Fclef Basses

[gimmeagig]

Does anybody here have one?I saw some clips on youtube and they seem really nice.

 

[bassman24]

Please,don't waste your time with these BottomWave basses,that's made in Japan !!!
George,is horrible with his customer service !!!

 

[flipper_gv]

^ignore this post. the guy has one post (this one) and it's to tell that. Sure I don't know about the customer service, the one I tried was really really nice. It was pure '70s jazz tone all the way. Kinda heavy, but very well built. Japan has some serious luthiers and deserve to be checked out. I know there are a couple of fclef users here but they are kinda rare...

 

[Mark Wilson]

I used to have the WORST gas for an Fclef, but due to circumstances, I never plan on buying one. Ever.

Regardless, i've heard that fclef basses are great. And I have PLAYED a bottomwave bass, which blew me away!

 

[west*coast*bass]

Ahhh...the ticking time bomb thread back again.

 

[Mark Wilson]

Ahhh...the ticking time bomb thread back again.

Not this time.
I've got a close eye on it.

 

[funkometer]

I saw a pic of a fclef 24 5ver somewhere......

 

[kerrycares]

i own one, i love it.
i was initially caught up in all the bad press about Japan built and George but i can tell you the bass is well built and sounds like a 70's jazz bass aka Marcus Miller.
my 5 string has an excellent B string, wide string spacing, great tone, pearl blocks on the maple neck, swamp ash body and great feel. the fingerboard is pretty flat and not my first choice as i prefer the MM5 radius but again the bass surprised me and plays like a dream. not dogging any basses but i prefer it over my other jazz basses and enjoy it as much as my Fodera.
i own it, i love it .............. forget the bad press, it's a fine instrument.
this, my Fender Classic Vibe Jazz 4 and my Ken Smith wide neck Black Tiger 5 give me everything i need..............its a fine instrument and no, i am not an endorsee....lol!

 

[KJung]

i own one, i love it.
i was initially caught up in all the bad press about Japan built and George but i can tell you the bass is well built and sounds like a 70's jazz bass aka Marcus Miller.
my 5 string has an excellent B string, wide string spacing, great tone, pearl blocks on the maple neck, swamp ash body and great feel. the fingerboard is pretty flat and not my first choice as i prefer the MM5 radius but again the bass surprised me and plays like a dream. not dogging any basses but i prefer it over my other jazz basses and enjoy it as much as my Fodera.
i own it, i love it .............. forget the bad press, it's a fine instrument.
this, my Fender Classic Vibe Jazz 4 and my Ken Smith wide neck Black Tiger 5 give me everything i need..............its a fine instrument and no, i am not an endorsee....lol!

Hey Kerry!

When did you get the FClef? Is it one of Harrington's?

I played one of Mike's not too long ago. +1 Well made, HEAVY, VERY modern and active sounding with the pre (I believe a Pope). I really liked the passive tone (I believe it had Seymour singles in it). The active tone reminded me more of my Celinder than the Alleva's... very sizzly, active and modern, which isn't quite my thing any more. It really had some zing! Nice though, and has been posted about a ton, quite similar to the Fodera NYC basses in look, feel and tone IMO.

 

[ghoulbug]

So what IS the exact difference between a Bottomwave and an Fclef? Just the headstock decal and worse customer service?

Edit: Just saw original post date.
Holy thread resurrection!...

 

[Brams77]

Hi there I had contact with the guy from Fclef a while back a bout an R-bass.
Its a very nice guy even was able to record some clips when asked so..... super service there!

Anyway about the Fclef Bottomwave and NYC Fodera thing.

