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Sei Owner's Club (Part 2)

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#501
duneytunes said:
Hey SOC,

Just joined the fold. Have two Sei Bass Jazz 5's one fretted and one fretless.

Fretted one is 2005, cream, 35" scale, 24 frets, birdseye maple fingerboard, tiger maple neck, Celinder preamp, DiMarzio pups.

Fretless is 1999, cherry sunburst, 34" scale, 24 marked frets, ebony fingerboard, birdseye maple neck, Aguilar preamp, Bartolini pups, blue side LEDs.

Two pics (from Sei site for now), others to follow idc.

Thinking about having a 7-string fretted built. Need to book a day off work to chat options. Any advice welcomed! :-)
Click to expand...

Wow, a wonderful pair of Jazz's you have there.:bassist: Look forward to any other photo's you might have.

Re the 7 string, I have two 7 string Sei's one fretted and one fretless, 7 String also has a 7 fretted and sei24bass has a 8 fretless and a 9 string being built :eek: [he is a braver person than I]. Another member [apologies I can't remember your name] has a beautiful 7 millenium so all in all a fair bit of experience to be shared. Do ask any questions and I am sure that one of us will be able to help.

Regards

Matthew
 
#502
jonny_floater said:
Dunno if you guys can help but...

Back in the mid '90s, I won Bassist Mags Bass Of The Year competition and my prize was a custom built Sei Bass.

I went and saw Martin and he built me a beautiful Flamboyant Headless 6 string. It has amboina facings, triple-coil bartolinis etc. I think it could have been serial no. 25. The construction of the bass was featured in monthly articles in Bassist.

Anyway, I used the bass regularly for about 5 years for live work and recording and it was unbelievable.

Unfortunately, I had some very difficult personal circumstances in 2001 and had to raise a lot of money quickly. Like a nob-head I had to sell the bass (along with everything else I owned!). This is one of the biggest regrets of my life, but needs must - and it was the right thing to do at the time. Anyway, enough of my sob story....:crying:

Does anyone know the whereabouts of this bass, who owns it now, etc? I'd love to think that it was in good hands, regularly used and not just gathering dust or hanging on a wall!

Thanks :help:
Click to expand...

Jonny

Welcome to the thread

Sorry to read your story, I had followed your bass build with great interest in Bassist mag even though I was not a Sei owner untill many years later.

Do you have any photo's to remind us of the bass, although I must say I for one have not heard about it in recent years someone else on here might have better news for you.

Just a thought but have you spoken to Martin at 'The Gallery' about it. He would easily remember such a special bass and is always very happy to talk about his creations. Most owners keep in touch with him for any work to be done, set ups etc so he might have some information.

Anyone eles know anything?

Matthew
 
#503
Thanks everyone for the welcome. Finally got round to taking pics this morning.

2572797380_532297d8ee.jpg


2571977853_b0562dec86.jpg


2572805378_9741599470.jpg


It makes a righteous noise and I'm thorougly enjoying playing it at the moment.

Cheers,
Mike E.
 
#504
jonny_floater said:
Dunno if you guys can help but...

Back in the mid '90s, I won Bassist Mags Bass Of The Year competition and my prize was a custom built Sei Bass.
Click to expand...

So you're the one who won the competition...it was that competition that resulted in a number of us becoming SEI bass fans. :)

Sorry to hear the sad story about the bass. If you could provide some more details and ideally a picture we'll see what we can do. If it is any consolation I can vouch that the SEI basses produced today are every bit as good as the ones produced years ago (my SEI 8 is actually better than the SEI 5 that was made almost 14 years ago...that is serial number 24 surprisingly enough!).
 
#505
matthewfoote said:
Wow, a wonderful pair of Jazz's you have there.:bassist: Look forward to any other photo's you might have.

Re the 7 string, I have two 7 string Sei's one fretted and one fretless, 7 String also has a 7 fretted and sei24bass has a 8 fretless and a 9 string being built :eek: [he is a braver person than I]. Another member [apologies I can't remember your name] has a beautiful 7 millenium so all in all a fair bit of experience to be shared. Do ask any questions and I am sure that one of us will be able to help.

Regards

Matthew
Click to expand...

Some fine instruments in these postings. Guess there's no rights or wrongs with numbers of strings now. Different tools for different jobs, like a wood or a sand wedge maybe. Although I'm not sure that the sound of 12-string bass is what motivates me to play bass! :-)

My two Sei Jazzes weren't built for me, but I liked the sound and feel of them. What worries me most with a build is making a good choice of pups/electrics/woods that produce a sound I like. But given what I have, I guess I can't go far wrong with another Sei! :-)
 
#506
Hey guys - just took the Thumb to the Gallery - hopefully someone will be suitably impressed to buy it. For the kind of Warwick it is and the fact it's got such character and is so playable, and still has its looks after 18 years will be enough.

My next bass project is finding - possibly having made (by Martin) a four string Jazz type bass... there's no rush as I need to sell the Thumb to afford it - but I think I might as well get something quality that will be the perfect 'simple' second bass to compliment my two five-strings. It's early days - I would love a Sei Jazz - so we shall see! I'll keep you posted.

All is well with baby and mum - little Ben is growing fast and doing great!

PS Bassworm - that is one KILLER 6 man - so glad you are enjoying it - the Mike Pope circuit really kicks ass and the sound of the wood combos, looks and feel make it one of the hottest single cuts Martin has ever made! Congrats dude.

Mx
 
#507
Bassworm - That is one mighty fine looking bass you have there !! Welcome to the thread :D

Jonny - Martin definately has a copy of all the articles which detailed the making of your bass. That magazine was the first time I'd heard of Sei basses. I didn't get around to ordering one until last year!!

