Kiwi

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='489855' date='May 16 2009, 03:11 PM']I have to ask, Steve: Did you get the story behind the Hofner Violin Bass leaning casually against a work-bench in one of your photos?[/quote] Yes I did Jack, the bass is a genuine '64 Hofner and was brought in for a restoration job by one of Chris's customers. It needed a pickup rewinding and the electrics needed looking at. I plucked a few of the strings and it seemed to be a very resonant instrument. I didn't dare pick it up in that state though just incase something fell out and rolled under a cabinet. [quote name='liamcapleton' post='489861' date='May 16 2009, 03:20 PM']I must say that I do find it endlessly frustrating that he's taken down the website now[/quote] He does have plans in place to put the site back up. There's a lot going on in his mind at the moment and I think he's very worried that he will get so sucked into spending all his time managing the backlog orders and customer relationships that he won't have any time for his first love which is building the instruments (which is what actually brings in the money and makes the business viable). He doesn't want to delegate the building of instruments to anyone else because they don't have his experience or skill. I should have asked him why he doesn't get someone in to manage the customer side of things and leave him to deal with the instruments but I think he might feel there's no point if everything comes back to getting the basses out the door and maintaining a reputation for quality. I think he's in a very similar situation to Jon Shuker where he doesn't have a wide pool of skilled labour to draw on and he doesn't have the time to spend training someone up so ultimately he takes on 100% responsibility for producing the instruments.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='489796' date='May 16 2009, 01:40 PM']So did he invite you over because you've ordered a bass from him? If so, what are you getting? [/quote] Oh god I could have spent a fortune in that place. Chris's instruments are around the £3200-4500 mark and he doesn't give the instruments away, not even to Victor Bailey or Marcus Miller. I think it's going to be a long time until I own one brand new. But I'd probably have a fretted/fretless pair of those Victor Bailey basses in a heartbeat if I had £9k to chuck at Chris.

Thanks for your comments guys. Chris keeps a very low profile these days and I have an interest in bass guitar design myself. So this was a very rare opportunity to get to know a lutheir who makes some of the most widely regarded jazz variant instruments on the planet and to try and gain an insight into what makes his instruments different to similar models out there. I've already visited Roger Sadowsky's workshop too but that was about 16 years ago and I didn't have a camera or the understanding to make the most of my visit back then. If I do make any other visits in the future, I'll definitely post them up here.

lol, the exterior of the building was very different!

...and Chris is seen here at the electronics station playing one of his Aura 6 basses. The Aura bass is a mahogany bodied instrument with a maple set neck. Chris prefers set and bolt on neck joints because he feels they're help the instrument be more dynamic and responsive. He's also constantly experimenting with new woods and construction. I witnessed a prototype J Update which is without any question the lightest instrument I've ever picked up. He's sworn me to secrecy over how he's achieved it but he reckons it will emulate a lightweight pre-CBS jazz like no other on the market. The former Meshell Update has made its way back to his workshop and he let me have a go on it. Its a stunning instrument. Extremely responsive, no dead spots anywhere and the notes leap off the fingerboard. Chris told me the story of how BC'er Eubassix discoverered it was her instrument despite being in an unrecognisable condition. There was also another longer story going back that relates to how the bass left Meshell in the first place (lets just say she didn't sell it). He also pointed out that this instrument features 50 year old Brazilian rosewood which he managed to obtain from a contact of his as new old stock. There's more of it stored in the roof space here: He's only got a limited supply of it so it will only be used on premium instruments, such as the Victor Bailey inspired fretless that I would happily sell my soul for. With a mahogany body and an epoxy coated Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, it had all the sustain and mwaaah of my Pedulla Pentabuzz but with more warmth. It belongs to a local player now but it was utterly utterly lush. And to finish off, here's the man himself activating the LED's on one of the basses that has been in for servicing. As a footnote, I'll just mention that Chris's time and energy have been drawn away from bass building by some extremely serious personal issues over the last 2 years (which I can't really go into any detail on out of respect to his privacy). Chris was open and extremely candid with me about these things and to be honest, if I was in his shoes I would have probably become a depressive wreck under the same stresses and pressures that he's had to endure. Despite all this, he still cares deeply about making some of the best bass guitars on the planet and this is essentially what has seen him through the last couple of years. I was left in no doubt whatsoever about his commitment to customer satisfaction and the quality of his instruments.

