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JUST ORDERED A SEI 7 !!

#181
Hi 7string

I have to admit that I too can't believe that Jon Shuker can build to the same quality as my Sei basses, especially in the build times he quotes. But having never played a Shuker I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. He does run guitar making courses and the likes and I reckon he does know his stuff.

Here's a question, how many basses will a luthier have on the go at any one time ? I have no idea, but I guess a dozen at most. One a week then, for Mr Shuker or 40-50 hours per bass build. That sounds reasonable to me !

In terms of components, Martin uses stock products (although he can get custom-made parts if necessary) so I can't see any reason why tonally the Shuker's will sound different. Again, Jon Shuker can get custom pickup winds etc. from the same sources as The Bass Gallery.

I've spoken to Jon Shuker about getting a custom Fodera Emporer style bass and he is very happy to build this as a one off shape, with any choice of woods. He says it'll take bit longer as he'd have to make some templates from scratch. Burl maple tops front & back, bolt-on neck with aero pickups and wood covers, 3 band EQ, custom inlays etc. for £1400'ish. That's an amazing price, and probably £1000 less than Martin would charge.

I've owned 4 (well 3 as the 4th's on the way) Sei basses, Martin's built 3 of them as custom orders and all i'm saying is IMHO the customer service is getting worse. And, from the last couple of comments i'm not the only one.

More than £2K on a custom-build bass and a 10 month wait. If it was me, I would be asking Alex to keep the clients updated maybe once a month. Heck, he can only have at most a dozen basses on the go at any one time. Half-an-hours time a month to take a couple of digi photo's and email a quick update to those that have asked for it.

Again, just my thoughts.
I still love the basses though, so where do I sign up ?

S
 
#182
Interesting recent postings. Each bass luthier has their own way of working, which we buy into when we order a bass from them. Martin’s way is to build only a modest number of fully bespoke basses each year, with no apparent interest in producing basses on a bigger or quicker scale (size of his operation has changed little in the 12+ years I have known him). It does lead to longer lead times than for some other luthiers, but he did carefully warn me about the lead time before I placed the order.

Martin’s way also is not to take progress pictures until the bass is almost complete (anticipation can be a good thing…:eyebrow: ), but he does encourage customers to visit whenever / if they can.

Regarding the build quality, I will be able to comment soon when my new Sei is completed (my other Sei was built 12 years ago by Martin / Chris). It seems to me that there has been a significant increase in the number of top class specialist bass luthiers over the last few years (especially compared to 12 years ago)…is it just the competition finally catching up a bit??

As for the mix-up regarding 7 Strings bass, Alex very much focuses on running the shop whilst Martin concentrates on the bass making / repairs. It is a bit of a bummer, but nobody is perfect so lets not be too hard…7 String doesn’t seem to be and its HIS bass. I find a quick telephone call to Martin himself is the best method of getting the current position. He is available most times I have tried.
 
#183
Well... my short experience with Sei has left me anything but satisfied. I've thought of making a thread about all the details, but haven't so far... I think that Sei owners/fans might get defendive and I don't want to be part of a mess like that at the moment. Still, I think that the fact that you get more or less only raving reviews on them here is somewhat misleading, so I will probably make that thread one day... not yet though, so don't ask.

But I'll tell you what, having talked to customers of both, plus having played some sei basses and having had an extensive talk with Martin about the possibility of have one built for me, if I went with one of the two right now it would definitely be Shuker. No brainer actually.
 
#184
Dragonlord said:
Well... my short experience with Sei has left me anything but satisfied. I've thought of making a thread about all the details, but haven't so far... I think that Sei owners/fans might get defendive and I don't want to be part of a mess like that at the moment. Still, I think that the fact that you get more or less only raving reviews on them here is somewhat misleading, so I will probably make that thread one day... not yet though, so don't ask.

But I'll tell you what, having talked to customers of both, plus having played some sei basses and having had an extensive talk with Martin about the possibility of have one built for me, if I went with one of the two right now it would definitely be Shuker. No brainer actually.
Click to expand...

I think the customer service thing is fairly subjective, and does kinda rely on you knowing Martin and Alex fairly well in order to interpret what they say. :D

I've known Martin now for close to 14 years, and I respect the fact that he really knows his stuff and knows how to achieve what his customers ask him for. One thing he doesn't generally deal with well is situations where customers already have a very specific idea of what they want and where he doesn't get to provide his input. He'd rather hear what requirements a player has, such as type of sound they're after, what kind of music they play, as well as such things as scale length, body style, etc, and then help them fill in the blanks with suggestions for wood choices, pickups, and so on. I think it makes it more satisfying for him as a builder who puts months of his life into each instrument.

