New KR Guitars Ursa Major 'XL'

[Thunderitter]

I have just taken delivery of my new KR Guitars Ursa Major ‘XL’, which was ordered in the last quarter of last year. I came across KR Guitars about 12 months ago and instantly was drawn to what is the fairly unusual shape of the Ursa. I contacted the owner and luthier Kevin Robertson and worked with him to create the bass. I’d like to say now what a wonderful experience it was and what a truly great guy Kevin Robertson is to deal with.

I’ve taken some pictures, which I’ll attach and I hope that these convey the outstanding craftsmanship of this bass. Kevin’s attention to detail is stunning and the ‘XL’ easily fits into the same quality category as Ritter, Fodera, etc.

Although the Ursa shape is ‘out there’, the balance, whether on the knee or on a strap, is amazing and so while weighing in at 9lbs, she feels much lighter than that.

I went with Q Tuners neodymium pick-ups on Kevin’s recommendation and what a good recommendation that was! I did think twice about going passive, but these are really tonally diverse pick-ups and they definitely don’t need a pre-amp!

The basic sound is very punchy and tight, but between the mix pot and a tone pot I can get a real range of sounds, covering lots of styles. The natural harmonics have a great bell like quality, the pinch harmonics are about as good as I’ve heard on a bass! Are you getting the feeling that I’m digging this bass a little?

As you can see from the pictures the quality of wood the Kevin has used is truly AAAAA(A). The finish and fit is perfect; what you would expect on a bespoke instrument.

For anyone looking to spend some money on a real nice bass guitar, slightly unusual, then I would not hesitate to recommend talking and working to Kevin Robertson at KR Guitars.

She's getting her first outing tonight for a rehearsal!

I’d be happy to answer any question that you may have.

The specs of the guitar are as follows:

[b]Model: KR Guitars Ursa 'XL'; 29 fret, 4 string, extended cutaway
Electronics: Passive
Pick ups: Q tuners BL-4 (neodymium, matched pair)
Controls: 3; Volume, Mix, Tone; gold w/paua abalone tops
Body: Cedar
Top: Western Maple - Quilted
Back: Western Maple – Flame
Headstock faceplate: Western Maple - Quilted
Bridge: ABM individual, string spacing at bridge: 16mm
Neck: Multi-scale(34"-35"), 7-piece; wenge/maple;
single truss rod; width at nut 1.5"
Fretboard: Maccassar Ebony, paua abalone side markers
Frets: 29, Stainless steel
Nut: Brass
Strings: LaBella Slappers: Custom Light (40, 60, 80, 100)
Hardware: Gotoh GB7 tuners x 3, Hipshot Xtender x 1, Schaller strap locks x 2
Custom Inlay: 'XL' (KRG design) 12th fret, paua abalone[/b]

Edited June 8, 2008 by Thunderitter

[BigRedX]

Welcome to BassChat!

That's very nice indeed!

I've been a fan of Kevin Robertson's work since I first saw photos of his bases on the LAG web site. It's one thing to droll over pics of the instruments on the maker's site, but it's always much better to read reports from people who actually own them.

A couple of questions...
The body what's the depth of the body depth? - it looks a little deeper than standard or is that just a trick of the overall body shape?
Some of Kevin's basses are chambered is this one?

Any chance of posting some sound clips? I'd love to hear this especially with the Q Tuners

Thanks for sharing!

[Thunderitter]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='214732' date='Jun 8 2008, 03:53 AM']Welcome to BassChat!

That's very nice indeed!

I've been a fan of Kevin Robertson's work since I first saw photos of his bases on the LAG web site. It's one thing to droll over pics of the instruments on the maker's site, but it's always much better to read reports from people who actually own them.

A couple of questions...
The body what's the depth of the body depth? - it looks a little deeper than standard or is that just a trick of the overall body shape?
Some of Kevin's basses are chambered is this one?

Any chance of posting some sound clips? I'd love to hear this especially with the Q Tuners

Thanks for sharing![/quote]

The body is about 4 cm - certainly thicker than you're average bass. To be honest this was an area that I trusted Kevin on, I would not normally go for something that thick! It is cedar, which is dense but light and I think the thickness has a lot to do with it punchy full sound.

I had a hard disk melt down last week, so when I get back up and running fully I'll try to get some clips together.

[bass_ferret]

Beauty must be in the eye of the beholder. Nice wood mind. Do you have the cavity cover on the wrong way round?

[Thunderitter]

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='214885' date='Jun 8 2008, 08:55 AM']Beauty must be in the eye of the beholder. Nice wood mind. Do you have the cavity cover on the wrong way round?[/quote]


Thanks for the kind words! Cavity cover is on the right way - the pictures was taken in very direct sunlight so the contrast is much greater than normal hence it 'pops' out a little.

[Lfalex v1.1]

Nice Bass.
Not too Dissimilar to Alex Clabers RIM in some ways...

Edited June 8, 2008 by Lfalex v1.1

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Thunderitter' post='214867' date='Jun 8 2008, 01:33 PM']The body is about 4 cm - certainly thicker than you're average bass. To be honest this was an area that I trusted Kevin on, I would not normally go for something that thick! It is cedar, which is dense but light and I think the thickness has a lot to do with it punchy full sound.

I had a hard disk melt down last week, so when I get back up and running fully I'll try to get some clips together.[/quote]

Thanks! I'll be looking forward to hearing those. And interesting that it's a non-chambered body. The Gus basses use cedar as well but then wrap it in a carbon fibre shell for strength.