Jens Ritter basses...

[molan]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1363886334' post='2018981']

But at @ £10k, I don't ever forseeing me owning one of those.

So I'll be sticking with my manky old ibby!
[/quote]

You've really got to be going some to hit £10K on a Ritter.

Our friendly UK dealer has a cracking brand new Cora in the, to my eyes, beautiful high gloss white finish with gold hardware (including the frets!) for under £4K

Still big money but it is a thing of simple beauty . . .

[xgsjx]

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1363905346' post='2019468']
You've really got to be going some to hit £10K on a Ritter.

Our friendly UK dealer has a cracking brand new Cora in the, to my eyes, beautiful high gloss white finish with gold hardware (including the frets!) for under £4K

Still big money but it is a thing of simple beauty . . .
[/quote]

I couldn't agree more. The first Cora was an all white job that looked stunning. Even my wife loved it & she has no interest in basses!

I didn't word that sentence too ll. It was just the 3rd bass (Royal) that was advertised at £9.5k. There used to be prices on the Ritter site up until @ a year ago.

If I had £4-5k to spend on a bass, Jens would be my first port of call.
I know the majority of Jens' basses are in that bracket.

IIRC, the Raptor starts from @ £7-8k. That would be an interesting bass to play down your local.

Edited March 22, 2013 by xgsjx

[juliusmonk]

I have tried two. Stunning looks, but they didn't feel too comfortable, the electronics were complex, and the sound was just like so many other high end luthier kinda stuff, perhaps even less 'zingy' than I would've thought. And they were powerful - too much for me. i don't need that thunder. It might have been the amp though. I have a problem with expectations in any case - for that cash, I expect the thing to play itself - and it was not the case. Of course, I want my bass to be my 'friend', not an object of adoration that I approach with care just in case I leave fingerprints on it... Some Ritters just look ridiculous to me.

Then again, the same has happened to me with Foderas and Alembics, so clearly my problem. Mind, I am not a fan of budget basses either - I find 90% of them invariably worthless. And the relic Fender thing I still don't understand.

In the end, a bass is just a bass - it must feel and play great in your hands, and sound good to you, the rest is purely decoration IMO. If it feels just ok, like most do, then price is an important factor, and all these are expensive for me.

I am inclined to think that if you cannot find at least ONE really great bass for you for less than 1500£ (used), then you haven't looked enough.

But one has to acknowledge the creativity of Jens Ritter and the will to do something different. That is always a good thing.

[discreet]

[quote name='juliusmonk' timestamp='1363942978' post='2019757']
But one has to acknowledge the creativity of Jens Ritter and the will to do something different. That is always a good thing.
[/quote]

Yes it is; he's obviously completely driven, very passionate indeed about what he does and I'm sure he makes a good living out of it. How many of us can say the same?

[EBS_freak]

I think Jens is truely one of the greats in term on innovation. He has taken the bass and tried to make new shapes that I think we are all agree, shout "Ritter" - which is an achievement in itself. For example, how many truely unique basses are there? Most basses can be obviously traced back to Fender classic designs in some way. Ritter seem to have escaped this - but I feel that this comes at the price of playing comfort. The thing is for Ritter, is that for me, they aren't particularly amazing sounding instruments in the fact that they don't offer anything extra sonically over anything else in a much lesser price range. Again, his finishes are pushing against the grain of tradition, which is great - but I found they photograph a lot better than they look up close in detail. This came as quite a shock to me. Yes, the traditional paint jobs are done very well but the pushing the boundary finishes, to me at least, looked a bit ropey up close. Taking those last two points into account, you really are paying for the design genius and "art" of Jens - which is fine. As for Jens being the German Stradivarius, well, I'm not entirely sure I agree with that. Stradivarius didn't push the boundaries of violin design - more perfected the construction and sound of them. He certainly wasn't doing whacky finishes! Having said all of that... Would I buy one? Absolutely.

Edited March 22, 2013 by EBS_freak

[BigRedX]

While sound and playability are essential, personally I couldn't play a bass that I didn't like the look of as well (or at least not in public).

Edited March 22, 2013 by BigRedX

[molan]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1363934825' post='2019679']


I couldn't agree more. The first Cora was an all white job that looked stunning. Even my wife loved it & she has no interest in basses!

