skej21

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1448910623' post='2919133'] I'd love to hear some decent demos of these beautiful basses. [/quote] I'm planning on doing an extensive demo when mine arrives. It might be a while but I'll post when it's done :-)

'My same' from 19 is one of my favourite tracks of all time. She's great, down to earth and writes most of her material. Fantastic new album too :-)

I've currently got an ACG in the build stages and here are the reasons I would recommend buying one; Cost - for a custom spec instrument, it's hard to argue with the ACG price sheet!). Quality - based on the ACGs that I've played, I've struggled to find a UK (or other!) luthier that stands above Alan's work. Build Control - I gave Alan quote specific details for my build. Scale length, tuning, wood types, ideal weight, electronics, string spacing and nothing was too much hassle for him (and nothing presented a challenge to the build that he couldn't overcome with first class knowledge!) Communication - Email responses have been incredibly quick, well outside of 'working' hours at times and always great. Even before I gave Alan a penny, he had answered numerous questions and helped me to finalise a definitive idea of how the build would turn out. Progress - Alan is just as quick at regularly sending progress photos and updates as he completes different stages of the build process. For me, it's as much fun waiting to see the latest development as it is to imagine the end product and Alan's updates are great for providing those moments! Wood choices - I didn't choose anything too exotic (like the ART tops) but there's so much choice and when I mentioned the woods i would like, Alan had no trouble getting it and starting work on the bass. Electronics - Unique and versatile filter preamps alongside a bigger range of pickups and preamp options means you will always be able to spec a bass that'll offer you the chance to have a great quality tone that matches your sound! Body shapes - Some really original designs and some original twists on old classic shapes means there's something for everyone. I went for a Finn R Type SC and after LOTS of searching still haven't found any other bass that has a similar shape. For me, it's a fantastic thing to find a new aesthetic among basses these days and Alan has a really innovative (yet ergonomic!) take on how body shapes should be... The moth body shapes are a great example of that! I think the only downside of getting an ACG would be having the confidence/knowledge to be able to spec a bass and know you'd be happy with the outcome. Alan can advise but I imagine because of the commitment it takes to order a bass you've never played, you'd have to happy knowing that what you write on a bit of paper is what you'll be happy with when you first get your hands on the bass.

Great service :-) Id be surprised if it's coming from NY though. Aguilar are distributed by Barnes and Mullins here in the UK, which is where they'll probably be getting the replacement from, hence the quick turnaround. It's still great to know that kind of aftercare still exists and the companies that deserve a chance to have our money though :-)

I do like the idea of these actually. Put some soft material on the top and have tools/cleaning equipment on the top so I could use it as a set-up/restringing station and then put all the basses safely in drawers. Have a few spare drawers at the bottom to store the gig bags and you'd be sorted! *adds to GAS list

Lovely story! This was actually the bass that inspired the wood combination on my own Custom ACG bass build (currently being built!). I knew I wanted darker tone woods and I liked the aesthetics and then I saw this in the 'for sale' section and it just looks stunning. It's great to hear that you've really fallen for it and that its inspired you to play. Enjoy :-)

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1444241121' post='2881528'] My soon-to-be Maruszczyk (being built) will probably come in around 7.5lbs, maybe slightly less. My Fodera is about 10.5lbs I think. Thought you'd all be interested in that Si [/quote] If it's only 10.5lbs, I'll give you 20lbs for it! Can't say fairer than that ;-)

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1444038333' post='2879577'] Wasn't his original point that you had to buy a us model to get it? Nice looking bass [/quote] "Strange that Fender don't offer burst/tort/maple as a standard option"... That's not how I read it. Just trying to be helpful by linking it, as it does exist in the U.S. standard range and as a burst/maple with white scratchplate (which is easily changed!) in the Mexican standard range too. Thought it'd be worth helping if Painy was trying to find one :-) That bass collection is lovely though. With alternatives such as this, Limelights, Nash, Bravewood and Maruszczyk etc offering such great instruments at more than competitive prices, it makes you wonder how it may have affected Fender!

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1443971339' post='2879085'] Strange that Fender don't offer burst/tort/maple as a standard option despite the fact that it is clearly the correct colour combo for a p bass. Absolute stunner by the way - congrats! [/quote] Like this? http://intl.fender.com/en-GB/basses/precision-bass/american-standard-precision-bass-maple-fingerboard-3-color-sunburst/ Beautiful bass btw. The relic job is really subtle and great!

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443612776' post='2876186'] Euphemism? [/quote] Euphoniemism? (I'll get me 'tenuous brass pun' coat!)

All the gigs I've ever done that have been longer than 2 hours have been jazz/background function work or pit work, where it's more than acceptable to sit down... That means the weight isn't much of an issue. The other gigging/playing I've done tends to be shorter sets with breaks and again, weight isn't an issue as I'm not wearing my bass for extended periods of time. It wouldn't be an issue for me. String spacing, scale length and the other things that affect the 'feel' of the instrument when playing it would be my first concern when choosing or spec'ing a bass.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1443611105' post='2876148'] So Jazz, Blues, Pop, Funk, Big Band and Latin not a wide enough selection, then? [/quote] What about all those Moondance gigs you're missing out on though ;-)

The anticipation is killing me!

