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Show us your Martin Keith Basses
- Thread starter 77stingray
- Start date
OK, it's here!It appears that Martin omitted my unit number, but no big deal, it was only a one-day delay. Package arrived with some dents and holes in the cardboard courtesy of UPS, but none were a problem because Martin's packing job was as good as I've seen.
To begin at the beginning: bass ordered in August. The original estimate was that I'd be in a batch going out in December, but apparently Martin became much busier than expected, and that is fine with me: I'm glad I didn't have to pay the balance during Xmas, and there was also no worry about shipping in freezing conditions. Really, 8+ months is an acceptable turnaround time for a top-quality custom build.
Specs:
Custom headless doublecut
Poplar body, maple neck/board
Miami blue body, vintage tint neck
Black hardware
Nordstrand Big Rig pickups with series/parallel switch for each
Richter preamp (Martin's rec for sweep mid): volume/pan, treble/bass, midrange/frequency
Playability: out of the box, the bass is slightly but evenly fret-buzzy in standard pitch. No big deal, new instruments can shift. I actually requested setup for half-step down (most of my bands play in that tuning, unfortunately), but that was late in the process and there was a minor hiccup with the painter, so I don't mind that it was overlooked. Action is stupid low now. Fretbuzz is kind of fun, actually, but I'm confident that it'll play beautifully (and action will remain low) even after I eliminate the buzz. Neck profile is wonderful, satin finish feels great.
The Big Rig pickups sound amazing (in either mode!), but that's no surprise. After I requested them, Martin said they were his favorites from Nordstrand. I can tell that I will love the Richter pre. It's quiet, clean, transparent when set flat. The sweep mid goes from upper bass to around 700Hz, give or take. I like the treble and bass controls, and EQ changes are musical.
Looks... I'm totally blown away.First off: Martin warned me that his camera didn't fully capture the color. My camera hasn't either: there's more saturation and "pop" to it in person, and there's also a slight hint of green washed out by both our cameras. It's defintely NOT seafoam green; Miami blue is much bluer. Bottom line: it's exactly what I wanted.
Also: I did not specify figured wood for the neck, but both neck and board have some nice bling! The "K" inlay looks especially nice against it. Again, my camera doesn't do it justice.
I'm really thrilled with how the binding turned out. Note the arm bevel -- this bass won't cut you like a Ric 4001 will.Srsly, it's comfortable! With the horn going to the 12th fret, ergonomics and balance are perfect for me.
More thoughts later once she's set up. Here are pix:
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Finally had some good sun this weekend, so here are some higher quality pics of my new favorite bass. Still learning how versatile the tone options are and getting lost vamping on variations of stuff…so much fun
Guys… yall have to stop posting pictures of new basses from Martin… I’m trying not to order another one from him and yall are making that very difficult
Wait until my headless is done…that should push you over the edge for sureGuys… yall have to stop posting pictures of new basses from Martin… I’m trying not to order another one from him and yall are making that very difficult
Ha!
Guys… yall have to stop posting pictures of new basses from Martin… I’m trying not to order another one from him and yall are making that very difficult
I hear you, I'm already brainstorming on a fretless version of what I just got...I keep telling myself to slow down and just enjoy what I've got!
All of these headless basses are killer! Martin's really nailing it in the looks department! I'm curious to hear those who are using short scale headless basses what they think of them. I have one on order with another builder that is a shorter scale 6, but is set up as a multiscale as well. I have had good experiences with short scale 4 string basses I've played and have really liked the soundclips from the short scale 6 string basses I've heard, but due to the rarity of the beast, I've not had the chance to play a true short scale 5 or 6 string bass.
Gig #1 last Friday: classic pop and rock, did not use any overdrive. Ran through my Niche Humboldt preamp, Reiner head and cab. The head has a hand-wired all-tube front end with Class D power module, Jensen DI.
I left the Big Rigs in parallel all night: crisp and clear! I went between neck pickup soloed and both 50/50, all shades were wonderful. Richter pre stayed flat for the first set, but then I started to tweak it a bit. Sweep mid is really versatile! Part of me wishes I had ordered a passive tone to go with the active circuit... I almost always have on custom actives... but I'm fine without it.
Playability was just incredible, and the overly-mobile guitarist on my left was lucky I went headless on that cramped stage (if I whack a bandmate I want it to be on purpose, not by accident).
This Saturday with my hard rock band I'll put the pickups in series and slather with distortion. I'm sure it'll be great!
Heads up….if anyone is looking for a fretless 5 string semi hollow from Martin, he actually has one in stock. I should have a photo soon.
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This is the stock fretless semi-hollow 5. It has a single Aguilar pickup and a piezo bridge. Martin said that if someone buys it now then they can choose to have it natural or with a color finish. This bass was made to test and incorporate some new ideas for these fretless semi-hollows.
Hey peeps, I'm really curious about an Elfin fretless I see for sale - but I can't find any sound clips or demos. Does anyone know where I can find some clips?
I've got a whole lot of my fretless Elfin 5 but it wouldn't necessarily do much for you as most (every?) Elfin is custom built with different specs/pickups/electronics/etc.
Thanks Jeff, would they give me an idea about how this one might sound?
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/martin-keith-elfin-fretless.1642020/#post-28236055
I'll let you be the judge on that; pretty much everything is different between the two basses! I don't see a description of the electronics on that one, too.
How’s everyone been making out with their beautiful Martin Keith basses?
My salsa band is on hiatus--as are all my other bands!--so my hollowbody is not seeing too many gigs at this point, but it still gets a lot of playing time at home!
Most of my gigs are rather blue collar, maybe that's why I got a blue bass? Seriously: still loving it. I'm normally an alder guy, but Martin suggested poplar. I was reminded of the tulipwood/wenge/wenge MTD 535 I owned for awhile, I enjoyed that one but it was a different animal than my usual Fender-style instruments. Martin said that poplar/maple/maple would work well, and long story short I concur. It's punchy in a different way than alder.
I've had it a few months now and have gigged it regularly. It's a bit overdue for its first string change, I should take care of that this weekend. The system on the Keith is different at the headstock than my headless Zon, but not rocket science!
I've had it a few months now and have gigged it regularly. It's a bit overdue for its first string change, I should take care of that this weekend. The system on the Keith is different at the headstock than my headless Zon, but not rocket science!
Got a lot of questions about my touch instrument at our album launch in August. Was very cool. I'm away for a few months and got invited to play in a "bad jazz combo" (which is fine for me--I need to relearn walking basslines in 5ths tuning). I emailed Martin about doing the Carol Kaye tape-and-felt thing and he was like "you can pretty much do anything to the finish."
- Apr 29, 2003
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- Disclosures
- Contributor- Bass Musician Magazine | Marketing Manager- Trickfish Amplification
My hollowbody is currently getting an electronics revamp. It’s surprisingly complicated to successfully run two magnetics and Piezo, and I think with the help of Best Bass Gear it’s about to be super dialed in. Cant wait to get it back in hand for some gigs next weekend. Currently it has labella black tapes C-E and a DR black beauty B string, which blends really well and keeps the growl and focus on the lowest notes.