I didn't word that sentence too ll. It was just the 3rd bass (Royal) that was advertised at £9.5k. There used to be prices on the Ritter site up until @ a year ago.

If I had £4-5k to spend on a bass, Jens would be my first port of call.
I know the majority of Jens' basses are in that bracket.

IIRC, the Raptor starts from @ £7-8k. That would be an interesting bass to play down your local.
[/quote]

Raptor is the most expensive of Jens' basses (apart from some Artist models). Dependent on exchange rate they start at just over £6,500 for a 4 string. The Cora is the lowest priced with a Roya about £100 more (it has more complex electronics) and the R8 another £75 on top of that.

[charic]

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1363955364' post='2020067']
Raptor is the most expensive of Jens' basses (apart from some Artist models). Dependent on exchange rate they start at just over £6,500 for a 4 string. The Cora is the lowest priced with a Roya about £100 more (it has more complex electronics) and the R8 another £75 on top of that.
[/quote]

It would be pretty nice to have an actual price list on his website, not that I'm in the market at the moment but still basic prices for each range and then the additional prices for extras (within reason)

[molan]

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1363955494' post='2020073']


It would be pretty nice to have an actual price list on his website, not that I'm in the market at the moment but still basic prices for each range and then the additional prices for extras (within reason)
[/quote]

Jens used to publish prices but because he sells so many instruments outside of € Zone it got really complicated dealing with overseas enquiries and fluctuating exchange rates.

If you request a price on anything through his site you'll get a response inside 48 hours (usually faster).

[charic]

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1363955904' post='2020085']
Jens used to publish prices but because he sells so many instruments outside of € Zone it got really complicated dealing with overseas enquiries and fluctuating exchange rates.

If you request a price on anything through his site you'll get a response inside 48 hours (usually faster).
[/quote]

Yeah but I have no intention of buying anything in the near future

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1363948374' post='2019883']
The thing is for Ritter, is that for me, they aren't particularly amazing sounding instruments in the fact that they don't offer anything extra sonically over anything else in a much lesser price range.
[/quote]
I guess this is the catch22 of custom instrument designers - push on with something unconventional sounding and less people will want it, create something familiar and it will have a wider range of applications for the player.
Some builders seem to cater for this e.g. Overwater and Status seem to aim for a high end but fairly neutral (to my ears bland sometimes) tonal range so that along with the EQ they really can be a bass for all occasions, which I guess is a massive plus for your busy pro player.

What I find odd is that custom instruments obviously offer a massive range of options and the whole prosess seems to be focused on how the thing looks rather than how it sounds. I would be more interested in a builder who (like Jens does with that guitar) sells it on how they built it to have a certain sound.

My take on Ritter - I bet they play well, not overly keen on some of his designs, i think he as a person from what ive seen is pretty cool guy, would I buy one? Probably I would go with a UK custom builder myself

[molan]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1363956407' post='2020093']

What I find odd is that custom instruments obviously offer a massive range of options and the whole prosess seems to be focused on how the thing looks rather than how it sounds. I would be more interested in a builder who (like Jens does with that guitar) sells it on how they built it to have a certain sound.

My take on Ritter - I bet they play well, not overly keen on some of his designs, i think he as a person from what ive seen is pretty cool guy, would I buy one? Probably I would go with a UK custom builder myself
[/quote]

If you speak to Jens he's totally focused on sound of each instrument. I was chatting to him at London Bass Guitar Show with a prospective customer and the whole conversation was about what sound the customer was after and which woods, pickups, electronics etc would deliver what he was after.

He then tried different body shapes and neck profiles to get a good idea of how he wanted it to feel.

Only after agreeing all of this did they discuss colours and finish options. Sound was very much the key to everything.

He took Jens's advice and placed an order

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1363956407' post='2020093']
I guess this is the catch22 of custom instrument designers - push on with something unconventional sounding and less people will want it, create something familiar and it will have a wider range of applications for the player.
Some builders seem to cater for this e.g. Overwater and Status seem to aim for a high end but fairly neutral (to my ears bland sometimes) tonal range so that along with the EQ they really can be a bass for all occasions, which I guess is a massive plus for your busy pro player.
[/quote]

I guess so - if everybody wants a P of J bass sound for example, then the reason for getting a bass has to be more about cosmetics, playability or some other unique selling point. Having said that, there are instruments that have the "standard" palette, in addition to a bit more. Wal for instance, comes to mind. Status is an interesting one - obviously their main selling point is the carbon fibre element (or the fact they have a captive audience catering for Mark King wanabees). Funnily enough, I wouldn't say that Status are neutral... they defo have a certain character, a hardness to the tone if you like.

