Skjold

[Beav]

Well, after seeing numerous threads praising Skjold basses and checking out his site I had the opportunity to play one today. I was browsing the LowEnd site and saw that Brian had one in so I wanted to check it out.


My initial impressions were very on the fence. After reading all the praises about them I wanted to like them, but I was never really able to get into the “modern” looks. Once I saw it in person I had to admit; it was quite the looker! I really liked the blue finish and the ramp. It was set up in a JJ config (which is my personal choice).


Sound wise, I loved this thing. It really killed in the bridge position. Mean as could be! It was also nice and smooth in the middle setting. I really liked the overall sound and with the preamp it was very versitle!


Action, fit and finish. The body finish was great. Clear and deep. However, this is where it ended. The back of the neck felt like it wasn’t final sanded. Pretty rough for a $2000 bass. The action was also incredibly high. We tried to tweak the action, but to no real avail. The action on my old MIM Jazz was by far lower…


Then I noticed that the neck didn’t touch the body from about an inch from the neck bolts. I snapped this pic with my phone camera.

Yep, that penny is resting between the body and the neck

After reading all the praises of Skjold I have to admit I’m quite disappointed. I don't know if this was an older model or what

 

[Wadge]

It could very well be a dud you've discovered.

With regards to the unifinished neck, that may well only be your impression, but if it is not, then it is not a good thing on a $2000 bass.

With regards to the space between the neck and the body, that may or may not make a difference. You yourself said that it sounded killer so unless there are issues with playablility I'm not sure I'd mind.

 

[Juneau]

That bass is a rather old example of his work. It doesnt have Pete's pickups or pre-amp in it. I believe that one has Bart pickups/Pre. Also, in reguards to the bolt-on singlecut, well, I dont believe anything current out of his shop has any gap between the neck and the body like that. It sounds to me like this one wasnt properly setup, and is just an old bass compared to his newer work.

With reguards to the neck finish, he uses an oil/wax finish on the neck that needs to be maintained. That bass is used, and I believe on its 2nd owner already, so its likely just not been cleaned and re-polished like it should have been.

As a comparison, when I first met Pete at a GTG he hosted, it was just before the change to his own pickups and electronics. When I went to the shop, I wasnt all that impressed. They were well built, sounded pretty good, but just wasnt my thing. After going back a few months later and hearing the batch that came out after the electronics came into the picture, it was a totally different animal. I decided after hearing that first one that I needed to have one myself.

So my recomendation, is try and check out something thats representative of his current work, rather than a very old example thats been vastly improved upon since then.

 

[Beav]

There's the pic of it.

 

[west*coast*bass]

Well, after seeing numerous threads praising Skjold basses and checking out his site I had the opportunity to play one today. I was browsing the LowEnd site and saw that Brian had one in so I wanted to check it out.


My initial impressions were very on the fence. After reading all the praises about them I wanted to like them, but I was never really able to get into the “modern” looks. Once I saw it in person I had to admit; it was quite the looker! I really liked the blue finish and the ramp. It was set up in a JJ config (which is my personal choice).


Sound wise, I loved this thing. It really killed in the bridge position. Mean as could be! It was also nice and smooth in the middle setting. I really liked the overall sound and with the preamp it was very versitle!


Action, fit and finish. The body finish was great. Clear and deep. However, this is where it ended. The back of the neck felt like it wasn’t final sanded. Pretty rough for a $2000 bass. The action was also incredibly high. We tried to tweak the action, but to no real avail. The action on my old MIM Jazz was by far lower…


Then I noticed that the neck didn’t touch the body from about an inch from the neck bolts. I snapped this pic with my phone camera.

Yep, that penny is resting between the body and the neck

After reading all the praises of Skjold I have to admit I’m quite disappointed. I don't know if this was an older model or what

Well, something happened to that bass since I had it because it was dead perfect on the setup and the action was the lowest I have played. As for the back of the neck, I never had one complaint about it, so your claim about the roughness is odd to me.

I was the owner before the guy who sent it to Brian so I can only assume that it didn't do well during all of the recent shipping.

I would suggest sending it to Pete so he can fine tune it and make sure there has been no internal damage to the neck.

Again, this was one of the best basses I have ever played - something happened to this bass, it was not anywhere near as described above a few months ago.

 

[Pete skjold]

Hey Thanks for the heads up .

I will get in contact with Brian so I can take care of it . There definatly seems to be something up with that particular bass .

Just for the record , the body does not attatch at that point to allow the neck freedom to move with the amount of relief that a person may desire . The design was going to be a set neck but when I saw what it did to the bass side and how the treble side still had a certain amount of relief I noticed that it could possibly twist . I looked at several other single cut basses that joined the body at that point and noticed they all had a slight hump at that point and talked to several people who experienced issues they too . So That is why I chose to design it as a bolt on and let the neck move freely there . There is a natural amount of relief which usually equals about a business card thickness of gap at the very point you are pointing out . That looks like it has far too much relief in it at the moment . It was never that high when I handled it and assume that someone has either adjusted the truss rod incorectly or it has moved due to very heavy gauge strings or climate changes .

Thanks Again ,

Pete Skjold

 

[KJung]

Regarding the Skjold single cut design, I'm totally into it. My feeling is that the 'advantage' of a single cut design has very little to do with the upper horn directly being attached to the neck. Rather, it seems to me that any advantage to the sound of a single cut instrument is the extra mass that the upper horn extension gives you. This results in the ability to have a very small body profile while still having as much wood as if it was a huge 'J Bass' type body, for example.

