Extended Range Bass (Club??) Thread

[MistaMarko]

Count me in!

 

[voodoobassist]

Alas, I may be leaving the ERB club. What with being 55 years young, and my doc telling me I need to have shoulder surgery, it's become obvious that a 14lb. Conklin GT-7 isn't doing me any favors as far as my physical well being is concerned. I've got a serious buyer locally for my gal, the Beast, as she's affectionately known, so by weeks end, I may have to leave the fold of this club. Maybe in the future I can find a more lightweight, and affordable 7 banger, but until then, I guess I should bow out and wish you all well.

Maybe in the future I can start a new club,...the EREUB club, extended range electric upright bassist club!!!! No shoulder problems there!!!!

 

[Cyber Soda]

I'm considering a Bill Dickens GT-7. Any advice? I don't know exactly what you'd help me with, but still. Anything I should be warned about?

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

I'm considering a Bill Dickens GT-7. Any advice? I don't know exactly what you'd help me with, but still. Anything I should be warned about?

They're very nice basses- one of the best quality to price basses I've seen. Two things about them though: they have very tight bridge spacing and they can be quite heavy. I've owned two, and one of them weighed about 14 pounds, the other was a bit lighter. They have a 16.5mm spacing IIRC, which may be a bit tight for some. There's enough room to switch out the bridge for one a little wider though.

 

[7StringBassist]

I'm considering a Bill Dickens GT-7. Any advice? I don't know exactly what you'd help me with, but still. Anything I should be warned about?

I love that bass its very nice and the neck seems a bit thinner then the gt-7 but its string spacing is really really tight, I've had really good luck with my GT-7 there are some on sale here for 850 for upgraded electronics thats a killer deal!

 

[7StringBassist]

They're very nice basses- one of the best quality to price basses I've seen. Two things about them though: they have very tight bridge spacing and they can be quite heavy. I've owned two, and one of them weighed about 14 pounds, the other was a bit lighter. They have a 16.5mm spacing IIRC, which may be a bit tight for some. There's enough room to switch out the bridge for one a little wider though.

beat me to it

 

[7StringBassist]

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=532831&highlight=conklin

is the thread on the GT-7

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

I got both of my GT-BD7s (the Dickens ones) for $850, so if you're patient, you can also get them at a good price.

 

[7StringBassist]

I got both of my GT-BD7s (the Dickens ones) for $850, so if you're patient, you can also get them at a good price.

wow that is pretty good price, I might be waiting on one here soon too then and add a piezo bridge

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

That probably wouldn't be necessary- that bass can get incredibly clear and bright using the bright knob alone, let alone the EQ.

 

[john turner]

Alas, I may be leaving the ERB club. What with being 55 years young, and my doc telling me I need to have shoulder surgery, it's become obvious that a 14lb. Conklin GT-7 isn't doing me any favors as far as my physical well being is concerned. I've got a serious buyer locally for my gal, the Beast, as she's affectionately known, so by weeks end, I may have to leave the fold of this club. Maybe in the future I can find a more lightweight, and affordable 7 banger, but until then, I guess I should bow out and wish you all well.

Maybe in the future I can start a new club,...the EREUB club, extended range electric upright bassist club!!!! No shoulder problems there!!!!

if you still have your 5's, they qualify.

 

[7StringBassist]

I keep forgetting the Pre is different the the GT
I've ab'd both and The bill dickens model felt better in my hands but i couldn't afford it
chances are I'll be picking one up off a tb'er soon enough

 

[Ed Goode]

MistaMarko #067 .....

 

[Ed Goode]

Maybe in the future I can start a new club,...the EREUB club, extended range electric upright bassist club!!!! No shoulder problems there!!!!

I'm in early discussions with Barker Bass about an ERB design for their vertical bass. Need to get some more details worked out, but that possibility is a lot closer to reality now than it was when I first started playing a Barker 5 string.

The Barker is very cool if you have back/shoulder issues. I use the 5 string for a jazz duo/trio regularly and once you get adjusted to the vertical orientation, it's almost exactly like playing any standard BG .....

Link Removed

 

[prattguy]

boy these instruments scare me! props to the ones who dare to play them...

 

[MistaMarko]

MistaMarko #067 .....

Thanks so much!

I own a Conklin GTBD-7 as well (in response to whoever asked about it)

I'm finding that when I go back to my 5-string, my hands scream "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU" -- the wide neck is a bit hard to get used to. My hands cramp fairly fast if I'm not careful.

The string spacing isn't an issue at all...I got used to that easily in about two weeks.

The tone control is my favorite aspect. There are SO many options, although I'm not entirely sure what the 4-way switch does on it as far as EQ goes...rotary knob or whatever?

I bought a $60 Fender/Levy strap that is EXTREMELY nice, and the weight is never ever a problem as opposed to my last $5.00 strap. Feels great!

I have a full-fledged review on my YouTube video explaining every aspect of the bass:



Yes, the video is really random and incoherent, but I was just playing a million different things to attempt to showcase all aspects of the bass in about 2 minutes.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Forgot to mention about the neck- it's super thin. I actually prefer a thicker neck- my thumb would occasionally cramp on the GT-BD7 because it was wide but thin. That's just me though- most people probably have an easier time on a thinner neck.

 

[realbadgroove]

It is infact marks 8, it plays great although the low F was so low tension that I strung it B-B also the pickups are super freaking hot, so hot that I have to use a seperate preamp just to use it live otherwise I have to mess with the settings. Also the preamp setup is stupid so I am working on putting a new pre in. All and all a great bass and a good deal.

Gorgeous

Is that Mark Beems old axe? If so, I was very close to buying that but I had no need for a fretted bass. She is a beauty though ......

 

[7string]

I took my ACG 9 string along to a meeting of bassists in the North of England/Scotland on Sunday.

Despite some "No! I can't play that" comments, I managed to persuade people to have a go. After a few minutes, they began to find their way around the fretboard. One guy played some superb stuff right off the bat. Really great to hear and proof that ERB are not as scary as bassists might think.

I would like to say that playing a 9 string bass requires years of preparation and a superb knowledge of bass techniques and musical theory. Problem is, it wouldn't be true

 

[Gothic]

Well guys, I'm outta the club! My sixxer's gone...