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Rob Allen ordered, pics!!!
- Thread starter rabass6
- Start date
Nice bass!
PM me if the bass doesn't works for you
What the different between Ebony and Cocobolo fingerboard?
-Christian
PM me if the bass doesn't works for you
What the different between Ebony and Cocobolo fingerboard?
-Christian
No, he MUST have frets on his fretless...elros said:
Diff. from cocobolo and ebony?
Rob explained that cocobolo is a little more open sounding, and ebony a little tight, but he insist that any difference is subtle, and cocobolo looks sweeter to me!!!
rabass6 said:
+1 Rob told me the difference is mainly aesthetic. For some reason, Rob uses Cocobolo on the 4 string models and Ebony on the 5's... not sure what the logic is there.... maybe he feels the 'tightness' of the Ebony helps the B string tone?
KJung said:
Yeah, I remember him saying something to that effect on the phone. I read some complaints about the B string, but frankly I have no idea what they're talking about. Mine sounds great!
barthanatos said:
I am one who is not overly impressed with the B string sound. However, it's surely not horrible, and part of the lack of definition I hear in mine is most likely due to the tapewound flats. The main reason I got the 5 string version was so that the feel and scale length matched up to my fretted basses, which are all 35" scale 5 strings.
Quite frankly, if I was to do it over, I would get the 4 string with the slightly shorter scale length. No big deal though, and my B string makes a great thumbrest! It's a wonderful instrument.
I believe Tom Bowlus just ordered a Mouse (the 30" scale model). I understand those are very cool also, and the shorter scale results in the somewhat loose feel of the strings to even more closely mimic a DB type tone.
KJung said:
This is one of the reasons I'm going with a 4.
The Mb 2 that I tried was a 5, with a koa-ebony neck and macassar ebony fingerboard, and the B hasn't impressed me a lot, useful, but not much more.
Partly due to the nylon tapewound strings, for sure, but I think there's something mechanically wrong in trying to produce the big, warm deep fundamental of a low B with such a "short" scale, remembering that the sound of this bass is really different from a standard electric fretless
Yes, my impression is that due to the different overtones-attack an acoustic bass produces (and the RA try to emulate), a 5 string is not going to work propely.
After all, how many 5 strings upright (with low B) are around?
I think not many...
After all, how many 5 strings upright (with low B) are around?
I think not many...
rabass6 said:
Not many, but maybe more than you think. It's what I plan on getting when I make the jump to DB.
Yes, I know, even Caron owns a 6 strings upright, if I remember correctly, but I think the standard tuning is due also to building problems.
I'm not so sure, but it seems to me that originally the upright was 3 strings, and most of them has been adapted to a 4 strings...
I'm not so sure, but it seems to me that originally the upright was 3 strings, and most of them has been adapted to a 4 strings...
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,515
- 19,943
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
KJung said:
Yup! I fell in love with Joe Smithberger's Mouse, and just had to order one for myself. And while mine will be a 4-string, it will also have an ebony board.
from what i understand, ebony is an extremely hard wood which gives a more "focussed, tight" sound whereas a rosewood board is a softer wood and hence "warmer." maple is also a fairly hard wood, but is often characterised as "bright," but maple is nowhere near as hard as ebony or cocaB. maybe that's a better question for one of the luthier forums...but no matter what, you can never really describe a sound with words unless comparing it to a different sound.
i belive coca is almost as hard as ebony, but aside from purpleheart and koa, coca is one of the nicest looking woods imho. but you can never go wrong with a rob allen...no matter what woods you use.
i belive coca is almost as hard as ebony, but aside from purpleheart and koa, coca is one of the nicest looking woods imho. but you can never go wrong with a rob allen...no matter what woods you use.
Tom, it's wonderful, really.
A SC Rob Allen is something to die for, but the Deep is too expensive for me at the moment, and I wasn't sure about the 30" scale.
Have you compared the Mouse and the Mb 2?
What's the difference in sound (I can imagine the feel is quite different!)?
A SC Rob Allen is something to die for, but the Deep is too expensive for me at the moment, and I wasn't sure about the 30" scale.
Have you compared the Mouse and the Mb 2?
What's the difference in sound (I can imagine the feel is quite different!)?
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,515
- 19,943
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
rabass6 said:
I played Ken's MB-2 as well as Joe's Mouse, and I liked them both a lot. The Mouse sounded more like an upright to me, and it made me want to play "upright-like things" on it, versus the MB-2, which felt like a really killer acoustic, fretless bass (if that makes any sense). The Mouse has a definite "cool factor" to it as well, but in the end, I agonized over which one to get, and may just have to own one of each some day.
Tom.
I can't justify owning one of those things but they are way cool! If only the big game numbers come thru for me!
rabass6 said:
I got my MB-2 4-string fretless with Rotosound 88's, as recommended by Rob, to give less sustain than the usual LaBella's he supplies. Nevertheless, I *still* require a foam mute under the strings right in front of the bridge. My piece of foam is set to just press against the side of the G string. If I push it under the G string, that string sounds too damped.
