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Show us the Rob Allen basses!

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#461
ric426 said:
Does the Mouse have as much sustain as an MB-2, or does the shorter scale length result in less string tension and less sustain?

Does the jump to the short scale throw you off coming from a 34" scale?
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Mine actually has more sustain than my MB2, but that's not to say my MB2 is shabby. I'd probably guess that it has the most sustain in my arsenal. Brazilian rosewood is some amazing wood with results that would almost seem mythical.

I don't have a problem adjusting to scale lengths. With my band's given set list, I jump from a 35" scale fretless Conklin 6, to the 30" scale Mouse 30, then back to my 35" scale MB2. My side inlays are dotted where every fret would be, mostly because my first fretless was set up that way and I've kept ordering my basses that way.
 
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#462
I'm going to do a bit more playing around over the weekend, but I finally started comparing my Deep 4 with the TB-10. I'll start a formal thread at some point (maybe not).

My Deep 4 was Rob's first, so it has the additional tone control knobs that later ones do not (stacked knobs closer, volume on the other one). The Takamine has a 3-band EQ and volume, as well as a built-in tuner. In addition to the EQ, it's got what they call "Cool Tube" technology which is essentially a tube-based preamp.

I need to the the TB-10 properly set up, but I did change the strings. I hated the roundwounds that were on there (no idea why they'd put those on it). It's now strung the same as my Deep 4 - the Rotosound RS88 set, but the bottom four of a 5-string set (75-100-115-135). Yes, that's probably unplayable for most, but such is life :)

I'm just playing them acoustically right now and doing feel comparisons, and when I go up to the rehearsal studio, I'll plug into my amp.

Feel-wise, the TB-10 is vastly different than the Deep 4. The Deep 4 plays like a bass guitar. The TB-10 does not, even playing it like one. The necks are so dissimilar. The TB-10's neck is about as close to an upright neck as you'll find. It's VERY thick. Now, my Deep 4 is based on my P neck which is a hunk of wood. The TB-10 puts it to shame. So if you prefer a smaller, less hunk of wood neck, you most likely will NOT like to play the TB-10. Switching between them is a lot like going from a full scale bass to a short scale bass. It's that different.

The neck profile is also different. The fingerboard on the Deep 4 is flat whereas the TB-10 has the rounded curve like an upright. You can't approach it as you would a bass guitar.

Playing them acoustically, the TB-10 is much, much louder but that's no surprise - it's got a larger chamber.

Weight-wise, it's also no comparison. The Deep 4 is MUCH lighter than the TB-10.

More as it comes ... this is going to be fun.
 
#465
Just talked to Rob (not e-mail - real conversation). Again, one of the nicest, most genuine guys in the business.

The P is done. He's taking more pics tomorrow and shipping it later this week. Once I get the bass I'll share the pics. The bass as far as I know will also be the example bass on the website for that line (at least for awhile).

He is really excited about the bass - you could tell. He even said at one point that he almost would have loved to kept this one for himself. As I mentioned earlier, Rob is experimenting a bit so the other basses he's doing in the same line right now will be slightly different. He's just starting to make a few more but in limited quantities for the time being.

The bass is strung with the normal RS77LE set - he didn't put the low .130 flat on there. I'm OK with that.

I'm SO excited to get it next week and I'll use it on my gig that weekend.
 
#467
Had the day off and had good sun coming in the skylight: another group shot:

DSC_0029.jpg
 
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#471
Two quick pics to tease you for now :bassist: (Rob took pics and he's sending them along ... they'll be MUCH better)

So far so good - did a quick plug into my '60s B-15N and it's got that P tone. Plays great. It even stayed in tune during shipping.

Going to road test it at rehearsal tonight and compare it to my '78 P. I'll most likely play it at my gig this weekend.

It's a light bass - just over 7lbs. Definitely lighter than my '78 without question!
 

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#474
Marcury said:
Sweet, it really is a Rob P. What's the Pickup?
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Rob's own custom pickup. He wound it, but early on in R&D I think he did have some talks with Seymour Duncan about pickups, but his intent (again, ask Rob) I'm pretty sure all along was to do his own. It may even be a hybrid where both share credit. I don't know.

At least early on in the process he said there would be the option of a humbucker as well as the vintage single coil (same look though). I chose the vintage single coil.

The difference is that the humbucker won't have the poles. I'm not sure if that going forward Rob is even going to offer the humbucker as an option. You'd have to ask him.

He also gave me the option of black or white cover, clearly I chose white. We really thought through the look of the bass, and the contrasting pickup and pickguard is a very cool look.

I may go for a fretless version in the future ... we'll see.
 
#475
FenderP said:
Two quick pics to tease you for now :bassist: (Rob took pics and he's sending them along ... they'll be MUCH better)

So far so good - did a quick plug into my '60s B-15N and it's got that P tone. Plays great. It even stayed in tune during shipping.

Going to road test it at rehearsal tonight and compare it to my '78 P. I'll most likely play it at my gig this weekend.

It's a light bass - just over 7lbs. Definitely lighter than my '78 without question!
Click to expand...
At last! Tres cool! Enjoy!

(I want a similarly configured Mouse, to go along with the lovely fretless one I already have.)
 
#478
richnota said:
Its wonderful! Exactly as promised: a Rob Allen take on a vintage p-bass.
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You didn't think I was yanking your chain, did you? lol You can see the P leanings, but with Rob's spin. It's not an MB, Deep, or Mouse knockoff.

richnota said:
Very cool. A really cool approach on the bridge.
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My favorite part of the bass, actually. When he showed me the pic of it (pre-being done), I was blown away. It's much cooler in real life. The knob closest to you (left) is tone, and the other (right, closer to the output jack) is volume. The proto I saw also had a wood piece in the bridge - he hadn't machined the metal to put the bone into.

It actually got me thinking that he could make a hybrid and put a piezo into the bridge with a stacked knob to control the blend.
 
#480
Chef said:
I had presumed there was a piezo in there.

There absolutely should be, imo...
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Nope. Rob's goal is to be more vintage and pure, and I agree with that to be honest. I'm not even sure a piezo would sound good on this - I said my comment more out of visuals once I saw it. I remember the piezo experiment on the Stingrays that had the MM pickup and the piezo to be kind crappy.

The other thing not here is a thumbrest. Rob said he had a design in mind but he needed more time to work on it.
 
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