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Show Us Your Rob Allen Basses Part II
- Thread starter Mark Wilson
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My humble submissions:
HEY! You're Sean's brother. The dude's been teaching me loads of stuff. I knew I'd find you on here. He's mentioned your basses a few times, they sure are purdy.
BigBeatNut said:
Don't know. When Rob made my Deep 4, it was designed with the RS88 set in mind; he knew what strings were going on there. So I used the bottom four of the RS885LD set (see below), and he reinforced the neck for it.
The gauges for the LaBella and Rotos are similar (Rotos a tad thicker for some depending on the set), so the nut may not accomodate them. But there's no reason other than that why you can't use 'em.
Here are the regular LaBella gauges:
Set 760N
60 70 94 115
Set 760N-B Five Strings Low B
60 70 94 115 135
Here are the Roto gauges:
4 String Set
RS88LD 65 75 100 115
5 String Set
RS885LD 65 75 100 115 135
Non Standard Scale Lengths
RS88S Short 65 75 90 115
RS88M Medium 65 75 90 115
RS88EL X Long 65 75 100 115
Stupid me. I was assuming the Deep 5 was 35 inch scale, being a 5, and the extra length (of the Labellas) was needed ... turns out it's a 34 (I just measured).
Thanks for the help.
Andy
Do you string it with a low B or high C? I know that some of the 34" scale 5ers were geared towards high C.
This one is strung low B right now (it was when I bought it 2nd hand), so the Roto set I mentioned should be spot on, apart from potential work on the nut.
Gotcha.
Yup, that's me. He keeps trying to get me to do something with music, but I seem to land on my face with each attempt.
Hello, perhaps this is my first post(!?), I don't know.
I have been watching this thread long time ago.
After severe GAS, I bought my mouse 30 from rob.
This is a basic model.
Body before oiling
and the exaggerated back...
838, nice one for us chinese!
Of course it sounds great, plays great.
I am considering getting a fretted model with magnetic pickups for different application.
Hey, want to ask spade2you, how does your MB-2 fiver sound?
noel!
from Hong Kong
I have been watching this thread long time ago.
After severe GAS, I bought my mouse 30 from rob.
This is a basic model.
Body before oiling
and the exaggerated back...
838, nice one for us chinese!
Of course it sounds great, plays great.
I am considering getting a fretted model with magnetic pickups for different application.
Hey, want to ask spade2you, how does your MB-2 fiver sound?
noel!
from Hong Kong
Classy, enjoy!Hello, perhaps this is my first post(!?), I don't know.
I have been watching this thread long time ago.
After severe GAS, I bought my mouse 30 from rob.
This is a basic model.
Of course it sounds great, plays great.
I am considering getting a fretted model with magnetic pickups for different application.
Hey, want to ask spade2you, how does your MB-2 fiver sound?
noel!
from Hong Kong
It sounds great, although the 35" scale, gaboon ebony fb, maple neck, and ash body adds a little treb. Truth be told, the mags sound nice, but the piezo is very capable of getting almost identical sounds with varied hand positions and technique. The magnetic field hurts sustain a bit, too. I'm very happy with it, but I think Rob and I both agreed that it was more trouble (and expense) than it's worth in the long run. I still use the piezo most of the time.
so what u mean is that basically, u can get as much sound as a mag with piezo?
but how about slapping or tapping, I found harmonics are not good enough with piezo... maybe i can eq it to get what i want; just wonder if how the mags could be covered by the piezo alone?
Basically. The mags basically have less bloom and don't give you the finger noise that the piezo does. You can cut the finger noise on the piezo with a very clean technique. It was an expensive lesson, but ya never know until you try.
Slapping on a RA bass is interesting, but the medium-high action and different tone doesn't quite make them an ideal slap bass. I slapped my Mouse 30 in one tune with a former band, but that was about the extent of my slapping.
If you're having trouble with harmonics, it's probably your EQ or you might be missing the harmonic node. Having several Rob Allens and a Conklin with piezos, I've found that the piezos do well with harmonics. Magnetic pickups seem to bring out harmonics depending on overall tone, but they run the risk of sounding weak if the pickups aren't in a harmonically rich area. If you go to my Myspace page, Prelude in G hits a bunch of harmonics on the Mouse 30.
in honor of the new thread may I submit my foursome:
blondie has since gotten fretlines (Rob gave her a new neck)
The Unofficial Spade2You Tribute Mouse (extended fingerboard, spalt top, drop-tuner)
blondie has since gotten fretlines (Rob gave her a new neck)
The Unofficial Spade2You Tribute Mouse (extended fingerboard, spalt top, drop-tuner)
I think i know what u mean now, since i don't use much eq with the mouse, harmonics of the mouse are sounding differently from my 34" mag normal bass; after all i think the harmonic spectrum is different with nylon+piezo and round+mags.
gotta agree too that slapping is not sounding very well as u pointed out about the action thing.
I think i might get another bass for slapping and tapping or stuff like that, might go for a birdsong then.
Thanks a lot for ur opinion, i think that really clear my doubt.
Thanks! It's as fun to play it as it is to look at it. The Mouse 30 is an interesting bass and probably the only one I use "fun" in the immediate description.
I'm still surprised that my little design caught with 1-2 people, let alone the number he has sold. It always brings a smile to my face when I hear how people enjoy it.
I think i know what u mean now, since i don't use much eq with the mouse, harmonics of the mouse are sounding differently from my 34" mag normal bass; after all i think the harmonic spectrum is different with nylon+piezo and round+mags.
gotta agree too that slapping is not sounding very well as u pointed out about the action thing.
I think i might get another bass for slapping and tapping or stuff like that, might go for a birdsong then.
Thanks a lot for ur opinion, i think that really clear my doubt.
The long and short of it are the harmonics are there, especially with resonance, which isn't often nearly as strong in most solid body basses. I add a little mid presence in my amp, although I still hear harmonics if I bypass the EQ.
Rob makes killer basses, but I've found that the idea of getting the sound of Jaco and an upright out of a single bass just doesn't happen. This was more or less my quest with the MB2 and my Conklin. They have a pretty wide range of tones, but still can't do it all.
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