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The Official Swan Custom Basses Thread

#181
So we are finished and now waiting on the case to be made!!!
 

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#184
Since it's a medium scale and I'm tuning it like a guitar with a low B so I don't have to context shift.

I asked him to put this on:
All wound strings
B. E. A. D. G. B. E.
130, 105, 85, 65, 45, 35,25

Now what brand of string he gets. I have no idea. I may have to rebuild the set once it gets here.
 
#186
Opherman47 said:
Since it's a medium scale and I'm tuning it like a guitar with a low B so I don't have to context shift.

I asked him to put this on:
All wound strings
B. E. A. D. G. B. E.
130, 105, 85, 65, 45, 35,25

Now what brand of string he gets. I have no idea. I may have to rebuild the set once it gets here.
Click to expand...
They use Magma Strings made in argentina too. I recommend those strings... TThey are nickel plated strings, Ive changed it for DR Steel strings... i wanted to try some of this material...
 
#188
Hey bass friends! How are you all doing?
I just wanted to ask you what strings are you using?
How are you maintaining your basses that Swan built? Did you find some tricks to know better the preamp, neck, whatever?

Here I am playing a while and trying to connect with the community with this beautiful basses made in my country!
 
#189
Looking for some general opinions on these. Likes, dislikes, etc.. especially curious if these are able to achieve a nice bright jazz bass tone. Audio samples always seem to have fairly muted high-end. They also seem to run heavy weight wise. How accessible is the the upper register? If they’re gonna give you 24 frets, it would be nice to be able to access them all cleanly.
 
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#190
rolfplamperton said:
Looking for some general opinions on these. Likes, dislikes, etc.. especially curious if these are able to achieve a nice bright jazz bass tone. Audio samples always seem to have fairly muted high-end. They also seem to run heavy weight wise. How accessible is the the upper register? If they’re gonna give you 24 frets, it would be nice to be able to access them all cleanly.
Click to expand...
In my opinion, I've had my Swan bass for a year now. I usually use it the way you say, somewhat muted or with the tone turned down or slightly open.
I don't think it's a heavy instrument, perhaps because I'm used to other basses. And access to the 24th fret is very good in my opinion.
On the other hand, I can tell you that the creator of Swan was inspired by Fodera and Ken Smith.

What I like and don't like:
What I love is the tonal possibilities between the different pickup selections, such as jazz bass, humbucker, and what they call “modern humbucker.” The instrument responds really well. Other bassists with Swan basses have also told me that the more years go by, the better it feels and the more the wood settles.
In my case, living in Uruguay and Argentina, I feel like the bass suffers from the change in humidity between cities, but a minor adjustment and it's back to being incredible.
It's an instrument mainly inspired by Fodera, I feel. The neck is super comfortable; honestly, I couldn't go back to a C-type neck like Fender's.
The only thing I could say I don't like is that maybe the 5th string isn't defined enough. Personally, I've always liked the head of the neck to be curved backward to generate tension naturally and thus have a more balanced bass (I understand that it works something like that, forgive me if I'm talking nonsense). It would sound like the classic Fodera models, not the premium models.

I've tried 4-string basses and they're incredible too, super balanced and lightweight, while the 5-string starts to weigh a little more. And when I went to pick up my bass in Buenos Aires, I tried a 6-string short scale, which also felt very, very good.

I recommend the brand and the basses if you're looking for something more for jazz fusion. Personally, I listen to this bass in this genre.
I use a wide, padded strap and DR 45-130 strings.
 
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#192
If I was a betting man I'd say it's string/setup/headless hardware related. You can get the same warbling, chorusy effect even on 4-string basses if the witness point over the nut is not properly created, and a lot of times a string tree fixes it. Similar issues can arise when a string is damaged or wound poorly around the tuning peg. Same issue (if I'm understanding the description correctly) happened on a ton of the JMJ Mustangs straight from the factory.
 
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