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Show us your Martin Keith Basses

I’ll post more when I’m not typing from my phone. It’s still the honeymoon weekend, but I’m thrilled with this bass. It has a thickness as well as a clarity to the tone that is unique. It plays so well, and I love the smaller form factor. It’s incredible.

I spent some time with my three fretted fives today, and still appreciate the uniqueness of each one.

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I’ll post more when I’m not typing from my phone. It’s still the honeymoon weekend, but I’m thrilled with this bass. It has a thickness as well as a clarity to the tone that is unique. It plays so well, and I love the smaller form factor. It’s incredible.

I spent some time with my three fretted fives today, and still appreciate the uniqueness of each one.

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Man, thank you so much for posting a full photo of the headless. Have been waiting for one. Amazing looking bass
 
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I had an extremely terrible moment yesterday. I was about to go into a rehearsal, was taking my gig bag off of my back, and it slid off of my shoulder and the bottom of the bag crashed down onto the pavement. I knew immediately what had happened...it hit the strap pin, and when opened the case I saw the crack up the sides. To say I'm heartbroken is an understatement, but I know that Martin will fix it....but man, it hurts to see something like tha happen to such a cherished instrument.

Is there a gig bag that you could recommend that has great protection at the bottom of the bag to avoid something like this again? I've always used Mooradian gig bags, but have never had anything like this happen before.

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Very sad! I know Martin will do a great job restoring it!

There is another piece of me that sees this and is reminded of the orchestral instruments that are centuries old, or the wonderful old Martins from the turn of the (20th) century, finely crafted instruments that are still being lovingly repaired and played after decades, and I can’t help but think this one will be like that…

I had an extremely terrible moment yesterday. I was about to go into a rehearsal, was taking my gig bag off of my back, and it slid off of my shoulder and the bottom of the bag crashed down onto the pavement. I knew immediately what had happened...it hit the strap pin, and when opened the case I saw the crack up the sides. To say I'm heartbroken is an understatement, but I know that Martin will fix it....but man, it hurts to see something like tha happen to such a cherished instrument.

Is there a gig bag that you could recommend that has great protection at the bottom of the bag to avoid something like this again? I've always used Mooradian gig bags, but have never had anything like this happen before.

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Very sad! I know Martin will do a great job restoring it!

There is another piece of me that sees this and is reminded of the orchestral instruments that are centuries old, or the wonderful old Martins from the turn of the (20th) century, finely crafted instruments that are still being lovingly repaired and played after decades, and I can’t help but think this one will be like that…
I thought the same, Mike. Absolutely!
 
I had an extremely terrible moment yesterday. I was about to go into a rehearsal, was taking my gig bag off of my back, and it slid off of my shoulder and the bottom of the bag crashed down onto the pavement. I knew immediately what had happened...it hit the strap pin, and when opened the case I saw the crack up the sides. To say I'm heartbroken is an understatement, but I know that Martin will fix it....but man, it hurts to see something like tha happen to such a cherished instrument.

I’m so sorry! That’s painful even over the internet.

I use a Mooradian bag too, but it’s not my best. I like the ProTec Contego a lot for the base, but don’t know if they still make those. My best bag is made by MusicArea, but that was a weird one off too. I’ve never used the Mono or Gruv.
 
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Of the ones I've tried, Sadowsky Portabag and Reunion Blues Continental get my top marks for protection. I suppose these are actually "soft cases" -- significantly bulkier than traditional gig bags. Protec Contego is also very good, I own two, but not quite to the same degree. I do NOT recommend the Mono M80; mine became floppy/weak after regular use.

Haven't tried it, but I've heard great things about the Access Stage 5... I think the 5 is the one most similar to the Portabag, and someone posted that Access made the Portabag, for awhile anyway.

Caveat: I should mention that I don't know whether the current Portabag is the same as the ones that I got with my Sadowskys back in 2010. I caught some talk that it might not be, possibly due to the Sadowsky/Warwick deal.
 
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I’ll post more when I’m not typing from my phone. It’s still the honeymoon weekend, but I’m thrilled with this bass. It has a thickness as well as a clarity to the tone that is unique. It plays so well, and I love the smaller form factor. It’s incredible.

I spent some time with my three fretted fives today, and still appreciate the uniqueness of each one.

View attachment 4705471 View attachment 4705472 View attachment 4705473 View attachment 4705474

Those are some great photos! Much better than mine would be!


I had an extremely terrible moment yesterday. I was about to go into a rehearsal, was taking my gig bag off of my back, and it slid off of my shoulder and the bottom of the bag crashed down onto the pavement. I knew immediately what had happened...it hit the strap pin, and when opened the case I saw the crack up the sides. To say I'm heartbroken is an understatement, but I know that Martin will fix it....but man, it hurts to see something like tha happen to such a cherished instrument.


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I am speechless...I'm so sorry that happened to you!
 
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Thanks, guys. Martin likes the RB Continental as well, so I just ordered that one. It at least has some padding on the bottom.

I keep my Sadowskys in my Portabags -- Sadowsky logo, after all. My Elfin Plus was shipped in a Protec Contego -- my choice; as I said, it's a good case -- but I've since transferred it to a RB Continental for a bit more protection. :thumbsup:
 
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I did not specifically discuss the number of frets with him, but I did ask him to copy the specs from my Bordwell Dola 5 (which has 24 frets). This is a new 34”scale wide 5-string neck on @emjazz ‘s prototype acoustic which originally had a shorter scale (33”?), more frets, and 6 strings with narrow spacing, so I’m glad Martin was able to make tweaks for my desired neck specs!

Why did he stop at 24 frets?