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Sei Owners Club

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#181
All

Sorry everyone, didn’t mean to tease, just learnt the hard way about immediately jumping in without checking first!

My 5 was made in 1994, after the Guitarist competition (picked it up on Christmas eve…:) ). Flame maple body and neck (mahogany stringers), ebony fretboard and Amboyna front and back facings. Bartolini pickup(triple coil) and now Bartolini circuitry. Strung low F#0 through D…the F#0 sting is great fun, but I miss the G string (never realised how much I used it until it wasn’t there!).

My wife has been brilliant in supporting the idea of a new bass (it may have been 12 years since I bought one…but they aren’t cheap). So with budgetary approval, I started talking to Martin about ideas I had. Martin has just been superb, listening to my crackpot ideas (those early drawings are embarrassing), always positive, always interested and cleverly contributing his expertise is a non-overpowering way. Anyway, after 4-5 months and a whole series of visits to see him, I ordered my second SEI:
  • Headed flamboyant offset, with extended cut away (3 octave neck)
  • Alder body, with full Thuya root facings front and back
  • Flame maple neck with purpleheart stringers
  • Villex pickups and Audere circuitry
  • 8 string (low C#0 through high C)

Order was placed at the very beginning of July, so approx. 5 months into the build…will take a little longer than normal though as it is not quite the same as Martin’s other basses he is making.

Thanks for everyone’s interest…really nice to find a group of like minded individuals!:) :)

Ben
 
#185
Gimme some of those carrots...:p :p :p

Seriously Matthew, there is no thunder to steal. I am just very pleasantly surprised that anyone else is interested :) Also pleasantly surprised that Martin is excited about it and telling others!

Paddy, I very much like you choice of woods for your fretless 5. Whilst doing some research for the 8 string, I looked in detail at approx. 70 custom made fretless basses. All the core woods you have chosen were the most popular (tried and tested - :) ):
  • Mahogany Body - Approx 30% used this
  • Maple Neck - Over 60% used this as the core neck wood
  • Ebony Fretboard - Over 60% used this as the core neck wood

Couple of thoughts. Carbon rods would not be mandatory (my 5 fretless has similar neck materials and had no problems over the last 12 years without carbon rods) and I am sure you are well aware of the debate that goes on about these. Also you might want to make the LED at the octave point different, for example double LED or a different colour (several times I wished I had done this with my 5 whilst on dark stages).

Ben
 
#186
Hey Ben - looking forward to keeping up to speed on your 8 string. One thing you didn't mention was if it's fretted or not. An 8 string fretless - my god... :D Any progress pics yet?

I'll be honest I've never really seen the light with anything over 5 strings - each to their own and all that but where's the benefit? Not being a troll - just curious. With a 5 I can do a 2 octave scale without changing hand positions so it appeals to the laziness in me - so there's my benefit. What extra do you guys get out of these 7,8 etc strings...

As for my fretless, sounds like I'm being predictable with my spec - something Rusty will approve of :hiding:. The led's are side only and will have the double led at the octave. It's the board lines where I'm hesitating a bit. I want clear lines (probably bits of maple) but not necessarily going the whole width of the board - got a couple of ideas. I'll try to photoshop some to upload. You guys got any thoughts?

As for the rods, it's just about the extra stiffness they bring. Some like them, some don't - take your choice. I'm cool with them. I don't think it affects tone as much as some think (IMHO).

Anyway enough with this essay...
 
#187
Thinking something like this for fret lines?
81.jpg

Thats howard9's Listerud fretless 8 string.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=242910&highlight=Listerud
 
#188
how about doing this

seifretlessboard.jpg


Martin did it on my fretless, i bought it from Paul Turner of Jamiroquai, its maybe the 2nd or 3rd Sei jazz bass. its a nice bass and he was a real nice guy.

anyway if you look you will notice that there are ebony lines on the board (i guess you could use walnut or something similar) and then maple lines on the side, they are really noticable to you while playing but believe me from about 5ft away it looks unlined


Dave

EDIT: just thought i would clarify, this photo was taken by Paul Turner before i bought it, the action being that high was the way he set it but not really how i would play mine
 
#189
Couple of interesting ideas there - keep em coming.

Howard9 bass is looking very cool. Thanks for the pointer velvetkevorkian

Bob - thats a lovely top on the Jazz :) . I'll definitely be going with the line markers over the top edge as well, nice touch.

Martin suggested maybe edges (similar to howard9) along the bass side till the octave then switching over to the treble side for the rest of the board.

Howie and I drew something at work which I quite liked. Think fully lined but with the edges missing so you get inch and a half lines going up the centre of the board. Maybe slightly longer at the Octave.
 
#194
IMG_0104-1.jpg


IMG_0101-1.jpg


8d_12_sb.jpg


so the top two pics are taken from when i first got the bass (sorry for the mess in the pic)and the other ones where taken by paul himslef.

so as far as specs go, its an ash body with a really nice quilted top on it, the pickups are Barts that you cannot get anymoere and martin loves them but i cannot remember for the life of what they are called, same for the 2 band pre, it has a rosewood board with half ebony lines and the tops the lines are maple, i have since fitted dunlop straplocks, the bass has quite a bit of wear on te body and a big chip on the headstock but nothng that really bothered me, after all its a used bass, it sounds pretty sweet and it nails that Jaco tne quite well.


