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Drake Custom Bass - The Club

peterpalmieri

peterpalmieri

Supporting Member
Apr 19, 2005
7,887
5,603
Babylon, NY
#1
This bass is now enroute, Andrew Drake is an unbelievable custom bass builder. I specifically use the word custom and not boutique as Andrew Drake truly makes every detail to the customers spec., there is no multiple choice check list. For someone who knows what they want and are looking for someone who can deliver for a reasonable cost and within a reasonabled time frame Andrew is worth looking into. I am so thankful that this is the second bass he has built for me

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34" Scale
quarter sawn tempered maple neck
1 Piece chamber Mahogany body
Holly Top
Ebony Fingerboard
Aguilar DCB pickups

Here are the finished pictures! I will go back and add additional posts that layout the design and build process...

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#3
WorktheWood said:
That looks fantastic! That is a very nice shape.
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Yes thank you. Unlike the bass in my profile picture this is somewhat of a standard shape Andrew uses, he calls it a DC Model 7. The proportions were modified as this I believe is the first one to be done in a 6 string. A picture below is that body shape in a 4 string, personally I think it looks better as a 6. One of the reasons I chose that body style was to have sufficient room for a chamber on the upper bout.

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#10
It is an absolutely amazing bass and Andrew is as good as it gets when it comes to woodwork. The bass is more beautiful in person and the bass is set up to play like butter. I will try to get some shots of the back of the neck outside over the weekend. Thus far totally exceeds my expectations....
 
#11
The bass is absolutely perfect, @Drake Custom is a true master of woodwork.

The truss rod access is absolutely perfect and beautiful. Adjustments can be made without having to loosen or move strings.

The body is a bit thicker then typical the top is added to the depth of the body. With the upper chamber it balances and feels perfect.

The neck is a custom contour which Andrew used on my previous bass. It is thicker then what most would consider a bassball bat and to me feels just right. I also believe the additional mass in the neck helps the tone and sustain of the instrument.

I've got a Valenti and a Ken Smith in the classifieds if anyone is interested
 
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#14
emjazz said:
Pete....breathtaking!!

Why the choice to go with the 34" scale on this one?
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It was more of a choice to go with a standard size. On the beast the two piece bridge is set back to accommodate typical string lengths and I wanted the reduced tension using normal string gauges. This bass also has the upper horn to the 12th fret where the beast is around the 15th or so. So from a reach perspective they'd feel similar. I also wanted to be able to use TI rounds which are super low tension so I wasn't quite sure on having it reduced further.

In reality it isn't anything I've even noticed while going from one bass to the other.
 
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#16
emjazz said:
Do the two basses sound drastically different?
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No not drastic, time for you to make a trip to the island.... This one can get a very typical electric bass sound with super low action and a light touch. adding some relief and being able to dig in brings out a more woody percussiveness and some air to the notes. I don't think it puts the same air in the notes as the beast but I have not yet put a set of flats on it to know how close they really may be. They certainly are in the same ballpark, someday I will do a swap on the strings to see..
 
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#17
I should cross post this back the other way. The first bass Andrew made me was very unique and was a culmination of many different ideas I had in my head. I found Andrew in the Luthier section of TB, I reached out we traded msgs and spent a few hours on the phone. We really collaborated and in the end Andrew made a bass for me that sounds like the voice of god, it's massive in size. Since receiving it back in March I have played no other bass on a gig or rehearsal and everything else is up for sale. So massive that on really long gigs I bring a stool.

So in August we hashed out this design which is the bass in this thread, that was kind of a little brother to the original BEAST...Pic in my profile and link below...

6 string arch top bass, piezo, 33 scale, Claro, roasted maple
 
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#20
bassvirtuoso said:
Pete, I'm really happy with how much you've pushed Andrew as a builder, great to see the new stuff he's been doing lately!

If you ever make it to our part of the country, let me know and I'll bring some fun stuff over to Andrew's.
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Dave,

Those are really nice basses. As you know Andrew is awesome, I can't say enough good things about him. Not only as a person but his ability to take every idea I had in my head and somehow make sense of it. It seems he did the same for you. I hope to someday take a road trip and return these basses to their maker for a visit.

Maybe it's time we set up a "Drake Club Thread", there seems to be enough of us around.
 
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