Gunnison's Bassist (Danny Silverstri) has a rockwood neck that Greg made for his Zon... looks/sounds killer.bassmonkeee said:
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Curbow Z-Jazz
- Thread starter mikezimmerman
- Start date
MikeBass said:WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
That is nice!!
I didn't know they did "standard" bodies, just thought they did their own designs.
Tom, you could have one like that, just sell me yours and you could get one!!!!
(Sorry, couldn't resist!!)
oh yeah...check this out...greg and i worked with the idea of building a 4 string with a b.c. rich ignitor type body, but i ended up not getting advanced in rate and had to put it off...in light of what happened with greg, i'm planning on picking up the idea again and going through with it with the current curbow shop...indeed he is missed
also, if i may say so...that axe is sweet, mike...my lefay is jealous
Thanks again, all. And now for an update...
I ran over lunch to pick up the bass from the office at my apartment complex, since they're usually closed before I get home. So, I only had a few minutes to play with the bass, but I did get a chance for some quick impressions.
First, it's more beautiful than the pictures.
The maple binding really enhances the look of the Rockwood fretboard, and the binding itself has a mild flame figure that's not obvious in the pics. The ash body isn't quite so dramatic, but it's got a very nice grain to it, and the Rockwood pickguard and knobs just bring everything together. Construction is top-notch, obviously.
Another thing that's not apparent in the pictures is that the body is slightly downsized from a regular Jazz--not like the Sadowsky "dinky Jazz", where a certain amount is trimmed off the top edge, but by shrinking the shape slightly towards the neck end, a little like the Lakland DJs (though not so extreme). It's subtle, but works well for making the bass hang at a nice angle.
I only got to play for a few minutes, but of course it plays like a Curbow.
Because of the binding, the neck doesn't have the comfy rolled-over fretboard edges that my 6 does, but it still feels very good. And while it's no featherweight--about the same as my Skylines have been--but it's lighter than the other Curbows I've had. Without the brass tone block, the sound has a bit less of sustain and a bit more "vintage" attack characteristics, though it's still plenty lively with the Rockwood neck.
The Basslines J/MM passive setup seems to work well, though it's a little tough to get used to after having used active setups so much recently. I may end up sticking a preamp in at some point, and Doug deliberately left me plenty of room under the pickguard to allow for that if I wanted. The MM pickup is a definate winner, though, and even run passively gives a lovely Stingray-like bite. That's going to be my primary sound on this bass, I think. I'm less sold on the sound of the J pickup, but then, I've never been a big fan of the neck pickup solo'ed on a J, either.
When blended with the MM, it does round out the tone, but it's not really a "Jazz sound".
I'm looking forward to getting to know the Z-Jazz better, and definately expect it to become my primary instument on band gigs! Will give more details (and pictures) as I get a chance.
Curbow rules!
Mike
I ran over lunch to pick up the bass from the office at my apartment complex, since they're usually closed before I get home. So, I only had a few minutes to play with the bass, but I did get a chance for some quick impressions.
First, it's more beautiful than the pictures.
The maple binding really enhances the look of the Rockwood fretboard, and the binding itself has a mild flame figure that's not obvious in the pics. The ash body isn't quite so dramatic, but it's got a very nice grain to it, and the Rockwood pickguard and knobs just bring everything together. Construction is top-notch, obviously.Another thing that's not apparent in the pictures is that the body is slightly downsized from a regular Jazz--not like the Sadowsky "dinky Jazz", where a certain amount is trimmed off the top edge, but by shrinking the shape slightly towards the neck end, a little like the Lakland DJs (though not so extreme). It's subtle, but works well for making the bass hang at a nice angle.
I only got to play for a few minutes, but of course it plays like a Curbow.
Because of the binding, the neck doesn't have the comfy rolled-over fretboard edges that my 6 does, but it still feels very good. And while it's no featherweight--about the same as my Skylines have been--but it's lighter than the other Curbows I've had. Without the brass tone block, the sound has a bit less of sustain and a bit more "vintage" attack characteristics, though it's still plenty lively with the Rockwood neck.The Basslines J/MM passive setup seems to work well, though it's a little tough to get used to after having used active setups so much recently. I may end up sticking a preamp in at some point, and Doug deliberately left me plenty of room under the pickguard to allow for that if I wanted. The MM pickup is a definate winner, though, and even run passively gives a lovely Stingray-like bite. That's going to be my primary sound on this bass, I think. I'm less sold on the sound of the J pickup, but then, I've never been a big fan of the neck pickup solo'ed on a J, either.
When blended with the MM, it does round out the tone, but it's not really a "Jazz sound".I'm looking forward to getting to know the Z-Jazz better, and definately expect it to become my primary instument on band gigs! Will give more details (and pictures) as I get a chance.
Curbow rules!
Mike
hey, nice! again, that's a sweet bass...i dig the whole mm/j rolled into a curbow...really cool idea
TimothyGroovy
Commercial User
- Aug 3, 2000
- 2,374
- 2,097
- Disclosures
- Owner: Uni•Sound Endorsing Artist: Sadowsky Guitars, Olinto Bass, LaBella Strings
Man that is really sweet.
