A little late but.....The trip and visit to Rob Allen Guitar shop was very educational.
The shop was bigger than I expected and was manned by Rob and two others (at least on the day I went).
A quick tour was given by Rob. I was shown the main work area, a few staging areas, the new incoming wood pieces, and his storage vault of projects in progress. Then we got down to business.....
I discussed with Rob his three models. Thankfully, he had a few on hand. I was lucky in that he said he doesn't usually have a big selection of playable basses laying around - most are customer orders in various stages of completion.
I've read his site thoroughly and knew the differences between the MB-2, Mouse, and Deep. His site has a lot of good info and explanation about what and why he does what he does.
I brought my Warmoth fretless as a baseline and played and compared each model to it (and each other).
Visual...
As anyone visiting Rob's site will contest, his basses are works of art. They are beautiful and make great wall art. I kept looking to see if I left any fingerprints on each bass I picked up. Rob's attention to detail is amazing and can be seen on each bass.
Feel...
His basses are light. Going from my Warwick NT Thumb to my Warmoth frretless was a noticeable weight reduction. Going from the Warmoth to any of Rob's basses was a noticeable weight reduction as well. After playing the MB-2 or the Deep, the Warmoth felt heavy in my hands and the neck felt heavy too. First time a neck actually felt heavy.
Both the MB-2 and Deep felt good in my lap and in my hands. Each bass felt comfortable and the string spacing felt natural. I was originally worried about the thickness of the Deep. But it wasn't noticeably thick or strange in my arms.
The Mouse, however, actually felt too small. I know the forums are all lit up over the Mouse and everyone loves it. It is a great bass. But it felt too small in my hands. I asked Rob about a five string version of the Mouse and he said he is planning one but the fifth string will be high C, not low B. I watched youtube videos of the Mouse being played and read a few reviews on it - they all loved it. While it sounded great and was very playable, I just felt cramped. I suppose if I spent time on it (or any short scale bass) I would feel right at home. This is not a problem and is no reflection on the bass itself- the world would be boring if we all wanted the same thing, yes?
Sound...
I went into Rob's shop thinking my Warmoth would sound close to Rob's basses. I was very wrong. First, the sheer volume difference was amazing. My Warmoth has two nine-volt batteries and is a hot bass (volume wise) but it sounded like it was at half volume compared to Rob's. How? I have no idea. I asked Rob this and he said the piezio pickup is a great pickup. I then assumed it was a battery eater and asked Rob. He said the usual battery usage is 3 years. I still don't understand it. And I am still amazed how loud his basses get.
All thru Rob's site he talks about tone and I can now see why. His basses do have a great tone. A soft, woody sound with growing complexities as the note sustains. It is a very good fretless tone. The sustain was also a surprise - his basses sustain much longer than my Warmoth. The harmonics also ring for days.
To get an idea of the tone differences between the Warmonth fretless and Rob's, a trip to youtube is in order.
My fretless. Excuse my butchering of Lee Rocker's lines.
A few of Rob's basses here and here.
Ok, I need to finish this post. Its late and I'm tired. I'll have more to say about what Rob and I discussed - wood choices, string usage, build time, and payment details - but I've had this post too long in draft mode. So, I'll post it as is and continue with the other topics in a later post.
In summary, a great trip. Rob's a great guy: personable, eager to answer questions, and loves what he does. If you're in the market for a standup sounding bass that can also function as a great piece of wall art, check him out.
The shop was bigger than I expected and was manned by Rob and two others (at least on the day I went).
A quick tour was given by Rob. I was shown the main work area, a few staging areas, the new incoming wood pieces, and his storage vault of projects in progress. Then we got down to business.....
I discussed with Rob his three models. Thankfully, he had a few on hand. I was lucky in that he said he doesn't usually have a big selection of playable basses laying around - most are customer orders in various stages of completion.
I've read his site thoroughly and knew the differences between the MB-2, Mouse, and Deep. His site has a lot of good info and explanation about what and why he does what he does.
I brought my Warmoth fretless as a baseline and played and compared each model to it (and each other).
Visual...
As anyone visiting Rob's site will contest, his basses are works of art. They are beautiful and make great wall art. I kept looking to see if I left any fingerprints on each bass I picked up. Rob's attention to detail is amazing and can be seen on each bass.
Feel...
His basses are light. Going from my Warwick NT Thumb to my Warmoth frretless was a noticeable weight reduction. Going from the Warmoth to any of Rob's basses was a noticeable weight reduction as well. After playing the MB-2 or the Deep, the Warmoth felt heavy in my hands and the neck felt heavy too. First time a neck actually felt heavy.
Both the MB-2 and Deep felt good in my lap and in my hands. Each bass felt comfortable and the string spacing felt natural. I was originally worried about the thickness of the Deep. But it wasn't noticeably thick or strange in my arms.
The Mouse, however, actually felt too small. I know the forums are all lit up over the Mouse and everyone loves it. It is a great bass. But it felt too small in my hands. I asked Rob about a five string version of the Mouse and he said he is planning one but the fifth string will be high C, not low B. I watched youtube videos of the Mouse being played and read a few reviews on it - they all loved it. While it sounded great and was very playable, I just felt cramped. I suppose if I spent time on it (or any short scale bass) I would feel right at home. This is not a problem and is no reflection on the bass itself- the world would be boring if we all wanted the same thing, yes?
Sound...
I went into Rob's shop thinking my Warmoth would sound close to Rob's basses. I was very wrong. First, the sheer volume difference was amazing. My Warmoth has two nine-volt batteries and is a hot bass (volume wise) but it sounded like it was at half volume compared to Rob's. How? I have no idea. I asked Rob this and he said the piezio pickup is a great pickup. I then assumed it was a battery eater and asked Rob. He said the usual battery usage is 3 years. I still don't understand it. And I am still amazed how loud his basses get.
All thru Rob's site he talks about tone and I can now see why. His basses do have a great tone. A soft, woody sound with growing complexities as the note sustains. It is a very good fretless tone. The sustain was also a surprise - his basses sustain much longer than my Warmoth. The harmonics also ring for days.
To get an idea of the tone differences between the Warmonth fretless and Rob's, a trip to youtube is in order.
My fretless. Excuse my butchering of Lee Rocker's lines.
A few of Rob's basses here and here.
Ok, I need to finish this post. Its late and I'm tired. I'll have more to say about what Rob and I discussed - wood choices, string usage, build time, and payment details - but I've had this post too long in draft mode. So, I'll post it as is and continue with the other topics in a later post.
In summary, a great trip. Rob's a great guy: personable, eager to answer questions, and loves what he does. If you're in the market for a standup sounding bass that can also function as a great piece of wall art, check him out.