Fanned 40"-37" Kalium Guitar Works Quake. Production run of 5 Quakes

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ixlramp

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The 2 guys that are Kalium Strings are both bass luthiers and are rebranding their designs as Kalium Guitar Works, to join the other Kalium sub-brands Kalium Electronics, Kalium Sound and Kalium Strings.
This one is of course the Quake bass of the former Knuckle Guitar Works. This is part of a production run of 5 bolt-on 5 string Quakes that will be cheaper than the former custom quakes. 4 are not claimed yet.

The post on the Knuckle Guitar Works FB page:
"I'm jumping in . . . .

Production Quakes are a thing. 4 initial variants, and all of them 5 strings; parallel Jazz and Humbucking, and fanned Jazz and Humbucking. This one will be emerald green and will live with my business partner.

I have 4 unfinished basses in the queue - anyone interested?"

The other half of Knuckle Guitar Works is the former APC Instruments, and will include this design, the 'Churchill':

l.jpg
 

laxu

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Those body shapes are so weird. The first one looks like it is way too narrow.

I guess this is for those who downtune their basses a lot?
 

BrailleDecibel

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Gahhh, that headstock is ugly as sin! I like the rest of it, though...if I still played 8-string and needed a bass for drop-E, I'd rock this, with a better headstock. :lol:
 

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SD83

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Good luck playing something even slightly complicated on that behemoth. 40''... sure great for low tunings, but even with huge hands I found 36'' to be too much most of the time. And I have to agree with the headstock being amongst the most ugly ones I've seen so far. The body looks like it was designed for a significantly shorter neck (just like the "Churchill" might look cool on a 4 and maybe even a 5 string, but the way it is, it looks way too small)
 

Winspear

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The body looks narrow because it is elongated to make the bass balance with the bridge further out to the right than usual. Check out some reviews on the old Quakes - people report them as incredibly comfortable. Of course, stretches are stretches, but it helps a hell of a lot not having the nut way out to your left. Not a fan of the headstock either but it was for weight relief I believe. Headless would make more sense I guess.
I have a 39.5" custom bass from another luthier on the way some time, can't wait to check it out. It's funny, I ordered that bass at the time because Quakes were too expensive and uncommon. Of course, typical luthier failure means that I still don't have that bass, and Quakes are now coming into production :lol::lol:
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ixlramp

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The Quake body may look narrow partly due to the length of the bass. It's not at all weird, just a sleek super-P, fairly restrained.

> The body looks like it was designed for a significantly shorter neck

The horn reaches the 12th fret though. Maybe you mean it looks narrow.

> Good luck playing something even slightly complicated on that behemoth

It's only a slightly larger distance to cover, you could play more difficult stuff higher up the neck.
The Quake is essentially a 35" bass with 2 frets added, it shifts the bridge 1 fret to the right, so the nut is only 1 fret further out.

Another Chuchill:

15134672_1778592052414138_7191193149457264399_n.jpg


Another APC design, the ECF45 first built as a custom for Edo Castro:

12.jpg


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ixlramp

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Added a better Churchill 7 string photo to the first post.
 

ixlramp

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Another design from Knuckle Guitar Works was the Cascadia 36" scale:

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SD83

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The horn reaches the 12th fret though. Maybe you mean it looks narrow.

That. Just made a quick mockup, and after cutting away the two top frets, it doesn't look narrow at all anymore. Sure, it makes sense to only scale up the length, just as it makes sense for a seven+ string bass to only scale up the neck in width and not the body, it's just appears out of proportion because I'm used to different proportions.
 

ixlramp

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NAMM 2017
Kalium Guitar Works Quake production model in F# standard, 39.5" scale.
Is for sale for around $2000.
In shipping to NAMM Kalium's prototype amplifier was destroyed, so it and the Kalium Tru-Sub cabinet will not be present.
 

ixlramp

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Better photo in previous post, gorgeous bass!
Yes i know 'ugly headstock' but far preferable to an oversized knob-end Fender headstock (which are for me the most ugly headstocks in existence).
Watching some FB videos of this the tone is just stunning.
 

Hollowway

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I put a down payment on one (a fanned one) last month. Skip said he won't be able to finish them until after NAMM (of course). I just have to pick a color. I was going to do a pink/purple burst stain, but after seeing that black I may have to change my mind! I have a NG2 in F# standard, so I'm going to go to C# standard on this one.
 

A-Branger

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I put a down payment on one (a fanned one) last month. Skip said he won't be able to finish them until after NAMM (of course). I just have to pick a color. I was going to do a pink/purple burst stain, but after seeing that black I may have to change my mind! I have a NG2 in F# standard, so I'm going to go to C# standard on this one.

nooooo keep it pink! :wub3::hbang:
 

bostjan

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OP:

Thanks for posting. I was not aware that these were going to be a production item.

RE: Narrow body: I think it looks kind of cool.

RE: Headstock: I agree, the aesthetic is not pleasing to me in the least. To the point where it's a real turn-off.

