Jellyfish

The Fender Custom Shop is obviously the best of the best in terms of what Fender put out, but you'll hear from most people that if you want a top-notch Jazz or Precision, you don't have to fork out FCS prices. As you pointed out yourself, I think you'll find solace in other makers if you want a traditional bass, unless you're really desperate for that Fender headstock logo..

I hope that everyone involved is looking forward to being blown away by such an awesome instrument. Tempted to sign myself up even though I fear that I'd convince myself I could do with a 4 string little brother...

I also wish I lived closer... But it was worth the trip from Birmingham to pick my bass up and meet Chris.

Purchased a pedal after he contacted me with a brilliant price following a topic I posted in the 'Items Wanted' section. Pedal came packaged superbly and was sent special delivery so I couldn't be happier really!

It might be a bit difficult for me to help you out, as I have two Catswhisker humbuckers that both split into single coils and my main specifications when choosing how they were going to sound were something along the lines of "monstrous, like a Musicman Bongo", but after using them and getting used to what they do, I'm chuffed to bits with them. They do what I asked of them, they really pack a punch and I would struggle to compare them to much I've heard of other humbuckers, but they're definitely in that beefy Warwick/Musicman/EMG style. Splitting them down to single coils gives them a great single coil sound, as you might expect although I really don't use that option as often.

Unless it was specifically a set of Wizards/Ken Armstrong/whatever-other-brand-pickup that you heard and wanted, you really won't be dissapointed with how they sound, that's for sure.

When I went to pick up my lovely Alpher bass, Chris showed me your body. It's amazing the work that goes into sanding and filling the wood just to make it useable. Looks like it's going to be a stunning bass.

Definitely a fretless neck for my Alpher bass.

I think you have to give most of the credit to the makers of Trillian though. That program contains some insanely nice bass sounds that require almost no effort to get them to sound great.

Tried out a 505 as they were being released and they're stunning. They blow the equivalent 5-string models from other competitors out of the water. (I'm looking at you, Ibanez... )

What a fantastic addition.

Now I'm [i]seriously[/i] considering going, despite going last year and spending way too much...

Out of curiosity, what sort of bass is it?

Never had that much luck with 34" scale basses under a certain price in regards to a great feeling and great sounding B-string without having to put a hefty gauge string on it.

What a gorgeous top!

Thank you, sir. What an awesome website.

I'm hoping this will be a pretty simple question but I'm hoping you guys can help me clear it up. I've owned a few compressors in the past, mainly just to -gently- even out what comes out of the amp. They all have done the same job for me but I'm perplexed as to what makes a compressor good over, let's say, one that is just 'okay'.

In other words, why is spending £200+ on a compressor going to be better than spending £100?

It's a hot topic, I'm sure, but the guitarists I play with in our band swear by 9-42s, even for drop D tuning. Makes it a lot easier when you come to bending those single notes. The majority of your 'metal' guitars also come strung with 9-42s off the shelf.

The other most used options tend to be your 10-46s or the hybrid packs that contain the heaviest three strings from a pack of 10s and the lightest three strings from a pack of 9s. As I understand it, it just means that your lead playing is helped out a bit while still giving a more rigid 4th, 5th and 6th string.

I've only owned one of the tributes (L2500 in the exact same neck/colour combo), but looking back at it, it was absolutely awesome for the price. It was so versatile and sounded amazing but I just didn't get on with the neck and string spacing unfortunately, but my experience with G&L has put an SB2 at the top of the 'Precisions-I-want list'...

Awesome man, you couldn't have picked a better custom builder to go with. 'Chuffed' doesn't even begin to describe my experience with my gorgeous Alpher bass.

It's not the worst singlecut I've seen...

Unlike most people I know (who say that 'Images & Words' can't be beaten) I discovered them quite late and still think 'Black Clouds and Silver Linings' is one of their best albums. I thought 'A Dramatic Turn of Events' was a brilliant album considering Mike Portnoy had nothing to do with the drums although I have to admit, I feel like their newest album would have been better with Portnoy on it. 'Illumination Theory' and 'Behind the Veil' are two awesome tracks off the new album.

My new custom bass is also a bit John Myung inspiried...

Wow, that's a Wal? I never really liked the look of them until now...

Cheers for the kind words everyone. After a couple of days of playing it in, I'm still astounded. The neck on it is comfier than anything I've ever had my hands on before, it's just perfect for me. One of the other big things is the weight. It's so light, just under 9lb which blows my mind as it's the lightest 5-string I've owned.

I thought I'd just point everyone (who hasn't seen it) to Alpher Instrument's topic in the Event section as well. They're doing a great thing for people who want to try their instruments out, but aren't able to make their way up to them to try them.

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/217286-alpher-on-tour/

The pickups sound crazy. When I picked it up I tried plenty of the options, but it was through a MarkBass amp and big Barefaced cab and with both the humbuckers on full pelt it shook the ground .

It has switches to turn them into single coils and is boosted by a 2-band East preamp. I was also pleasantly surprised with how great it sounded in passive, (courtesy of a push/pull) to the point where I'd happily record it in passive, despite loving the active sound. Sound clips will be up soon.

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.