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Ristola Club

#441
Not sure about much right now. I mentioned a couple of things I wanted done, such as altering the bottom horn for sitting. Brian's off to another hike in a few days....a short one this time. After that we'll talk more details. Considering how much I love the feel and sound of my current Ristola, I'm very much looking forward to the new one. Things I assume at this point are a chambered mahogany body, maple/purpleheart neck, ebony board.....we'll see what else soon enough!
 
#443
Brian's design is fine as it is, but since I do most of my playing sitting I'd like it to be even more comfortable. I'd actually prefer something totally ergonomic but Brian's not into doing something like that. I'll have to have someone else build that in the future. As for now, I know that he can build an amazing feeling and sounding bass, and that's my current priority.
 
#444
Saw Brian the other day so we could talk about the next bass. Not everything is set in stone, but Brian will start gluing it up in the next two weeks. Going to be a beautiful instrument. Chambered mahogany body, maple top, ebony board, maple/bubinga neck. Going with woods he's had sitting and drying for a couple of years or more. Maybe a Glockenklang pre, hopefully a wooden bridge. Need to talk to a couple of pickup makers before I come to a decision with the pickups. Not sure what to use yet. No piezo. Want to keep it more simple, and I'm not certain the piezo is needed. Really happy to have Brian making this next bass.

Sounds like there are some possible repeat customers in line as well. Don't hesitate! Now's the time!
 
#446
emjazz said:
Saw Brian the other day so we could talk about the next bass. Not everything is set in stone, but Brian will start gluing it up in the next two weeks. Going to be a beautiful instrument. Chambered mahogany body, maple top, ebony board, maple/bubinga neck. Going with woods he's had sitting and drying for a couple of years or more. Maybe a Glockenklang pre, hopefully a wooden bridge. Need to talk to a couple of pickup makers before I come to a decision with the pickups. Not sure what to use yet. No piezo. Want to keep it more simple, and I'm not certain the piezo is needed. Really happy to have Brian making this next bass.

Sounds like there are some possible repeat customers in line as well. Don't hesitate! Now's the time!
Click to expand...

You're going to like the Chambered body mate, my latest bass has a chambered American Cherry body and you can really hear and feel it :)

Eude
 
#447
emjazz said:
Sounds like there are some possible repeat customers in line as well. Don't hesitate! Now's the time!
Click to expand...

:smug: Yep, I'm on the road to my second Ristola!

I've been playing my fretless quite a bit lately, and find that my intonation has really improved. There are some tunes that we're playing where a fretted would work better, but the neck on my built-from-parts-PJ is just so much clunkier than the sweet smoothness of that Ristola neck.

So I exchanging now with Brian on a fretted 5. Will be another Ebony FB, probably a maple top. Not sure about the body wood yet. Maybe a chambered Mahogany, maybe Swamp Ash... for pickups, I'll stick to the Delanoes, with coil tap switching, and for pre-Amp - well it's kind of not cheap but the ACG EQ-01 looks really cool...
 
#449
gb_bassclef said:
:smug: Yep, I'm on the road to my second Ristola!

I've been playing my fretless quite a bit lately, and find that my intonation has really improved. There are some tunes that we're playing where a fretted would work better, but the neck on my built-from-parts-PJ is just so much clunkier than the sweet smoothness of that Ristola neck.

So I exchanging now with Brian on a fretted 5. Will be another Ebony FB, probably a maple top. Not sure about the body wood yet. Maybe a chambered Mahogany, maybe Swamp Ash... for pickups, I'll stick to the Delanoes, with coil tap switching, and for pre-Amp - well it's kind of not cheap but the ACG EQ-01 looks really cool...
Click to expand...

He told me you were talking to him :) I'm not a fan of swamp ash myself. Mahogany is a great choice for Brian's basses. The Delano pickups with a chambered mahogany body would be a great choice. You can ask Brian about the ACG. I had one in my current bass when it was first made. I wanted to like it, but in the end it wasn't for me. It controls the mids and highs really well, but not the low end, which is what I need more control of.
 
#450
TapyTap said:
This sounds like a fine plan, and I'm really curious to see what pickup(s) you go with.
Click to expand...

I'm looking at possibly the new Nordstrand Blade pickups, the SGD ND3 pickups or some custom pickups from Reed James. Spoke with Carey today. The Blades sound cool. Hope to speak with Jim Reed tomorrow. I like the sound clips of the SGD ND3's, but he's behind on orders right now. Not sure I want to chance that one. Pickups are a bit of a mystery to me. I'm not sure which way to go with a chambered instrument. It's something new for both Brian and I. I'm thinking with Jim Reed if the first pickups we try don't work we can just keep trying until we find something. It sounds like he can make anything, so that's a good option.
 
#452
gb_bassclef said:
:smug: Yep, I'm on the road to my second Ristola!

