Shockwave Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 (edited) Hello all. I just received this bass and thought I would give a quick review. THIS BASS IS ALSO FOR SALE FOR THE REASONS DETAILED BELOW, Sale thread is: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/251183-fsft-brand-new-lettsbass-6-string-bass-34-scale-175mm-string-spacing-walnut/ Specs: Handmade 6 String custom bass 34" Scale, Maple neck and Maccassar Ebony Fingerboard, 26 frets. 17.5mm String spacing at the bridge. 2 Handmade Lettsbass P style Alnico pickups with Ebony wood facia Hipshot B Bridge Hipshot USA Ultralite tuners Ebony Nut Ash, Maple and Walnut neck thru construction. John East 3 band 5 knob premium preamp with handcarved knobs. Volute on the headstock Brand new Hiscox case. I would guess the weight at between 9/10 lbs. The action is LOW and can go LOWER. Neck is straight as an arrow. The sound is balanced. The pickups both soloed and together sound excellent. Construction: Very good construction, it's very solid and everything is sanded and given a satiny finish. The bass looks amazing. The body is quite wide and the choice of woods are very good. I may not have picked using wood for a nut, but seems very solid and does not take away any tone. The neck thru join looks fantastic and the heel is very discreet when playing. I love the Volute near the headstock which is done very well, whilst shallow it does give more strength to the headstock then no volute at all. I cannot feel any seams in wood. There is a couple of very slight imperfections in the wood, this is naturally occurring rather then due to a construction fault. One of these is a slight mark in the neck portion of the body, but you cannot see it. The other is on the back of the neck and you cannot feel it. Playability: I noticed a low action right out of the box with scope for setting it lower, The neck angle is correct to allow this. The neck is a mixture between a P and a J in terms of taper, It's about on par with some of the Yamaha 6 Strings. The string spacing is 17.5MM at the bridge, I had asked for 19MM, so this is not what I wanted and one of the reasons why I am getting rid of it. However it is very comfortable for fingerstyle and slap styles, it's just a personal preference. The bass balances well, the Hipshot ultralite tuners really help in this regard. The neck feels very smooth. Sound: It's burpy and a mixture of hi-fi and lo-fi. It can get quite deep using just the middle pickup, but really I wanted a Gospelly growly tone and this definitely has it! The sound just feels very powerful. The preamp is very versatile. There is not much separation between the pickups, but this was my spec and I feel it works very well. The bridge pickup can definitely be used on it own. Anyway, I am selling it due to the amount of time I waited and a couple of things were not to my spec, namely I wanted 19mm String spacing, I raised my concerns during the build after seeing the first photos about this, yet it still is not correct after being reassured, the pre-amp was changed from an Aguilar, the headstock was refinished with a new logo, whereas I preferred the old one. I also asked the pickups to be full humbucking where in fact they are P style. So really it's not so much anything wrong with the bass, but just not quite what I asked for. Edited December 11, 2014 by Shockwave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 It's certainly a stunning looking instrument, but I'm amazed (and a little disturbed) that a custom builder can charge so much and take such a long time to create something that blatantly wasn't what you requested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 I had similar issues with my letts build... In the end, when I got fed up of waiting for an instrument that it was becoming increasingly clear wouldn't be to the original specs, I went down the legal route. Got my deposit, some additional money I'd paid and my costs back in the end. Very happy to have washed my hands of the whole sorry experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottBass86 Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 I'm still waiting on mine. I also paid as part of the basschat deal. So far I have a lump of buckeye and maple. Nothing done to them. You've done well to get anything from them, and it does look great. Shame it's not quite suited to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72deluxe Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 With the wrong string spacing, wrong preamp and wrong pickups, what a disappointment that you're having to resort to selling it instead of just getting your money back! What a pity! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 [quote name='72deluxe' timestamp='1418303256' post='2628945'] With the wrong string spacing, wrong preamp and wrong pickups, what a disappointment that you're having to resort to selling it instead of just getting your money back! What a pity! [/quote] To be fair, the pre-amp is better then the one offered initially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72deluxe Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Ah that's not so bad then. I hope you manage to sell it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlungerModerno Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 It's sad to hear the customer support was less than you (or I) would be hoping for. A custom instrument should include care and communication during the planning phase - and meticulous attention to detail during the build. Any significant deviation should affect the margin the builder makes - after all it's up to them to deliver the goods agreed on. Letting down a client is not good for reputation. FWIW they do look like fabulous instruments. I hope you manage to sell this for an agreeable amount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Cloud Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 I almost bought a Letts bass, however was luckily able to pull out prior to pulling the trigger after rumours of discontent from several frustrated buyers reached my ears. They look to be amazing instruments - a real shame that Johns rep has suffered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Baffled.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pierreganseman Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Even if the building does look ok I don't understand the part where a custom builder goes his own route and puts unrequested things into a build. Not sure what went on with letts , I was in contact with him and chose to pull out when reading quite a few bad stories from his customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassman72 Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Hey Shockwave. As a Letts Bass owner, and having tried to deal with Jon Letts, I fully feel your pain and sympathise with you. That said, mine had an awful hum and buzz when I got it, but this was a quick 5 minute fix. Any buyer considering this bass, rest assured that it is still very much a quality bass guitar. If people are put off with dealing with Jon, ask yourself this, would you not buy a bass purely based on the after sales support that you can get? I may own a Letts, but my main bass is Peavey Cirrus - if I was buying on aftersales support, I wouldn't have a Peavey either! Good luck with sale and I am sure that anyone who plays it will buy it...and then most likely set it up to their liking any way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Sorry that Rob's build went the way it did. A lot of the builds at the time suffered due to life getting complicated at a time when orders had just gone through the roof. The business suffered beyond repair as a lot of customers became annoyed with build times going out the window and the odd unauthorized spec change etc. Things can get confusing when a lot of orders are going on at the same time and I would never again take on so much work at one time as I did in 2012-2014. I learned a lot from this period both in terms of building guitars and also customer service. Thankfully I am coming through the other side of this episode of my life. Feel free to email or pm any questions or concerns. Thanks. Jon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Lest we forget: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/235450-has-anyone-got-a-current-contact-number-for-jon-letts-of-lettsbass/page__hl__letts%20bass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sausage Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 [quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1454419051' post='2969523'] Lest we forget: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/235450-has-anyone-got-a-current-contact-number-for-jon-letts-of-lettsbass/page__hl__letts%20bass"]http://basschat.co.u...l__letts%20bass[/url] [/quote] I don't understand why you'd post this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 All enquiries should be addressed to: Letts Basses Ltd. 30 Steyning Crescent, Glenfield, Leicester, LE3 8PJ, UK. Company number:08835334. Tel: 01163486954 email:[email protected] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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