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Show us your Martin Keith Basses

#781
mikezimmerman said:
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!
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Martin is also incredibly practical with design. If he had added more frets then they wouldn't have been easily accessible. I'm sure that factors in.

When I got my fretless I asked why the body wasn't thicker, like my fretted. He said that he was bothered visually by the thicker body, as well as how it feels. In the end the bass sounds exceptional, so no argument here, but I learned how he thinks very deeply about design and proportion, and about the practicality of everything involved.
 
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#782
Just noticed my name/scale length on the board for the next bass...LOL
Screenshot_20220620-203153_Chrome.jpg
 
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#783
I also notice that many of Martin’s newer builds, such as @smperry ’s new headless 5, have fairly long fretboard extensions past the 24th fret, so I am guessing there is a specific reason Martin is choosing to do it that way…

emjazz said:
Martin is also incredibly practical with design. If he had added more frets then they wouldn't have been easily accessible. I'm sure that factors in.

When I got my fretless I asked why the body wasn't thicker, like my fretted. He said that he was bothered visually by the thicker body, as well as how it feels. In the end the bass sounds exceptional, so no argument here, but I learned how he thinks very deeply about design and proportion, and about the practicality of everything involved.
Click to expand...
 
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#784
mikezimmerman said:
I also notice that many of Martin’s newer builds, such as @smperry ’s new headless 5, have fairly long fretboard extensions past the 24th fret, so I am guessing there is a specific reason Martin is choosing to do it that way…
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Reason I asked is that my fretless Elfin 5 can reach up to the 26th fret position. I would rarely have need these days for going that high but it does come in handy occasionally.

Elfin-5 FL-Front-CU-1200_9134.jpg
 
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#789
emjazz said:
How's everyone doing with their MK basses? Are they getting some playing time? I moved back to Brooklyn last week, and Martin sent me my repaired semi hollow. I can't wait to get back to playing more often with this gorgeous masterpiece.
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Sure, I'll bite. Still the same basses I've posted before, but they are definitely getting more live playing time this year. Like many I'm sure, 2022 has been a return to form for some of my bands. With my main cover band (One Bad Oyster), we probably had 5 gigs in total across 2020 and 2021. This year I think we've got ~30 bookings. It seemed awesome at first but now we've ended up with a few back-to-backs, and I'm starting to feel old when it comes to getting home at 1 AM and then hitting it again the next day.

This past weekend was one of those, with a show at a new place (to us) on Saturday night, and then another charity sort of thing on Sunday afternoon. I normally play my Elfin 5 string fretted with this band, but decided to change it up for Sunday and bring my Elfin Plus 5 string fretless. I sing backups too, and it was really high humidity and pollen around here. By Sunday afternoon I hardly had a voice, and the lead singer was almost toast too. In hindsight I kind of wish I had stuck with fretted since I was struggling with my singing (and for me fretless just requires a bit more focus), but I actually got several compliments on the tone, so it was worth it. That said you can see below that I'm smiling on Saturday, but looking a bit pensive on Sunday :roflmao:

Martin Keith basses and OBO 01.jpg

Martin Keith basses and OBO 02.jpg

Martin Keith basses and OBO 03.jpg

Martin Keith basses and OBO 04.jpg
 
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#790
gscroggin said:
Sure, I'll bite. Still the same basses I've posted before, but they are definitely getting more live playing time this year. Like many I'm sure, 2022 has been a return to form for some of my bands. With my main cover band (One Bad Oyster), we probably had 5 gigs in total across 2020 and 2021. This year I think we've got ~30 bookings. It seemed awesome at first but now we've ended up with a few back-to-backs, and I'm starting to feel old when it comes to getting home at 1 AM and then hitting it again the next day.

This past weekend was one of those, with a show at a new place (to us) on Saturday night, and then another charity sort of thing on Sunday afternoon. I normally play my Elfin 5 string fretted with this band, but decided to change it up for Sunday and bring my Elfin Plus 5 string fretless. I sing backups too, and it was really high humidity and pollen around here. By Sunday afternoon I hardly had a voice, and the lead singer was almost toast too. In hindsight I kind of wish I had stuck with fretted since I was struggling with my singing (and for me fretless just requires a bit more focus), but I actually got several compliments on the tone, so it was worth it. That said you can see below that I'm smiling on Saturday, but looking a bit pensive on Sunday :roflmao:

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I hear you on getting back. I'm still more tired than I had been pre pandemic when it comes to the hustle, but getting there. Have decided to push less...will see how that goes!

I LOVE that fretless of yours!!!
 
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#791
emjazz said:
I hear you on getting back. I'm still more tired than I had been pre pandemic when it comes to the hustle, but getting there. Have decided to push less...will see how that goes!

I LOVE that fretless of yours!!!
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Thanks man. If I didn't have this one from Martin and a Veillette that Martin also helped build, I would have already placed an order for your model :thumbsup:
 
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#794
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