cgordonfreeman Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Hi all, A couple of months back I posted a thread about a new bass my girlfriend bought me for Christmas from Chris Larkin ([url="http://www.chrislarkinguitars.com"]www.chrislarkinguitars.com[/url]), a local luthier in Ireland. Well, I finally got a chance to collect it so here it is: [b]The Specs:[/b] Lightweight Utile mahogany body Carved black korina top Satin lacquer finish Hard maple neck w/sapele stringers and graphite reinforcements 35" Scale 24 fret Ebony fingerboard bound in Ebony Dunlop 6100 frets Custom wound Kent Armstrong pickups (single coil neck/humbucking bridge) Ebony pickup covers Custom John East U-Retro preamp Hipshot bridge w/RMC piezo saddles Schaller tuners I've never played, nevermind owned a custom bass bass before so all I can say is wow! It is the smoothest feeling bass I've ever played. The neck is nice and fast playing without being too thin with an incredibly smooth finish and the Ebony board feels like glass. The bass is lovely and light, not sure how light but definately lighter than my Bongo an a Valenti I owned. When I saw that the body was made of Mahogany I assumed it would weigh a ton but I asked Chris and he said he always uses a lightweight mahogany. The body is also smaller than it looks in the pictures and sits nicely on a strap or your lap. The electronics are mind boggling! It's a John East U-Retro that has been customised. Starting from the stacked knob by the bridge pickup, the controls are: Master volume (top) Magnetic/piezo balance (bottom) Treble cut/boost w/bright switch (top) Bass boost (bottom) Mid cut/boost (top) Mid frequency (bottom) Piezo Magnetic balance Passive tone w/active / passive switch Needless to say it's very flexible tonal and i'm sure I haven't come close to experiencing all the options it has. I also had a look around his workshop but I forgot to take pictures. He had a few very nice instruments in stock including a 5-String bolt on 'Syra' model, a gorgeous jazz guitar and his own personal electric guitar. He showed me an impressive flying V bass he was working on. It was neck through with a flamed maple top where the flame was arranged in an arrow shape. The V motif was continued with v shared pickup routes which were going to be for custom v shaped guitar P90s and a route for a v shaped tail piece. The bass was very light and the neck felt very manageable. Have a look at the pics and any opinions welcome and questions will be answered. Cheers, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platypus Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Absolutely stunning bass you have there - congrats. Any to think it was a surprise Christmas present... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverfoxnik Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 [quote name='Platypus' post='738113' date='Feb 7 2010, 02:24 PM']Absolutely stunning bass you have there - congrats. Any to think it was a surprise Christmas present...[/quote] +1 Wonderful workmanship..the neck joint and binding particularly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 I'm going to shift this extraordinary instrument to the Porn section if that's OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgordonfreeman Posted February 7, 2010 Author Share Posted February 7, 2010 [quote name='silverfoxnik' post='738519' date='Feb 7 2010, 09:48 PM']+1 Wonderful workmanship..the neck joint and binding particularly![/quote] I was impressed with the binding myself. Chris explained to me that in his opinion all Ebony boards should be bound as changes in humidity and temperature can cause fret ends to stick out so to avoid sharp bits binding is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lozbass Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 [quote name='cgordonfreeman' post='738557' date='Feb 7 2010, 10:33 PM']I was impressed with the binding myself. Chris explained to me that in his opinion all Ebony boards should be bound as changes in humidity and temperature can cause fret ends to stick out so to avoid sharp bits binding is needed.[/quote] First, what an absolutely stunning instrument - wow, I've been massively impressed with Chris' work but this is without doubt one of the most aesthetically wonderful examples of his work. Second, on the ebony board, Alembic warn of the fret 'protrusion' possibility and indicate that there's a likelihood that fret ends will need to be filed within about a year of purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgordonfreeman Posted February 8, 2010 Author Share Posted February 8, 2010 [quote name='lozbass' post='738882' date='Feb 8 2010, 01:02 PM']First, what an absolutely stunning instrument - wow, I've been massively impressed with Chris' work but this is without doubt one of the most aesthetically wonderful examples of his work. Second, on the ebony board, Alembic warn of the fret 'protrusion' possibility and indicate that there's a likelihood that fret ends will need to be filed within about a year of purchase.[/quote] Thanks:) I've more detail shots in this thread as there was a limit to the number of pictures i could post: www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=626335 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Looks great. I particularly like the harder edges on the contours - it makes a change as every other bass builder seems to round them off to buggery these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I bet that plays like a wet dream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBeatNut Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 [quote name='cgordonfreeman' post='738027' date='Feb 7 2010, 12:59 PM']The electronics are mind boggling! It's a John East U-Retro that has been customised. Starting from the stacked knob by the bridge pickup, the controls are: Master volume (top) Magnetic/piezo balance (bottom) Treble cut/boost w/bright switch (top) Bass boost (bottom) Mid cut/boost (top) Mid frequency (bottom) Piezo Magnetic balance Passive tone w/active / passive switch Needless to say it's very flexible tonal and i'm sure I haven't come close to experiencing all the options it has.[/quote] No coil tap or series/parallel option ? You were short-changed there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgordonfreeman Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 [quote name='BigBeatNut' post='739541' date='Feb 8 2010, 11:07 PM']No coil tap or series/parallel option ? You were short-changed there. [/quote] I've owned basses with those switches before and I never made use of them. Plus, i think I like the aesthetics without them:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KERMITNT Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 This wonderfull awsome bravo well done can you tell us the nut width and the bridge spacing ? if i may ask the price or give us a website for more reference.. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgordonfreeman Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 [quote name='KERMITNT' post='739799' date='Feb 9 2010, 11:14 AM']This wonderfull awsome bravo well done can you tell us the nut width and the bridge spacing ? if i may ask the price or give us a website for more reference.. cheers[/quote] Hi, not sure of the exact width at the out but it seems to be pretty much the same as my Bongo 5. The string spacing is 19mm which is my personal preference. I'm sure Chris would accommodate you if you wanted different spacing. I'll pm you on pricing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KERMITNT Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 thnx for the info m8 awsome bass just awsome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Wonderful bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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