The Bottom-wave basses, to me, seem very much the same only they don't offer that many variety in their models (mainly wood combos) as the Fclefs do, tho the shape, hardware and electronics seem identical, 2 band pope preamp etc. I heard some clips of these bottomwave basses on youtube, also those sounded very alike or atleast the ash/maple 70s JB type ones.
Tho funny enough also the NYC Fodera's are named in the same sentence by many on this forum... Tho I want to stress these Fclef's and Bottom-wave super jazzes sound more like really good (with really great low B's) 70s agressive style jazzes then they do like the NYC Fodera's... wich is claimed to be also crafted in japan from same factory etc...
I hate the fact there is so much vague information about it...
Anyway my NYC a 35' alder/rosewood does sounds very much like a Fodera Emperor and not much like a 70s Jazz Bass at all, eventho the shape of the neck hardware and electronics do seem the same for alot of us here.
Just wanted to let you guys know I find the NYC's and the Fclef and perhaps also the Bottomwave are not the "same" instrument just share some feature's I guess.
Tho again this discussion is being lighted so much about where they come from I don't even care about it anymore.
Just I love my NYC Fodera very dearly

 

[kerrycares]

my bass is 34" and the preamp i believe is a Nordstand (sp). maple neck natural finish w/white pearloid pickguard i use it passive or active. to me passive basses sound better because of the string -to-string sound balance . the active sound on this bass is great for me a Marcus/70's jazz slap tone. the sizzle can be controlled by dialing back the active treble and adding a smidget of passive tone control. heavy..............well i never weighed and since i'm 6 ft 233 lbs its relative. i sold my Pavel(s) and kept my Ken Smith BT Black Tiger Wide 5 to cover all of my electric playing situations. in the ultimate search for tone, playability and looks.........i'm very hapy with the Fclef.

 

[thepontif]

I designed and built the first couple hundred of those circuits for them. There are definitely many out there with my preamp. I don't know what they're using now. I've seen it. Doesn't look like much. Seems to work OK, though.

 

[kerrycares]

I've used Mike Pope preamps in my Fodera and Fender MM5 basses and they have a smoother high end than alot of other preamps that tend to sound a bit too "shiny" for my ears.
Spoke to Mike yesterday..........................my Pope preamp is coming monday.......................

 

[ctufankjian]

i've tried his stuff too midrangy..i like my sound natural straight from the pickups nothing in between..i guess it can work if you're playing in a club or something.I play at church and we go direct to the board and the sound man can't stand to tweak preamps on his signal coming in.I had a fodera at one point and the guys liked the tone but when i would switch the preamp on, the sound guy was like "turn that thing off", man!"You dont need that.It's overkill"..It made me reassess how I approach onboard preamps and how people depend on them these days.We've become too reliant on them.My 2 cents...Anyhow enjoy your new pre!!

This is possibly out of line and even more off topic, but... The Pope preamps have a trim pot that I've noticed comes out of the shop often cranked. If you turn the trim down, it will bring the Pre back down to a reasonable level.

 

[kerrycares]

i play at church as well...........i've used the Radial Tone Bone, Presonus Studio Channel and now using the SWR M2 bass preamp. i'll be trying the Mike Pope single channel preamp as well. my signal goes to the board direct from the Marcus Miller M2 then a get my own studio feed mixback through an Inear Mixer system that then goes to a DBX graphic EQ then a 400 watt Behringer 1x15" monitor and i control the mix of bass,guitar,keys and vocals. since im going through a preamp it doesn't matter if my bass is active or passive...i've used both.......... wish it were easier to find the perfect tone...........but where would the fun be in that .......lol......

 

[richrod]

Please,don't waste your time with these BottomWave basses,that's made in Japan !!!
George,is horrible with his customer service !!!

I couldn't agree with you more bassman. It is a great bass, if you can ever get your hands on one, but horrible customer service. I think I emailed Frank and George so many times it isn't even funny. Then I was on the phone with George for almost an hour trying to setup a time frame to get my bass and then George tells me about a week ago today that he would call me the next day to give me dollar amount and time frame and here I sit and still wait for his call. I won't hold my breath! I'm still waiting for Frank to email me from two weeks ago . Oh well their loss... got me a brand New Sadowsky while waiting...very happy now!

 

[bassboi]

HMM... @ Kerry, where is this bass now???