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Initial Review: Conklin GTBD7 bass


RSBro

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Posted

Well got my first 7 banger in yesterday, and wow, yeah- this thing is a BEAST!!!

 

First off, the bass itself is outstandingly well-made. For how much it runs, the quality of construction is amazing. Neck-through with a purpleheart board and flamed maple wings, just yeah wow. The knobs and frets are all in excellent shape with no buzzing or crackles, etc.. Just a really nice bass to look at in real life (have to see it to appreciate it).

 

Sound is, well, different than I'm used to. :) I haven't played a neck-thru since my Spector NS5CRFM in 2005, so the sustain on this thing is crazy nice. Playing the open B and fretted 7 on E together and letting it ring while doing chords or runs or tapping stuff is pretty sweet. I'm going to have to learn how to include ALL 7 strings when playing, but shouldn't be that hard. :) I'm gonna track down a few StewMac and Buddha vids and check those cats out to see how I can maximize it's usefulness.

 

Playability is easier than you'd expect. I have big hands and I had a little cramping after about 45 mins with my fretting hand, as you really have to reach to grab all the strings. Sometimes I'll fret and pluck the wrong strings if I'm not careful so will have to work on that! Action is somewhat tight, but what you'd expect. Definitely still comfy and pretty easy to play.

 

Thing weighs a TON, and the upper horn is huge, but I have a new Comfort Strap to combat this. Balance is excellent, however.

 

I'm still working on the knobs, tho. There's a 4-position knob and 3-position pole switch that do something but I need to figure out what exactly to make it work with the EQ. Has Bartolini pickups and master volume, blend, bass, mids, treble and the other 2 controls. Sounds best flat with a tad of lows and treble so far.

 

All in all it's a huge value for the price. I'm gonna give it a run for a month or so and see if I would rather play it or my fretless Q5, which it's going to share time at church with, so we'll see. :)

 

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Posted

I'll take those as positive :eek::eek::eek:'s! :D

 

It's actually a lot easier to play/handle than it looks. Only issue is the previous guy REALLY had the action up high, almost as much as can go, so he must have been a monster or something.

 

Once I lower it a little should be a lot more comfy to play on the upper frets. Sound is just huge, which from that much "bass mass" you'd expect! ;)

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Posted

Like I've said in numerous other posts, hold on to this bass - it's a collector's item that has importance and history. Don't sell it to raise cash for your next Modulus.......:poke:
:D
;)

 

I wonder if Modulus would make me a 7-string Quantum!!?! :love::love::love:

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Posted

I wonder if Modulus would make me a 7-string Quantum!!?!
:love:
:love:
:love:

 

Not as a one-off - they'd have to start offering a 7 as a standard model. As labor-intensive as making a composite neck is, it's preceded by an awful lot of R+D and design, like creating molds, models for the molds, figuring out the dimensions and tuner placement on those models for the molds, et cetera.

 

I knew of and heard a guy who strung his Q6 starting on low E to high F - makes me shudder to think of it, like nails to a chalkboard. It was mostly his playing though. IMO, offensive sounding players who play on composite neck instruments sound even more offensive. Garbage in, garbage out. Oteil and Mario Cippolina sounded great on their Modulus basses, but they of course developed a nice touch before they ever picked one up.

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Posted

Not as a one-off - they'd have to start offering a 7 as a standard model. As labor-intensive as making a composite neck is, it's preceded by an awful lot of R+D and design, like creating molds, models for the molds, figuring out the dimensions and tuner placement on those models for the molds, et cetera.


I knew of and heard a guy who strung his Q6 starting on low E to high F - makes me shudder to think of it, like nails to a chalkboard. It was mostly his playing though. IMO, offensive sounding players who play on composite neck instruments sound even
more
offensive. Garbage in, garbage out. Oteil and Mario Cippolina sounded great on their Modulus basses, but they of course developed a nice touch before they ever picked one up.

 

Yeah there are sometimes that I'll find that Flea or even Stefan back when he played a Flea model that the soundboard track is REALLY clicky.

They can be tough to overcome in that aspect if you don't have good technique on both hands.

 

I was mainly kidding about the 7 string Q tho... ;) I'd bet they just laugh and hang up the phone! :D

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Posted

 

you have so many nice basses, why get that monstrosity?

 

 

It's just to see if I like it.

 

I honestly would rather have a Spector 5CRFM for the price, but we'll see.

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Posted

*Call the ball Maverick*


Roger, Maverick has the ball


:)

 

You're lucky I snagged this before that 9 string Warrior went up for sale on TB... ;)

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Posted

IIRC I believe I saw a 7 string quantum on ebay last year. It was a one of a kind in the ad and had a much narrower neck than the Conklin. I shoulda kept the pic in my saved file... I could be wrong, but don't think so...

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Posted

mod18.jpg

 

Modulus 18-String Bass

 

Modulus did make an 18-string (3 course 6-string) bass for Tom Peterson in the early 80s. It was a TBX neck-through model with what was probably a custom Stars Guitars brass bridge. The bass was originally shipped to SIR in LA for Tom. The bass was left at SIR for reasons unknown and shipped back to Modulus once found. It happened that the late Allan Woody called Modulus at that time and asked if an 18-string

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Posted

mod18.jpg

 

Modulus 18-String Bass

 

Modulus did make an 18-string (3 course 6-string) bass for Tom Peterson in the early 80s. It was a TBX neck-through model with what was probably a custom Stars Guitars brass bridge. The bass was originally shipped to SIR in LA for Tom. The bass was left at SIR for reasons unknown and shipped back to Modulus once found. It happened that the late Allan Woody called Modulus at that time and asked if an 18-string

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