Also, having one side of the neck attached and 'fixed' differentailly from the other side of the neck seems to present some potential 'twisting' issues down the road. I actually experienced this personally with a VERY high end single cut that had to go back to the luthier (they actually built a more 'traditional' design for me as a replacement... to their high credit).

Chris Stambaugh, who does make 'traditional single cut' designs actually recommends against them on his site, and mentions similar reasons as I've come to believe... (i.e., that it's really a 'mass' thing, and also presents some potential problems down the road). That being said, I have a beautiful Stambaugh single cut and have had no problems at all.

So... I actually view this somewhat unique single cut design as a strong positive, and look forward to eventually owning one.... the idea of a small, light body with additional mass for sustain while still having a 'free floating' neck relative to the upper horn is the 'bee's knees' to me.

 

[Beav]

Hey Thanks for the heads up .

I will get in contact with Brian so I can take care of it . There definatly seems to be something up with that particular bass .

Just for the record , the body does not attatch at that point to allow the neck freedom to move with the amount of relief that a person may desire . The design was going to be a set neck but when I saw what it did to the bass side and how the treble side still had a certain amount of relief I noticed that it could possibly twist . I looked at several other single cut basses that joined the body at that point and noticed they all had a slight hump at that point and talked to several people who experienced issues they too . So That is why I chose to design it as a bolt on and let the neck move freely there . There is a natural amount of relief which usually equals about a business card thickness of gap at the very point you are pointing out . That looks like it has far too much relief in it at the moment . It was never that high when I handled it and assume that someone has either adjusted the truss rod incorectly or it has moved due to very heavy gauge strings or climate changes .

Thanks Again ,

Pete Skjold

Pete, great to see you're able to come and contribute to this thread!

 

[Pete skjold]

Not a problem Beav2K2 ,

I appreciate your feedback .

I just got off the phone with Brian and he did infact adjust the neck and the action is now nice and low . The gap is also less , but as i said that is intentionally done to allow the neck to move . It really should be veiwed as a double cut and as Ken stated it really is only about the additional mass for this design . I don't even call it a single cut because it isn't , I refer to it a whale back shape on my site and it is really a stylistic statement and not matter of construction benifits that are akin to Singlecut basses .

Pete

 

[Brian Barrett]

Since its seems I am part of this now…... Pete and I did talk this morning about the bass. Everything seemed to measure out just fine with Pete. The action is low and playability is great. The neck is also very straight. I did return from SC Guitar show this weekend so all the instruments are adjusting a little from the weekend trip. Since I hadn’t played the bass really my-self I checked the neck and will be hitting it with some steal wool to smooth it out a little. As for the gap, that’s Pete’s design, if the upper bout wasn’t there, there wouldn’t be a gap. His whale back design is for looks, not designed to function like an actual SC by supporting the upper part of the neck.

It will be at the Nashville Guitar show this weekend.

Thanks
Brian

 

[Beav]

Well, sheesh I feel like a tard now I never actually considered that the SC was designed to function like a DC. Props to Skjold for that

 

[Aj*]

I love the looks of the true dual cutaway Skjold's apart from one thing that has always bugged me about them... the headstock. To me it just looks odd, too square apart from the rounded end, distinctive yes but imo the least appealing part of the bass by far. Just thought I should say that, otherwise I really dig the looks of your double cuts. But hey, looks are the hardest thing of all to make everyone like, I'm sure plenty of people dig the headstock.

 

[Pete skjold]

I love the looks of the true dual cutaway Skjold's apart from one thing that has always bugged me about them... the headstock. To me it just looks odd, too square apart from the rounded end, distinctive yes but imo the least appealing part of the bass by far. Just thought I should say that, otherwise I really dig the looks of your double cuts. But hey, looks are the hardest thing of all to make everyone like, I'm sure plenty of people dig the headstock.

Only the really cool goodlooking wealthy people dig it ...... I guess that leaves me out

I do offer a headless version

 

[Pete skjold]

Well, sheesh I feel like a tard now I never actually considered that the SC was designed to function like a DC. Props to Skjold for that

No big deal , alot of people aren't familiar with why I do it that way . That is why I wanted to take the time to point it out .

Like I said I appreciate your feedback and if there were a major issue with the bass I would stand behind it .

Pete

 

[Aj*]

Only the really cool goodlooking wealthy people dig it ...... I guess that leaves me out

I do offer a headless version

Haha, I just got owned, here's to being ugly and poor !

 

[Pete skjold]

Haha, I just got owned, here's to being ugly and poor !

Join the club

 

[tombowlus]

Join the club

I didn't know you were poor, Pete?

 

[Pete skjold]

I didn't know you were poor, Pete?

Are you freakin kidding ? I'm a luthier !! LOL

But I am rich in friends !

Pete

 

[tombowlus]

Are you freakin kidding ? I'm a luthier !! LOL

But I am rich in friends !

Pete

You are rich in talent, too, my friend! But I was really referring to the other half of that "ugly and poor" equation. You can throw a different hairstyle on top, but the mug is yours for good!

Just yankin' your chain, pretty boy!

 

[Pete skjold]

You are rich in talent, too, my friend! But I was really referring to the other half of that "ugly and poor" equation. You can throw a different hairstyle on top, but the mug is yours for good!

Just yankin' your chain, pretty boy!

OK Tom , your right I am one handsome devil , but don't hate me cause I'm beautiful ..............Barph !

I think I have hijacked this thread long enough ! Thank you to Beav2K2 for allowing me to respond and thanks to all who responded . I am off to build some more basses !

Pete