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Show us the Rob Allen basses!

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#482
richnota said:
no extended "spade2you" fingerboard?:ninja:
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LOL no, and I don't think it would compliment this bass. It would need to match the pickguard IMHO

richnota said:
a cool take on a thumbrest would enhance the old "P" vibe.
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I agree. I have some ideas I may run by Rob and see what he thinks. In looking back at some of my e-mails, Rob said this

Rob Allen said:
However it does have the route for the attachment which is under the pickguard, so it could be added later. Like everything else is seem to do, it has become more complex. It's hard to explain, but the look is extremely minimal and clean, not like any other thumbrest, but the part is quite complex to machine, and i haven't written the programming yet for this part.
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richnota said:
Photos dont do justice...how would you describe the color? sure aint the fender '51 MIJ RI "tang" color
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LOL definitely not. It's more vintage-y IMHO. Rob went through three variations, and I know he talked to a few people to get the color right. I would say it's closer to a natural than the tang. When it ages, it'll get lighter. You can see the wood grain under the butterscotch.
 
#483
Here are some thoughts after playing it in rehearsal tonight.
  1. The action is actually a little bit lower than my P, but not necessarily a bad thing. I’ll have to see long term if I’ll have it raised; not sure I will.
  2. The bass was fun to play – the neck is perfect. I used it on 80% of the tunes tonight (I used my P on two or three and the Deep 4 on one).
  3. My back is happy. I don't always stand but it's a world of difference between this one and my '78.
  4. I like the sound of the single coil. It’s definitely different, yet in many ways similar to tone-wise, to my ’78 P with the split humbucker. The RA P bass is “hotter” than my P by a little. That’s not a bad thing. It’s not just volume – it has a bit more punch. I think some of that is the single coil which to me seems a tad bit more midrange-y and has a bit more low end than my stock ’78 pickups. The sound is a bit closer to Sting's '50s he uses than a later one if that makes sense.

    On certain songs it had some nice punch which fit them perfectly. Not that my '78 sounds bad, but this cut more and had the right vibe moreso than my existing bass on certain songs. Some of it also I think is that it’s got brand-spankin’ new strings but I think it’ll settle in a little bit and get more of that vintage vibe (more than it has now).

    I'm actually glad the single coil is not exactly like the split humbucker as it gives me a reason to use both :)
  5. I could definitely use a thumbrest as I usually use it on my P. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of life, though.

That’s about it after owning it for less than 12 hours and playing it in a band setting for an hour and a half. Nothing bad and it was worth the wait.

I’m definitely going to gig with it this weekend, so if you live in the Boston area, come check it out.

I chatted with the guitarist in the band (who I have been playing with for the past 5 or so years) and he liked it. He could tell the difference as well.

At some point I'll do comparison sound clips with this bass vs. my '78 P.

EDIT: I'll add this - the build quality is impeccable. I've played a few Fender Custom Shop pieces and they're not as nice as this. I love the very clean look of the whole thing as well - where Rob put the tone and volume knobs is perfect.
 
#484
More pics to drool over below. You can see the wood grain in the body through the butterscotch in some of the pics. Some of the pics are the ones he took a bit ago with the roundwounds and are not my flats, but not that it matters for the pics.

Enjoy!

Full Horizontal look
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Body
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Body Perspective 1
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Body Perspective 2
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Rosewood Fingerboard (it's gorgeous in real life!)
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Bridge Detail (arguably my favorite bit)
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Pickup Detail
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String Anchor
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#489
FenderP said:
I'm guessing it has to do with whatever string length you get. Rob didn't elaborate.
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That's what came to my mind first too. I would think that the tonal differences between the two or three positions for the E string would be negligible so I thought it must be to accommodate different string lengths.

Can you also just let the ball ends rest flush with the body? So that would give you three positions for the E and two for the A (hypothetically)?
 
#490
VintageBT6Lover said:
Can you also just let the ball ends rest flush with the body? So that would give you three positions for the E and two for the A (hypothetically)?
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Don't know. Guess you could. I'm not experimenting with that :p

I think I am going to raise the action, and Rob said all that needs to happen is adjust the truss rod a bit. I'll probably take it to Mouradian and have 'em do it when they're handling some of my other basses and I get some downtime.
 
#497
spade2you said:
It's very enticing, but the overall vibe is a little more vintage than I am. Plus I kinda have 3-ish more Rob Allen fretless piezo basses planned. Maybe if he offers a relic'd version....;)
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Obviously I like the vintage vibe. It's definitely not a bass for everyone - that I will say. I play my '78 P more than any bass, so this makes sense to me more than another piezo-based RA for me at the moment.

I was just playing the RA P and it's such a quality instrument. Love it.

I may wind up getting a fretless version of this in sunburst.

BTW, I hate relic'd basses. I want all the nicks and dents to come from me (unless I buy it used of course).
 
#499
FenderP said:
Bass NW has a lovely natural one with a maple neck at the moment. I may try it when I'm out there ...
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That's a nice one. Good price too. I've looked at two here in NYC in tha past week both 1970 with rosewood boards. $3,500 and $4,000. Ridiculous prices. That's tempting. If you check it out, I'd like to get your opinion. If you don't buy and it's still around i might have to.
 
#500
Marcury said:
That's a nice one. Good price too. I've looked at two here in NYC in tha past week both 1970 with rosewood boards. $3,500 and $4,000. Ridiculous prices. That's tempting. If you check it out, I'd like to get your opinion. If you don't buy and it's still around i might have to.
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Right now I really need another bass (and my third iacquisition n two months) like a hole in the head. I'm hoping I have a chance to get over there - I'll be in Seattle all week next week (well, just outside of). What sucks about Bass NW is that their hours are not good for getting over there after work and parking in that area isn't great.

I will say this: Bass NW grades fairly, so if you did take the plunge (even before I get there heh) I doubt you would be dissatisfied. My issue more than anything else with later 70s Ps (and I have one) is that they are so inconsistent in quality. To charge big bucks because it's vintage is crazy. Anyone who knows about Fenders in the 70s knows you either got a good one or a bad one.
 
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