You'd have to ask him if he knows where it went to.....

Mike - Glad to hear that young Master Flynn is doing so well. A new Sei Jazz could really help his musical development :hiding:
 
#508
Matthew, Sei24Bass & 7string - Thanks for the reply guys. :)

I'll get back in touch with Martin at the Gallery and see if he knows anything - and see if I can get a copy of the articles. I don't even have a picture of the bass anymore as they all went with the bass! The things we do, eh?

I first saw Sei basses at the Guitarist show in London in about '92 / '93(?) - but I'm sure that they were called something different - anybody know (was Martins background in furniture design?). I fell in love with them right there and then and when that competition came round the next year I just had to enter. I nearly crapped a brick when I got the call to tell me that I'd won!

I'd been playing 6 string bass for a few years by then (1994) - I had an Overwater with a 36" scale which was insane, but also pretty cumbersome onstage. Also had a Warwick Thumb 6 for a while, which I loved. But the Sei was everything a bass should be - balanced, nimble to play, rich in tone, practical, and equally at home in the studio and on the stage.

God I miss that bass! :hmm:
 
#509
Mike Flynn said:
PS Bassworm - that is one KILLER 6 man - so glad you are enjoying it - the Mike Pope circuit really kicks ass and the sound of the wood combos, looks and feel make it one of the hottest single cuts Martin has ever made! Congrats dude.

Mx
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments. The Nordstrand/Pope combintaion is a real killer - well defined without being excessively trebly, and seriously loud! I used to have an Overwater 6 which was a pretty fine bass (And my main 4 string is still one of Chris May's finest) but when I tried the Sei for the first time it made my old 6 sound flabby and undefined. Not to mention how comfortable the 33" scale felt after playing the 36" for so long.
I'll be using mainly playing funky blues but venturing into other genres occasionally. I'm dead chuffed with it.
 
#512
Saw Martins Sims at the LGS yesterday and he said my Sei bass just needed the final polishing before going back to the Gallery, so it looks as though we nearly there!

He mentioned that staining all all the light coloured wood had been a nightmare in the masking but the end result was looking brilliant and that pics would definitely be up on the Sims custom web site when the finishing was all done.

This is the second bass Sims custom have finished for me that has been less than straight-forward, they also did the finishing on my matt black Gus G3, but based on how brilliantly that turned out, I can't wait to see the finished Sei!
 
#514
matthewfoote said:
Jonny

Welcome to the thread

Sorry to read your story, I had followed your bass build with great interest in Bassist mag even though I was not a Sei owner untill many years later.

Do you have any photo's to remind us of the bass, although I must say I for one have not heard about it in recent years someone else on here might have better news for you.

Just a thought but have you spoken to Martin at 'The Gallery' about it. He would easily remember such a special bass and is always very happy to talk about his creations. Most owners keep in touch with him for any work to be done, set ups etc so he might have some information.

Anyone eles know anything?

Matthew
Click to expand...

I followed that too and still have the mags, although I would have to scan the photos.

As Matthew says, Martin often knows where they end up. He told me my old 6 was in the States, and he was right (belongs to the man with the Millenium 7...)
 
#516
Well back from HQ with my beauties all setup and fettled. Traffic was truly appalling though, a total of 4 hours in the car for 40 mile round trip :mad:. About 3 hours were spent doing a total of about 14 miles!!

My wick is now sitting besides Mike's looking for a new owner as well. It needs a better home than I can offer it. Tried out your wick Mike - it is nice, about half the weight of mine though :rollno: Ours are the best Wicks there - no question, they just don't make them like they did pre '93. (I liked the ramp thing!)

Tried a Japanese Sadowsky out which was surprisingly good and the 2nd hand Sei Jazz (link) which is up to Martin's usual excellent standards.

I hate playing in stores though, I feel so self-conscious and look like someone who has never picked up a bass before. :D
 
#519
Forgot you got the Yin-Yang bass there Melt. I've had a play on that one when it was at HQ. Felt really nice, 33" scale if I recall. Also think it was Alex's old Sei...

Bassworm - I've said it here before but no matter how much Al tries to put me at ease I just can't relax into playing in a store. I do it but I feel a bit of a muppet :)

That offset singlecut (if that's the phrase!) shape is growing on me big time.
 
#520
Blimey, there's some really great Sei's on here. Is there anyway we could get some sort of a slideshow going ? Would be cool to see all the instruments in the S.O.C. :bassist:

I have a friend of mine coming up to Glasgow next week and he's bringing his camera so I'll ask him to take some full length shots of Jezebel. The last time he came up here, Jezebel was down south so I got great photos of everything else. He was also kind enough to put them in a coffee-table sized book for me.

Problem is that I've done a bit of wheeling-and-dealing since then, so there's instruments in the book which I haven't got anymore!! At least he has a digital camera so I don't have to worry about buying him more film :D

Sei24bass - The Tyler was delayed 24 hours as Business Post sent it to the Gloucester Depot and not the Glasgow Depot. I've put a thread here in TB with pics and a review.

BigRedX - Great to hear that the bass is coming along nicely. It's going to look stunning.

Melt - I played that Ying-Yang Sei as well and it's an amazing bass. It's is Alex's old bass, here's a link to a YouTube video

I also hate playing in stores....

...........

I had an Open Uni tutorial today and last time I went we were swapping e-mail addresses. As my e-mail address has 7string in it, I explained that I play a 7 string Sei. They'd never heard of it before so I took Jezebel in today.

They were just amazed by the woods and the workmanship. There's a couple of bass players in the group as well and they found the bass surprisingly light and easy to get around on. They did wonder why I needed 7 strings though....
 
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