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the conklin GT-7 thread!!!

#26
Originally posted by cods
if you put a three band e.q. in it, wouldn't you of had to of added another knob?


and generally speaking, how much do strings cost for it?
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No, you can use a concentric or "stacked" pot and you wont have to drill extra holes.. The pic I posted above are before I did the mods..

A set of srting normally run around $40 with shipping. Musicians Friend carries the "Snakeskins" which I normally use, but the Dean Markley SR2000s are good too.
 
#32
Originally posted by cods
... the gt-7... a few questions:


how is the low b on it?

what does the neck feel like? big? little? what?

is it a fast neck?

what is it's "sound"? music mans are really bright and crunchy, warwicks their signature "growl", what kind of sound does the gt-7 have?

what kind of pick-ups does it have? are they humbuckers or jazzes?

what do you like best about your gt-7?

what do you hate most about it?

do you have a problem with it only having a bass and treble e.q. pot?
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the low B is a medium light, around .127 if I'm not mistaken. I think it's a pretty solid sounding string.

the neck feels very natural. it's profile is not thick and it's unfinished wood is very quick.

the sound, even with the standard pickups and preamp, is very versatile. I was able to dial in a tone I like within seconds and every band leader or studio engineer could likewise find something that appealed without my having to touch any sound processing gear further down the signal chain.

I believe the pickups are active soapbars, but I'll let more qualified individuals comment on that.

what did I like best about my GT-7? it's weight and appearance were just unreal! it played easily, sounded good, and it could over a *lot* of musical ground!

the only thing I ever hated about it was that some narrow minded people would comment aboutit before they ever heard me play. usually if they stayed for a set or a song they could appreciate what all the strings were for and that they do get used, but it felt like pulling teeth sometimes to try and get people to see/hear what I was up to with the 7.

never had any problems with the EQ layout.

now, mine was tuned with a low F# and I am primarily a pocket player, but that's my two cents.

sorry I don't have any pics handy...

:(

from the low end,


Stew
 
#35
well, we've worked out all the details, but I have to get him the deposit yet. here's the rough sketch:

34" scale bolt-on maple/purpleheart neck
unmarked maple 25 fret fingerboard
one piece dragonwood, swamp ash or, alder body
headstock cap to match body
single passive Conklin soapbar
volume knob
hardware will be chrome or black
tuned low C# to high F natural

just a basic work dog

:D

from the lower lows,


Stew
 
#37
generally both eBay and Guitar Center will have 'em available for $1000 or less. in either case you'll probably need to do a little tweaking, but they're around.

remember that Guitar Center and Musician's Friend are the same company, so you can peruse the Musician's Friend website for information on their stock.

from the low end,


Stew
 
#39
Originally posted by thekingbassist
i want a fretless one, were should i look to find one under a thousand bucks, used, ebay, gc???
thanks
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Oddly enough, I have never seen another used fretless GT-7 since the one I got second-hand (brother John Turner found it for me right here at TalkBass). Dunno why, but they seem to be pretty rare. Good luck finding one -- I guarante you the search is worth the effort! You might also call Bill Conklin direct (or email [email protected] ) -- last I heard, he actually had a few red ones. He was selling 'em for $999. But that was a while ago...

My review: Wonderful feel, and nice tones. The ebanol fingerboard gives a respectable Jaco-esque growl, which I nonetheless like to enhace with some outboard EQ boosting around 800-900 Hz. I woulda had a custom neck made narrower if I'd had the choice (and the scratch), but it is nice and slim (front to back) which I prefer, and hey, it's a really nice bass for an even-up trade for a Carvin 6. And the neck did indeed feel more solid than the neck-thru Carvin's.
 
#40
Another happy owner... :)

I'm really happy with my GT7 - I got it second hand, got a little work done on the frets and it now plays extremely nicely. Nice low action which gives easy playability and a good "twank" sound if you dig in. The neck is very playable - in fact it was one of the first things I notice when I got it - you get used to it very quickly. When playing off the strap hooks the bass sits/balances very nicely and doesn't feel as heavy as you'd think. The stock EQ is a bit un-subtle, but it does mean that you can dial in pretty much any sound you're after as has been mentioned already. It would be fairly easy to drop in another EQ / preamp as required.

Gripes? Well I wasn't a big fan of the stock "Snakeskin" strings myself, but I replaced the bottom 6 with a set of Elixir Nanowebs and I'm as happy as a pig now. My only other complaint is that I don't seem to have any copper shielding on the control cavity which leads to some pretty nasty buzzes when I get close to my amp / FX. This is really easy to remedy though.

Value for money? Oh yeah, totally. :D
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