Winspear
Winspear/Noisemother
Here's an NBD I never expected...
I was talking to a colleague who plays a little bit of guitar/bass, and he mentioned that he had a 7 string bass laying around. I asked him if it was a Conklin GT7, and it was indeed. A few months later he said in passing that he never plays it as it's too much for him, and that it was his first instrument that he got given. He said he'd consider selling it but it's not worth it (as he doesn't use the internet and would only take it into a cash converters etc). I offered to advertise it online for him (knowing that someone here would snatch it up in in a second
) so he brought it in for me. He ends up just telling me that if I like it, I can have it. For free.
I like it. So yeah, here's a Conklin GT7, acquired for a total of £0.00
I am going to give him some money to feel like less of an asshole But he made a point that he really doesn't mind and is all about just passing on the music. Super, super cool of him. What a great dude.
Excuse the awful lighting in these pictures
I am overwhelmed by this bass. It's awesome.
Specs:
Swamp ash body
Figured maple top
34" wenge+purpleheart neck
Purpleheart fretboard
Bartolini active pickups with Bass+Treble EQ
Locking output jack
It's very light with the swamp ash body but balances perfectly with that big horn. The strap button is on the back of the horn which is a wonderful touch and means (once I get some Dunlop locks on there) that I can use it with my nice leather strap which moves between my instruments (all but one of them) which are built with the buttons in the same place.
The 34" is great because I'm only tuning to standard on this so .142s from Circle K are working nicely. The high string is very safe too. Less tension than I'm used to but it doesn't feel any looser for some reason. It set up amazingly well and has made me able to play effortlessly. First thing I found myself doing was running some of my favourite death metalish arpeggio riffs. Thought it seemed fast so turned on the metronome and was able to hit 300BPM with no issueThe neck profile is great and of course I absolutely love wenge. It has a very similar profile (and width) to my ViK 9 guitar. Just a bit rounder/fatter feeling. So comfortable. The bolt on joint is monstrous as you can see, but it doesn't obstruct playing at all. Fantastic access on this bass.
The tone is wonderful. Very natural, woody, growly. On middle position with no EQ ran straight into a Darkglass pedal with the EQ flat into my monitors it is my already my perfect tone which sure is something.
It's in almost mint condition which I did not expect given that it was at least third hand and had been just sitting around. Fretboard took a good bit of cleaning and it was there that I found the only 'damage' to this bass.
I thought it was dirt at first but being in rectangles rather than rings I soon realised it wasn't. Wouldn't go away with the most thorough cleaning - I asked around and apparently purpleheart turns dark in sunlight. This makes sense - it's obviously been left by a window where the board has turned dark, leaving only the shadows of the strings purple. I actually think it looks pretty cool!
So happy with my new bass. This is a keeper and will stay with me forever Thanks to my awesome colleague!
I was talking to a colleague who plays a little bit of guitar/bass, and he mentioned that he had a 7 string bass laying around. I asked him if it was a Conklin GT7, and it was indeed. A few months later he said in passing that he never plays it as it's too much for him, and that it was his first instrument that he got given. He said he'd consider selling it but it's not worth it (as he doesn't use the internet and would only take it into a cash converters etc). I offered to advertise it online for him (knowing that someone here would snatch it up in in a second
) so he brought it in for me. He ends up just telling me that if I like it, I can have it. For free.I like it. So yeah, here's a Conklin GT7, acquired for a total of £0.00
I am going to give him some money to feel like less of an asshole
But he made a point that he really doesn't mind and is all about just passing on the music. Super, super cool of him. What a great dude.
Excuse the awful lighting in these pictures
I am overwhelmed by this bass. It's awesome.
Specs:
Swamp ash body
Figured maple top
34" wenge+purpleheart neck
Purpleheart fretboard
Bartolini active pickups with Bass+Treble EQ
Locking output jack
It's very light with the swamp ash body but balances perfectly with that big horn. The strap button is on the back of the horn which is a wonderful touch and means (once I get some Dunlop locks on there) that I can use it with my nice leather strap which moves between my instruments (all but one of them) which are built with the buttons in the same place.
The 34" is great because I'm only tuning to standard on this so .142s from Circle K are working nicely. The high string is very safe too. Less tension than I'm used to but it doesn't feel any looser for some reason. It set up amazingly well and has made me able to play effortlessly. First thing I found myself doing was running some of my favourite death metalish arpeggio riffs. Thought it seemed fast so turned on the metronome and was able to hit 300BPM with no issue
The neck profile is great and of course I absolutely love wenge. It has a very similar profile (and width) to my ViK 9 guitar. Just a bit rounder/fatter feeling. So comfortable. The bolt on joint is monstrous as you can see, but it doesn't obstruct playing at all. Fantastic access on this bass. The tone is wonderful. Very natural, woody, growly. On middle position with no EQ ran straight into a Darkglass pedal with the EQ flat into my monitors it is my already my perfect tone which sure is something.
It's in almost mint condition which I did not expect given that it was at least third hand and had been just sitting around. Fretboard took a good bit of cleaning and it was there that I found the only 'damage' to this bass.
I thought it was dirt at first but being in rectangles rather than rings I soon realised it wasn't. Wouldn't go away with the most thorough cleaning - I asked around and apparently purpleheart turns dark in sunlight. This makes sense - it's obviously been left by a window where the board has turned dark, leaving only the shadows of the strings purple. I actually think it looks pretty cool!
So happy with my new bass. This is a keeper and will stay with me forever
Thanks to my awesome colleague! 