I've been playing my fretless quite a bit lately, and find that my intonation has really improved. There are some tunes that we're playing where a fretted would work better, but the neck on my built-from-parts-PJ is just so much clunkier than the sweet smoothness of that Ristola neck.

So I exchanging now with Brian on a fretted 5. Will be another Ebony FB, probably a maple top. Not sure about the body wood yet. Maybe a chambered Mahogany, maybe Swamp Ash... for pickups, I'll stick to the Delanoes, with coil tap switching, and for pre-Amp - well it's kind of not cheap but the ACG EQ-01 looks really cool...
Click to expand...

Hi Glen, Are you working towards a tone in the Fender ballpark? FWIW, my Ristola-6 has an alder body core with a Bubinga top. In it's planning stages, I agonized between a mahogany body and an alder body. Because most of the players that have influenced me are/were Fender players, I opted to go with and alder body and I couldn't be happier. It has punch for days!

As long as we're talking about new Ristola's, I've long thought about a Ristola-5 with a P/J setup. I'll definitely go with an alder body, most likely without an exotic top, possibly Brian's Professional Series, chrome hardware, opaque finish, etc.

I haven't talked with Brian in quite some time, when I have the deposit money saved up, I'll give him a ring.
 
#453
Hi Arthur,

Thanks for the recommendation. I finally decided to go with the chambered Mahogany.
With a maple top (picked from Oregon Wild Wood), this bass will be a cool blond funky twin sister to my fabulous fretless five.

No pictures to share yet, don't imagine there will be until August...
And the bass should be ready just in time for Santa! :)
 
#454
gb_bassclef said:
Hi Arthur,

Thanks for the recommendation. I finally decided to go with the chambered Mahogany.
With a maple top (picked from Oregon Wild Wood), this bass will be a cool blond funky twin sister to my fabulous fretless five.

No pictures to share yet, don't imagine there will be until August...
And the bass should be ready just in time for Santa! :)
Click to expand...

Great choice on the mahogany body!! That's going to be an outstanding bass!
 
#455
HI Andy,

Yes, the mahogany is cool, and I like the idea of have matched fretted and fretless.
Kind of close to what you've ordered, my hands aren't big enough for six though! :)

On the electronics side, while searching for info on filter pre-amps, I noticed that a few years back you were pretty enthusiastic on the ACG's. How did that go, did filters work for you?
 
#456
gb_bassclef said:
HI Andy,

Yes, the mahogany is cool, and I like the idea of have matched fretted and fretless.
Kind of close to what you've ordered, my hands aren't big enough for six though! :)

On the electronics side, while searching for info on filter pre-amps, I noticed that a few years back you were pretty enthusiastic on the ACG's. How did that go, did filters work for you?
Click to expand...

The filters were really cool, but as I said, and Brian and I had discussed, I was left wanting a separate bass control. It controls the mids and highs like nothing I've experienced, but the low end couldn't be filled in. It wasn't for me in the end.
 
#457
gb_bassclef said:
HI Andy,


Kind of close to what you've ordered, my hands aren't big enough for six though! :)
Click to expand...

As far as your comment here, my basses are actually quite small. The neck is more close to your 5 string actually. First, it's a 33" scale length. The string spacing at the bridge is 16.5mm and the nut is 2" wide. It's a very compact 6 string bass.

I'm looking forward to hearing how our basses compare. I believe mine will be chambered more, since it's for the sound...and it seems yours will be chambered less considering it's for the weight.
 
#458
emjazz said:
As far as your comment here, my basses are actually quite small. The neck is more close to your 5 string actually. First, it's a 33" scale length. The string spacing at the bridge is 16.5mm and the nut is 2" wide. It's a very compact 6 string bass.

I'm looking forward to hearing how our basses compare. I believe mine will be chambered more, since it's for the sound...and it seems yours will be chambered less considering it's for the weight.
Click to expand...

+1
I'm a small guy with small hands, and I always fought with 6 string basses, but persevered.
My custom 6 is very similar, 33" scale, 16.5mm spacing at the bridge, and am ever so slightly wider nut of 52mm.
There's no reason that basses have to be huge and difficult to play these days :)
With a bit of thought, planning, patience and a good luthier, you can have any kind of bass made to fit you perfectly.

Eude
 
#459
Just a heads up ,

Luthiers Access Group has a beautiful Myrtle topped Ristola .Somebody please buy this I cant deplete my savings to GAS again!!! I have nothing to do with the sale ,just trying to save my savings:D
 
#460
celinder 72 said:
Just a heads up ,

Luthiers Access Group has a beautiful Myrtle topped Ristola .Somebody please buy this I cant deplete my savings to GAS again!!! I have nothing to do with the sale ,just trying to save my savings:D
Click to expand...

Anyone who likes a 35" scale length...get that bass! That was one of Brian's best. It's got the mahogany/myrtle/ebony board combo. Great, great bass.
 

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