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Renaissance/Turner Basses Club

#741
#07-2551 is definitely swamp ash... and a slightly different burst.
EL-535-PMM.jpeg


I've been playing this bass a lot lately, and it really is special.
 
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#742
porterbass said:
What kind of wood is the body on yours? I believe mine is mahogany.

View attachment 3736972
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Pretty sure mine is alder, although I didn't get a build sheet or anything. Had a fiver long ago, that one was ash with a trans-burgundy finish. It was a little too heavy for me (strike 1). For some reason I couldn't get a pleasing sound out of it, either (strike 2). It had recessed strap locks and one day the top one failed, headstock hit the deck and dinged up the tort facing pretty good (strike 3....you're out!).

Despite having what appear to be identical elecs (?), this four string makes sounds that I like. I'm no expert on piezo systems, but I've had a few. To my ears the RT piezo is def a cut above the others I've tried.
 
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#743
EdwardofHuncote said:
#07-2551 is definitely swamp ash... and a slightly different burst.
View attachment 3737012

I've been playing this bass a lot lately, and it really is special.
Click to expand...

Hey that's nice!

Looking at the pic....down in the corner, is that a bulge in the body for the output jack....ala Conklin? Or an optical illusion?
 
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#744
Iridescentone said:
Hey that's nice!

Looking at the pic....down in the corner, is that a bulge in the body for the output jack....ala Conklin? Or an optical illusion?
Click to expand...

The body is contoured to match a metal jackplate. I've seen a few like this. My fretless #05-2129 is not. Sharp eye. ;)
 
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#745
EdwardofHuncote said:
The body is contoured to match a metal jackplate. I've seen a few like this. My fretless #05-2129 is not. Sharp eye. ;)
Click to expand...

Very nice. It's attention to little details like that that inspire confidence in a builder. I guess you could say that's where some of the "extra money" goes in some of the higher end builds. I don't know who thought of it first, but every Conklin Sidewinder I've seen has that particular element, even the inexpensive imports. This RPGT is loaded with thoughtful little details. Is any of it necessary?...no. Is it appreciated?...sometimes it is.

IMG_0105_zpssbu5pssd.jpg
 
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#746
Man, that's nice. Flame maple pickguard? Go on! :woot:

RT will tell you that he builds tools. I'm sure it was a practicality thing. He (or somebody) wanted a jackplate on there, and a body contoured to match it was the simplest, yet still aesthetically pleasing way to make it work.
 
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#747
I’ve been poking around the web looking for info and reviews for Turner basses, specifically Model 1 basses, and there’s not a whole lot out there. More focus is on his guitars and renaissance basses. There must not be a whole lot of Model 1 basses made to date.
 
#750
Thanks, jibass. I’m not looking to buy one, I actually have one. I was just interested in reading more about them, to understand a little bit more about the instrument details, variations, idiosyncrasies, and their historic development. Just to learn more about them. Over time I will gain some of that knowledge through playing it, but I’m also interested in opinions and insights by others as well. Thanks for your help!
 
#751
Hi RV, very cool that you have one. I have owned Ren’s and an Electroline but never the Model One. I visited the Santa Cruz shop a couple times in years past for minor work as needed. Rick was there on one of my visits and we talked for a while, a really friendly guy with incredible knowledge and experience and skills. You might try emailing (or calling) him there and see if you can get some history.

RVBASS said:
Thanks, jibass. I’m not looking to buy one, I actually have one. I was just interested in reading more about them, to understand a little bit more about the instrument details, variations, idiosyncrasies, and their historic development. Just to learn more about them. Over time I will gain some of that knowledge through playing it, but I’m also interested in opinions and insights by others as well. Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
 
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#753
Hi there. I have a 4 string Renaissance bass that I am playing through an Electro Harmonix headphone amp and Grado headphones. Unfortunately, as I had been traveling a lot this year, a full-size amp is not a luxury I can afford to carry around. As I am stuck now in Hungary due to the pandemic, it is certain that I will not playing through an amp for some time now. If I ignore the slight distortions caused by lower notes, the headphones and the amp are doing a good job in general. But I am thinking of adding a preamp pedal to my setup so that I have some tone control. I'm inclined to get the Sadowsky pedal/di, but I'm curious if you'd have any suggestions. What preamp pedals have you used and liked with a Renaissance bass?
 
