NBD - Tom Clement Short Scale 5-string

[Island Thumper]

Aloha, Talkbass!

Long time (YEARS!!!) lurker and never had any intention of joining the interweb party, but I have to post up a review here of Tom Clement's art--err, I mean work. Long story short, if you want a custom bass, contact Tom now because his basses are funkling fantastic!

Thanks to "Dave" who had #177 built by Tom. I saw his pup placement (and heard his demo [nice playing mate]) and knew Tom could build my dream bass. Basically, I wanted a short-scale, growly (think Thumb bass), LIGHT, 5-string, with the ability to use any kind of string I wanted (thus, headless).

It does not sound like a P bass at all--so do NOT do this type of setup (obviously) if you are looking for heavy P sounds. This thing has a very unique midrange voice (I figured the low end can always be dialed in, but it's hard to dial in a good midrange voice). I imagine with a more traditional pickup placement you could get a much more "Fender" sound, but if you want that, just go buy a Fender...

Quick review:

-Tone: Awesome. It sings. Not for everyone, but if you want to talk through your instrument, this is it.

-Weight: 6.25lbs. Unreal. Ergonomics are fantastic; cutaways, fast neck, silk-like finish.

-Hardware: Hipshot headless system is very nice. Nothing pokes me and the bass stayed in tunes for over 7 days in a UPS truck/boat. Can use ANY kind of string I want!!! (Have you tried finding 30" scale 5-string sets besides the one or two out there?) Balance is perfect.

-Nordstrand J Blade pups: VERY cool. Nordstrand is awesome--their descriptions of their pickups are really pretty accurate. I had the "clean and clear" installed in the neck position and the "warm and wooly" installed in the bridge. They definitely have a VERY different vibe/sound to them--pretty much exactly as described by their name. Bridge solo'd is almost an oldschool, honkey, burpey, voice. Neck pup does not sound like a P at all (too far back), but it has a very clear slightly bassier sound--more piano, than Jaco. Solo'd as singles, there is a hint of buzz (think pin drop), but so worth it if you like that single coil sound (mrrrrr vs oomph).

-B-string: Awesome! It's not as "tight" as a 35" scale Lakland, but it's still clear and punchy. I had a 135 B string put on there and it sounds great (I do not hammer away on that string though).

OVERALL, it was a great process working with Tom. He is SUPER patient and responds in real-time as he builds your instrument. He even went back and re-drilled my side dots to install Luminlay markers for me. The bass has a woody, natural, yet modern sound. I didn't even need to get the active preamp, honestly, as it sounds that good passive (but at 6.25lbs, it's fun to have in there).

Don't keep swapping/upgrading/trading (unless you're having fun doing it) if you are looking for something really unique and totally custom fit to you and can't find it on the market.

Seriously, contact Tom now if you've been thinking about it--the turn around time was super fast for a built-from-scratch custom and the price is more than reasonable for a truly handcrafted instrument built exactly to your specs. And for you short-scale fans, check out Tom's work...e-mail him now before he gets too busy! (note: zero affiliation with Tom, just sharing the love as I've gained so much from this forum over the years).

Mahalo for reading!

Island Thumper

 

[JRA]

what a great looking ax! glad it has those qualities for you. congrats on your new instrument!

 

[scuzzy]

Big fan of that bass and the pickups/location. I bet it does growl. Congrats! Enjoy.

 

[Island Thumper]

Thanks, JRA and scuzzy...yes, really unique qualities and tons of growl. I seriously cannot put it down--one of the few instruments I've played that just wants to talk...if that makes sense. Clement basses are really sweet!

 

[tjclem]

Thanks a lot for the kind words. I hope to build with you again.

 

[JACink]

Please share more pics!!

 

[Island Thumper]

More pics!!!

(raw)...

VERY comfortable neck (little thumb groove up near the body joint)...

(Saying "aloha" to Tom and "aloha" to me!)...

More pics available on Tom's facebook page (Clement Bass). He took all the pics and sent me updates every step. Have been playing it for hours a day and I swear it makes me better! LOVE the bass.

Happy to answer any questions if anyone has any.

 

[aproud1]

Very Cool! Saw that build on Facebook and wondered where that bass went. Glad it's pressing all the buttons for you.

I very much agree about working with Tom. I think I've done three or four builds with him and everyone has been great. If you need a build he can do it. Even a 10 string apparently!

Enjoy the bass! It's a beauty!

 

[Island Thumper]

Thanks, aproud1. Well...almost all "the buttons"!

Just like surfboards, I don't think you can have a "one-size-fits-all" for all occasions. If I were to get another build done by Tom, I would go for something that is a slap beast--totally the opposite of this one (which is a thumpy fingerstyle player)--longer scale, passive, single P or MM up toward the neck more, with just plain ol' V/T...damn, did I just write that?

