Mate, now you no longer have any need for the 2 x mag + piezo fiver, can I have first dibs on that ?
Andy
I'll keep ya in mind. Had no idea I'd become a 6 stringer.
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Show Us Your Rob Allen Basses Part II
- Thread starter Mark Wilson
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I'll keep ya in mind. Had no idea I'd become a 6 stringer.
Sam,
Can you tell us what led you to order your new bass with its particular features. What kind music do you expect to use it for? How does it play, sound and feel?
Thanks,
Ted
Can you tell us what led you to order your new bass with its particular features. What kind music do you expect to use it for? How does it play, sound and feel?
Thanks,
Ted
I'll assume you're asking about the 6 string, but I can elaborate on my Mouse 30 if needed.
For the most part, I based a lot of the specs of the 6 off my 5 string but did my best to see what could be done a little better. Gaboon ebony is pretty, but doesn't like the drastic climate changes.
The pickups of my 5 string sounded good, but I thought there might be a benefit to moving them to some sweet spots that I had with another bass.
I went with an ash/alder body because I thought that in theory it should make the lower register sound nice and tight while sweetening the upper register. I also had a glue-in bridge, so it's hard to say if one or both of those improved the tone. Perhaps the best thing was the 2 band EQ, which is (was?) a usual feature of the Deep 4/5. When cutting the treb and boosting the bass, it gives even more deep thump.
I expect to use it as a nice all around bass. Even though, one would think a Rob Allen is just an upright imitation, the piezo offers a pretty wide range of tones. I'm not doing a whole lot with music these days, but have a bit of an Americana project going on in some rare spare time. Long story short, I'd use it for basically anything but metal, but metal isn't exactly on my agenda these days.
Rob's basses always play nice, although I really wish it could play with ultra low action, but I'm aware that some of the medium action is required to get the desired tone. It feels pretty great. My other 6er is a Conklin, which isn't terribly heavy, but I'd rather spend lots of hours with my Rob Allen 6er. It sounds great overall. The LaBella C string is a lot thicker than the average high C and is about as meaty as you can get.
Andy Brown
Commercial User
- Jul 23, 2004
- 5,675
- 312
- Disclosures
- Founder/Owner: Wing Instruments
Interesting... do you mean that the upper bout half is alder and the lower bout half is ash?
Yup. Kinda got the idea from Dingwall who does something similar on some of their basses.
Actually I meant which of the three woodcombos would be best for a fretted RB.
Alder/Koa, Mahogany/Maple or Ash/Walnut?
Rob feels the wood combinations, especially body and top wood, have very little impact on the tone of his basses. I would think this would be even more true with a fretted model.
The price really goes up with 'non standard' specs. I would think the standard alder or ash body with nice figured maple top and Algonco/Alves board (if I have that name right) would sound great, and 99%+ the same as any other wood combination. I guess the only thing I would not do is get an ebony board with a fretted model (that would add attack and ping, which is just what you don't want with a fretted bass that is trying to emulate a fretless one).
IMO and IME. I can say that the open strings on my fretted Mouse (Koa, alder, RW board, F-hole cutout) and my fretless Mouse (alder, Algonco Alves, maple top) sound literally identical.
I guess if you really want to 'overthink it' a bit, I would go with an alder body, which many give you just a touch more warmth from ash, and again, stay away from ebony on the fretboard. Topwood would IMO be a purely aesthetic desicion. His 'no cost' maple tops are absolutely stunning.
Glad you enjoy them. I'm both happy and surprised that the integrated thumb rest caught on.
Now that Rob has shown off the 6er, here it is! Since Rob was very busy with builds, I agreed to keep things somewhat under wraps.
Here I am in the same town, and I have to come to TB to see this thing.
We really need to get together as soon as my ACG is done...Mike
Here I am in the same town, and I have to come to TB to see this thing.
Mike
LOL, thought I e-mailed it to ya, but perhaps as such a bass whore I forgot.
Yeah, we definitely need to hang out sometime. My @$^ job, dog, road racing, and getting married has kept me busy as heck.
Nah, I'm pretty sure you did email it to me, but it's not the same as seeing it in person!
I'm losing track. Which of these two ...
... is the 'spade' signature model ... the fingerboard extension, or the 2 x mag + piezo setup ?
Andy
... is the 'spade' signature model ... the fingerboard extension, or the 2 x mag + piezo setup ?
Andy
I think I may have coined the idea of the "spade2you" signature when i ordered this bass.
I told rob I wanted the "sam oakes" version
Crazy top,
fingerboard extension
drop tuner
I told rob I wanted the "sam oakes" version
Crazy top,
fingerboard extension
drop tuner
Probably the first. Rob isn't quite offering the mag+piezo that I know of. Realistically, the sounds out of the mag isn't THAT much different from what you can get out of the piezo, which sounds odd. They were Seymour Duncan pickups and custom made, but they certainly took their time and it delayed the build process greatly.
It might not take as long as I thought it would for me to get a bass by Rob... I was wondering two things.
-How long does it usually take for him to build a quite simpel Mouse like this:
-How much does the fingerboard extension cost? It isn't really clear on his website...
-How long does it usually take for him to build a quite simpel Mouse like this:
-How much does the fingerboard extension cost? It isn't really clear on his website...
It depends on what run of instruments he's building at the time, amount of backlog, etc. You should expect 4-6 months at a minimum, I've waited as long as nine. When it comes to custom basses you just have to learn to be patient, it will all be worth it in the end.
Andy Brown
Commercial User
- Jul 23, 2004
- 5,675
- 312
- Disclosures
- Founder/Owner: Wing Instruments
It might not take as long as I thought it would for me to get a bass by Rob... I was wondering two things.
-How long does it usually take for him to build a quite simpel Mouse like this:
-How much does the fingerboard extension cost? It isn't really clear on his website...
The option is called "integrated thumb rest" and it's $150.
... and, highly recommended on the Mouse IMO! I wish I had one on mine. Neat design!
Exactly. Also, i know that Rob's team fell ill at the turn of the year which has set him back a little. Also, he had to take time out to get his new guys up and running - he was emailing past midnight at the time. Still, if Rob had said that a two year wait was likely I still would have placed an order for my second RA - f-hole MB2 with walnut neck and black hardware. Also, Rob is a gentleman and a pleasure to do business with IMO.
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