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Show Us Your Rob Allen Basses Part II

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#821
I wipe mine down with an old soft sock after gigs, and then use a bit of Sadowsky guitar polish just to clear off any sweat residue. I'll use some Fret Doctor oil on the ebony fingerboard in a few months - it worked great on my Lull. I think the only real worry is fingerboards drying out and cracking. As for the body, if I get discoloration from playing - all the better.
 
#823
Received my MB-2; unfortunately, the box was damaged a bit during shipping and there's lots scratches on the fretboard under the strings as if someone was using roundwounds and really grinding them in, due to jostling during shipping.

What's the state of other's fingerboards, do the nylon wrapped strings leave marks on the fretboard?
 
#824
That's disappointing to hear. The first Rob Allen I had wasn't packed well when it was shipped to me, and the saddle got cracked. My current Mouse was packed very well, including a sheet of bubble wrap in between the strings and fretboard/body for the length of the guitar. If it's on the fretboard only, I'm sure you can take it to a good luthier and have those scratches buffed or sanded out. I'm pretty sure Rob uses a minwax finish on his fretboards.
 
#825
kai_ski said:
That's disappointing to hear. The first Rob Allen I had wasn't packed well when it was shipped to me, and the saddle got cracked. My current Mouse was packed very well, including a sheet of bubble wrap in between the strings and fretboard/body for the length of the guitar. If it's on the fretboard only, I'm sure you can take it to a good luthier and have those scratches buffed or sanded out. I'm pretty sure Rob uses a minwax finish on his fretboards.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Do the nylonwounds leave marks overtime just through normal use?
 
#826
some of us are anal-retentive when packing ;)

The nylon wound really shouldn't leave much of a mark unless you're playing the snot out of it 24/7. Seems to me it is the wind on roundwounds that will leave marks. I've never run roundwounds on my RA and likely won't. I did run them on my Zon fretless, but it has a phenowood board which is harder than ebony or rosewood.
 
#827
over time my RA's have gotten slight marks from Tapewound strings. However, the marks are very superficial and could be easily buffed out.

I recently had deep roundwound string gouges removed from a Musicman Stingray fretless by a local tech. He sanded and recrowned the entire fingerboard. Better than brand new.

A good pro can get your RA back in shape. There's plenty of fingerboard to work with.
 
#830
No, it came with the protec contego gig bag. I just got off the phone with the store. They said the light fingerboard wear is normal because the tapewounds are roundwounds underneath the tape. They said that buffing the fingerboard with some lemon oil and fine steel wool (0000 grade) will take the marks out. A little nervous to try that, but I probably will on a spot first. I'm a little anal about the marks only because of the cost of the bass. I emailed Rob as well to see if this was normal.
 
#831
I heard back from Rob. He said the marks are normal and will show the first time it's played. Just have to use fine steel wool (0000) and some fingerboard oil.

Great bass! Will post a picture tomorrow. The bass is the same length as my Hofner so the reach to the bottom notes is fine. Sounds excellent through my Markbass combo set flat. What do you guys have the treble pot on the back set to?
 
#832
jblock said:
I heard back from Rob. He said the marks are normal and will show the first time it's played. Just have to use fine steel wool (0000) and some fingerboard oil.

Great bass! Will post a picture tomorrow. The bass is the same length as my Hofner so the reach to the bottom notes is fine. Sounds excellent through my Markbass combo set flat. What do you guys have the treble pot on the back set to?
Click to expand...

Cool! the treble pot IMO has a lot to do with the amp. With the Markbass amps with the variable lo pass filter (the VLE), it really doesn't matter much, since you can control it nicely from the amp. In general, with my fretted Mouse, I have it rolled all the way down, and with the fretless Mouse and MB-2 I owned in the past, I had it at about noon (i.e., to still let a bit of that 'DB click' through at the attack of the note, but not so much to sound clacky through a front of house system.

Wonderful basses... you should dig it. The BIG low end of the piezo pickup through that onboard active buffer/preamp really can pump out some lows and cover up the 'woody' tone of the wonderful midrange. On most amps, I typically cut a smidge of bass, and roll in a smidge of mid mids (so, on the Markbass heads, in general, about 11 o'clock on the bass control, 1 o'clock on the low mid, and then the VLE to taste to control the top end).
 
#835
Here's some photos of my new MB-2 (#951).

RAB2.jpg

RAB3.jpg

RAB4.jpg

RAB5.jpg


Obviously, sounds amazing. I'm finding adjusting the treble pot down a little still gives a more musical sound then adjusting it on my amp, even though that's more convenient.

Ergonomics are great. Nice and light and my hand falls naturally near the neck.
 
#837
jblock said:
Obviously, sounds amazing. I'm finding adjusting the treble pot down a little still gives a more musical sound then adjusting it on my amp, even though that's more convenient.

Ergonomics are great. Nice and light and my hand falls naturally near the neck.
Click to expand...

Nice one!!! I assume the treble pot probably reduces treble at a much higher frequency than your amp treble control, which makes it impact the overall tone a touch less.... as you say, just takes the very upper 'click' out of the attack a bit, keeping the meat and 'musical' sound intact!
 
#838
KJung said:
Nice one!!! I assume the treble pot probably reduces treble at a much higher frequency than your amp treble control, which makes it impact the overall tone a touch less.... as you say, just takes the very upper 'click' out of the attack a bit, keeping the meat and 'musical' sound intact!
Click to expand...

Yeah, the VLE ("vintage loudspeaker emulation") control on the Markbass probably affects a wider frequency range than the treble pot on the bass.
 
#840
jblock said:
Here's some photos of my new MB-2 (#951).

RAB2.jpg

RAB3.jpg

RAB4.jpg

RAB5.jpg


Obviously, sounds amazing. I'm finding adjusting the treble pot down a little still gives a more musical sound then adjusting it on my amp, even though that's more convenient.

Ergonomics are great. Nice and light and my hand falls naturally near the neck.
Click to expand...

OMG, now that is STUNNING, enjoy her man that is a beauty. Congrats.
 
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