Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Not seen one of these B4


Recommended Posts

A cool looking thing, but I bet it also suffers from the main issue the aluminium-necked Kramers had - very cold to the touch, especially coming into a warm gig from outside on a cold night! Tuning could be an issue under those conditions. Did someone say 'coefficient of linear thermal expansion'?? :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='lowregisterhead' timestamp='1371458084' post='2114016']
A cool looking thing, but I bet it also suffers from the main issue the aluminium-necked Kramers had - very cold to the touch, especially coming into a warm gig from outside on a cold night! Tuning could be an issue under those conditions. Did someone say 'coefficient of linear thermal expansion'?? :P
[/quote]

It might have been a problem in the more primitive 70s, or if you live somewhere that has proper cold weather, but here in the UK its very much a non-issue.

I've owned several guitars and basses with aluminium necks and bodies and have never had a problem with either cold or tuning stability. Even going to gigs in the winter the instruments never spend more than a couple of minutes outside of a temperature controlled environment (my house, the car, the venue) and then they are always in proper cases. I've also never noticed any significant tuning problems over wooden instruments subjected to the same temperature changes.

Maybe if you had to travel for several hours in cold weather with the bass in the unheated cargo area of a van and then were expected to be on stage and playing within minutes of arriving at the venue, it might not be too good, but I doubt the average Fender bas would fare very much better. And besides the sensible owner of an aluminium bass would take precautions against situations like that happening.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[list]
[*]I'm not sure I like
[*]listings comprising
[*]lots of bullet points
[*]like it's some sort of
[*]corporate presentation
[*]I also think that's a
[*]totally crap set of
[*]photographs with which
[*]to sell such an unusual
[*]and expensive bass
[/list]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1371465640' post='2114092']
It might have been a problem in the more primitive 70s, or if you live somewhere that has proper cold weather, but here in the UK its very much a non-issue.

I've owned several guitars and basses with aluminium necks and bodies and have never had a problem with either cold or tuning stability. Even going to gigs in the winter the instruments never spend more than a couple of minutes outside of a temperature controlled environment (my house, the car, the venue) and then they are always in proper cases. I've also never noticed any significant tuning problems over wooden instruments subjected to the same temperature changes.

Maybe if you had to travel for several hours in cold weather with the bass in the unheated cargo area of a van and then were expected to be on stage and playing within minutes of arriving at the venue, it might not be too good, but I doubt the average Fender bas would fare very much better. And besides the sensible owner of an aluminium bass would take precautions against situations like that happening.
[/quote]

A fair point, well made. Unfortunately in the depths of winter in the North East of Scotland in the late 70's there was an exact confluence of those precise circumstances that I witnessed on a couple of occasions. I wasn't the owner of the Kramer in question, and there were other variables, i.e. perhaps the owner's bad ear for tuning on-the-hoof and old strings, as well as possibly questionable playing skills, but although the bass was pretty, the sound it made sadly wasn't. All that mounting misfortune aside, my main gripe was just the way the neck felt - it appeared cold to the touch whatever the prevailing temperature. Great looking thing, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

EGC's are apparently great (can't profess to having played one). Seems a fair price too. You'd probably pay less for ordering direct but then there's the hassle of the build time wait, shipping and potential for import tax.

That being said, i'd be all over one of their guitars in a heartbeat for my next purchase...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...