Yeah, that 10 string is nuts--but that's what so cool about Tom is that he's willing to do some really "different" custom stuff that I couldn't do via parts (Warmoth) or other builders (longer wait or more $$$ or slow communication).

 

[nonohmic]

Stunner!

 

[Island Thumper]

Thanks! The funny thing is, it's just plain old swamp ash for the body (ebony and "narra" for the neck). Tom didn't try to up-sell me on anything, so I didn't realize until after my build started that he had all this other cool wood. But yeah, he did a kick a$$ job selecting the board and aligning the grain and oiling. The ergonomics/balance are even better than it looks!

 

[jw23mind]

Aloha, Talkbass!

Long time (YEARS!!!) lurker and never had any intention of joining the interweb party, but I have to post up a review here of Tom Clement's art--err, I mean work. Long story short, if you want a custom bass, contact Tom now because his basses are funkling fantastic!

Thanks to "Dave" who had #177 built by Tom. I saw his pup placement (and heard his demo [nice playing mate]) and knew Tom could build my dream bass. Basically, I wanted a short-scale, growly (think Thumb bass), LIGHT, 5-string, with the ability to use any kind of string I wanted (thus, headless).

It does not sound like a P bass at all--so do NOT do this type of setup (obviously) if you are looking for heavy P sounds. This thing has a very unique midrange voice (I figured the low end can always be dialed in, but it's hard to dial in a good midrange voice). I imagine with a more traditional pickup placement you could get a much more "Fender" sound, but if you want that, just go buy a Fender...

Quick review:

-Tone: Awesome. It sings. Not for everyone, but if you want to talk through your instrument, this is it.

-Weight: 6.25lbs. Unreal. Ergonomics are fantastic; cutaways, fast neck, silk-like finish.

-Hardware: Hipshot headless system is very nice. Nothing pokes me and the bass stayed in tunes for over 7 days in a UPS truck/boat. Can use ANY kind of string I want!!! (Have you tried finding 30" scale 5-string sets besides the one or two out there?) Balance is perfect.

-Nordstrand J Blade pups: VERY cool. Nordstrand is awesome--their descriptions of their pickups are really pretty accurate. I had the "clean and clear" installed in the neck position and the "warm and wooly" installed in the bridge. They definitely have a VERY different vibe/sound to them--pretty much exactly as described by their name. Bridge solo'd is almost an oldschool, honkey, burpey, voice. Neck pup does not sound like a P at all (too far back), but it has a very clear slightly bassier sound--more piano, than Jaco. Solo'd as singles, there is a hint of buzz (think pin drop), but so worth it if you like that single coil sound (mrrrrr vs oomph).

-B-string: Awesome! It's not as "tight" as a 35" scale Lakland, but it's still clear and punchy. I had a 135 B string put on there and it sounds great (I do not hammer away on that string though).

OVERALL, it was a great process working with Tom. He is SUPER patient and responds in real-time as he builds your instrument. He even went back and re-drilled my side dots to install Luminlay markers for me. The bass has a woody, natural, yet modern sound. I didn't even need to get the active preamp, honestly, as it sounds that good passive (but at 6.25lbs, it's fun to have in there).

Don't keep swapping/upgrading/trading (unless you're having fun doing it) if you are looking for something really unique and totally custom fit to you and can't find it on the market.

Seriously, contact Tom now if you've been thinking about it--the turn around time was super fast for a built-from-scratch custom and the price is more than reasonable for a truly handcrafted instrument built exactly to your specs. And for you short-scale fans, check out Tom's work...e-mail him now before he gets too busy! (note: zero affiliation with Tom, just sharing the love as I've gained so much from this forum over the years).

Mahalo for reading!

Island Thumper

Aloha, Talkbass!

Long time (YEARS!!!) lurker and never had any intention of joining the interweb party, but I have to post up a review here of Tom Clement's art--err, I mean work. Long story short, if you want a custom bass, contact Tom now because his basses are funkling fantastic!

Thanks to "Dave" who had #177 built by Tom. I saw his pup placement (and heard his demo [nice playing mate]) and knew Tom could build my dream bass. Basically, I wanted a short-scale, growly (think Thumb bass), LIGHT, 5-string, with the ability to use any kind of string I wanted (thus, headless).

It does not sound like a P bass at all--so do NOT do this type of setup (obviously) if you are looking for heavy P sounds. This thing has a very unique midrange voice (I figured the low end can always be dialed in, but it's hard to dial in a good midrange voice). I imagine with a more traditional pickup placement you could get a much more "Fender" sound, but if you want that, just go buy a Fender...

