Earlier this year, I pulled the trigger on ordering a custom Ulrich BassDesign Retro 57. I liked the sound clips I heard online, and went with the old school 50s style pickup (they can also be made with split P, Jazz, and MM from what I've seen). It arrived yesterday and after doing the controversial "let it sit for 24h", I unboxed it today. I'm very pleased.
He worked with me on the specs to get what I wanted. Full specs at the end.
Part of the inspiration was seeing he could do fabric on the control pl;ate. I wanted a very specific piece of fabric (Ralph Lauren Blackwatch Flannel Twilight). Florian then did an amazing job matching the blue for the body (and matched headstock) to the blue in the fabric. I prefer gloss everywhere (including the neck) which was also unusual about the build. All of the Gotoh hardware is matching in their Cosmo Black color including the single concentric stacked volume/tone knob.
The mandolin fret idea didn't come from Lee Sklar. I used to own a Rob Allen Solid 4 which had them and wanted another bass with 'em. My other fretted basses have "normal" size frets.
The bass is super light (have not properly weighed it, but I would guess it is around 6lbs (or even less).
I decided to have Florian put the Rotosound SH77 set on which is essentially the RS77LE with different silks. All of my basses are at least .50 - .110. Some are thicker. These strings seem smoother than the regular RS77LE set, but feel decent. Strings are easy to change.
I played it through my rig for a few minutes after unboxing and it sounds great. It's a different voice than any of my others. It seems pretty balanced from the lows to the highs. Doesn't seem like the setup needs tweaking which is nice.
He shipped to to me via UPS. There were no issues. I know there are rumblings with UPS and brokerage fees. Everything was reasonable and the overall amount was less than I thought it would be. UPS' part was $15; the rest was what Uncle Sam wanted. Once UPS got the missing bit of info from me they needed (Florian filled out the paperwork perfectly and arguably expedited the process - it cleared customs with flying colors), it was in my hands quickly. Shipped on a Monday, I got it Wednesday. It would have been Tuesday if UPS allowed me to get them that one bit of info sooner. My advice if you're importing a bass: talk to the vendor to get a sense if they know what they are doing. Wrong paperwork makes the process difficult. If you buy from Florian, know it should sail through customs.
The first picture is the one I took today. The others Florian sent to me last week. The color is really a darker blue. Florian's pics make it seem like it's lighter; it's not.
Full specs:
My high action (and thick strings)
Matching headstock
The back of the body
Closer shot of the body
Closer shot of the control plate with the stacked volume/tone knob and the Ralph Lauren fabric
He worked with me on the specs to get what I wanted. Full specs at the end.
Part of the inspiration was seeing he could do fabric on the control pl;ate. I wanted a very specific piece of fabric (Ralph Lauren Blackwatch Flannel Twilight). Florian then did an amazing job matching the blue for the body (and matched headstock) to the blue in the fabric. I prefer gloss everywhere (including the neck) which was also unusual about the build. All of the Gotoh hardware is matching in their Cosmo Black color including the single concentric stacked volume/tone knob.
The mandolin fret idea didn't come from Lee Sklar. I used to own a Rob Allen Solid 4 which had them and wanted another bass with 'em. My other fretted basses have "normal" size frets.
The bass is super light (have not properly weighed it, but I would guess it is around 6lbs (or even less).
I decided to have Florian put the Rotosound SH77 set on which is essentially the RS77LE with different silks. All of my basses are at least .50 - .110. Some are thicker. These strings seem smoother than the regular RS77LE set, but feel decent. Strings are easy to change.
I played it through my rig for a few minutes after unboxing and it sounds great. It's a different voice than any of my others. It seems pretty balanced from the lows to the highs. Doesn't seem like the setup needs tweaking which is nice.
He shipped to to me via UPS. There were no issues. I know there are rumblings with UPS and brokerage fees. Everything was reasonable and the overall amount was less than I thought it would be. UPS' part was $15; the rest was what Uncle Sam wanted. Once UPS got the missing bit of info from me they needed (Florian filled out the paperwork perfectly and arguably expedited the process - it cleared customs with flying colors), it was in my hands quickly. Shipped on a Monday, I got it Wednesday. It would have been Tuesday if UPS allowed me to get them that one bit of info sooner. My advice if you're importing a bass: talk to the vendor to get a sense if they know what they are doing. Wrong paperwork makes the process difficult. If you buy from Florian, know it should sail through customs.
The first picture is the one I took today. The others Florian sent to me last week. The color is really a darker blue. Florian's pics make it seem like it's lighter; it's not.
Full specs:
- Scale: 34‘‘
- Body: Sandwich 2-piece mahogany top with maple tone block and 2-piece spruce bottom
- Neck: bolt on 20 fret maple with changed angle and neck pocket depth for my high action; 7.25 - 9.5" compound radius, mandolin frets
- Neck thickness: 22-25mm
- Dots: black side dots only (nothing on the fretboard)
- Nut: brass 40mm standard, but wider string spacing (to make it feel more like a 1 5/8 P neck)
- Truss rod: dual-action
- Pickup: Häeussel P-Bass Old Style (passive)
- Hardware (tuners, bridge, stacked volume/tone knob): Gotoh in Cosmo Black
- Body and matching headstock finish: dark blue high gloss
- Neck finish: high gloss
My high action (and thick strings)
Matching headstock
The back of the body
Closer shot of the body
Closer shot of the control plate with the stacked volume/tone knob and the Ralph Lauren fabric
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how unique --- congratulations on your new instrument! 