#754
First, hopefully you are safe where you are. This virus is a worldwide menace now. Take every precaution.

Second, Welcome to our thread!

The only preamp pedal I have personally used is the Mesa Subway+, which may be an overkill for what you need to accomplish, but is a superb headphone amp as well as a DI. You can run it on a 9v battery too. The Renaissance basses for me, lately I turn both the Volume and Tone all the way up, and do any adjustments at the amp. (or pedal)
 
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#755
bobono said:
Hi there. I have a 4 string Renaissance bass that I am playing through an Electro Harmonix headphone amp and Grado headphones. Unfortunately, as I had been traveling a lot this year, a full-size amp is not a luxury I can afford to carry around. As I am stuck now in Hungary due to the pandemic, it is certain that I will not playing through an amp for some time now. If I ignore the slight distortions caused by lower notes, the headphones and the amp are doing a good job in general. But I am thinking of adding a preamp pedal to my setup so that I have some tone control. I'm inclined to get the Sadowsky pedal/di, but I'm curious if you'd have any suggestions. What preamp pedals have you used and liked with a Renaissance bass?
Click to expand...

I've found that the Mesa Preamps are my favorite for piezo basses like the Turner Renaissance basses. The Sadowsky is a very good preamp, but more for a traditional electric bass in my opinion. I used to have a Mesa Rosette Preamp which was phenomenal with the Turner Rens and Electrolines, mainly because of the built-in HPF and sweepable mids. I found it smoothed out the piezo sound and reduced any of that piezo squawk, although Rick Turner's preamps are so good for piezo basses, they don't have much of that at all. The Mesa Subway+ DI-Preamp that @EdwardofHuncote has also includes the HPF and sweepable mids.

The only reason I don't have the Rosette any longer is that I sold it with the intention of getting a Subway+ DI which I think might be a good fit to use for both piezo and my single coil and split p basses.
 
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#756
I use Pryamid Gold flatwounds on my non-Turner bass, really like how they sound and the extra tension they have compared with other strings I’ve tried.

I put a set on my Turner Model 1 bass tonight and was very surprised. They felt overly tight and excessively muted on the E and A strings. I think I now know why Turner uses lower tension TI flats on his basses. I loosened up the pyramids a little and will be ordering a set of TI flats tomorrow and see how they sound.
 
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#757
RVBASS said:
I use Pryamid Gold flatwounds on my non-Turner bass, really like how they sound and the extra tension they have compared with other strings I’ve tried.

I put a set on my Turner Model 1 bass tonight and was very surprised. They felt overly tight and excessively muted on the E and A strings. I think I now know why Turner uses lower tension TI flats on his basses. I loosened up the pyramids a little and will be ordering a set of TI flats tomorrow and see how they sound.
Click to expand...

I'm kinda' surprised too. I wonder if the break angles make it feel like more experienced tension. The afterlength shouldn't matter I don't think. Hmmm. That's a puzzle. Why would they feel any tighter on a 30.5" scale?

Did the extra tension maybe create a little bit more relief in the middle of the neck? That'd explain it.
 
#758
I’m not sure about the neck relief, I wasn’t paying attention to it. I was mostly concerned about what any excessive pressure, if any, might be doing to the piezo saddle/bridge/pickup. It was odd, around the 12th fret or so the E string sounded like it was hardly vibrating when plucked. So I loosened the strings and put it in its case. I have TI flats arriving tomorrow so I’ll report back on how they wok out.
 
#760
Question for the experts: my bass has a fixed wooden bridge, non-adjustable. The strings are pretty high from around the 10th fret onward towards the body. There is a slight bow in the neck. My assumption is if I tighten the truss rod to reduce the bow, the strings will lower towards the fretboard as the neck bends backwards. When I do this, still maintaining a slight bow, the strings are still pretty high in that area. The truss rod nut is now pretty tight. Is this the correct procedure, or should I loosen the nut to increase the bow. Would loosening the nut lower the strings from the 10th to 24th fret? Thanks for any advice.
 

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