- Aug 21, 2003
- 11,619
- 18,701
- Disclosures
- A-Designs Mike Lull GK Tsunami Cables GHS Strings RMI Basswitch Nordstrand Pickups Darkglass
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I'm going to post a NBD, but I'd officially unveil it here.
The P4 came in today and it was everything I was hoping it would be. Again it's alder with a maple neck and birdseye maple fretboard, 1.75" nut, and Fralins. The neck is as comfortable as any I've played and it feels nicely worn in. The fret ends feel a tad rough, but it doesn't hinder me and I see that as a good thing since it means that the neck has probably already shrank a bit and I won't go through that in the winter. I'll get through the winter and see what she does and then get it taken care of. This thing is LIGHT. Bass San Diego was wrong at saying it was 7.8lbs. The certificate says 7.4lbs. Dang. I play sitting down 100% so weight usually doesn't deter me but it's nice having a nice lightweight piece of wood on my leg. I feel like I can get around it a little easier still.
Tonally it's everything I want in a P bass. The Fender American Standard and the G&L LB-100 I had both seemed to miss that P bass low mid growl and this thing has it in spades, even with the GHS Precision flats I put on, probably due in part to the maple board. I'm very impressed with the tone control as well. It has a very wide range of adjustment and while it can get clanky with it all the way open, it doesn't get too muddy with it all the way off, which is something I've never liked. I was having a little trouble getting the E string to balance at first. It seemed to be lower than everything else and I couldn't raise that side any more (I guess the foam is maxed out). So I lowered the A, D & G and it seems to help. One thing I did notice is that it's VERY sensitive to light playing and that points out any inconsistencies in my right hand, especially on the E. It took a good hour or so of playing to adjust to it. The playability is incredible with the action at the 12th fret on the E being at around 1.5mm or so.
I only have two minor gripes: I wish the tuners were tapered. I've never strung with non tapered tuners and trying to get the winds to the bottom was a little bit of a challenge, but I got there. Also, on the topic of dead spots, unfortunately mine has a slight one at the 7th fret. It doesn't go dead, but it has a more percussive attack to it, the neck vibrates when I play it and the fundamental dies more quickly out to the overtone. Typical symptoms. This would normally bother me, but after my G&L had one at the 7th, my Sabre has one at the 7th, my Musicman Stingray Fretless has one at the 6th and my Reverend had one at the 4th, I'm starting to accept it as being unavoidable. Oddly enough, the Carvin I had for about 15 minutes didn't have one. Go figure.
So I think she's a keeper but anyone who knows me knows not to quote me
I ordered the following from StewMac in the hopes it will help me adjust the truss rod (vintage) a little better. I have a screw driver but I want something that gives me a little more leverage.
Invalid Link Removed
and
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The P4 came in today and it was everything I was hoping it would be. Again it's alder with a maple neck and birdseye maple fretboard, 1.75" nut, and Fralins. The neck is as comfortable as any I've played and it feels nicely worn in. The fret ends feel a tad rough, but it doesn't hinder me and I see that as a good thing since it means that the neck has probably already shrank a bit and I won't go through that in the winter. I'll get through the winter and see what she does and then get it taken care of. This thing is LIGHT. Bass San Diego was wrong at saying it was 7.8lbs. The certificate says 7.4lbs. Dang. I play sitting down 100% so weight usually doesn't deter me but it's nice having a nice lightweight piece of wood on my leg. I feel like I can get around it a little easier still.
Tonally it's everything I want in a P bass. The Fender American Standard and the G&L LB-100 I had both seemed to miss that P bass low mid growl and this thing has it in spades, even with the GHS Precision flats I put on, probably due in part to the maple board. I'm very impressed with the tone control as well. It has a very wide range of adjustment and while it can get clanky with it all the way open, it doesn't get too muddy with it all the way off, which is something I've never liked. I was having a little trouble getting the E string to balance at first. It seemed to be lower than everything else and I couldn't raise that side any more (I guess the foam is maxed out). So I lowered the A, D & G and it seems to help. One thing I did notice is that it's VERY sensitive to light playing and that points out any inconsistencies in my right hand, especially on the E. It took a good hour or so of playing to adjust to it. The playability is incredible with the action at the 12th fret on the E being at around 1.5mm or so.
I only have two minor gripes: I wish the tuners were tapered. I've never strung with non tapered tuners and trying to get the winds to the bottom was a little bit of a challenge, but I got there. Also, on the topic of dead spots, unfortunately mine has a slight one at the 7th fret. It doesn't go dead, but it has a more percussive attack to it, the neck vibrates when I play it and the fundamental dies more quickly out to the overtone. Typical symptoms. This would normally bother me, but after my G&L had one at the 7th, my Sabre has one at the 7th, my Musicman Stingray Fretless has one at the 6th and my Reverend had one at the 4th, I'm starting to accept it as being unavoidable. Oddly enough, the Carvin I had for about 15 minutes didn't have one. Go figure.
