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RIM Custom 5 string for Alex Claber (36 inch scale) Finished with soundclips!

RIM Basses

By RIM Basses,
in Build Diaries

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  • 2 weeks later...
poptart Community Regular

poptart

Posted
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[quote name='RIM Basses' post='130955' date='Jan 30 2008, 09:05 PM']Soundclip at

www.myspace.com/rimcustombasses

The recording is direct into my mates laptop with pro tools, no effects. He called me to ask if the bass was active after we recorded and he was blown away by the fact the bass is all Passive. The Q tuners are truely great pickups.

Cheers,

Robbie.[/quote]

Robbie

The clips sound great (as if they wouldn't) and those Q tuners are the business - expensive but they do seem to deliver!

Mark

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alexclaber Experienced

alexclaber

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We've had a good few hours together now and I'm still amazed at how well this project has turned out! I spent a while playing it through Robbie's Thunderfunk TF-550B and AccuGroove Whappo Jr but since it's been home I haven't plugged it in, just been enjoying its acoustic nature.

First things first - what does it feel like? In a word, great! It is remarkably light for a wenge necked extra long scale five string, certainly lighter than my '87 Warwick Streamer four. The balance is spot on with a strap, slightly divey seated but not if you have the strap over your shoulder. Neck is very slim, can use left hand thumb muting for some stuff, dead easy to play down by the nut. Despite the 36" scale it's actually less of a reach to the nut than the Warwick (longer upper horn and less body behind bridge saddles) and I'm not noticing it being any more effort to reach from fret to fret. The neck is slightly V-shaped in the lower reaches, shifting to a flattened D as you go higher - the huge cutaways are great, really good access. I'm also noticing that the wider neck is promoting slightly better hand position.

Tone: Well this is what this project was all about - getting an instrument that was as responsive to my playing as possible, allowing my hands to do the talking and reducing knob twiddling to a minimum. Acoustically this is a very big sounding instrument - the longer scale, stiff wenge/ash thru-neck and chambered ash body make it so lively and resonant with every part of the sound present. Dig in by the bridge and it really growls, shift further forwards and it gets rounder and fatter, soften up with muting or thumb and it mellows out and gets all vintage - just what I'd hoped for. It responds beautifully to slapping, strumming and chordal work. Now I haven't tried it through my rig yet but having compared my rig to Robbie's in the past and noted the differences I'm pretty confident that what I heard through the Thunderfunk/Whappo will translate - on the back pickup that growl is further acccentuated but still with enough bottom. On the front pickup you're closer to the pure acoustic sound, big and round but very clear. In parallel the midrange is a bit more subdued, nice for keeping out of the way or making slap less aggressive. In series it is noticeably louder and fatter - a real rock punch!

This is turning into a bit of a eulogy so I'll stop here. I'd be happy to answer any more specific questions but all in all I'm thrilled that this ridiculously long gestation period has landed me exactly the instrument I wanted. Thanks to all that helped out with ideas, experiences and so on. I feel like I'm collecting an Oscar... :)

As soon as I get some recordings done, I'll let you hear how it sounds!

Alex

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alexclaber Experienced

alexclaber

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[quote name='BigRedX' post='143681' date='Feb 20 2008, 01:51 PM']Alex/Robbie - where can I get one of those 4-way switches? Is it for each pick up singly and then series and parallel combinations?[/quote]

Dingwall sell the switch with a circuit board mounted on it to simplify the wiring, giving neck/series/parallel/bridge as you turn it anti-clockwise. It's a great idea that I originally saw on their basses and had to have for myself, especially as the series wiring gives a significant volume boost as well as fattening and thickening the tone - reggaetastic!

Alex

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BigRedX Grand Master

BigRedX

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Thanks for the info. I really like the series sound as well!

My Gus G3 fretless which has 2 single coil pickups has the same switching arrangement, though as it's part of the active circuitry I don't know if the switch is the same. Also my very first bass has a series mode simply because I used an on/off/on toggle and it was the only way to get both pickups on together with that switch!

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  • 3 months later...
  • 6 months later...
alexclaber Experienced

alexclaber

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Being used in anger at a gig (MP3 attached to post in this thread):

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=34146"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=34146[/url]

RIM Custom 5 through Avalon U5, recorded in the room by a minidisc with little stereo mic picking up a combination of FOH sound and the output from The Compact by barefacedBass.

Alex

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  • 7 months later...
alexclaber Experienced

alexclaber

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Just got a neat little scale for measuring the weight of my cabs. As there aren't any finished ones of those lurking here I thought I'd check my basses:

1987 Warwick Streamer: 4.02kg or 8lbs 14oz.
2008 RIM Custom 5: 4.1kg or 9lbs

Now I think that's pretty damned good for a 36" scale 5-string with a wenge neck!

Alex

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