7string

I think that Bass Player mag transcribed that line not too long ago. I'll see if I can find it...

What a great result !! Nice to hear that someone else has my level of soldering prowess

Seems as though the patient is in good hands !! Looking forward to seeing progress !!

[quote name='Mike Brooks' post='199775' date='May 15 2008, 05:33 PM']Does this pair count......? [attachment=8691:PinkKubicki.jpg] [attachment=8692:WhiteKubicki.jpg][/quote] Always loved those Kubicki Ex Factors !! Great basses. I wasn't too keen on the key factors though....

Very cool Who signed the Fender on the extreme right? I've blown up the picture, but can't make it out!!

Just read my way through this thread.. [quote name='BigRedX' post='9240' date='May 30 2007, 02:39 PM']The sort of R&D required for a true signature instrument is one that only the really big manufacturers can absorb, as the player works their way through the various options seeing what works and what doesn't.[/quote] Taking this point, it would be great to have the same bass made with differing combinations of woods, pickups, scale lengths, hardware, finishes and so on. I imagine that if you were designing for Fender (for example), they would be able to build multiple examples like this. Only then would you really know exactly what works for you. Unfortunately, for most of us down the custom route it boils down to a huge amount of research (luckily I enjoy the fact-finding part !) to decide on which features we need. Blend that with the experience of your luthier and the combination will get you as close as possible to the bass you want.

That's great news Fingers crossed that either bass is all you want it to be !!

Just found this thread... What a great find! It's even better than my £6 Laney 30W bass practice amp

I'm lucky that Alan can get hold of such great raw materials. Sometimes you have to use some imagination when looked at the raw timber, but on this occasion the excitement started by seeing this stuff laid out at ACG HQ. I have just started to use Cubase with my laptop, so hopefully I should have got the hang of using it by the time the 9 is finished

+1 Sounds Great is a great store. I've been in there a couple of times. A friend of mine bought his Tyler guitar from there and the service was excellent.

[quote name='bubinga5' post='198063' date='May 13 2008, 03:56 PM']I cant erm...think of any, sub £1000, take a look at John Shuker's custom basses. Im sure he would make you something to your desires. Im sure many people will vouch for his work. Check out his website..[/quote] As another suggestion on the custom route, ACG have just added a Jazz-inspired shape to their range. See in the affiliates part of this very forum or [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk"]www.acguitars.co.uk[/url] for more info.

+1. A good idea but one for the guitarists only.

I wish I'd asked this question after getting my bass signed with "permanent ink". I found that Mr.Sheen and a duster takes it off in one swipe....

I'm running away in sheer terror....... No seriously I am. In my opinion, music shouldn't be a competition.... It's bad enough when people get the wrong end of the stick in the forum. Feedback left would have to be carefully worded so there's no offence caused.

The Sei still gives me goosebumps when I look at it in the rack with my other instruments I was thinking though; I must be one of very few players on here who have work done by Sei (Jezebel, of course), Shuker (de-fretted and ramped my GT7) and ACG (upcoming 9)

How cool is that 12 string! Must sound like an army of bassists

+1 Very cool 4-some!

Yup, I agree with that! Sometimes I do feel that I have too many instruments in general. However, they all do a slightly different job (fretless, different tuning etc). I think if I ever got to the stage when I had 3 or so instruments that do exactly the same thing, then I'd think about thinning down the herd !!

We arrived back safely in the UK as Mr & Mrs after one heck of a trip! USA musicians are just so lucky, the price of gear over there is so cheap! Not only is actual hardware cheap, all the accessories and strings are too! The only problem is that the quality of service varies not just from store to store but from person to person. But then again, we have that problem in the UK as well. Each store we saw in The Guitar Center chain was just huge, likewise Sam Ash. However, we did find Sam Ash to have the better and more knowledgable staff (except GC in Knoxville). The only problem with these stores is that that they're limited to the main protagonists Fender, Ibanez, Musicman, Warwick etc. So if you're looking for some a little more unusual, a better bet would be a specialist bass store or a trawl around the pawnbrokers. There were some great stores though... The best: Chicago Music Exchange. A big store with deep, comfy sofas so that your better half can sit and read while you go around the walls of stock. The acoustic room is seperated from the rest of the store (as it is in all the Guitar Centers) and it's as well stocked as the rest of the place. Best of all, the staff are extremely knowledgable and friendly, offering great help and advice. You never feel that you're too much trouble or in the way. Other great stores are: the small but perfectly formed Speciality Guitars in Charlottesville. Gruhn Guitars in Nashville (amazing store) and Manny's in New York. I went there a few years ago and didn't think much of the place at all. This time was totally different. Great staff and great prices (heck, we even got train info for visiting Shea Stadium that night. Definately what a guitar store should be. Came out with an solid koa Oscar Schmidt ukulele ($130), a couple of 6 string set of D'Addario strings (just $28 each) and a 4 string sets of DR's ($25). A big shout also goes to Uncle Ike's Music and Sound. Great service. Why? Well because it was the only store that had what I wanted in stock. Then sent it to our hotel in New York. What did I buy? An Ovation USA Elite T deep contoured bowl 12 string electro-acoustic guitar. I had found the mid-bowl version in Chicago Music Exchange but found that the deep bowl one was being sold for half the price. A lot of 'phone calls later, we found one. The price; $659 So for those in the UK, the USA is one big cheap music store. Fill your boots, (by post or visit) whilst the exchange rate is so good....

Great job and I don't even like Fenders !! This could be a new business for you. Get a Fender and have it Burpstered Makes you wonder why Fender can't do these kind of changes themselves....

I've just watched the documentary that's on the website. Really interesting and thought-provoking. I look forward to watching the progress of your order!!

It's more of a third on here, there's been two others, one of them being ACG 9 No.1 over in the ACG part of this forum!! Thanks for all your kind words. I'll keep this thread as up-to-date as I can. I'll keep my username as it is because my e-mail address is similar as well! It's going to be not only a great looking instrument, but a great sounding bass as well. If you haven't already, go to [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk"]www.acguitars.co.uk[/url] and have a read about the ACG preamp. I'm not overly keen on onboard electronics and consider them more of a necessary evil than anything, but this pre is just so darn flexible. It works in a totally different way to a 2 or 3 band eq as well. Has to be heard to be believed!! As I mentioned before without any modification, the pre goes down to 20Hz so is able to handle that low F#. The first ACG 9 came out superbly, so I have no worries about this one at all. Putting the spec together was a really enjoyable two-way process and the woods Alan's going to use look fantastic. I'm no usually a fan of darker woods, but I wanted something out of the ordinary and the piece of mahogany is certainly that. The fingerboard's not too shabby either

As long as your playing a bass that suits you, then that's all there is to it. I could imagine that people could look down on others who 'only' have a MIM, but that really shouldn't be the case. I remember when I had to sell all my gear and a mate of mine lent me £30 to get an acoustic guitar out of Argos. OK, I have recovered from that but I never look and compare someone else's basses to mine. Besides, I have a Jackson 'Kip Winger' which is probably one of the most uncool basses you could get

I'm not able to gig at the moment, but I've fronted a rock band with a 6 string fretless in the past. That was really tough!! Sing in tune, get the crowd going and play in tune I don't see why ERB's can't be used in any band context. A piano player doesn't get told he has to use all the keys everytime he plays! Even when I'm practicing I won't put down a 7 just to play an Iron Maiden tune. I suppose we just need the exceptance of the band we're playing with!!