I originally ordered a Kala u-bass style build from Scott but we ran into complications. So we changed tack. I had some gas for a simplified bass for worship. Something passive, fewest knobs and switches possible. I liked the look of the 51 P bass re-issues I'd seen but also wanted something with 5 strings.
In the end we settled on a 51 P bass with 5 strings. I liked the butterscotch colouring and couldn't decide between the solid colour of the originals or the transparent colours of the more modern re-issues. In the end we went with solid edges and bursting to transparent to show off what ended up being some lovely grains in the ash.
The ash was a one piece billet. Scott took the top off, cut some chambers and glued the same top on. The solid paint at the edges hides any join marks up perfectly too.
I do think this will look great with some black strings once the originals start to die off.
The bass feels great and certainly looks great to me. The sound is amazing! The single coil pickup is a bit unusual. I had trouble getting something to fit with the narrower string spacing I like and I wanted reduced single-coil hum. Scott talked to Lindy Fralin who agreed to do a custom 3/2 split on the 5 string pickup. He suggested it would reduce the hum by 66%. Well I haven't heard any hum at all and this pickup is big, clear and punchy.
So happy with it and Scott at Grove guitars was amazing to deal with.
In the end we settled on a 51 P bass with 5 strings. I liked the butterscotch colouring and couldn't decide between the solid colour of the originals or the transparent colours of the more modern re-issues. In the end we went with solid edges and bursting to transparent to show off what ended up being some lovely grains in the ash.
The ash was a one piece billet. Scott took the top off, cut some chambers and glued the same top on. The solid paint at the edges hides any join marks up perfectly too.
I do think this will look great with some black strings once the originals start to die off.
The bass feels great and certainly looks great to me. The sound is amazing! The single coil pickup is a bit unusual. I had trouble getting something to fit with the narrower string spacing I like and I wanted reduced single-coil hum. Scott talked to Lindy Fralin who agreed to do a custom 3/2 split on the 5 string pickup. He suggested it would reduce the hum by 66%. Well I haven't heard any hum at all and this pickup is big, clear and punchy.
So happy with it and Scott at Grove guitars was amazing to deal with.
What an incredible bass. Grove is now on my radar.