Quick review:

-Tone: Awesome. It sings. Not for everyone, but if you want to talk through your instrument, this is it.

-Weight: 6.25lbs. Unreal. Ergonomics are fantastic; cutaways, fast neck, silk-like finish.

-Hardware: Hipshot headless system is very nice. Nothing pokes me and the bass stayed in tunes for over 7 days in a UPS truck/boat. Can use ANY kind of string I want!!! (Have you tried finding 30" scale 5-string sets besides the one or two out there?) Balance is perfect.

-Nordstrand J Blade pups: VERY cool. Nordstrand is awesome--their descriptions of their pickups are really pretty accurate. I had the "clean and clear" installed in the neck position and the "warm and wooly" installed in the bridge. They definitely have a VERY different vibe/sound to them--pretty much exactly as described by their name. Bridge solo'd is almost an oldschool, honkey, burpey, voice. Neck pup does not sound like a P at all (too far back), but it has a very clear slightly bassier sound--more piano, than Jaco. Solo'd as singles, there is a hint of buzz (think pin drop), but so worth it if you like that single coil sound (mrrrrr vs oomph).

-B-string: Awesome! It's not as "tight" as a 35" scale Lakland, but it's still clear and punchy. I had a 135 B string put on there and it sounds great (I do not hammer away on that string though).

OVERALL, it was a great process working with Tom. He is SUPER patient and responds in real-time as he builds your instrument. He even went back and re-drilled my side dots to install Luminlay markers for me. The bass has a woody, natural, yet modern sound. I didn't even need to get the active preamp, honestly, as it sounds that good passive (but at 6.25lbs, it's fun to have in there).

Don't keep swapping/upgrading/trading (unless you're having fun doing it) if you are looking for something really unique and totally custom fit to you and can't find it on the market.

Seriously, contact Tom now if you've been thinking about it--the turn around time was super fast for a built-from-scratch custom and the price is more than reasonable for a truly handcrafted instrument built exactly to your specs. And for you short-scale fans, check out Tom's work...e-mail him now before he gets too busy! (note: zero affiliation with Tom, just sharing the love as I've gained so much from this forum over the years).

Mahalo for reading!

Island Thumper

Interesting about the J-Blades, combining the two styles. I've been considering these to replace my stock Geddy Lee Signature J-pups, but was not sure which set to get; this idea could solve my problem!
I play hard rock/metal/punk/progressive, but like a relatively clean, piano-like tone but not too sterile. Think Tool's "Undertow", Shellac, Don Caballero, Anthrax's Frank Bello, Shiner's "Lula Divinia", obscure '90s Boston band Barbaro, and Geezer's tone on the last Black Sabbath album, "13".
I currently run my pickups in series, and find that I like tones coming from P/J configuration basses in general, but do not want to buy another bass! Thinking of doing the opposite of you; putting the "wooly" pickup in the neck to mimic a P and the "clean" on the bridge. Did you experiment with both placements before settling? Can you think of a reason I might be mis-guided in doing the opposite, like say, level/output differences between the two styles exacerbating the natural mismatch between neck and bridge outputs due to placement?

 

[Island Thumper]

I didn't get to experiment at all! Basically, just researched, tried and listened for years. It's hard to hear it on Youtube clips, but each pickup DEFINITELY sounds like their description. The C&C (clear and clean) is really clean and W&W (warm and wooly) is really wooly--very midrange, barky, snarly, definitely a mid bump feel in the sound--it's like the bridge pup on a jazz bass but with more muscle.

As far as the level/output, you're kind of right actually. In terms of volume, both pups put out equally (the builder did an awesome job with the instrument setup--which makes a huge difference). But I think there is such a thing as a "node" [h.s. physics 25yrs ago?] or as you say "mismatch" when using the C&C and W&W 50/50 blend at the same time. There's a bit of a compressed sound, like some frequency overlaps between the two pups and cancel out something tiny somewhere. However, when playing with a band, you can't tell. And, you just dial the blend a hair forward or back and it seems to pickup the sharpness again. I guess that's why Thumb basses are so thumpy, that compression...

Try contacting Nordstrand and get their opinion. Their descriptions and demos online are freakishly accurate for the cork sniffers out there. I didn't contact them and I'm really happy with the how the "voice" of the bass turned out. Your bass will sound MUCH more like a P than mine and probably won't have the "mismatch" thing as much because your PUPs are spaced out more. You would have a unique, probably more old-school sounding P-sound if you put the W&W in the neck. If you want modern P, go with the C&C.