So I think she's a keeper but anyone who knows me knows not to quote me
I ordered the following from StewMac in the hopes it will help me adjust the truss rod (vintage) a little better. I have a screw driver but I want something that gives me a little more leverage. Invalid Link Removed
and
Invalid Link Removed
Thanks for the info . My first one from Mike and didn't know what to expect besides a beautiful looking and playing bass.
almost half the basses I play has that weird kinda sorta dead spot on the 7th fret of the G string! my V4 doesnt have it at all! even my carvin has it! I was starting to think it was just how that note sounds! lol
I have had 2 Lulls with rosewood.....and you could not feel a fret end what so ever! but my V4 with the maple board like yours you can feel a tad.....since mine was built at the end of March like you I am waiting till mid winter to get them dressed.
Their P tone is very much like a mid 70s Fender...which I love! I dunno why they stopped making P basses super bright on one side of the spectrum and deep deep on the other....I think thats what makes that mid growl when you put the tone in the middle of that! now a days fenders sound super middy and super muddy! Lull has great definition in the B and E strings!
I have had 2 Lulls with rosewood.....and you could not feel a fret end what so ever! but my V4 with the maple board like yours you can feel a tad.....since mine was built at the end of March like you I am waiting till mid winter to get them dressed.
Their P tone is very much like a mid 70s Fender...which I love! I dunno why they stopped making P basses super bright on one side of the spectrum and deep deep on the other....I think thats what makes that mid growl when you put the tone in the middle of that! now a days fenders sound super middy and super muddy! Lull has great definition in the B and E strings!
Actually now that I think of it, the Carvin had a different tonal quality. Almost like a percussive attack like I said, but no dead sustain. I actually test a dead note by wedging foam under the strings. If it goes "plunk", it's dead. The Carvin still rang out a bit. But, I noticed that sometimes I notice it and sometimes I don't. I think if I'm trying to hear it, I do. If just play and ignore it, I don't hear it. Ce la vie.
I've always avoided maple because of the fret sprout, but only because I didn't have a competent tech to fix it. Ever since Daddy's Junky Music shut down, the guys who worked at that store opened up their own shop and they do amazing work. So I can take it to them.
My favorite P tone is Bruce Thomas (Elvis Costello and the Attractions). I'll never get his exact tone, (he had an extremely compressed tone). It was thick, growly, compressed and farty all at the same time. The Lull gets me a little closer I think. He played a 60's P with a rosewood board.
Oh I forgot to mention, mine was made September 11, 2013. So it's been through one winter already, but if that was on the West Coast.
mark beem
Wait, how does this song start again??
I had a US Lakland with a dead spot on the G string. So much for graphite rods! Never experienced that on any Lulls I have had pass thru and stay.
I think that all basses have dead spots to some degree. Fender styled instuments especially have that spot between the 4th and 7th fret on the G-string that tends to be problematic.
Yes, the dead spots are there - it's a matter of degree and how noticeable they are to different folks. I've had people hand me a bass while telling me is has no dead spots and ten seconds later I've found one. G string around the 7th fret is pretty standard - so much so that I expect it on a bass (Fender style or not).
I have several basses and I would say that only a couple don't have significant ones while others have them, but are not too bad and there are a couple with really horrendous ones.
So I am playing my new Carvin....and the neck really reminds me of a lull but just not quite! the birdseye fretboard with a 12 radius....the neck is kinda shaped like a lull but a tad different....so I just told my friend this is like playing a MIM lull!!! lol
So I posted a NBD thread (which only one person responded too, boo...) and I just posted what I said here. Someone told me to talk to Mike about the dead spot. I actually find some people's attitudes towards dead spots kind of funny. What is Mike going to do? He's going to tell me that it happens (which it does) and that even if I had another neck made there is no guarantee that it won't have one too once it gets bolted to THAT body. Roger Sadowsky acknowledges that even his basses aren't immune from them.
Right now the only problem I'm having is I think the E of the GHS Precision Flat set I put on is bad. There are some "rub" marks in areas on the string where I can see through the windings (it's still smooth) and there are noticeable gaps in the windings in spot. Vs the other strings where they're all smoothly constructed. I think this may be contributing to my lower output E problem.
Right now the only problem I'm having is I think the E of the GHS Precision Flat set I put on is bad. There are some "rub" marks in areas on the string where I can see through the windings (it's still smooth) and there are noticeable gaps in the windings in spot. Vs the other strings where they're all smoothly constructed. I think this may be contributing to my lower output E problem.
