NBD: Clement #346

[GODSBASSMAN]

OK. Time to put in my WOW what a bass. Congratulations and nice job both you and Tom for a gorgeous looking bass. It is quite the journey to design, build and play the Clement basses. You are happy with it I am sure of that. I wish only that I had not sold off the 1rst 2 Clements we built 122 and 196. Live and learn. Still have 256 and 327 in the stables though. Play on.

 

[GODSBASSMAN]

5stringpocket.
Buy them all. One fretless, one fretted, an active one and one piezo. Enough for roundwound and flatwound strings. A 4, 5 & 6 string. :O)
Redwood would be my choice.

 

[gumbynotpokey]

OK. Time to put in my WOW what a bass. Congratulations and nice job both you and Tom for a gorgeous looking bass. It is quite the journey to design, build and play the Clement basses. You are happy with it I am sure of that. I wish only that I had not sold off the 1rst 2 Clements we built 122 and 196. Live and learn. Still have 256 and 327 in the stables though. Play on.

Thanks so much for your kind words. Yes, it was a team effort to be sure - but we all know who did most of the work.

As I was looking over his top woods (for a year and a half, looking for THE ONE), on a certain day I saw you-know-what and it was "That's it!". From there I quickly started envisioning a completed build, based on that top. It didn't take long. For those that don't know, Tom is great about going back and forth in email with choices, helping to clarify this and that, etc. Ultimately, the decisions were mine, but he's got it goin' on, if you know what I mean. One thing I decided to trust him on 100% was hardware color. I knew that he'd know best - being best able to predict the final look, and that decision I gave to him.

Builds, tastes, looks, tones - all subjective. Not every maker is for every person. But for me? "Thanks again, Tom. Splendid work."

 

[gumbynotpokey]

Well I've been gigging this bass fairly regularly for a while, and prior had it worked into the steady rotation. Today was my first outdoor gig with it, so I figured I'd do a brief report. First off, I'll say the Carvin split pu is monstrous thing. It's so fully present with tons of output and all kinds of variability with volume and tone knob changes (this is a passive bass), not to mention those available with varying right and left hand positions and technique. What a great pu for my ears. Thud? All day. P bark and bite? OH YEAH and then some.

What about the Clement itself, gigging outdoors?

Well, friends, this thing is amazing. Our church music team is a small endeavor from a small congregation so we don't rotate. We do 3 services a week plus a practice all year-round. 5 Saturdays each summer we play out in the middle of downtown. Today was day 1 for this year outdoors. 2 hours of old camp meeting stuff, R&B sounding stuff, up-tempo stuff with rock and funk elements, almost country sounding stuff, old/slow southern gospel, 2-beat hoe-down sounding stuff at a good quick clip, straight rock and hard rock....and we improv a lot into whatever style/free-form whatever-stuff.

Verdict on the Clement? THIS BASS IS SIIIIIIIIIIIIICK.

Ok, an Ipe fingerboard (yes, the wood is called "Ipe") is beyond brick-hard. Rounds on this thing. I can get tons and tons of killer mwah, and back it all the way off into a very gentle thud. The bass is nice and light. Very responsive. I love the neck carve. Flawless fit and finish. Workhorse YES and a real looker, too. This thing is profoundly gig-worthy. Solid as a rock. Everything about it is super-solid and right-on-the-money.

Tom has built an incredibly beautiful instrument - that much we all know from his track record and from looking at pics of this specific bass. But I'm telling you all that the workmanship and stability of this machine is equal to any gig requirement.

If you need to play outdoors during a hurricane or gale with 12" of water falling every hour, then I guess play a metal washtub bass with a rope and broomstick - or a thick, braided nylon tow rope (in place of a cloth rope for the string due to the rain). Barring that scenario, or an antarctic cruise where you play on-deck at -60F, the Clement is a serious gig-worthy rock of great performing gear that is all a bass should be, yielding confidence due to forgetting you're playing an artistic masterpiece that might shatter like glass due to being so great looking. Great looking it is. And a gig-worthy incredibly well-built rock of a bass it is as well.

Radius, board, carve, arm cut, positions, position on the strap, balance, ....i can go on and on. It's all there and then some.

THANKS ONCE AGAIN, TOM. This is a SPLENDID bass.

 

[tjclem]

Thanks man quite a review. Very happy you like it.

 

[jim777]

Awesome, congrats!

 

[the harp unstrung]

Your new Bass is one of the most beautiful freakin' things I've ever seen in my life...and I've been to a lot of baseball stadiums!
Jesus On A Bicycle!

