Show Us Your Rob Allen Basses Part IV

[foothilla]

Thank you so much!

I believe that the Deep is set with a bass boost and the treble cut a bit. Going through a Noble preamp

Awesome! I would've guessed there was some mic'ed cabinet mixed in there.

I am crazy about the sound of my D4 on its own, but it keeps getting lost in the mix in a band context. When I hear someone that gets his RA to sit in the mix with a band as nicely as you did, I geek out on the recording details.

 

[FenderP]

My first D4 had zero piezo issues. None. The second just a thing with volume wiring that got sorted out. I think this is more a case of "it's an expensive instrument, it's not a sub-$1k thing" so we all treat 'em with a bit more care. I think you get the idea. I've used the two D4s now for nearly 20 years combined - live, in rehearsals, at home - no road worthiness issues whatsoever. In fact, on my first, they had to do stuff to raise the action which involved dealing with the bridge saddle and that was fine. The second Rob just built me a bigger bridge

 

[LennyJ]

Multiple people in this thread posted about having problems with their RA piezo, and how delicate it is. This is all a bit of a surprise to me. I did guitar setups/repairs for years and installed countless Fishman piezo systems, mostly in acoustic guitars (including my own). I didn't find them difficult or problematic at all. You make sure you don't bend the element, you make sure it's properly centered under the string-path, and you make sure the bottom of the saddle and bridge-slot are both perfectly flat. There isn't much to it beyond that. The only times I have ever had problems was with poorly fit saddles and piezo elements that could easily shift around.

So, I don't know, I find it odd that so many people had problems with their RA piezo. I hope my Deep 4 is road worthy. I have Martins that have had Fishman piezos in them since the early 1990's, I've probably done 50+ string changes on them, and never had an issue.

RA uses a piezo with a fine foil around the pickup that is part of the ground. I played an MB that was one of RA first made with original pickup - no issues. Mine however started acting up.

Called Mr. Allen and told him what was happing, and his answer was the ground thru the foil. I talked with a friend in Virginia that has been a tech on acoustic guitars for many years and with many years of Fishman products. When I told him - same answer, he said 1 in a 100 there is a chance the pickup just went bad. I can tell you - I am no tech and rely on people in the know.

I sold mine and now recently got it back. Who knows - maybe got bounced around in shipping. Strings had never been changed or removed.

I am taking it to him with a new pickup in a few weeks - will get back with ya'll and let you know what happened when replaced.

 

[peterpalmieri]

I’ve been playing upright bass with a piezo pickup for over 30 years and many different electric basses over the years. They are very sensitive to movement and obvious most susceptible to it when changing strings. Using caution and care is well advised it can be very easy to not get perfectly even pressure across all strings.

 

[Christian Houmann]

Awesome! I would've guessed there was some mic'ed cabinet mixed in there.

I am crazy about the sound of my D4 on its own, but it keeps getting lost in the mix in a band context. When I hear someone that gets his RA to sit in the mix with a band as nicely as you did, I geek out on the recording details.

The sound I’m going for have alot to do with the cab. We mic’ed the cab but something went wrong and we had only the DI to go with. It is okay but so kinda prefer this sound


This a mix of the Noble and a Epifani 2x10 cab mic’ed! What do you think?

 

[spade2you]

I love bordwells. My daily driver for over a decade was a 34” 6.5 pound fretted 4 string from bordwell. An illness in 2019 had me switching to 30” full time. I’ve built 3 and have 2 more in the queue with him. He makes nice basses, and I can get exactly what I want.

The mouses (mice? Meeses?) are indeed awesome, but the necks don’t fit in my now arthritic hands as well as a bordwell with a neck carve to accommodate my needs. I hate selling this bass.

Is the neck too thick? It's possible to shave down the neck. I had that done to an acoustic that had a neck profile built for a linebacker.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Awesome! I would've guessed there was some mic'ed cabinet mixed in there.

I am crazy about the sound of my D4 on its own, but it keeps getting lost in the mix in a band context. When I hear someone that gets his RA to sit in the mix with a band as nicely as you did, I geek out on the recording details.

My RA Mouse thru an AER Bass One combo works fantastic live. Not a HiFi sound like my previous setup (Jule Monique M700 + Baer ML112), but very clear in the mix.

 

[Crispus]

This is great, thanks for sharing! You’ve got a new fan!

Is that a D-tuner on the RA?

Such good sounds all around. Well recorded, too.

 

[foothilla]

The sound I’m going for have alot to do with the cab. We mic’ed the cab but something went wrong and we had only the DI to go with. It is okay but so kinda prefer this sound


This a mix of the Noble and a Epifani 2x10 cab mic’ed! What do you think?

Just listened through my stereo speakers....sounds beautiful. What head is running your Epifani cab?

 

[Christian Houmann]

Just listened through my stereo speakers....sounds beautiful. What head is running your Epifani cab?

Thanks! The amp is a Eich T900

 

[Christian Houmann]

The Deep 5 alone

 

[Christian Houmann]

Wow! Major GAS

 

[Stephen]

View attachment 5086794 View attachment 5086795 View attachment 5086796

Wow! Major GAS

Yeah, saw that on his site. Would love to have the option of a mag bridge pickup on one of my Deep's but I am not going to mod it.
Also, $6500......

 

[FenderP]

Yeah, saw that on his site. Would love to have the option of a mag bridge pickup on one of my Deep's but I am not going to mod it.
Also, $6500......

