Thank you for setting the record straight on this. Much appreciated. Good to know that they were never endorsed so I should think of this as a separate brand all together.
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Kubicki X Factor on SBL
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
Thank you for setting the record straight on this. Much appreciated. Good to know that they were never endorsed so I should think of this as a separate brand all together.
My understanding is that Phil wanted them all burned. That's how strongly he felt about them.
I had one in the early 90s made by Phil in CA. I love the drop D, but I did not love the sound. I’d love one now with a 30” scale and turner multi coils and a filter based preamp. Maybe even 2 or 3, including a fretless.
If you click on the Store drop down, it shows only the Ex-Factor. I think the others shown are for historical information.They're still on the website. Did you email/call them?
The big difference in how many laminations they use (or at least used - I had a Fender era Ex-Factor for my main bass for about 10 years).
Each lamination was about 1/8" thick each, so IIRC there's 25 or 26 pieces in there - versus a 7 to 9 piece laminated neck for an Alembic or Pedulla. The nice thing about it was that because of those laminations, those necks were the most stable necks I've ever played, with none of the coldness that I felt with trying Modulus, Status, and Steinberger basses.
I'm in the process of ordering one at the moment. It's gonna be about $5800 plus insured shipping for one with basic color.
Oof. They're amazing (and really, this was the best bass I've had - ever) but dang, that's a lot.
But every one is meticulously hand-built all the way. There is no production line.
That’s rough, I’ll steer clear then. I was hoping they would be a close approximation. Seemed to be, visually at least.
They sure as hell look like originals on the website, same laminate neck, same electronics, same hardware. $5800 is not in my budget, unfortunately.
The couple that I saw on Reverb looked very close until looking more closely at the preamp, and then the real giveaway is the neck. It is obviously a standard maple neck, and not the multi-laminated neck that Kubicki makes.
Now they are. Back in the Fender days (when mine was built) there was some sort things that weren’t done that way - the preamps were PCB/flow soldered, for example, not sure if the new ones are or not but mine had a cold solder joint in it. Ended up buying a replacement - from Phil himself - and he offered to do a refresh of it.
And THAT’S what made it my favorite bass for ages. Only reason I traded it was I was up to do a tour but I needed a “good 5 string” instead of the Yamaha RBX I had.
Quality sounding basses right up there in Steinberger L2 territory IMO - though a little more 'modern' sounding (if there is such a thing).
D
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,582
- 221,924
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
The extended "hs" curves the opposite direction which other than the body printed name (in the same font~) and solid maple neck sets it apart visually. I'm not sure if the electronics are similar/the same.
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- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,582
- 221,924
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
This a la naturale Ex-Factor (pic from the fb The Kubicki Factor page) is beyond awesome - if I could justify affording a custom order Kubicki...
Does this guy look like a dad, and if he is what exactly is the rub?
Does this guy look like a dad, and if he is what exactly is the rub?
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Its the way they did it. Yes laminates have been around. But Phil used like around 22-24 laminates. I just looked at the new build specs, and they are using 34 laminates.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,582
- 221,924
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
No transcribing on the fly. F is still at the same place with the addition of 2 extra frets. Open string becomes D. As a four string it's not missing any frets.
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