Not sure which is which but I know that I definitely prefer the first one. It just seems a little smoother in its response when you played the embellishments and a bit warmer. Based on that, I'd guess at Fender first and Maruszczyk second?

One of the nicest/similar I've seen in terms of looks is a company called 'Kudritsky'... Never tried one but here's an example!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1441363107' post='2858241'] Rounds will eventually start to wear away where they come into contact with the frets (unless the frets are very soft in which case they will be the ones wearing away). When this happens they are no longer a constant unit mass along their length and it will be increasingly difficult to keep them in tune at every fret. I ran into exactly the same problem as the OP when I was favouring a one month or older sound from my strings (these days I like bright new string as I can always loose the zing elsewhere in my signal chain). When I removed the problem set that had been on the bass for about a year the underside of the strings where full of grooves at the points where they had come into contact with the frets. The depth of each groove was very much dependent on how often I played that particular note. It was little wonder that the strings were impossible to play in tune. IIRC it affected the thicker (A, E and strings most. Edited to remove stupid emoticon. Why can't I turn this option off by default!! [/quote] I was chatting with Dave Doll from Martin and he also mentioned that fret wear on the underside of strings and skin collecting in the coils over a prolonged period of time alters the overall mass of the string and will therefore affect the tension of the string. That then causes issues with intonation, set up etc. Logical when you think about it but not something that is always obvious!

For me, this is Oteil at his grooviest! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49xpR3hpb0g

[quote name='martthebass' timestamp='1440021714' post='2847729'] Still got mine too Skej. Is it too reliced for my taste...a bit. Did I have a problem with the saddles, yes, but easily sorted. Why do I still have it....because it's the best sounding jazz I've ever had, and ive had a few. I'm not one for trends, (don't mention Sue Ryder though) and only got it because I couldn't find a fender RW at the time but so far I'm happy with the choice. Will I sell it...at some point I may because I'm never satisfied. [/quote] I used to think I was never satisfied until I got my limelight. Sold my other precision a and wouldn't look beyond it now. There was a VERY brief moment when I considered selling it just to fund/try a maruszczyk just to see what all the hype was about but then realised that at BEST id only like it as much as my limelight and if I liked it less, it would be a lot harder to replace the limelight! So I resisted the hype and it's staying. I put my money into some mods on an existing bass and a 5 string ACG build instead!

I'm no electronic wizard but I imagine that the pickups are wired in parallel as standard configuration which means the signal goes through both pickups at the same time and then to the output (where series means the signal travels to the neck pickup then into the bridge pickup before going to the output). If you turn one pickup off, it would simply kill that signal between the pickup and the output and you'd get the sound of the second pickup only. In series, I imagine that if you turn off the volume, the pickup will still have some effect as it would have to travel through a muted pickup in either position before going to the output. That is what i would expect logically but I imagine it depends mostly on the way they are wired? I'm sure someone will be along soon to explain properly lol.

I bought my Limelight last July. Mark was fantastic with his service, communication and the execution of the instrument is top notch. It's done lots of gigs with me since, always gets loads of excellent comments from punters about its looks and sound and it plays better than any Fender I've ever had my hands on. I do seem to be in the rare few who haven't sold it on yet. I do not intend to willingly sell mine anytime soon!

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1438546180' post='2835388'] Bought it, sent it back. Very dissapointed. Couldn't get a tone out of it I liked. Typical MXR dirt pedal, with the clean and dirt sounding entirely seperate from one another, with the dirt on its own thin on the bottom; for me MXR have just got the idea of bass pedals and blend all wrong. Aside from that, I found the pedal muddy and undefined, with the silicon mode sounding thin and the Led mode too muddled. [/quote] I got one of these to try out the other day and felt exactly the same. Took it to a rehearsal for a melodic metal band I play in and couldn't get a useable tone that fitted well in the mix. The silicon mode was shrill and glassy and took any presence out of my sound and the Led did the opposite, making my tone muddy and seriously undefined. MXR - Gooooood Fuzzrocious - Gooooood MXR + Fuzzrocious = No thanks I'm not sure if the disappointment of this pedal was exaggerated by the awesomeness of the other pedals I was trying from the MXR bass innovation range (Bass Preamp, Envelope Filter and Bass Octave Deluxe). It's a shame, as it promised to be something fantastic but even before I played it, there were murmurs that "the MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe is the go-to bass dirt box" in the range. This gives me the cynical feeling that they may have introduced this to the range to appease the pedal aficionados who buy into the name and heritage of the pedal, rather than its actual practical applications?!

This is hard to advise but having played existing ACGs, they're top quality basses and this has led to me putting an order in for one of my own. Alan's customer service has been absolutely world class but the only snag is that (like its already been said), you'd need to know exactly what you're after and have some idea of the spec you'd like otherwise it'd be quite a gamble. I'm lucky that I've had plenty of basses go through my hands and knew exactly what I'd like when ordering mine! Good luck :-)