*
Sorry if I amused you.....just trying to help
Maybe Mike would like to know if there is a quality issue
Perhaps my Lulls (both purchased used) do have a dead spot which I have not noticed but personally, a dead spot on a newly purchased bass would not be acceptable to me....and Mike may feel the same way
Good luck with the bass
Until I started reading talkbass, I never even knew what a dead spot was. Then after getting educated here I discovered that lo and behold, the Music Sterling I'd been happily playing for 10 years had one!
It made absolutely zero difference to me for a couple reasons.
It's on the 6th fret of the G string. If I'm playing that note it's probably not something that is going to need to sustain, it's an accent or fill note. If I do need that note to sustain, I'll just play it on the 11th fret of the D string. Problem solved! If you otherwise love a bass I'd be much more inclined to deal with the dead spot than take a gamble with another bass that might not feel or sound as good on the other notes you're playing 99.97% of he time.
It made absolutely zero difference to me for a couple reasons.
It's on the 6th fret of the G string. If I'm playing that note it's probably not something that is going to need to sustain, it's an accent or fill note. If I do need that note to sustain, I'll just play it on the 11th fret of the D string. Problem solved! If you otherwise love a bass I'd be much more inclined to deal with the dead spot than take a gamble with another bass that might not feel or sound as good on the other notes you're playing 99.97% of he time.
Exactly. I never noticed dead spots until I got my LB-100. The first one was so bad that when I got the rebuild I analyzed EVERYTHING about the bass and low and behold, because I was looking for the dead spot, I found it. Now that I know they exist, I find them everywhere. I realized if I don't just play the bass and I have this "fine tooth comb" mentality, I analyze and get bothered by every little inconsistency in tone. Even things that might be a normal tonal variation for that note based on the room, the amp or whatever, it bothers me. But if I just relax and play it, all those issues go away and I don't notice them.
Yeah, obsessing over a dead spot is not fun. Octavers and synths always reveal them too. You're just hangin out getting your funk on and then suddenly the Octaver won't hold a note. The ladies stop dancing, babies start crying, liquor sales go down, and the drummer doesn't get laid.
Seriously, I remember my first true dead spot experience. My first 2 basses were neck thru, a Peavey Dyna bass unity series that I converted to fretless and a Carvin LB76. Both of these basses got me through college and early on in my professional career. Both were dead spot free. I was on my 3rd broadway tour, Miss Saigon, and saved up to buy a MTD 635. We had a day off in Orlando and the cast went to Disney World and I went to one of our theme parks... Bass Central. I was so damn excited to play it in our next show. I fully knew that my first bolt on bass wouldn't sustain quite as much as my others, but I got to this C on the D string that needed to sustain for like 3 measures and it went Dwerrrrrrp. I was like "what the F#%€!" I was kind of upset and called Mike (the other one). He sent me a brass bridge that did a good job at solving the problem. M Tobias is a great guy to deal with by the way. When we make up our own parts we can play around dead spots but with written parts it is what it is. I quickly figured out a trick that I later heard others talking about. Hold down the lower octave while playing the upper octave. Works like a charm. The note rang for as long as I needed it. I'm sure most of you know that. I'm just throwin that out there.
I kind of have the typical spot in my M5V fretless, but it's really not bad. My PJ5-24 is damn near perfect as far as dead spots go.
Seriously, I remember my first true dead spot experience. My first 2 basses were neck thru, a Peavey Dyna bass unity series that I converted to fretless and a Carvin LB76. Both of these basses got me through college and early on in my professional career. Both were dead spot free. I was on my 3rd broadway tour, Miss Saigon, and saved up to buy a MTD 635. We had a day off in Orlando and the cast went to Disney World and I went to one of our theme parks... Bass Central. I was so damn excited to play it in our next show. I fully knew that my first bolt on bass wouldn't sustain quite as much as my others, but I got to this C on the D string that needed to sustain for like 3 measures and it went Dwerrrrrrp. I was like "what the F#%€!" I was kind of upset and called Mike (the other one). He sent me a brass bridge that did a good job at solving the problem. M Tobias is a great guy to deal with by the way. When we make up our own parts we can play around dead spots but with written parts it is what it is. I quickly figured out a trick that I later heard others talking about. Hold down the lower octave while playing the upper octave. Works like a charm. The note rang for as long as I needed it. I'm sure most of you know that. I'm just throwin that out there.
I kind of have the typical spot in my M5V fretless, but it's really not bad. My PJ5-24 is damn near perfect as far as dead spots go.