I met Chris a couple of weeks ago at his invitation while he was stopping over in London. We ended up talking so much that we lost track of time and so Chris invited me to come over to Copenhagen and visit his workshop. It was an offer too good to resist so I went over on Thursday and came back yesterday. I took some pics while I was there and thought I'd share them with the forum. Chris and I talked non stop during my stay with him and our discussions covered a massive range of topics including comedy (he's a big Eddie Izzard and Blackadder fan), airports, airlines (esp. Air NZ vs Aeroflot), youtube, and the circumstances surrounding his meeting some of the famous players who have bought his instruments. I also met his kids and he called a couple of local players in Copenhagen who graciously made their instruments available to me. So here's the tour: Chris has a multi roomed workshop and the thing that struck me most was the wood and the numbers of bodies in various stages of completion. I estimated there were at least 40-50 bodies in various stages of finishing. He sources his wood locally where possible and knows a forester who supplies him with the danish alder that he uses as well as obtaining European sycamore from local suppliers. Other woods he uses such as mahogany, spalted maple, purpleheart and koa are imported. Chris hand selects the wood and does all the carving himself in this room: It hasn't been set up properly yet since the move to new workshop (which happened basically because his former landlord there almost tripled the rents). The finishing is carried out by Chris's brother Stefan and they use a spray booth across the yard in a furniture manufacturing workshop. Chris does have the facilities to do it himself but installing the extraction fans has proved to be trickier than they originally anticipated because of the low ceiling height in the workshop. This is the room where they do the final buffing and polishing of the bodies. This is the final assembly room In this room is a set up table... ...a fret dressing station... (BTW this table is really neat, it flips upside down when the jig isn't in use to present a flat work surface. )

Visit Chris Celinder in Copenhagen for £22 if you book far enough in advance.

[quote name='obi 2 kenobi' post='489314' date='May 15 2009, 08:53 PM']He was also a Warwick user. When I saw him w/TTD In 87 at Glasgow Barrowland, he played a pink Warwick most of the nite - great gig btw. Later did he not switch to Musicman Cutlass ?[/quote] He did and he has been an avid MM Cutlass collector. He was checking out my first Cutlass on consignment at the Bass Centre for a while apparently.

[quote name='dood' post='488170' date='May 14 2009, 06:57 PM']BK Electronics [url="http://www.bkelec.com/Pro/Amplifiers/MXF1200D.htm"]http://www.bkelec.com/Pro/Amplifiers/MXF1200D.htm[/url] - This is a great company who supply lots of OEM stuff, so you're unlikely to know the name, but their amps go into a lot of PA gear for example.[/quote] I spoke to them last week about it and BK have discontinued that amp because the power modules they use are no longer available. [quote name='crez5150' post='489455' date='May 16 2009, 01:12 AM']Yeah.... Cheap crappy DJ sh*te![/quote] I bought one of these, a Technical Pro DA-B3000, last week and its turned out to be an excellent purchase! Great sound, very clean, super flat response and hi-fidelity, bringing out a nice firm midrange in my basses. If you paired it up with a decent preamp that wasn't too scoopy (like a Demeter or Alembic F-1X), you'll have an outstanding value for money system. Looked too good to be true but it wasn't. [url="http://www.audiosavings.com/index.aspx"]The company[/url] also shipped it very efficiently and someone monitored progress of the shipment every day. Ped's got one that is the same design but a different brand name...so these amps get the Basschat Mods Choice seal of approval!

Hi Jeff, welcome aboard.

I would go for a Celinder (for a bolt on) or a Shuker (for a through neck) personally. I've just come back from visiting Chris Celinder in Copenhagen and some of the instruments I played, like Meshell's J Update, were truly magical. I've had my understanding of what constitutes a well made bass guitar totally redefined in the space of 24 hours. But the instrument you choose needs to suit your playing style, the music you play, the sound you want etc. I mean, there's no point in buying a Fodera Beez Elite if you're going to play thrash metal is there? Asking other people for spontaneous recommendations on an instrument is like asking them to try on your clothes and tell you if they suit you or not. So: What sort of music do you play and what other musicians do you play with? What kind of playing style do you have? Where do you play? What sound do you want?

I heard that Cass was considering a career in photography for a while. Obviously if Skunk Anansie are back then all power to them. Awesome, awesome rock band.

Hey Tony, thanks OK, this bass won't be a stranger to most of the members of this forum but its now mine. Now I've given it a fret dressing and a set up it plays really well. The sound is warm and full in the lows and mids with some nice compression to the highs - the nicest sounding Spector I've ever played. I'm going to try a set of bassline soapbars out in it to see if it will help the bass sound a little more dynamic and I have the U Retro to reinstall too.

Definitely one for the die-hard collectors I think. The neck on Nick's was superb though.

Hey if we're talking about a gorgeous competition, then I've got bigger breasts than anyone else on this forum and I look good in a swimsuit.

[quote name='JPJ' post='486734' date='May 13 2009, 10:55 AM']Er I dont wish to come over as some sort of pedantic tw@t, but isnt that a guitar Pleased to hear that the bass is back in your hands. Is all the midi stuff sorted out on the bass then?[/quote] Yes its a guitar. I just let Jon off the leash for the body, so long as it was from mahogany I didn't mind what the shape was. The MIDI stuff is kind of sorted but I won't know for sure until I get a set of newtone strings on it. Apparently the bloke has been inundated with orders for winding strings for other manufacturers so there's a bit of a lag on custom orders. Its unlikely I'll have a set before I go to NZ so I'll have to get Jon to send them over I guess.