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1363957142' post='2020109']
If you speak to Jens he's totally focused on sound of each instrument. I was chatting to him at London Bass Guitar Show with a prospective customer and the whole conversation was about what sound the customer was after and which woods, pickups, electronics etc would deliver what he was after.

He then tried different body shapes and neck profiles to get a good idea of how he wanted it to feel.

Only after agreeing all of this did they discuss colours and finish options. Sound was very much the key to everything.

He took Jens's advice and placed an order
[/quote]

I would completely agree - if the instruments were passive. As soon as you load an instrument with an active eq, the characteristics of the woods are somewhat less important. There's a lot of BS surrounding basses, woods and how they will sound. The only way you'll hear what a bass sounds like, is when it's strung up and played for the first time. Wood is not a uniform product - I would wager that there are more Status basses that sound identical than anything else out there.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1363955904' post='2020085']
Jens used to publish prices but because he sells so many instruments outside of € Zone it got really complicated dealing with overseas enquiries and fluctuating exchange rates.

If you request a price on anything through his site you'll get a response inside 48 hours (usually faster).
[/quote]

That's understandable on the pages for the individual instruments (like he used to have if you went to the page for info about the Roya or any other model), though it would be nice if he still had the price of a finished instrument on the "Available Instruments" page (but I suppose if you can afford a Ritter, then that wouldn't matter).

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1363957142' post='2020109']
If you speak to Jens he's totally focused on sound of each instrument. I was chatting to him at London Bass Guitar Show with a prospective customer and the whole conversation was about what sound the customer was after and which woods, pickups, electronics etc would deliver what he was after.

He then tried different body shapes and neck profiles to get a good idea of how he wanted it to feel.

Only after agreeing all of this did they discuss colours and finish options. Sound was very much the key to everything.

He took Jens's advice and placed an order
[/quote] I guess I didn't actually say it but I think that the way Jens talks (on videos I've seen of him) i think that he's probably quite focused on sound (coming from an engineering background) - I'm not sure that that is true for all makers

[Conan]

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1363957285' post='2020112']
I wouldn't say that Status are neutral... they defo have a certain character, a hardness to the tone if you like.
[/quote]

Not sure I'd use the term "hardness" (although you might mean something different to what I think you mean!) but certainly my Status is anything but neutral. In fact, several band members have said they prefer the tone of my Jazz as it sounds more "smooth" or "mellow" than the Status, which has been described as "harsh" and "growly"!!

I myself have always thought it sounded warm and clear! Just shows how we all use words differently and hear sounds in different ways.

[KingBollock]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1363954157' post='2020038']
While sound and playability are essential, personally I couldn't play a bass that I didn't like the look of as well (or at least not in public).
[/quote]
I agree. I don't think a Bass is truly the whole package unless you like the way it looks. It doesn't have to be pretty, but it has to have some kind of character that you can truly fall in love with.

My favourite Bass I bought purely because of the way it looks. There are several cheaper models that I avoided to give it a better chance of not being a dog, but really I just got very lucky in that it plays like a dream.

[ead]

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1363957465' post='2020114']
I would completely agree - if the instruments were passive. As soon as you load an instrument with an active eq, the characteristics of the woods are somewhat less important. There's a lot of BS surrounding basses, woods and how they will sound. The only way you'll hear what a bass sounds like, is when it's strung up and played for the first time. Wood is not a uniform product - I would wager that there are more Status basses that sound identical than anything else out there.
[/quote]

Yes, but the minute you plug a passive bass into an amp you are listening to sound through active EQ (for 99% of amps) so what's the difference? I think the main issue is that the science behind wood/bridges/strings/pickup combinations etc is not fully understood or maybe even precisely measurable so it comes down to personal preferences and your own ears - in other words there is no absolute reference point.