Krappy Guitars’ Klingon D7 Class
all hail the 2-strings
https://krappyguitars.com/HTML/punkbasses.html
Krappy Guitars’ Klingon D7 Class
all hail the 2-strings
https://krappyguitars.com/HTML/punkbasses.html
They introduced a new Fast Lane line recently which is made in Canada, but produced at a higher quantity and won’t have such an extensive lead time.
If you would pick me up a Fender Marcus Miller jazz bass while your there that would be great…
If not please let me know what the floor price is…
Ironically I did not see one of these but I did get a lot of pics
There is also a cachet in waiting… to some the exclusivity of being on the waiting list and the anticipation, is as much of the purchasing process as receiving the bass and playing it. These basses are luxury items. Yes, Dingwall are competing with other high end bass manufacturers, but they are also competing with the myriad of other ways you could spend $10,000 of disposable income; a holiday, a watch, a piece of jewellery, etc.
You’ve got to remember that if you want a bass now, you can go to a shop and buy one, and it will be pretty darn good. What’s the actual difference between an off the shelf Dingwall and a custom Canadian made one? I’ve never played a Canadian one, but I assume it’s going to be in the few percent range, rather than it being twice as good, or three times…
If you want a Dingwall, or any other custom bass, that is to your exact specification, if you want to be a part on the selection of the wood for the body, want it stained in the exact colour that lifts your soul, you’re going to have to wait. And in that wait, is the exclusivity. So for some, the fast lane basses simply won’t be exclusive enough!!
Oh, to have $10k that I could drop on a bass
While true, I could have walked home with either a Dingwall, Sugi, Fodera or a Mayones Jabba today with no wait. Customs are nice but there’s a lot of great off the shelf instruments from top tier makers too.
Yo Howard
nice place to visit… No Fender Marcus Miller jazz’s, I think all the jp FMMJB’s are being shipped out of jp, they seem to be on ebay.
How about some close up pics also showing the prices, I’m hoping to do some price comparisons.
Yo Howard
nice place to visit…
Indeed. Open invitation for anyone that wants to visit, I will happily be a bass tour guide
If you want a Dingwall, or any other custom bass, that is to your exact specification, if you want to be a part on the selection of the wood for the body, want it stained in the exact colour that lifts your soul, you’re going to have to wait. And in that wait, is the exclusivity.
Customs are nice but there’s a lot of great off the shelf instruments from top tier makers too.
Yes, I think we need to distinguish full/true customization and “customization” where you choose perhaps the woods, or wood combinations, and whether there are inlays or a pickguard or not. Perhaps even type of pickups and pre-amp (or not).
I have experience with the latter, and it’s nice (and certainly the aesthetic aspects of an instrument are very important for how much you “like” the instrument and play it). I am starting to doubt, however, whether that is worth the wait of 15-24 months or so.
The other type of customization involves specs that deviate from any manufacturers “default” settings, e.g., fretboard radius, string spacing, neck contours, special materials, etc - stuff that requires much more effort and manual intervention from the side of the manufacturer. AFAIK, @MikeC and @Al1885 have such custom basses; perhaps others as well!?
Waiting for such an instrument is a different thing… alone because there is NO other bass with all those exact specs - it’s a true unicorn (for better and worse).
(On a side note (for people considering a fully customized instrument for 5-10K USD): unless you are absolutely sure you know what specs are best for you, don’t go that route! The risk for disappointment is significant, and the resell value might only be a fraction of what you paid (exactly because of it being highly spec’d))
Ok, so tonight, I decided to hit Ochanomizu to see if anywhere there had the T-I Jazz Rounds. Not super seriously searching but it’s easy enough for me to go so why not.
As usual I ht Kurosawa’s bass annex first and the first thing I spotted was a really nice SR Premium. This color is the closest I have seen in a while to the SR2400-APL I always wanted, bummer it’s a 6 though:
Next up, the AtelierZ’s for @Megatronpt:
A really nice trio of Jabba’s up next, for @joergkutter and @MikeC:
Mixed in with the Mayones were a few very nice Sugi’s:
They also had some nicer versions of that Moon I posted earlier…
But, unfortunately, Kurosawa did not have the strings I wanted. So, on down the street to Shimokura. They didn’t have the strings either, but as they are a good bet for used instruments I spotted this sweet RBX for @Al1885:
They also had a Tomomi signature Squier for @Wombat-metal:
They also had what were probably the nicest looking Fender custom shop J-basses I have ever seen:
…and another cool RBX for @Al1885…
I popped in to the ESP custom shop to see if they had the strings but they did not. So, I hopped across the street and checked out Shimokura’s used outlet. They had a couple nice BB VI’s that @faydout and @fennario might be interested in but not anything I was after… if those had been BB VIII’s I might have left with one though.
Last was BigBoss, ESP’s retail store. Spotted a couple really nice Edwards and a Lakland there:
They also had the nicest looking Longhorn I have ever seen:
…but they did not have the strings. They did have some nice SIT’s:
however in the end I decided to just go with taking a chance on some Stainless Elixirs. Normally I dislike stainless rounds but I am thinking the Nanoweb coating might mellow the feel out a bit. We’ll see.
Hey, I think I know that place
So, you hit all those stores and came home with a set of strings? That’s will power, man!
You know your customers
Some seriously beautiful instruments on display
I hope you like the Elixirs (and perhaps the coating buffers some of that steel “dustiness”… !!
Hey, I think I know that place
Oh yes you do
You know your customers
Some seriously beautiful instruments on display
It really is kind of Bass Paradise, I feel super lucky for sure.
That reminds me that Kurosawa had a big herd of Bacchus instruments, but none as nice as your Sakura.
I hope you like the Elixirs (and perhaps the coating buffers some of that steel “dustiness”… !!
Yeah we’ll see
Hey, I think I know that place
Ya me too.
Best street going.
but none as nice as your Sakura.
Thanks! I am afraid, however, I will have to let that one go soon… (if I find a buyer), along with the TRB… I have too many 5’ers I hardly play…
For those that visit and we don’t get a chance to meet up, here’s a quick map of the places I mentioned above. Basically, Meidai-dori in Ochanomizu is the street with all the goodies. It runs right by the west station entrance so you cannot miss it. It’s packed with other great stores too, I just highlighted the ones I mentioned above.
If you visit Tokyo I would consider a visit here to be something you won’t want to miss.
@JoshFossgreen as well in case we don’t get a chance to meet while you’re here.
This street is jam packed with musical instrument shops of all kinds, and ESP runs several stores (and even runs a music school here). These are just my usual go-tos, there’s many more guitar and bass shops here in these two blocks (and in the alleys). Many (like Kurosawa there in this image, the big silver building marked クロサワ楽器店)are 5-6 floors of instruments:
The folks at the ESP Custom Shop are the nicest guys ever, recommend a visit there and see the goodies on the second floor.
You have no idea on how much you are making me want to book a trip…
And yeah… @howard can open a international bass selling shop…