 

[gumbynotpokey]

Your new Bass is one of the most beautiful freakin' things I've ever seen in my life...and I've been to a lot of baseball stadiums!
Jesus On A Bicycle!

Ha! Thanks!

Yeah, man, Tom does some great work, that's for sure.

 

[Immigrant]

Congrats on the absolutely beautiful bass!

I didn't see it until I got to the build progress photos, but the figuring of the top before the pup route looks exactly like two glorps kissing.

 

[tjclem]

Glorp?

 

[gumbynotpokey]

Glorp?

yeah, i was wondering too....urban dictionary wasn't even particularly helpful...

 

[mel0dic.bassist]

I by no means hate exotic wooded basses, I like to look at 'em, but I'd never own one (just not my thing!), but this is killer! Simple, yet elegant, and PASSIVE! I've come to the conclusion over the past few years that I just don't like active basses. I can never dial them in to make them sound how I want them to (with the exception of a Stingray). Passive P + exotic woods = win.

There are definitely NOT enough exotics with passive electronics and P-style pickups. I can only imagine what an exotic/fretless/P-style would sound like.

Congrats! Enjoy!

 

[gumbynotpokey]

I by no means hate exotic wooded basses, I like to look at 'em, but I'd never own one (just not my thing!), but this is killer! Simple, yet elegant, and PASSIVE! I've come to the conclusion over the past few years that I just don't like active basses. I can never dial them in to make them sound how I want them to (with the exception of a Stingray). Passive P + exotic woods = win.

There are definitely NOT enough exotics with passive electronics and P-style pickups. I can only imagine what an exotic/fretless/P-style would sound like.

Congrats! Enjoy!

Thanks so much for posting that!

We all have our own ears, and hands, and tastes and that's as it should be. Over my decades of bass playing, I've changed some preferences and others have only remained and in fact become more solid. My first serious bass was a Cort copy of a P. It sounded amazing to my ears. Many years later, I got back into playing - as a real adult, and went for Carvin - a great combo of quality/options/price, etc. I got a fretted in all black gloss with active 18v, 3 band EQ with a J/MM setup and piezos in the saddles, etc etc. Later, I added an active fretless (my avatar pic) version of that bass J/J.

My ears longed for the P pickup. My ears longed for that sound in passive. My hands longed for both a bare wood board, and a bare wood body. I decided turning 50 was the reason to go ahead and follow my ears and hands. So, a year early, I started watching Tom's website of available top woods. Daily. I knew my eyes would tell me. And....

BANG. There it was. THE top.

Then, Tom and I planned a bass around that top.

I wanted rounds on a bare wood board, with a passive split pu, and all the available string clack I wanted, IF/WHEN I wanted it.

Anyway, I'm rambling. We on here all love bass in our own ways. I'll just say this - your post sort of hits the nail on the head for me, including fancy tops. I knew I wanted to treat myself, but it had to be THE ONE. I didn't even get an image in my mind of what it would/should be. I let my eyes tell me.

And dude, this bass sounds simply amazing. Really. (To my ears, not to mention the neck profile, by the way).

OK RANT DONE. Thanks again for posting, bro.

 

[mel0dic.bassist]

Haha, no problem!

Like you, my first (which I still have) is a variation of a Precision (Squier Standard P-Bass Special). Precision body, jazz neck, P/J setup, passive. I love it. I've owned it since the year it was made (1999). I'm only 30 years old in a few months, but it sounds like you and I have very similar tastes/ideas in regards to tone/basses!

To put it into perspective, I've sold my EBMM and G&L L2000, and use a Danelectro as my main bass. I still have the aforementioned Squier, but it does need a bit of work as it's been damaged over the years of playing in bands when I was younger. It's still playable, but it's uncomfortable, ya know?

I used to think that I needed a wide nut and fat neck to play better, because I was being limited by the cramped feeling of the narrow nut width. I've come to the conclusion (after almots 20 years of playing, learning, reading, and understanding how everything comes together to make an instrument what it is) that a Jazz (1.5") nut width is what my hands prefer (with the exception of acoustic guitars, they NEED to be wide). So narrow nut with a thick profile. It's taken me a lot of years and thousands of dollars to realise this, and I keep coming back to basses that I've paid less than $200 for, over instruments that cost 10x as much.

I've also come to another conclusion that it has to be either a P, J, or P/J combo for me. The only active/humbucker setup I like is anything EBMM (I know I said I sold mine, but it just wasn't doing it for me, plus the neck was twisted.)