OK, I collected the bass from Jon's yesterday and I had a quick go on it last night. Have to say I've missed not having it around. The neck pickup does sound different and a lot mellower. In fact in the upper reaches the bass actually sounds like a jazz archtop! I also took the Stingray and Spector NS5CR up there and used Jon's fret file to do some levelling and dressing. So now both also play really nicely too. I also A/B'd the Spector (which has 'my' sound) and the Shuker and...well, not to put too fine a point on it, the Shuker ate the Spector for breakfast. The Spector is very, very nice now its been fret dressed. The sound is warm, soft sounding, growly (which is a surprise for an all maple instrument) with nicely compressed treble. It sounds like my old Smith 5 but with more midrange which makes for a great workhorse. However, it sounds dead compared to the Shuker which is in a different league. Every note is super clean and literally jumps off the fingerboard yet the bass isn't too aggressive like a graphite through body necked instrument. The neck has also settled nicely while its been in the workshop and the bass is developing some nice midrange purr. The closest comparison I can think of is a Fodera or a very lively and bright 4 string W&T bass I tried at Bass Direct a while ago. The ironic thing is that although it's not exactly what I asked for, my tastes have also moved beyond Smith basses anyway in the time its taken for Jon to build the instrument. So, I guess all I can say is that its an inspiring instrument. Very individual, true to Jon and I think its capable of being judged on an equal standing with any other instrument being currently built and that includes Alembic, Fodera and Smith (although all have their own tonal personalities to a greater or lesser extent). Jon also completed a body for some Steinberger parts that I'd been collecting over the last few years and put together this for me: [attachment=25107:DSC01884.JPG] Cute huh? Plays like a dream too.

[quote name='Beedster' post='485344' date='May 11 2009, 09:12 PM']Hi Steve Did you get a reply, and if not, is Chelios now banned? I guess if he is we can have some fun trying to identify his next alias Chris[/quote] No reply Chris so he's banned. His previous accounts have been kept so if he logs in under a third alias it will be easy to confirm.

I've bought an EB stingray body for 80 quid myself a few years back and a preEB body for 180 quid (both from the US). Thing with the MM bodies is that they really need the bridge that came with the body too. The reason is that the position of the bridge went through a few changes as EB dealt with how the string broke over the saddles. There's a comparison here FWIW: [url="http://www.musicmanbass.org/mycustompage0004.htm"]http://www.musicmanbass.org/mycustompage0004.htm[/url]

[quote name='Buzz' post='483491' date='May 9 2009, 12:58 AM']For some odd reason whenever I see the title of this thread a certain tune starts off in my head: "I'm off to see the wizard..." I've no idea why considering the title is NZ and not OZ :/[/quote] By association? Its OK, I do it too. [quote name='foal30' post='483580' date='May 9 2009, 09:44 AM']Christchurch used to have it's very own Wizard who had printed a map of the world which looked a lot like the one shown in this thread[/quote] Funny that, it might even be the same map too! [quote name='OldGit' post='484857' date='May 11 2009, 10:13 AM']Have fun, Steve. Things always work out for the best.[/quote] Thanks Si

BTW I've ended up with the flame maple natural finished Spector NS5CR that has been owned by quite a few other members. The sound is what I wished I could have obtained from my Smith basses! Solid and warm, with assertive but not aggressive mids and a slight compression in the top. It's a [i]superb[/i] sounding instrument although the fingerboard needs a bit of a dressing as there's a slight hump at the 12th fret. I'll be sorting that out myself on Tuesday when I go see Jon to collect the MIDI headless along with the refinished strat body, the Shukberger guitar and the refretted Stingray. There will be barely enough time to get to know them all before they get shipped next Tuesday!!

[quote name='wizbat' post='484707' date='May 10 2009, 11:52 PM']Nice kit there dude!! My guitarist has the alembic preamp that dave gilmour used back in the dark side days but I,m sure he wont sell it but I have a chap that reckons he can build a copy of it as he made notes of its contruction whist servicing it.[/quote] cheers Wizbat. I was seriously considering adding one to my set up too, but ended up going for the parametric eq instead because 1) it was cheaper and 2) it was more versatile. Alembic made a slight modifications to what is essentially a Fender Dual Showman design. Gilmour had his tech modify his F-2B to remove some of the low end in his, so I understand. I might have a copy of the F-2B schematic on a hard drive somewhere if you PM me your email addy.

Can't see the point of taking a bass and playing solo, I'd rather take my EMG custom strat and my Burman 50w combo.