Dave
 
#195
Sorry, Paddy reminded me that I forgot to say that my 8 string will be fretless - :hyper: The bass will be relatively tame compared to Yves Carbonnes 10 string fretless:

Link Removed

This bass also has interesting fret makers. Yves also has a 12 string fretless on order...

Number of strings can be a contentious issue, so thanks for your open minded enquiry. The concept of extended range basses (ERBs) is simple enough, its often rather a question of ‘do you really need more strings…haven’t you got enough already?’ Let me explain my experiences, which hopefully might help answer this query.

I love a clear, clean, really deep and powerful bass sound (feel more than you hear), so my playing style therefore makes extensive use of the bottom octave. I put a low F#0 string on my bass early this year, to try it out and see whether I would really use the extra notes. Open string notes never have the same depth as fretted notes, so I have loved having the extra depth and weight available on notes such as low B or C on the F#0 string. I don’t always want it and the string demands careful use, but I use it regularly and it has been a revelation to my playing style.

I have not used notes below low A0, partly due to a big loss of depth as I near the open string. This started my interest in the low C#0 string, furthered when I heard notes below A0 being used by the likes of Yves, Jauquo etc. I have also missed having the top G string that gave way to the low F#0 string…got thinking about new basses (I’m not good at living with compromises).

I wanted to future proof any new bass as much as possible as I don’t change gear often (same bass for 12 years). I also have very small hands, effectively imposing an 8 string limit (low C#0 through high C). This both fits with my current playing style (low C#0 and F#0 strings) and gives plenty of future scope (top C string and the 3 octave neck).

There are some players who have gone further (9-12 string basses), looking to use their the same instrument for both bass and lead purposes. There is a little male testosterone in the ERB world (‘I developed x’ or ‘I had the first y’), but some of their results are just fantastic, e.g. Yves work (check out his samples on the Jerzy Drozd web-site - http://www.jerzydrozdbasses.com/legendX.htm :eek: :eek: :eek: )

Whilst I love their work, my real interest lies with playing the bass, not the lead. I could have ordered a 9+ string bass, but the extra strings would only get in the way, making it unnecessarily difficult and therefore adversely affect my playing (as a few bass players have found out when buying an ERB for posing purposes). I could also have spent a lifetime trying to master a one string bass let alone a 4 string:
SOLITAIRE.ARS.jpg


However, my curiosity and inability to live with compromise would eventually get the better of me. I don’t expect to make extensive use of either the low C#0 or the top C strings. However, I want to have that range available for the occasional use and I’m really looking forward to the challenge of working them into my playing style and seeing where it goes.

Sorry for such a long posting, but hopefully it might provide a little insight into the ERB concept.

Ben
 
#196
Funny how I always thought of a 5 string as an ERB :o

For me personally - that's all too much. But as I posted several pages back - it's what works for you that counts. one hell of an interesting project - looking forward to the updates. Please tell me your not going with fanned board :D

How on earth do your speakers handle that depth - whats your current rig?
 
#197
Paddy said:
Please tell me your not going with fanned board :D
Click to expand...
Fanned frets IMO are quite a misunderstood design. It sure seems like a headache from the front, but when you actually play a fanned fret bass it all makes sense and the fanning isn't as dramatic as it seems.
(i know you were j/k, but it's really not that different or more difficult... the second time I played a Dingwall it already felt like home.)
 
#198
Paddy, you are absolutely right it is whatever floats your boat. Great question about amplification. I forgot to mention that ERBs require careful choice of amplification and speakers given their extended range (the low C#0 is 17Hz).

My bass rig in all honesty is a little over the top. You do not need one as mad as mine to play an ERB, I just got such an unbelievably good deal on one speaker that I simply had to get a second (:rollno: :rollno:):
  • Eden WT-600 (600W) - Love this amp, for its tone, frequency response (down to 10Hz) and its 3dB of extra headroom (extra power reserve to deal with peak demands and maintain bass depth / slam at high volumes)
  • 2xPJB 24B Speakers - Phil Jones Bass speakers, each cab having 24x5" aluminium drivers. Very heavy and somewhat over engineered (each cab is rated at 2,400W), but create the biggest, deepest, fastest, cleanest sound I have heard from any bass rig. Has put a big smile on the face of every bass player whose tried it...:D

    I did say I don't do compromises...

As for a fanned fretless, even I'm not that adventurous. No technical reason why not, though fretlines could be rather important (I visually prefer no fretboard markings). I believe Bee Basses were making one for Paul Delano earlier this year, but I have not seen or heard it.

Ben
 
#200
I'm not really a jazz man Bob but that top is great. I really like the cutaway in the facing wood to allow the body wood to show through. I'm going to have a word with Martin to see if that could work on my fretless.

I like the idea of the Mahagony being on show with the Maple top.

Woo hoo - 200 posts up :)
 
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