Anyways, I've never owned, or really even played fretless apart from picking the odd one up to try my luck, but it's something that just doesn't fit for how I play. I also love the feeling of bare wood in how you describe it. I know that feeling of "you just know" when you feel, hear, see something, so I can relate on that level. I still don't think I'd ever go anything further than flamed/birdseye for a top, but I'm still looking at yours in awe!

Now I'm the one ranting, haha! Congrats again, and rock that thing like it owes you child support!

Thanks so much for posting that!

We all have our own ears, and hands, and tastes and that's as it should be. Over my decades of bass playing, I've changed some preferences and others have only remained and in fact become more solid. My first serious bass was a Cort copy of a P. It sounded amazing to my ears. Many years later, I got back into playing - as a real adult, and went for Carvin - a great combo of quality/options/price, etc. I got a fretted in all black gloss with active 18v, 3 band EQ with a J/MM setup and piezos in the saddles, etc etc. Later, I added an active fretless (my avatar pic) version of that bass J/J.

My ears longed for the P pickup. My ears longed for that sound in passive. My hands longed for both a bare wood board, and a bare wood body. I decided turning 50 was the reason to go ahead and follow my ears and hands. So, a year early, I started watching Tom's website of available top woods. Daily. I knew my eyes would tell me. And....

BANG. There it was. THE top.

Then, Tom and I planned a bass around that top.

I wanted rounds on a bare wood board, with a passive split pu, and all the available string clack I wanted, IF/WHEN I wanted it.

Anyway, I'm rambling. We on here all love bass in our own ways. I'll just say this - your post sort of hits the nail on the head for me, including fancy tops. I knew I wanted to treat myself, but it had to be THE ONE. I didn't even get an image in my mind of what it would/should be. I let my eyes tell me.

And dude, this bass sounds simply amazing. Really. (To my ears, not to mention the neck profile, by the way).

OK RANT DONE. Thanks again for posting, bro.

 

[gumbynotpokey]

Haha, no problem!

Like you, my first (which I still have) is a variation of a Precision (Squier Standard P-Bass Special). Precision body, jazz neck, P/J setup, passive. I love it. I've owned it since the year it was made (1999). I'm only 30 years old in a few months, but it sounds like you and I have very similar tastes/ideas in regards to tone/basses!

To put it into perspective, I've sold my EBMM and G&L L2000, and use a Danelectro as my main bass. I still have the aforementioned Squier, but it does need a bit of work as it's been damaged over the years of playing in bands when I was younger. It's still playable, but it's uncomfortable, ya know?

I used to think that I needed a wide nut and fat neck to play better, because I was being limited by the cramped feeling of the narrow nut width. I've come to the conclusion (after almots 20 years of playing, learning, reading, and understanding how everything comes together to make an instrument what it is) that a Jazz (1.5") nut width is what my hands prefer (with the exception of acoustic guitars, they NEED to be wide). So narrow nut with a thick profile. It's taken me a lot of years and thousands of dollars to realise this, and I keep coming back to basses that I've paid less than $200 for, over instruments that cost 10x as much.

I've also come to another conclusion that it has to be either a P, J, or P/J combo for me. The only active/humbucker setup I like is anything EBMM (I know I said I sold mine, but it just wasn't doing it for me, plus the neck was twisted.)

Anyways, I've never owned, or really even played fretless apart from picking the odd one up to try my luck, but it's something that just doesn't fit for how I play. I also love the feeling of bare wood in how you describe it. I know that feeling of "you just know" when you feel, hear, see something, so I can relate on that level. I still don't think I'd ever go anything further than flamed/birdseye for a top, but I'm still looking at yours in awe!

Now I'm the one ranting, haha! Congrats again, and rock that thing like it owes you child support!

Yes, sir, to the very similar thing. I know I risk seeming poserish or fanboyish here on the mean streets of TB with yet ONE MORE quote/reply but I dredge on regardless.

So, it turns out for me, I had zero interest in fretless for ever and ever. There are sounds that are the reason I play bass, and fretless is not that. Until later. My ears finally heard it and "got it" all in a moment. THEN, as a life-long learner, since my ears told me I liked it, I read/investigated/listened to a million clips, and even did the horrid google of "fretless bass examples popular songs" etc etc. I'll just say this -- THEN I got bit by the Bill Evans Trio and a bunch of other jazz. I already had discovered hard rock with fretless, and heard a bunch of great rock players playing fretless - jazz didn't sell me, it just extended it for me.

My point is this: I got into fretless because my ears told me to. I did not go looking. I followed what my ears had to say, like with playing per se.

Now, put it all together - fretless/bare wood board/oiled body/split pu/passive? HECK YEAH!