NBD: Custom Greatness!

[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]!

[LukeFRC]

a very drool worthy bass. How does it sound?

[geoffbassist]

EPIC. Great bass and the Alpha guys are really cool. Do those pickups sound as huge as they look! :-)

[Jellyfish]

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.

[artisan]

Congrats on your beautiful bass matey it is gorgeous as all of Alphers basses are (i have s/n 003) & the guys are absolutley fantastic to deal with.
Enjoy

[merello]

Indeed, if music be a dog, this bass be the testes!

[andydye]

congratulations matey! she's a real beauty!!

[Jellyfish]

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/

[ezbass]

That's just plain filthy congrats; enjoy.