 

[jw23mind]

I didn't get to experiment at all! Basically, just researched, tried and listened for years. It's hard to hear it on Youtube clips, but each pickup DEFINITELY sounds like their description. The C&C (clear and clean) is really clean and W&W (warm and wooly) is really wooly--very midrange, barky, snarly, definitely a mid bump feel in the sound--it's like the bridge pup on a jazz bass but with more muscle.

As far as the level/output, you're kind of right actually. In terms of volume, both pups put out equally (the builder did an awesome job with the instrument setup--which makes a huge difference). But I think there is such a thing as a "node" [h.s. physics 25yrs ago?] or as you say "mismatch" when using the C&C and W&W 50/50 blend at the same time. There's a bit of a compressed sound, like some frequency overlaps between the two pups and cancel out something tiny somewhere. However, when playing with a band, you can't tell. And, you just dial the blend a hair forward or back and it seems to pickup the sharpness again. I guess that's why Thumb basses are so thumpy, that compression...

Try contacting Nordstrand and get their opinion. Their descriptions and demos online are freakishly accurate for the cork sniffers out there. I didn't contact them and I'm really happy with the how the "voice" of the bass turned out. Your bass will sound MUCH more like a P than mine and probably won't have the "mismatch" thing as much because your PUPs are spaced out more. You would have a unique, probably more old-school sounding P-sound if you put the W&W in the neck. If you want modern P, go with the C&C.

Thanks for your thoughts. I think I will just have to try it both ways. Also need to check out those videos/demos for sure. Do you have any sense that one is hotter (ie louder) than the other? Probably hard to ascertain unless pickups are compared in the same position and setup. I would think the W&W would be louder as the tone is likely achieved through overwinding which results in greater output at the expense of flat response.

Interesting,the cancellation you speak of: if the pickups are the same/matched, the only cancellations are from the differences in phase due to pickup spacing, ie picking up the vibrations at different points of propagation along the string (and actually more cancellation with farther-spaced pickups) and deliberate cancellation from the noise-cancelling out-of-phase orientation of the pair. However, if the pickups are different, there will be additional phase cancellations due to differing phase shifts due to RLC differences, purely electrical in nature.

 

[Island Thumper]

...if the pickups are the same/matched, the only cancellations are from the differences in phase due to pickup spacing, ie picking up the vibrations at different points of propagation along the string (and actually more cancellation with farther-spaced pickups) and deliberate cancellation from the noise-cancelling out-of-phase orientation of the pair. However, if the pickups are different, there will be additional phase cancellations due to differing phase shifts due to RLC differences, purely electrical in nature.

Yeah! Exactly. You're a smarter person than me! I felt like that if they were "matched," the cancellation would be more mellow as they probably engineered that (figuring the frequencies and likely spacing)--and I'm guessing, that the cancellation of all two-PUP basses is what makes that modern "scooped" sound, right? I actually like the unique voice, but I'm a selfish bass player and like to be heard.

Experiment! Sounds like you know what you are doing. I love the sound and feel (dynamics?) of the Nordstrand blades. They are definitely not as hot as EMG's, but have more output than the barts I've tried, at least.

 

[jw23mind]

Not sure about the scoop effect or what range would tend to be cancelled, but no doubt part of it would have to do with pickup spacing and what frequencies would be at half-wavelength (ie 180deg out-of-phase). I learned the rule of thumb that every foot of sound travel is a millisecond delay, and a millisecond corresponds with 1KHz wavelength, so maybe pickups 6" apart (half-wavelength) might tend to cancel frequencies around 1kHz. Put a phase-reverse switch on one pickup of a pair and you can hear it! I remember an old bass I had years ago with a phase switched had a midrangy sound.

 

[Island Thumper]

Fascinating.

That's cool how science can explain what we are hearing. I could have gone nuts with this custom build and spent a lot more time researching spacing, angles, different brands, pre-amps, tone-styley knobs etc..., but from what I heard and read, I was pretty sure Tom's bass would come out great no matter, and it did--6.25 lbs 5-string, 30" scale [use ANY string on the market], growls/farts like a baritone sax.

I actually told Tom to just take some liberties with stuff as I had complete faith the instrument would sound great. It's art/music after all, and tone, ergonomics etc... all contribute to your "bass happiness." I joined TB just to put a review of Tom's bass up online as I think what he does would work for a lot of folks who probably don't know about him. (Thanks to Damien for sending me to Tom--hope you're enjoying that Thumb!)

Highly recommend the Nordstrand blades if you want a little more "edge/flavor" to your tone but still keep the warmth and girth of traditional J pups. The C&C and W&W do exactly what they say and I don't think you'll be bummed...and you can always swap, remove, and then send to Tom when you're ready for your custom...