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Clover bass guitars - Quality?


Herbie The Rad Dorklift
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I don't know much about bass outside the usual suspects, and I came across this brand just today.

The Apeiron H5:



It looks wonderful, and the price is alright too, £1450.


Now, how would this compare (build wise, I understand sound is subjective and all that) to a Fender 5 Jazz at £1413:




Or my dream bass, a Musicman Stingray 5 double humbucker at £1700ish.


Is the clover up to scratch build quality wise against these 2 USA basses? How do the parts compare? How does it sound?

My bass amp is a Markbass Mini CMD121p.

Thanks to anyone who can help :)

EDIT - Bugger wrong forum!

Edited by Herbie The Rad Dorklift
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From what I've seen and played, Clover's build quality is less erratic than Fenders, and on a par with EBMM.
To put that in the correct perspective, EBMM is generally very good in terms of fit & finish.
Fenders are generally less comprehensively designed/built. A good exaple of this being neck attachment- Fenders generally use 4 bolt fixing. EBMM use 6.
A Nice Fender is a lovely thing, but it can be a bit like Russian roulette as to whether or not any given one is "Nice".

Try before you buy. If you like it, Buy the one you tried. Then you know what you're getting.

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You are more Likly to get a good on than you would with fender.

But if your dream bass is the SR5, save the extra pennies and make a custom otlrder with Darren at Bass Merchant. You can choose anything from the current options, also if it does come and it's duff they'll take it back and start from scratch. It's a long wait but it's worth it. I waited 3 months for my big al.

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[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='1338401' date='Aug 13 2011, 08:09 AM']You are more Likly to get a good on than you would with fender.

But if your dream bass is the SR5, save the extra pennies and make a custom otlrder with Darren at Bass Merchant. You can choose anything from the current options, also if it does come and it's duff they'll take it back and start from scratch. It's a long wait but it's worth it. I waited 3 months for my big al.[/quote]

Yeah, get the Stingray - I just did. Definitely don't regret it.

I emailed round and got quotes back around the £1600 mark (the Bass Merchant was the only one that didn't reply funnily enough) - in the end GAK could do some other stuff I needed too so Graeme there did me a good deal including a 5 string HH string in honeyburst/maple.

It's a stunning looker, nicest finish I've seen, fantastic neck, and provides a bit more varied tone than a single H 'ray. The pikup selector switch is great after the twin volumes of a passive jazz - it's very quick and intuitive to go between the warmth of all pups/the inner two sets of coils to the FILTH of the bridge pickup! Luvvin it.

If you can't stand the 3 month wait for a build-to-order then see what the importer has in stock (at strings and things www.musicmanuk.co.uk) - I did and it was in my hands within a week. I thnk they have a black/rosewood V HH in stock, a couple of other single V Hs and a very nice HH Sterling V in natural/maple. GAK are just down the road from the importer too - so tend to get them a day or so quicker than anyone else if you're impatient!

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I played an Orange Clover at the LBGS - was very impressed with the fit and finish - the one I was playing was bought while I was playing it by the person who was playing it prior to me. It stood out when compared to some of the other Super Jazzes I tried that day - very nice slim neck IIRC..

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