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Collaboration: Top 10 Custom Bass Makers

#23
hsech said:
Fender Custom Shop. I might choose one of the others, but realistically who has that kind of money laying around.
Click to expand...

Here's the quote sheet for the Fender Custom Shop:
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A 1959 style Pbass (the cheaper of the two options for a Pbass - the other being a 1955 style) starts at $4,120. With moderate options (light relic, bound fingerboard, painted headcap, dark rosewood fingerboard, tort pickguard etc) the bass I'd want built ended up at $4,880. And if you want it masterbuilt it adds a fee of $2400.

So that puts a custom shop P at somewhere between $4200 and $7,000 depending on options.

NYC Sadowskys range from $4,000 to $6,000. Roscoe customs range from $3,400 to around $6,000 for a very tricked out bass. MTDs from around $4,600 to $9,000 or so. And so on. All of these basses are expensive. Now the most expensive of the bunch (Fodera, Alembic, Ritter etc) might be significantly above a Fender Custom shop, but a few of the builders mentioned will also build a fully custom bass for less than the starting point of a FCS instrument.
 
#25
Too many good ones. At this level, it's personal preference only.

That said, if money was no object, I'd get (all in order) either a Skjold, Clement, Benevente, or a Ken Smith. If I wanted a Fender-like custom I'd go Lull, Nordstrand, or Sadowsky. If I was on a budget, Clement all the way. Build quality is up there with anyone else, and IMO best bang for the buck. I haven't tried many of the others listed or they are too costly (for me). But it's all personal preference anyway at this point.
 
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#26
Whenever these sorts of threads come around there's usually a hangup over terminology. Does custom mean choosing from a preset list of options (body color, fretted or fretless, top & fingerboard wood etc) or does it mean truly custom in the sense that you can ask for changes to (or even design) the body shape, pickup placement etc? It also tends to lead to discussions about hand made vs CNC, custom/in-house electronics vs off the shelf components etc.

But I think what is really being asked is what do you consider the top 10 high end bass manufacturers? And I think that's a fun discussion that doesn't need to devolve into semantics and arguments.

And for me I'd even break it down further into my top 10 high end Fender styled instruments and my top 10 boutique/bespoke basses.

In the first category you'd have Sadowsky, Alleva Coppolo, Nordstrand, Lull, Fender Custom Shop etc

In the second category you'd have MTD, Fodera, Dingwall, Roscoe, Brubaker, Wal, Zon, Pedulla etc

But even then something like Fbass becomes confusing. It's clearly an evolution of the Fender Jazz but it has it's own signature styling. And around and around we can go.

The hard part is that very few people have played basses from all of these builders (let alone more than one from each) and an extremely tiny percentage have owned basses from each. And when you do hear from players with that wealth of experience they almost always say that at a certain level it comes down to personal taste.

As for me, if I had unlimited funds I'd have:

A Fender Custom Shop P
A Wal Mk III five string
A five string Fodera (probably the Viceroy shape)
An Fbass AC 5
A Rob Allen Mouse
A Brubakder KXB
A Nordy Dan Lutz signature
A Pedulla Pentabuzz
An Alleva Coppolo LM5
And either a Roscoe SKB or a Dingwall ABII

And I'd keep my Stambaughs.
 
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#27
winegamd said:
If Dingwall doesnt qualify, Fender definitely doesnt IMO. They both have the same idea of custom; basically a bunch of options of stuff they already offer.
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Fender will do custom if you go to their Custom Shop. You can get things they do not offer, particularly colours. The same cannot be said about Dingwall, who will only do things listed in their price list, nothing more.
 
#30
Tough one, there are so many parameters one can use. If the Fender-style shops are included (and I'm not saying they should or should not be), Lakland's my favorite. The US models feel better to me than anything else. And I would hasten to add that they have some great non-Fender-style options, such as the Decade, the hollowbody (short and long scale), and the -94 series.
 
#36
Acoustic356 said:
Without degrading into abashing other brands thread... I'm trying to gain an understanding of

who are the top 10 custom bass makers.

I think the list is in no order includes the following:

  1. Fodera
  2. Ken Smith
  3. Tobias
  4. Sadowsky
  5. Mike Lull
  6. Roscoe
Who else would you add to the list, then how would you order it?
Click to expand...

Does the Fender Custom Shop count?

G&L also makes custom basses (with some constraints) for just about anyone that wants to order one and has the cash.
 
#40
Acoustic356 said:
... and there are going to be some killer smaller luthiers that won't make the list like Benavente. Every one that I've ever played has made me want to buy one... so much so that I did... and I wasn't even in the market for a 6!
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I had a Benavente. It didn't woo me but it was a beautiful instrument.
 
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