Sei Owners Club

[matthewfoote]

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

Paddy

this is an old bass of mine, mahogany with maple facings. Not a Sei but bloody good nevertheless.

Regards

Matthew

ps the only bass I regretted selling

 

[fretless Bob]

im glad to have sparked your inspiration Paddy, that would be a real nice touch on your up-coming fretless


Dave

 

[sei24bass]

Paddy

Sorry for the delay in responding to your thoughts about PJB speakers. For me, the Piranha’s have 3 key characteristics:

• Aluminium Cones – Results in a bright, clear, clean sound (opposite end of the spectrum to a single 1x15”)
• 5” Drivers – Results in a very fast, dynamic sound
• Extended Frequency Range – The small drivers really can reproduce ultra-low bass (my cabs handle the low F#0 on my bass, approx 23 Hz, with ease). However, the laws of physics still remain and a larger number of these drivers are required if you prefer a bass heavy sound that you can feel as well as hear (4x5” drivers have approx. the same surface area as a 1x10”).

These characteristics combine to produce a very responsive and ruthlessly clear clean sound, reproducing absolutely everything. Makes a good bass played well sound amazing, but will also expose any deficiencies in equipment or playing techniques (no hiding with these speakers).

The other thing is that the PJB speakers tend to be heavier than equivalents from other manufacturers (4x5” drivers weigh more than a 1x10”). The really big cabs are no joke heavy (each one of my 24B cabinets weighs approx 150lbs).

Ben

 

[Dragonlord]

Alrighty, back in Greece... unfortunately not much to say at this moment, I'm still speaking with Martin about a couple of details but, fingers crossed, I'll be in the club in a week or so

 

[7string]

Back again from my visit down south. I've posted some more pics on my build thread !!

Bass looks amazing. Couldn't be happier with it. We've sorted the pickup position so all is great. ETA could even be late January. I know might change though, I expected late Feb/early March anyway.

One point to report back is that Martin Sims DOES NOT finish the Sei basses. Martin has used him for some things but not for Sei's. I told Martin about the Guitarist magazine article and he became quite animated and even a little annoyed about it (and we all know just how calm Martin is !!). So that sets the record straight !!

I also found out that Sei is pronounced 'say' and not 'sigh'. I always thought it was 'sigh' as in the Japanese sword...

Lastly, here's a pic which should take some of the 'lardy boy' jibes off of Paddy !!

 

[Dragonlord]

BTW, while in the Gallery I held a few of the basses in progress, including 7string's 7string and notrt's fanned... they're all turning out awesome. I also saw a singlecut, I love Martin's take on this design, the body is small so it doesn't look bulky at all, on the contrary it looks elegant. Sei and Benavente singlecuts are the most (if not only) beautiful singlecut basses I've ever seen.

 

[Paddy]

Lastly, here's a pic which should take some of the 'lardy boy' jibes off of Paddy !!

you must have posted the wrong pic. No lardy boy there - just a pic of some finely toned athlete holding a bass in progress.

Your also telling porkies. Since when does Martin ever get animated - doesn't happen

Hey Dragonlord - that's not fair man. Details - we want details.

 

[bassplayer2106]

BTW, while in the Gallery I held a few of the basses in progress, including 7string's 7string and notrt's fanned... they're all turning out awesome. I also saw a singlecut, I love Martin's take on this design, the body is small so it doesn't look bulky at all, on the contrary it looks elegant. Sei and Benavente singlecuts are the most (if not only) beautiful singlecut basses I've ever seen.

That's something that I like about his single cut basses, and something I was worried about when I decided to go for one.
I'm quite skinny (unlike other Sei bass players), and large bodied basses look silly on me, so I was quite relieved when I saw one of Martins basses up close. Like you say they are very elegant, you've described it perfectly.

 

[Dragonlord]

Hey Dragonlord - that's not fair man. Details - we want details.

In time... I've sent Martin something, and if he agrees and we go on with the project I'll make a thread for wood suggestions, as I haven't decided on a couple of things. The standard features so far are these: 37"-34" fanned frets, walnut wings, most probably macassar board, villex pups and most probably schack preamp (Martin thinks that the Demeter is more neutral, so I'd love to hear some feedback from Schack users: what is the tonal difference between passive and flat active? Which one do you prefer etc).
This conversation has got me thinking about the flamboyant shape I had chosen, maybe I should go for a singlecut... but I'm not sure how much would that add to the weight, as I've already selected pretty heavy woods, plus having the upper horn as a handle would be more practical. Dunno yet.

 

[Paddy]

you could always get the handle cut in to the singlecut as per steve vai ibanez [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Mine has a walnut body and rosewood board - it's wicked light.

 

[Dragonlord]

No thanks This is the guitar my guitarist will buy in a few months, I always found the handle extremely ugly...
Martin mentioned that there are light and heavy varieties of walnut, but I've heard that heavier walnut sounds better so I'll ask for a medium to heavy piece of walnut.

 

[bassplayer2106]

I've got a Schack fitted to my Flamboyant. It's a nice sounding unit, and quite versatile, you can alter the frequencies that it affects, by changing the settings on some little switches on the back of the three chips inside.