Also, in recent years, he does limit himself to building instruments to the established Sei designs, rather than doing instruments with more bespoke features (different body shapes, etc) - he used to do more of that kind of thing when Chris McIntyre was working with him, as he let Chris take care of most of those kinds of orders. (You could always look up Chris, he's still building instruments - www.mcintyreguitars.com )

One thing I will say though is, despite any issues with customer service that people may have had (I have had a couple myself over the years), I have never played a bad Sei. Some haven't been to my taste tonally, or in terms of feel, but I've never come across a bad one. :)
 
#185
I can't argue with Rusty in that every Sei i've played has been a great built bass, each with it's own character and nuances. That's why over the past few years I've owned a few Sei basses and had had Martin build me 3 custom Jazz basses, the 3rd's almost done.

I've had these 3 Sei Jazz basses built in the last 3 years (maybe 4 years) and this last one has taken the longest, by about 3 months and it's the build I've had the least communication with Martin too. As an example, my bass is at the finishers right now. We haven't agreed on pickups yet but I'd have hoped Martin might have called me to discuss this before the bass was back. He did with the first two basses, but not this one.

If his operation hasn't changed much in the last 12+ years then he's certainly taking on more work because his build times have slipped by about 4 months in the last 2-3 years. My first bass was 6-7 months wait.

It may be that i'm just having a "standard" vintage Jazz bass this time, and he's bored with this design but if i'm paying the money then I expect to feel special. I did feel special with the first 2 bass builds, but not with this one and chances are he's lost a loyal customer because of it. Something I thought I would never say.

Again, IMHO I think a custom bass build should be about the whole build experience and not just the final product. I'd be very interested to hear Dragonlord's story, as I always thinks it helps get fair, and unbiased comments from other people before making a decision.

S
 
#186
Yup, it would be great if we got a call once a month to say how things were going. In customer service it's known as making the customer feel loved.. and the lack of communication doesn't make us feel that wanted at the moment. Regardless, of the level of progress it would be good to receive that call.

I have to say as well, that most of the time I have called in, Martin has been available and my questions are answered in about 5-10 minutes or so. As I've said before, I'm just conscious, probably overly so, of taking Martin away from his work.

When I first got in contact with them to build my bass, I was told 10 months or so. I knew from the contact with other S.O.C. members that this is kinda the norm and I was perfectly happy to wait that long. If my bass is ready in early March that's only a couple of weeks late. Taking into account the veneer problem earlier in the build and the problems the finishers are having at the moment that's not too bad.

I agree with Rusty that Martin likes to keep to his designs. Personally speaking, I absolutely adore the Sei shape. However, if I was brighter than I am and could design a bass and just needed someone to make sure it was buildable (is that a word ??) and then go ahead and build it, I wouldn't go to Martin. In my opinion, as with many other builders, you go to him for his design and then spec it out from there.

From the many threads I have read about Jon Shuker's work, he welcomes this sort of order and on all the threads I have read there is not one unhappy owner (or if there are they haven't posted !!). Some have taken their basses to local guys for some more set-up work, but none have been displeased with their purchase.

It's amazing the difference that just 1 call a month would make. After all we're not talking about the quality of the bass or of the prices or the timescale, but just a little more communication during the build. I have looked at many, many basses over the years but when the time came to choose one and put my cash on the table it had to be a Sei. I hope that the service improves to match the standard of the work which emerges from the shop.
 
#187
i went to the shop today, it was about 11:00 and the boys where hard at work already, so anyway it turns out that the bass load pretty much doubled after Matt took delivery of his fretted 7, so i guess this is all his fault :)


Dave
 
#191
I have to admit that it never occurred to me that Martin could send out a monthly e-mail update (funny how these stupidly simple ideas are so easily missed...:rollno:). Has anyone suggested this to Martin? I will see him probably late next week, so I will raise it with him then.

I also saw Martin yesterday and spoke to him about progress pictures. He understandably is very keen to ensure people see his work looking at its best and therefore prefers to take photos when his basses are ready to go the finishers. He remains really quite concerned about having seen other luthiers progress pictures appearing on forums like this one and attracting silly negative comments (e.g. rough sawn necks, rough sanding burn marks etc). Customers able to visit his workshop are obviously invited to do so during the build (very tough for those that can’t) and he has been fine about me taking progress photos of my new bass. However, he has specifically asked me not to share them until the construction has progressed further (sorry….but please do ask to see it if you are interested).
 
#193
The e-mail update would be a good idea. Could be either updating all the basses which are being made at the moment, which would be very interesting, or just sent one to each customer.