A couple of years ago Greg built me a custom fretless 5 neck to my exact specs. I bought a Tobias Killer B 5 body from one of Greg's 'Curbow's Attic' auctions, and he made a neck to fit. I gave him the exact specs for the whole neck including thickness at certain points up the neck. I had him slightly modify the headstock shape, since it wasn't a 100% Curbow bass (well, it played like one after Greg was through with it).
A couple of years ago Greg built me a custom fretless 5 neck to my exact specs. I bought a Tobias Killer B 5 body from one of Greg's 'Curbow's Attic' auctions, and he made a neck to fit. I gave him the exact specs for the whole neck including thickness at certain points up the neck. I had him slightly modify the headstock shape, since it wasn't a 100% Curbow bass (well, it played like one after Greg was through with it).
Mark Wilson
Supporting Member
mikezimmerman said:
Now THAT is one hell of a dive.
What are the advantages/disadvantage of having a dive like that? Tighter Strings?
-Mark
todd 4ta said:
I bought that bass from Todd, and now it is in the hands of my old bass teacher in Ottawa. It certainly was a fast neck, and definately a cool bass.
Mark Wilson said:
on the curbow site, greg talked about the importance of having a good witness point, or a sharp angle where the string breaks the saddle of the bridge and when it breaks over the nut to the tuner
I spent lots more time playing the Z-Jazz last night (unplugged, mostly, since the kid was asleep) and am more and more impressed by the way this bass feels and plays. Of course, it's a Curbow, so I didn't expect anything else!
With the binding, the neck actually has more of a U- than a C-shape, but I really love that feeling. It actually brings to mind the shape of my old 70's Rickenbackers--if they had 5 strings and were made of Rockwood, of course! But Doug could make any neck contour you prefer, I'm sure.
It's hard to see from the photos, but th neck is actually set pretty deeply in the body, and with the thick Rockwood pickguard there's not too much space between the strings and the top--just about perfect for slapping, to my mind, and this thing slaps even better than my carved-top Curbows. MikeBass could do some amazing things on it, I'm sure!
-Timothy- : Nope, it doesn't really get that much of a traditional Jazz bass sound, any more than a Lakland 55-x does without splitting the MM pickup. It might be useful to add a coil tap on the MM for just that reason. As it is, though, it does a killer Stingray sound, with some extra...and overall, it's more "traditional" sounding than my other Curbows, because of the body wood and bridge.
Mark : I think the "dive" is intended to give a good break angle over the nut, but I think it's also just partly a side-effect of the neck construction. You can make angled headstocks with Rockwood (my 6 has one), but I've gotten the impression that it's extra work requires more material than doing a flat headstock, and Rockwood is rather expensive stuff! Also, with the locking Sperzel tuners, you probably wouldn't want a string tree, so to get enough break angle for the middle strings, the outside strings get an even sharper break. It might be possible to offset this with tuners that have different post lengths, but I don't believe Sperzel makes such a thing. All that's just speculation on my part, though--it's not something I've discussed with either Greg or Doug.
Mike
With the binding, the neck actually has more of a U- than a C-shape, but I really love that feeling. It actually brings to mind the shape of my old 70's Rickenbackers--if they had 5 strings and were made of Rockwood, of course! But Doug could make any neck contour you prefer, I'm sure.
It's hard to see from the photos, but th neck is actually set pretty deeply in the body, and with the thick Rockwood pickguard there's not too much space between the strings and the top--just about perfect for slapping, to my mind, and this thing slaps even better than my carved-top Curbows. MikeBass could do some amazing things on it, I'm sure!
-Timothy- : Nope, it doesn't really get that much of a traditional Jazz bass sound, any more than a Lakland 55-x does without splitting the MM pickup. It might be useful to add a coil tap on the MM for just that reason. As it is, though, it does a killer Stingray sound, with some extra...and overall, it's more "traditional" sounding than my other Curbows, because of the body wood and bridge.
Mark : I think the "dive" is intended to give a good break angle over the nut, but I think it's also just partly a side-effect of the neck construction. You can make angled headstocks with Rockwood (my 6 has one), but I've gotten the impression that it's extra work requires more material than doing a flat headstock, and Rockwood is rather expensive stuff! Also, with the locking Sperzel tuners, you probably wouldn't want a string tree, so to get enough break angle for the middle strings, the outside strings get an even sharper break. It might be possible to offset this with tuners that have different post lengths, but I don't believe Sperzel makes such a thing. All that's just speculation on my part, though--it's not something I've discussed with either Greg or Doug.
Mike
I'm sure it doesn't compare with John P's., but here's the current Curbow family at my place.
Mike
Mike
hey, sweet...question for ya...how does the size of your z-jazz compare with a full size fender?
TimothyGroovy
Commercial User
- Aug 3, 2000
- 2,374
- 2,097
- Disclosures
- Owner: Uni•Sound Endorsing Artist: Sadowsky Guitars, Olinto Bass, LaBella Strings
neptoon said:
It's very close to full size, but the upper horn is just a little bit smaller.
Mike
