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Show us the Rob Allen basses!

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#761
Just took my RA Deep 5 to the 1st gig. Taken it to Jams before, but held off taking it to gigs with my main band ... because I know the material so well on a 4-string I was concerned about tripping myself up on the 5.

The bass was great ... worked well for the 40s/50s swing and RnB as expected ... but the surprise was how punchy it was and well it worked for later blues, where you'd expect a precision to be filling the bass role. And this with no variation in amp settings ... just treble roll-off on the bass for the uprighty tones.

And of course everyone asked loads of questions ... usually starting with variations on *** is that :)

One disappointment: The slightly weak G string was even more noticeable live ... suspect I'll have to follow the suggestions in the owners booklet about reseating bridge/pickup..

Andy
 
#762
BigBeatNut said:
One disappointment: The slightly weak G string was even more noticeable live ... suspect I'll have to follow the suggestions in the owners booklet about reseating bridge/pickup..

Andy
Click to expand...

Has that been an issue for a while? Have you made sure that the G string has adequate volume compared to the other strings while unplugged? This rules out the possibility of a dead string. I think I've got a dud B string on my MB2 at the moment. I don't think it's a seating issue at this point.
 
#763
This thread will most likely not be of much interest to those who are not into the Rob Allen / Turner / Godin semi-acoustic basses. I just wanted to give props to this amazing bass, after I dropped it off at FedEx on its way to its new home.

I have had my Turner basses for quite a few years. Due to an illness called "gas", I continued searching for an even better, perfect bass. I bought numerous high-end basses, tried them, and then sold them again, usually for less than I paid for them. I finally realized that I had what I will wanted all along [ my Turner basses ].

Through intensive counseling and checkbook pain, I was able to almost completely cure myself of “ gas “. I get occasional flare-ups now and then, but mostly I have it under control.

However, when I saw this beautiful Rob Allen, deep five fretless bass for sale on evilBay, I had to give it one last shot. Perhaps this could be the one !!

The bass arrived, and I removed it from its case. Oh, such beauty. Such incredible craftsmanship. Such solidity. Simple, yet extravagant at the same time. Just amazing.

When I began to play it un-plugged, I could feel the strings vibrating through the body of the bass deeply. Noticeably more deeply than my Turner basses. I plugged it in to my Acoustic Image amp and the sound of course was lovely.

But alas, after a short time of playing the bass, as exquisite as it is, it was not what I was looking for and would not eclipse any playing time from my Turner basses. If I could justify having the amount of money invested in it for a bass to have around for occasional playing, I would have kept it for sure. My finances don't allow this. So now it has gone off to a fellow TB’er.

What I most like about the Rob Allen:

Exquisite craftsmanship and beauty
Excellent playability
Very nice unique sound

What I do not like about the Rob Allen:

All of the Rob Allen at bases I have played just sounds to “ bassy “ for me. Obviously, much tone control can be done. I just don't like to start off tone wise with so much bass.

The neck design is a little larger than the Turner basses.

The biggest difference between the Rob Allen and Turner basses for me is this:

The Turner basses are just more articulate. Something about the combination of design and electronics is such that I can get a much wider, more articulate palette of tone combinations from my Turner basses. This includes the physical playability of the bass, the neck and how it feels to play. More " areodynamic ". These are the biggest considerations for me.

All said, the Rob Allen basses are incredible and I'm sad to see this one go.

pro pic

RA-MACRO-1.gif


With my Turners: yes the one on the right is missing strings.

DSC01971.gif
 
#765
jibreel, your cons for the Rob Allen are exactly why I got mine. I had a Ren 4, and didn't like it. Neck was too thin, tone was meh - not enough low end, etc. In terms of feel, I'd say a Rob Allen is more of a P, and the Turner is more of a J (the neck of the Ren is based on a J profile).

There's nothing wrong with liking the Ren better; it's a great bass. What wasn't good for me is great for you.
 
#767
BigBeatNut said:
One disappointment: The slightly weak G string was even more noticeable live ... suspect I'll have to follow the suggestions in the owners booklet about reseating bridge/pickup..

Andy
Click to expand...
I had that problem develop after a setup and rewiring. I couldn't get the G string to speak loud and clear even with a couple of re-seatings. I finally sent it back to Rob and he split the saddle so that the B string has a separate piece. No problems since.
 
#774
spade2you said:
Has that been an issue for a while? Have you made sure that the G string has adequate volume compared to the other strings while unplugged? This rules out the possibility of a dead string. I think I've got a dud B string on my MB2 at the moment. I don't think it's a seating issue at this point.
Click to expand...
Just checked it over again. It's not noticeable acoustically, so I'm ruling out a dead string, even though they're an old set, and I'm not sure if I can hear it on my practice set up (Pandora PX4B, headphones) with the bass boost (on the bass) off. I can hear it when I pull up for bass boost. I wasn't using the bass boost live.

I think it's most likely an EQ issue with my live setup (Bass Pod XT -> GK MB150 this time). I've probably got sub 100Hz boosted too much. I'll check it out.

FWIW, the bass has been in my possession about 4 months, it was built in 2004 I think.

Marcury said:
I had that problem develop after a setup and rewiring. I couldn't get the G string to speak loud and clear even with a couple of re-seatings. I finally sent it back to Rob and he split the saddle so that the B string has a separate piece. No problems since.
Click to expand...

:s Glad yours is sorted. Sincerely hope it's not the case with me ... not looking forward to UK -> US return shipping.

Andy
 
#776
BigBeatNut said:
One disappointment: The slightly weak G string was even more noticeable live ... suspect I'll have to follow the suggestions in the owners booklet about reseating bridge/pickup..

Andy
Click to expand...

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There's some info about uneven balance. Not sure if it's the same as in the owners manual. Try contacting Rob Allen for advice on remedying this issue.
 
#777
Freddels said:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

There's some info about uneven balance. Not sure if it's the same as in the owners manual. Try contacting Rob Allen for advice on remedying this issue.
Click to expand...
That's subtly different to the advice in the manual so thanks for bringing it to my attention.

At the moment, though, I'm working on the assumption it's an EQ issue (there are settings on the bass where it's not apparent) so I'll leave the re-seating till I run out of options ... don't want to create problems :)

Andy
 
#780
Just discovered how much replacement strings for my RA Deep 5 are going to cost ... since no-one (apparently) in the UK stocks them (online or offline) I need to order from the US ...

40 $ postage on a 55 $ set of strings !

I think I might order several sets to save postage.
 
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