That said, I really really wish they had redesigned the headstock. I don't think there is any way that these will be affordable enough for my opinion to matter, but it seems apparent that I'm not the only one who is not a fan of the headstock. A ~40" bass as a production item, though, is a win for the community. Maybe Brice will make a monster scale length electric bass available if these take off.

The funny thing is, for me, that I obtain these extended scale instruments with the intent of tuning them down, only to decide that they sound better than standard scale length instruments when tuned standard. 39.5" might be enough to make trouble for a high G, though, so it might push me over the edge. :) I went from 34"-35" in order to go down from B to A, but it just opened my eyes that B at 34" sounded like mud or clang, depending on string gauge, so I stuck mostly with B at 35", but then, I wanted to tune to F, and got a 37" NG2, only to fall in love with the way the B string sounded at 37". So, here I have this 37" bass I got for low tunings, and it spends 99% of the time tuned either standard or drop A. :lol: Same on the guitar side of things, with me going from a Les Paul to an RG to 27" to 28.625" and beyond, and I still tune standard. I just really love the clarity of the tone.

Good luck playing something even slightly complicated on that behemoth. 40''... sure great for low tunings, but even with huge hands I found 36'' to be too much most of the time. And I have to agree with the headstock being amongst the most ugly ones I've seen so far. The body looks like it was designed for a significantly shorter neck (just like the "Churchill" might look cool on a 4 and maybe even a 5 string, but the way it is, it looks way too small)

Lots of people play extremely complicated stuff on Dingwalls at 37" on the low end, so...

It's not the scale length that makes an instrument feel clunky. It's the design. In the case of Dingwall, the designs are really good. Other instruments might take a 34" scale design and just stretch it out to 37", then everything will be awkward. I've played some cheap 34" scale basses that felt like too much.

I see that sentiment very often: "Oh, the scale length is too long," and all I'm saying is give it a try, then decide. Scale length is certainly a factor in comfort, but it is not the dominant factor by any means.
 

Winspear

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39.5" might be enough to make trouble for a high G, though, so it might push me over the edge. :)
......
It's not the scale length that makes an instrument feel clunky. It's the design. In the case of Dingwall, the designs are really good. Other instruments might take a 34" scale design and just stretch it out to 37", then everything will be awkward. I've played some cheap 34" scale basses that felt like too much.

I see that sentiment very often: "Oh, the scale length is too long," and all I'm saying is give it a try, then decide. Scale length is certainly a factor in comfort, but it is not the dominant factor by any means.

Very true!
Regarding the high G, you're good :) Even a high C of regular 6 string would be fine (treated like a high F of a 7 string, though even easier. Guys go even higher on 34" with plains, not a fan myself)

Can't wait to see more of these around!
 

Hollowway

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OP:

Thanks for posting. I was not aware that these were going to be a production item.

RE: Narrow body: I think it looks kind of cool.

RE: Headstock: I agree, the aesthetic is not pleasing to me in the least. To the point where it's a real turn-off.

That said, I really really wish they had redesigned the headstock. I don't think there is any way that these will be affordable enough for my opinion to matter, but it seems apparent that I'm not the only one who is not a fan of the headstock. A ~40" bass as a production item, though, is a win for the community. Maybe Brice will make a monster scale length electric bass available if these take off.

The funny thing is, for me, that I obtain these extended scale instruments with the intent of tuning them down, only to decide that they sound better than standard scale length instruments when tuned standard. 39.5" might be enough to make trouble for a high G, though, so it might push me over the edge. :) I went from 34"-35" in order to go down from B to A, but it just opened my eyes that B at 34" sounded like mud or clang, depending on string gauge, so I stuck mostly with B at 35", but then, I wanted to tune to F, and got a 37" NG2, only to fall in love with the way the B string sounded at 37". So, here I have this 37" bass I got for low tunings, and it spends 99% of the time tuned either standard or drop A. :lol: Same on the guitar side of things, with me going from a Les Paul to an RG to 27" to 28.625" and beyond, and I still tune standard. I just really love the clarity of the tone.



Lots of people play extremely complicated stuff on Dingwalls at 37" on the low end, so...

It's not the scale length that makes an instrument feel clunky. It's the design. In the case of Dingwall, the designs are really good. Other instruments might take a 34" scale design and just stretch it out to 37", then everything will be awkward. I've played some cheap 34" scale basses that felt like too much.

I see that sentiment very often: "Oh, the scale length is too long," and all I'm saying is give it a try, then decide. Scale length is certainly a factor in comfort, but it is not the dominant factor by any means.

Surprisingly, they're only $2000. Which is way more affordable than the first generation of these.
 

Hollowway

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Honestly, I kinda like the blocky headstock. It's unique.

Yeah, it definitely doesn't fit the body, but no one can accuse them of copying someone else's design. :lol:

I also think it looks cool. In an 8-bit Atari sort of way. It would be cool to see if there was something more in line, body-wise, and keep the theme for the overall instrument.
 
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