SOLD: The SEi 8 String Fretless Bass - SOLD (Many thanks everyone) £3500

[sei24bass]

Well, never say never...

Never expected to sell this unique one off fretless bass, but I did not see old age coming that makes 35" scale length basses too painful to play.

The one and only 8 string bass Martin has ever made, currently strung low F# through F, but many different options possible. Key specifications:[list]
[*]Flamed maple and purpleheart thru neck
[*]35” ebony fingerboard (36 frets)
[*]Alder wings
[*]Thuya burl facings
[*]Villex Pickups
[*]Glockenklang 3 band circuit
[*]Graphtech Ghost piezo circuitry
[*]Purple fret position LED markers on side of neck (blue at the octaves)
[*]Approx 11.5lbs
[/list]
Ultra slim neck profile makes this bass easy to play, even for myself who has the smallest hands ever (never found any man with smaller hands!). Quite simply the best fretless I’ve ever played in 20+ years of searching. Huge low fundamentals (Villex speciality), the all critical fretless mids to die for (Glockenklang circuitry ideal for this) and ideal action and sustain. This is genuinely a sad sale for me, it has been a favourite go to bass for a long time.


...Obviously the fretless one in the SEi basses photo!

The bass is currently at The Bass Gallery ([url="http://thebassgallery.com/fretless-8-string.html"]http://thebassgaller...s-8-string.html[/url]), who are handling all aspects of the sale for me. So why not give them a call or drop by and give it a try (don’t say I didn’t warn you!!)

Many thanks and let me know if you have any queries!

Edited September 30, 2015 by sei24bass

[three]

I've seen this bass in many images over time and have been struck by the enormous beauty of every aspect (and the instrument in its entirety). Martin is a genius and my favourite UK luthier by some distance. I too cannot handle 35" scale and thus empathise - this must be a serious wrench. Very good luck with the sale - an unusual spec but a staggering piece of work

Edited September 18, 2015 by three

[Dazed]

I was only looking at that bass on The Gallery's site last night. Stunning.

[roman_sub]

beautiful bass - btw the Gallery's website notes this as having 34" scale....

[ashplaybass]

Wow! This is incredible!

[andybassdoyle]

Amazing.
Nursing.
A.
Semi.

[andysg42]

This took my eye last week in the Gallery , stunning . Martins a genius a beast of a bass ,good luck with the sale ....

[ambient]

Beautiful !

What's the other bass in the photo ?

[flippyfloop]

That's a beautiful bass with a silly amount of strings

Martin & co's work is simply stunning.

GLWTS

[sei24bass]

Many thanks everyone for your very kind comments. Martin's work really is amongst the best in the world and is the benchmark I use for evaluating every other luthier, comparing favourably with the biggest names such as Ken Lawrence, Jens Ritter, Roger Sadowsky, Jerzy Drozd to name but a few (I've tried just about all of them over the years!). The SEi 8 was simply the best fretless bass I've ever played, so I'm really sad to see it go but also pleased it will see future use.

The other bass in the picture is the one and only SEi 9 string, completely different to the SEi 8 but in many ways even more of an amazing instrument to play and is staying with me...at least for the moment as one can never say never after all.

Anyway the SEi 8 is now sold to a gent in Japan...sniff!