo. And they are the same size as the Delanos so I could try those at some point as well.

You definitely need to check out my bass again then...Bart deep tone quad coils/Nordstrand 3 band pre. It'll give you a sense of what that combo can give you.

 

[tombowlus]

Andy and Tom-Thanks for all the preamp feedback.

Happy to help! And FWIW, I am also a firm believer in the V/V/T setup.

 

[aproud1]

Clement #213

Here it is Tom's working on finishing soon but will likely be delayed by much birthday celebration.
Ash Body
Maple neck
Bloodwood Fingerboard
Single passive Bart MM p/u

Was looking for something straightforward contrasting my Roscoe with lots o' mwah. This is the second bass Toms done for me and he was somehow even better to work with a second time.

7.7 lbs. And sure looks sunny down there in Florida.

 

[Nofretz6]

Love the simplicity of 213. Somehow Tom manages to create very eye catching creations in those minimalist designs.

 

[MrWalker]

I agree, nofretz!!!
congratulations, aproud, that's another work of art! she's the same recipe as my very first clement, and I'm sure she will sound as good! gorgeous!

 

[wavey davey]

Love it!!

Which was your first clement?

 

[MrWalker]

My first Clement was this #069 the Tundra I 4-string fretless
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Then he built me #076 Tundra II
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Which I later sold and had replaced by #114 Tundra III, which had the 34" (76 was 35")
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I still love the Tundra I and II, I wish I had gone with only one pickup on Tundra III, too... the neck pickup is never used and it sort of unbalances the visual impression.

I have been thinking of ways to cover it... either with a bloodwood ramp from the fingerboard to the bridge pickup, but so far it's been left as it is.

EDIT: Sorry.... wavey, you probably meant aproud!!! Sorry... oh well, my wonderful bloodwood / swamp ash basses are posted, and I'll just leave them... Aproud, please show us your #1!!