Sei vs. Jerzy Drozd ?

[Nick Bassman]

I have played and owned both Sei and Drozd basses.

Over the years I have owned 3 Sei basses and all of them have been beautiful instruments with faultless construction and of course dealing with Martin is always a complete pleasure. I still have my first Sei a headless 6 with mahogany body, cocobolo facings and Bart p/u and pre set up. This is my favourite of the 3 Martin has built for me. The other 2 for whatever reason (and nothing to do with quality) just never really floated my boat and they are now being loved by other owners.

The Drozd is a Basic 6 and as others have mentioned has flawless build quality, in fact it is the only bass I have bought which had absolutely no issues even after my "nit picking" inspection. It sounds fabulous with weight and clarity and is a dream to play. I guess I would have to say that it just suits me better then the last 2 Sei basses I had. Maybe I just want different things from my basses now.

It just goes to show how much personal preferences and tastes count in this game and also how these parameters can shift over time.

So no winners or losers here just down to personal choice.

 

[7string]

7string, how much is the waiting period for a Sei? I think I read in their site that it's 4 months, but IIRC someone here (maybe you?) stated that he'll wait for his for a bit more. Jerzy Drozd's website says 9 months.

Hi,

When I put the first e-mail together with my spec, I was quoted 10-12 months. That spec had things like a coloured finish and fanned frets. After we agreed the final spec I was quoted 8 months, so just in time for Christmas.

Even if the bass hits delays, I'm sure that I'll be kept informed. So far though, all is well with the neck carve sometime next month. They'll give me a call a couple of weeks before to allow me to arrange transport from Glasgow to London. I'll then be able to get the neck shaped to my liking..

Cheers,
Mark.

 

[chris-piano]

I am blushing!

Thanks for the kind words, it is a wenge body with flame sycamore front and back and a flame sycamore fretboard. The headstock is also flame Sycamore. The idea was to have a bass with continious flame going from top to bottom and Martin was able to achieve with all of the sycamore coming from one block.

The pickup is a custom Kent Armstrong Humbucker with a coil tap to give me SC or H. The pickup is wired straight to Jack so I have no preamp.

The whole thing works brilliantly and I have no complaints at all.

http://photobucket.com/albums/e220/Seibassman/

Here is a link to a photobucket giving some pickture of the bass as well as my fretless 7.

Must go now as I am playing a gig tonight with my two babies.

Regards

Matthew

Again it just baffles me how stunning that bass is! Must make you a very nervous gent on the road!

 

[DCOOPER]

I have played a Sei bass for about ten minutes and it felt and sounded like a great bass.However after owning my Jerzy Drozd signature 5 for a year and a half i can say without doubt it is a FANTASTIC bass!!The only real way to compare basses is to have some time with an instrument from each luthier with all the specs that you would like to order.But when is that ever possible when you desire a custom with particular options?At the end of the day you will get a great instrument from Sei and Drozd but my preference on shape and looks goes to Jerzy

 

[Paddy]

Bit late in on this one.

I've got a Sei arriving in the next couple of months. Never played a Jerzy Drozd.

I think I've played the Flam 6 Chris-piano is on about - this one I think. So many switches, knobs it seemed overkill to me (IMHO). But the point is that was what the client wanted. I was trying it for the neck, felt effortless - I've got extremely small hands but I was able to handle 6 strings with no problems.

Martin has been excellent to deal with. Like 7-string, I'm an ordinary bloke but Martin 4 hours of intense 1-1 looking at every infinite detail to ensure I was getting what I wanted. At one point we were both on hands and knees with different wood combinations - applying thinner to get a better idea. Also sanding some samples to really feel the final selections.

Plus there has never been any issues with follow-up calls etc. The whole process has been a real pleasure.

Possibly worth noting that you don't want a "yes-man" as your luthier. Martin noted the tone I wanted to achieve and wasn't scared to say "That won't work" even though it would have meant more money for him!

I think Matthew's right - it's all down to personel preference and how your going to work with the luthier. At this level of luthier both will deliver. It's down to you to look into each and make your decision as to who would best look after you.

(my wait time will have been around 8 months all in)

 

[chris-piano]

That's the one Paddy!

Isn't the action crazy?! Im sure I've never played anything like it...a bit too low for me, it was a touch scary.

Martin was fiddling around with cabs whilst i crowded his shop up with all my gear and tried out amps. Seemed like the kind of chap that simply does not stop smiling.

It's difficult really, I'd have a genuine time discriminating between non-graphite bass manufacturers haha!