Jellyfish

For those of you who aren't regular visitors to the 'Build Diaries' part of Basschat, you may not know that I've recently took delivery off a brilliant instrument from Alpher Instruments here in the UK. It was commissioned back in May and, [b]6 months later[/b], it's in my hands! I felt that it was important to point out that it only took as long as quoted, given the recent minor, but warranted disapproval of services from some custom instrument/pedal/gear builders on these forums. I was quoted 6 months and it arrived in that amount of time, so points scored before I even handled the instrument. The build was fairly standard, apart from the string spacing which was around 15.3mm at the bridge. The spacing feels fantastic, despite it [i]sounding[/i] like it should be really cramped and it's even easy to slap on. Other than that, it plays and sounds just as a custom instrument should... Flipping brilliantly! To see its humble beginnings, [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/206994-my-first-custom-build-by-alpher-instruments-complete/"]click here[/url] for my build thread. In all seriousness, this was my first ever custom build and my 6th bass I've ever owned, which is great as the serial number is '006' . I've been absolutely blown away by the amount of communication, updates, pictures and just friendly discussion we've had since I first contacted them and it's extremely comforting to know that you have two passionate people behind your custom bass. If you're considering a build in the future, even if it's not in the [i]near[/i] future, don't hesitate to strike up conversation with them. They're extremely knowledgeable and will quickly make you realise what custom builds are all about. And then before you realise it, you'll have the finished article sitting in your lap... Full the full Flickr album, [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/92253769@N08/sets/72157637202419865/"]click here[/url]. And to check out what Alpher Instruments are up to, go and visit [url="https://www.facebook.com/alpherinstruments"]their Facebook page[/url]!

Sorry to hear that man, but I hope this doesn't put you off custom 'stuff' for the future.

I recently finished a custom build, of a 5-string though, so hopefully I can be of some sort of use. I -thought- I had in mind what I wanted for my perfect custom bass, and it was fairly simple, but (depending on your budget) you might find yourself indulging quite a bit. There was a sound I was after though; something quite monstrous. The advantage of using Alpher Instruments as my builders was that they have custom pickup builders available and so they were made to spec. I haven't actually heard them yet, although the instrument is complete, but I've been assured that they're quite awesome. If you know what you want in terms of dimensions, then there's not much other to decide other than materials and electronics. One piece of advice that helped me immensely when deciding on who was going to built my custom bass; [b]make sure you get on with the person who's building it[/b]. I'd spoken to a couple of builders and then got in touch with Alpher Instruments. They offered me a lot more advice and genuinely seemed more interested and made me consider things I hadn't even thought of.

It's all right, double the pleasure.

Done and done! EDIT: I should perhaps add on that I won't get to have it until next week, by which time I'll actually go and be able to pick it up. Until then, I'm without it and am lusting after it.

This... http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/NS_Design_Radius.html

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/fender-jazz-bass-guitarmade-in-japan/1036628087 Thinking about buying it!

Likewise for Facebook.

I'd seriously urge anyone who is considering buying one to just do it. I would never tell me girlfriend this (as I told her it was so I could get something better!) but I actually preferred this over my Dingwall Combustion. The Combustion is a brilliantly modern and fantastic sounding bass but I much preferred the string spacing on this. My new custom bass is going to have very similar specs to this; really tight single string bridges, wenge neck, double humbuckers. I wish I had it back now!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1382181215' post='2248960'] Yawn... Yet another Foderas are overpriced thread. What next? Is Mark King better than Flea? How about posting a video of a cross-dressing Korean bassist or a drummer at the wrong gig... [/quote] Gotta echo that to be honest. That, and Ritter threads. [u][i]If you aren't the target audience, don't worry about it.[/i][/u] Seriously though, Fodera make instruments that are clearly different from your average off-the-shelf bass, and even other custom builders to a degree. They're selling them for what they think they're worth, and if people are buying them, they must be doing something right. In fact, if you compared all basses in the £1000-£1500 price range, you'd find many people would be able to pick out the overprices ones.

You don't really get much from learning theory.

I hope you made [url="http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/2807/13qh.jpg"]the right choice[/url]... Seriously though, if you managed to get your hands on one, or something similar, they're great.

I've illegally downloaded stuff, then bought album weeks later once I've decided if I've liked it or not. It's a sort of 'double-edged sword' with Spotify though. I've not downloaded any music since paying for a premium subscription, but then haven't purchased any of the music because I know that I have access to it already.

Sold a little recorder to this fine gentleman and it all went as smoothly as it could really.

Practice! Seriously though, there's a book from Mel Bay called '50 Two-hand Tapping Workouts for Electric Bass'. I used to use it all the time and it's a brilliant little book, especially for things like hand independence. I remember there being an exercise early on in the book that has you tapping up a major scale in your right hand and the relative minor in your left. Sounds great, but is difficult to do.

What's the condition like?

Low action makes it easier to tap and higher gauge strings (or rather, higher string tension) give the notes more clarity. I think that you'll also find tapping easier on a bass with a flatter radius. Other than that, it may be down to technique as all the basses I've ever owned have been great for tapping. Personally, it took me plenty of practice to get even sounding notes as I found that the differences in strength between fingers made some notes ring out louder than others. You may be best off doing some simple exercises like using your left hand, finger 1 to tap the 'A' on the E string (5th fret), then finger 3 to tap the 'E' on the A string (7th fret). Then you can add in the octaves (12th frets) on those strings with the right hand and just do quarter notes until they sound even.

Sounds like a faulty unit, to me at least. I've just sold mine, but it was completely silent when running on batteries and from mains power.

[quote name='alembic63' timestamp='1381102870' post='2234488'] Check out the Squire 60s classic vibe jazz bass, for just over £300 it beats the pants off basses 2 x the price, you can put the £200 you save on the bass and up your budget for the amp to £600 .. [/quote] [b]I don't know if I'm the only one,[/b] but I've tried a couple of 5 string versions of the Squier stuff and it really doesn't compete with the Yamaha's (both the TRBX and BB stuff)! Their 4 string counterparts are great, however.

[quote name='JazzyYama' timestamp='1381097162' post='2234406'] Great advice on the amp, never thought of getting amp/cab setup - how would a 2x12 compare against say a 1x15 - which would be better for cleanest sounds or is it more about where you are playing etc. [/quote] As I understand it, different speaker sizes won't effect how 'clean' a bass will sound as you get so many different factors going into how the bass will sound coming out the cab (like cab size and drivers and all that stuff I know nothing about ). If you're using it to perform, or even if you use it to monitor yourself, you'd be much better off with a 2x12 as you'll have much more projection from having twice the amount of speakers.