AFAIK, Rob has not offered it much and definitely not before my D4. When he built mine, we had long convos about it and ultimately went with a split output configuration. Each pickup has its own jack and volume/tone knobs. That means the bass can work even if the piezo's battery dies.

One of the deciding factors was the complexity of a blended volume, let alone tone. Looks like they solved that issue since that one is stacked volume and one master tone.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

Hello RA enthusiasts and players!

I have my eyes on a beautiful fretless MB-2 in the TB classifieds.
I aspire to play straight ahead standards, in the context of a guitar, bass, and drums trio.
We're basically rockers who practiced too much and are now branching out.

I have a question for those among you who've played (regular) fretless jazz basses and Rob Allens (hopefully the MB-2).

Here's the question:

My impression is that my G&L jazz gets about 85% of the way toward that rich, deep tone the RA does so well - not quite a DB but close. My hesitation is that me and other bass players are the only ones who'd ever notice that lovely 15%.

Am I missing anything special about the MB-2 that anyone with experience playing both can share?

Thanks in advance!

 

[mking]

I play both a fretless Fender jazz and a 5 string fretless MB-2. I enjoy both of them, but the sound of the Rob Allen is so rich and complex that I always go for the Rob Allen for jazz and anywhere else that I can make it work. It really does have a thick, woody sound that brings to mind a stand-up bass. The neck of the Rob Allen is a little thicker, which some like, but I like the thinner neck of the jazz bass. The body of the Rob Allen is, for me, a little less comfortable to play sitting, because of the greater thickness of the body and somewhat sharp edge where my forearm rests on the bass while sitting.

If you are interested in a comparison of sounds check out some of the Bart Soeters' videos such as the following. This is what got me started with the Rob Allen sound. His videos compare both fretted and fretless and are a great way to hear the many sounds that different basses make.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

I play both a fretless Fender jazz and a 5 string fretless MB-2. I enjoy both of them, but the sound of the Rob Allen is so rich and complex that I always go for the Rob Allen for jazz and anywhere else that I can make it work. It really does have a thick, woody sound that brings to mind a stand-up bass. The neck of the Rob Allen is a little thicker, which some like, but I like the thinner neck of the jazz bass. The body of the Rob Allen is, for me, a little less comfortable to play sitting, because of the greater thickness of the body and somewhat sharp edge where my forearm rests on the bass while sitting.

If you are interested in a comparison of sounds check out some of the Bart Soeters' videos such as the following. This is what got me started with the Rob Allen sound. His videos compare both fretted and fretless and are a great way to hear the many sounds that different basses make.

Wow, what a great vid. One of the best comparison vids I've seen for sure.
Thanks for sharing that, and your impressions of the RA v. the jazz.
Funny thing - I loved that fretted '71 jazz the most out of all those, including the zillion dollar boutiques.

 

[inazone]

I play both a fretless Fender jazz and a 5 string fretless MB-2. I enjoy both of them, but the sound of the Rob Allen is so rich and complex that I always go for the Rob Allen for jazz and anywhere else that I can make it work. It really does have a thick, woody sound that brings to mind a stand-up bass. The neck of the Rob Allen is a little thicker, which some like, but I like the thinner neck of the jazz bass. The body of the Rob Allen is, for me, a little less comfortable to play sitting, because of the greater thickness of the body and somewhat sharp edge where my forearm rests on the bass while sitting.

If you are interested in a comparison of sounds check out some of the Bart Soeters' videos such as the following. This is what got me started with the Rob Allen sound. His videos compare both fretted and fretless and are a great way to hear the many sounds that different basses make.

Thank you for this! As a rocker by heart and for this type of tone my favorites were the RA and the NS.

 

[Bassnkeys]

I’m going to be a contrarian: I have a RA Mouse. Often cited as the “closest” to an upright. Used it for jazz for awhile. Obsessed over tone. I mean obsessed. Researched, read posts here, bought compression and reverb pedals. A/B’d against jazz recording loops until my tone was pretty darn close to the tone I was hearing on the record. Let’s just say, OCD to the max.

My jazz mates, including pro pianist — don’t notice any difference. Drummer says, “ I know you say this is supposed to sound like an upright, but I just don’t hear it.”

So, I bring a (pick one) fretted bass to the next rehearsal — “oh, that sounds nice — good definition.”

So, after all the obsession — have largely settled on a fretless Precision with flats for my jazz stuff.

Point being: you’re right — mostly no one but you hears or notices.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

I’m going to be a contrarian: I have a RA Mouse. Often cited as the “closest” to an upright. Used it for jazz for awhile. Obsessed over tone. I mean obsessed. Researched, read posts here, bought compression and reverb pedals. A/B’d against jazz recording loops until my tone was pretty darn close to the tone I was hearing on the record. Let’s just say, OCD to the max.

My jazz mates, including pro pianist — don’t notice any difference. Drummer says, “ I know you say this is supposed to sound like an upright, but I just don’t hear it.”

So, I bring a (pick one) fretted bass to the next rehearsal — “oh, that sounds nice — good definition.”

So, after all the obsession — have largely settled on a fretless Precision with flats for my jazz stuff.

Point being: you’re right — mostly no one but you hears or notices.

Yeah, that all totally makes sense.
One drummer I play with is like "oh is that a fretless?"
It also scans with a Yogi Berra-esque thought I had on this topic:

"85% there is still 100% not there."