I've provisionaly gone with a Schack on the new bass but I've been thinking of going with a Demeter to go with the Barts.

 

[7string]

you must have posted the wrong pic. No lardy boy there - just a pic of some finely toned athlete holding a bass in progress.

Your also telling porkies. Since when does Martin ever get animated - doesn't happen

Oh Dude, you say the nicest things !!
Yup, animated I tell you

These last couple of months are gonna fly by. Can't wait to see my bass all finished..

Dragonlord - Sounds like an interesting project. Anything you order is gonna be awesome.
I went for a walnut core to my bass because of the characteristics that I read about. Saying that, the choice of the core wood was the most difficult part of the spec...

 

[sei24bass]

Dragonlord, I used to have a Schack circuit in my SEI, but I swapped it out for a Bartolini (via an Aguilar on the way). Never could get the really clear, clean, warm and ultra deep sound I wanted with the Schack (almost get it with the Bartolini circuitry, but the Aquilar’s great clarity resulted in not enough warmth for me). Never compared any of them to the passive bass sound because my Bartolini pickup has a pathetic passive output.

I have also heard a lot of good things about the following preamps:

• Demeter – I believe Alex (of the Gallery) is selling his own SEI that has a Demeter pre-amp in it.
• Audere – Jauqo rates this circuitry and his bass with this circuit and Villex p/u’s really gets that sound I am after.

No reason why you cannot use a switch (toggle or rotary) to switch between active and passive given the high outputs of the Villex pickups (my new SEI going to be wired this way…pm me if you want more info).

Ben

 

[Dragonlord]

Yes, the switch will definitely be there... I was mainly thinking of the Schack because of the semi-parametric, this way I would have more options as the whole bass is an experiment... dunno, might as well go with the demeter or aguilar, waiting for the green light from Martin on a small subject and then I'll think about it.

 

[john keates]

Are you going to use the passive mid control with the Villex? I believe that it is considered necessary. Surely that would help dictate the pre-amp to use, and certainly increase the usefullness of the passive/active switch.

 

[Dragonlord]

Yep, I will use the mid and tone controls of the villex, and after the whole passive villex circuit is gonna be an active preamp with 3 bands for even more flexibility. If I end up actually ordering it that is. If not, it's gonna be a Dingwall...

 

[7string]

Geez, I'm so glad that I've steered clear of the whole preamp question..

To be honest, I wouldn't know where to start...

 

[sei24bass]

Funny how peronal taste differs...I love the preamp thing!

Dragonlord, a couple of thoughts I had that may be of interest:

• Villex Mid - Villex pickups are typically split coil affairs, with the bass coils wired in parallel and the treble coils in series (explains their bright passive sound). I have heard one or two complaints about Villex pickups being a little overbright when put through a pre-amp. No reason why both bass coils and both treble coils could not be wired in parallel, to reduce their brightness a bit. I am considering getting Martin to wire my new bass so that the Villex treble coils are in parallel when in active mode and in series when in passive mode!

• Parametric Mid's - I also love having different options. However, I have my favourite frequencies and prefer a set and forget approach (I never stopped fiddling with the parametric controls when they were on my bass... ). I therefore prefer pre-amps with switchable mid frequencies (e.g. Audere, Aguilar, Bartolini etc, but NOT Demeter). Aguilar OBP-3 mid can be wired either parametrically or switchable between 2 frequencies (Martin wired mine parametrically, with the parametric control inside the bass control cavity).

Enough of the technobable. I love the truly custom route Martin offers with his basses, backed up with his knowledge / wisdom that ensures the resulting bass never fails to hit the spot.

No news on my new bass (saw Martin last week)...nearly 6 months into the wait now so hopefully may see some progress early next year.

 

[Mike Flynn]

I shouldn't even be posting in this thread but I am really planning to put the money down on my own Sei bass this year...so big droools all round for the stuff in this thread. I'm lucky in that I can call in the Gallery once a mont or so and check out what's new at the shop and obviously there are always a few secondhand Sei's in there - and of course I've played them all.

My bass is probably going to be a single-cut - but my real dilemma is whether to go 5 or 6 string...I'm really taken with the idea of playing higher (not too high) but just enough to play some chord extensions etc - but then I can always string it E - C. I already use a D-tuner on my 4 string so I'm well versed in playing with a different tuning there - and I love the dimensions of a 5-string neck. However I have played a Sei 6 that was like butter and that made me think - if I get the dimensions of ther neck right then what the hell, I could go 6...

Any thoughts please let me know.

Aside from that I'm thinking a light bass, with light woods, definitely some juicy top wood but not too much fiddly body work behind - my Warwick is so damn heavy that I need a fretted bass that isn't going to hospitalise me as I get older! Not sure about Pups and circuit yet but I'm sure Martin will have a ton of good suggestions.

I've just bought a flat so I'm going to be pretty skint next year - but hey this will give me something to work towards.

Cheers

Mike

PS how do I become a club member? Do I have to own a Sei first...it might be a while if so.