Congrats!
What are you ordering?
(And if you don't mind sharing, I'd love to know what his turnaround time currently is, when he quotes you)
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Show Us Your Rob Allen Basses Part IV
- Thread starter smperry
- Start date
Congrats!
What are you ordering?
(And if you don't mind sharing, I'd love to know what his turnaround time currently is, when he quotes you)
Cool! I recently traded for a walnut mb-2, and I've been surprised at the compliments I've received, both on its looks and sound, considering that I've occasionally taken my maple mb-2 (with essentially the same setup; same amp, same labella tapes) to the same jam sessions (two separate groups of good friends) in the past, with NO similar reactions.
Walnut. Who would've thought? (Rob, obviously!)
I'll be watching for pictures around July!
I remembered that he was moving. Nice timeline despite that, IMO.
That's like saying a turkey sandwich is more like a piece of steak. Apples and oranges.
Yeah, the walnut really is lovely and I like that the fingerboard will be goncalo alvez. The neck on my fretless Jazz is the same and I really like the feel.
The turn around time is fantastic as far as I'm concerned.
None of my basses from Rob took less than 6 months.
The one thing about wood choices is that Rob takes into account what you are going to be playing. THat tends to inform the wood he will wind up using. A big part of my difference was a differently milled body than he normally does to make it more "upright-y". That, the different bridge, my 21-fret equivalent fretboard (i.e. no high E, same as a regular P), and other differences make mine unique in a way that no one else's is the same. Rob will really build what you want ... within reason, of course. He steered me away from the single output for the two pickups, and I have to say, that was a good decision.
I didn't want a P clone in sound (I have that in my fretless P), but I did want a clone in feel. He nailed that in spades. I would be curious to have Rob do a rosewood neck on another bass in the future, but again, I have that with my Ps. I kinda want a travel bass from him lol
I get more sonic compliments with this D4 than I did with the original, and then when I switched to the Phil Jones amp, I got even more. This week I had a few people comment on my playing with the new strings, so every little bit does add up to a bigger whole.
Speaking of amps, what kind of class d amps are you guys using? I have a big Ampeg and should eventually get something smaller and lighter. Not in a band at the moment, so in no hurry.
Yes, different, but in listening to various examples, the Mouse is much closer than anything else I've come across. Anyhow, I have an upright, so I'm well aware nothing else sounds like an upright except other uprights.
I don't typically need and amp because I currently play once a month at our church where there is a sound system and IEM system. The times when I have needed one, either both my Acoustic Image Clarus and Tecamp Puma have worked very well. In their flat settings they sound similar, although the Puma has much broader eq capabilities IMO. I've used these with either AI or Epifani UL 110's or 112.
I've played the Mouse, MB-2, and am on my second D4. My D4 IMO sounds more upright-like than a Mouse (that was his goal with the line). But they're also different in terms of price ...
I know, and it's weird, but every sound sample I've listened to makes the Mouse sound more upright to me than the Deep. Maybe my ears are faulty.
No, it's not weird. You hear what you hear. I think setup/how someone plays has a lot to do with things. So many factors go into sound.
True, and there is also a dearth of examples for both so my sample set is pretty limited. I hope to find the time to at least record some sound clips when the Mouse arrives and add them to what's available online.
I've never really put up recorded samples of either of my Deeps (I had #1). I can tell you Rob improved them (not that #1 was bad at all) between the time I had #1 and the second one. Even changing the strings recently on the second one altered the sound. The thing about jazz is that you have to conceptualize how to play - sounds weird, but it's not like rock. Just placing the notes isn't good enough.
I don't play jazz, but I've listened to understand what you're saying, it makes total sense.
Jazz is the main reason I have the Deep
I use it with a few different big bands as well as some small ensemble stuff.As an aside, sound is largely in your head. You have to conceptualize it. No one piece of equipment will do it for you. For example, on the pure electric side of the house, I have achieved "my sound" with equipment that is the complete opposite of what I would normally use. The same holds true with a more upright sound which I did for years on non-fretless, non-RA type basses. Was it perfect? No, but a big part of it is knowing what you're going for. This is why Rob is great and before he builds anything generally discusses and picks woods to match what you want to do.