I can quite understand Martin's reservation about sending out pics of half-finished instruments. Someone always mistakes them for the completed article....
 
#195
fretless Bob said:
i went to the shop today, it was about 11:00 and the boys where hard at work already, so anyway it turns out that the bass load pretty much doubled after Matt took delivery of his fretted 7, so i guess this is all his fault :)


Dave
Click to expand...


Damm If I knew my bass would be that influential then I would have aked for an endorsment deal or commission. ;)

I didn't which just proves I will never be a successful business man or a millionaire :D

Regards

Matthew
 
#196
It could have been a signature bass, you could have got centrefold in every bass magazine. After a night on the town you would be photographed with a model coming out of Stringfellows ..... you'd have been the 'bad boy of bass' and interviewed on Trisha or Richard and Judy ....

Reality TV would have followed :rollno:

........on second thoughts maybe it was for the best....:hmm:


On a more serious note, it was Matthew's bass that really made me get my order together. Just the elegance of the Sei design with the simplicity of the electronics.....in essence what I was going to order anyway. I just don't use all the onboard eq stuff !! Saying that, I asked Martin to rout for a preamp just in case I need it.

It just made a difference seeing such a bass already made...

Matthew, can you tell me how you're getting on with the single pickup and do you see yourself asking Martin for some goodies from the preamp drawer..??
 
#197
7 String

:D Bring on the leggy blondes!:hyper:

The Kent [Aaron] Armstrong humbucker is working very well indeed. I am still fully coming to terms with it as I am still exploring my tecnique, especially the right hand but am learning new tones all the time. This has meant improved technique instead of relying on electronics.

The coil tap to give me the single coil has also worked really well. At first I was not sure there was a great deal of difference but now it is clear to my ears which is which. Subtle but obvious if that makes sense.

As you know I do not have an internal pre-amp, but I do not miss it one bit. My only reservation is wether I put a line boost between the pickup and jack to give a hotter signal to the amp. Martin did suggest this during the build but I wanted to try it without first. I am not 100% sure I will go with the line boost but it is looking more likely. However no decisions on that for a few more months until I am really sure.

All in all no regrets on the one pickup and no preamp or controls design.

Regards

Matthew
 
#198
It goes to show that we don't have to have a 'flight deck' of controls on the bass !!

Coil tapping is a real neat way of getting a different sound from a humbucker and the way yours is installed, with that sneaky little switch leaves the face of the bass clean...

I'm thankful that you've been so helpful on my Sei. With another bass being built which has the same number of strings and similar electronics (inc. that little coil tap switch), some people may have been very protective over what could be seen as "their ideas in their bass"...

Hopefully though, that there are enough differences (woods, volume control and xlr jack) so that one is not a clone of the other.
 
#199
Well to pass the time waiting for the Sei to be ready, I started another little project.

Since I was lucky enough to attend a Residential School with the Open University last summer, I've had a hankering for a double bass. I really got the bug being thrown in at the deep end playing db in the orchestra (with only 90 minutes notice) and then playing with the guitar group which ended in a big jam in the bar !!

So I sold my Roland electronic drum kit and bought a Zeller double bass from the not-very orginally-titled Glasgow Violin Shop www.theviolinshop-glasgow.co.uk

A full run down of the db and some pics can be found in the Basses part of the Double Bass section of this very site !!

That should make the waiting for the Sei a little easier !!
 
#200
A small update for the thread...

Phoned the Sei guys today as previously scheduled. News from Alex is that my bass is due back from the finishers tomorrow.:D

Unfortunately, Martin is going on holiday for 10 days from Thursday, so can't complete it until he gets back. But, hey, I'm not going to grudge him some downtime !!

I've got to call him again in 2 weeks time, when he's back from his hols. Hopefully then, I can get a collection date.

As I've said before, Martin did warn me back in December that things are out of his hands when the bass goes to the finishers. I've also been made aware that the finishing guys had a simply awful Christmas/New Year period and that threw the schedule off completely.

So how do I feel at the moment. Well, a little deflated, it's a bit "so close and yet so far" !! However, I was warned of the potential problems and the standard of finishing that Martin requires does take time. No way would I want my bass to be sub-standard just for the sake of a couple of weeks. Come to think of it, I'm sure that Martin wouldn't want it to be that way either. This bass is an instrument which I will always keep, so a bit more of a delay in the grand scheme of things doesn't really matter !!

From the last time that Dave (Fretless Bob) was kind enough to ask about the bass, Martin was very upbeat about getting the bass back and completing the build.

Luckily, there's nothing too elaborate about the rest of the project, so when Martin does eventually get his paws on the bass again progress should be good. :bassist:
 

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