A couple of Kahlerized basses on eBay

isnt that the same thing CB has just with emg's?

DAMN IT....that's exactly what I want!!!! If only the shop/I hadn't messed it all up....

I paid EXACTLY that much for mine--STOCK! Then I bled $150 for a trem, over $200 for the fudged Kahler installation, and like $150 for pickups, electronics, and other junk, and it's farther from being playable than it's ever been.

That thing is GOLD, I tell ya! Someone here please buy it...

omg $2500 for a bc rich??? i mean, its nice ... but $2500!?!?!?!?

the hamer is nice. the redone paint looks good. i wudda rather bought it and refinished it myself.

CB ... what happened with your fudged installation? what did they get wrong? did you get any compensation?

madmike wrote:

omg $2500 for a bc rich??? i mean, its nice ... but $2500!?!?!?!?

the hamer is nice. the redone paint looks good. i wudda rather bought it and refinished it myself.

CB ... what happened with your fudged installation? what did they get wrong? did you get any compensation?

Hah!

Well, it was installed slightly crooked and it wasn't recessed. When I picked it up, I was shown how it was installed and I had no choice but to accept it because I couldn't afford to give it back to them to recess it. I didn't realize it wasn't straight until months later and I guess that if I complained, they'd have the same response--"we'll fix it if you pay us."

but they still expect you to pay them for the crap work they did ... or what? ... they keep your bass?

i hate people. not just these so called "luthiers" ... most people are just half butt and lazy. its refreshing when somone actually does do a good job.

similar experience ........

guild LS II ... irreplaceable vintage bass. the set neck was off (badly) and needed to be reset.

it took 4 months for them to do the work.

before, the action was 1/2" above the 12th fret. after ... it was 1/8" closer ... and they called this fixed and tried to tell me that it plays great now ... and thattl be $350. it played like poo.

i told them thats a ridiculous price and its not fixed correctly. i will pay $350 but only if they do it again and get the action correct this time. they said iddid be another $200 to do it again (and who knows what ittl be like then). i told them i'm not giving them a dime ... so they kept my bass.

what was i supposed to do? call the cops? beat them up?

they have been posting the bass on CL regularly for $800 for about 4 years now.

sorry to be a bummer on this thread, but this is a pet peeve of mine.

luthiers = butchers = hacks

OK...I would like to amend my statements. I have seen some fine work come from Mike Lull's lutherie. The problem with my Hamer project is ME. I didn't have the clarity, understanding, planning, preparation, or anything to see it though. I wanted everything at once and what came of it is nothing at all. A wonderful instrument turned into pieces. Mike Lull and his boys do incredible work, it was my inability to deal with the situation with a level head and stand up for myself that lead me down this path. Well, I'm learning a lesson and I've got a better chance than ever to get this project to work out well. Now that I can't play for a little while, I finally have the patience to gather the necessary supplies (really just money to get someone to recess the trem haha) and make solid preparations so I can have the instrument I've dreamt of.

Hey, in fact, I know firsthand how nice the work from ML's shop is--they replaced the bridge on my mom's acoustic and it's fantastic. It's an Ibanez copy of a Martin Dreadnought from the mid 80s. It's an OK guitar, but she's gotten over the years a new bone nut, a bone bridge, an ebony tailpiece, and a Fishman pickup installed. I recommended D'Addario EXP coated bronze strings and it's a joy to play now. Neck's a little thin for my taste and it has a darker sound, but plenty loud with the D'Addarios.

mike lulls shop does have a good reputation ... nationwide.

i understand the impatient thing. when i am impatient, it never seems to go well. i do better with it when i'm doing the work myself.

i dont care who they are. i still dont think that someone letting something inferior leave their shop is acceptable. i think that when it comes to trems ... bassists dont get taken seriously ... and i think a lot just give you something so that you'll just go away. when they are gone, they make justifications like, "silly nonsence".

even if you were impatient, they shud have worked with you to get it done properly or let you know that you werent ready and to wait till the job could be done properly. i think its easy enuff for them to just have told you no ... instead of rendering your bass un playable.

but they are a business.

not that this happened to Martin, but imagine what would the lawsuit would be dollarwise if they ruined his 8,000 Alembic?

Hah! Good points, guys.

I remember that when I picked it up, Mike himself said he hadn't seen a Kahler come through his shop in like 20 years.

i'm not so sure that many would put a kahler on an $8000 alembic ............

i would.

but the point is .......... no one really cares because they are putting it on a $300 bass and thats not worth it to (or you wouldnt be able to) file a suit for $300 worth of dammages? (let alone ... convincing a judge that a kahler was improperly installed)

someone who makes $3 mil a year has a certian value for an $8000 alembic .... probably less value than someone who makes $20K a year puts on a $300 bass.

so this brings back my primitive ways of thinking ... i'll just take the $300 worth out on bashing your stupid face in ... since i have no legal recourse in the realm of $300.

it all just seems easier to me for someone who does builds / installations / repairs to say, "no, i wont install your kahler." or even better, "i dont know how."

You Guys all raise some very important points, especially with regards to the attitudes of luthiers who don't want to install a bass trem. If I had a dollar....no....scratch that....if I had a penny for every time I've had some guy tell me the usual "Why would you want to do that?", "It will ruin your bass", They're not very useful", "You'll lose sustain", "Blah-blah-blah", I would be a wealthy dude indeed.

Most of the time, I've let it go at that, except when they've come back with that self-righteous look and/or talk of "you silly fool....you obviously have no idea what you are doing" at which point I immediately unload on them my 26 years of working with bass trems, my board here, and my playing/gigging/recording/teaching experience.

MadMike, it amazes me how much we sound alike!

This is....yet again....for the umpteenth time, another reason why I created this place. We, as bass players, don't get the same level of respect or regard as our guitar brethren, and this is only made worse by using bass trems. We are put into a box, categorized, handed a dog collar and leash, and expected to jump through hoops held by guitarists. The same can be said for the bass players who poo-poo the whole concept as "overdoing it", "playing lead guitar on bass", "frustrated guitar player", and to be totally honest, my middle finger cannot go up fast enough into their faces.

This is, of course, but one issue at hand here. An even more critical one is how many so-called luthiers are out there doing piss-poor work, for which there is no excuse. The fact that this guy ruined your Hamer, Martin, is inexcusable. I could care less how much of a rep he has, and in fact, that makes it even worse, since someone with that kind of ability ought to be able to do good work.

Think about it, Guys. I mean, all of you as bass trem users ought to know that when it comes to installing a bass trem, be it a Kahler or a Hipshot or whatever it happens to be, there is no difference between a bass trem and a guitar trem. Period. You are routing wood according to a certain depth and alignment. What....because it's a bass means that those rules all change??? I think not!

Mike, you made the point about what if it were an $8000 Alembic. I'll add to that by asking, what if it were a $2000 Strat that's receiving a Floyd Rose? A Floyd is infinitely more difficult to install than a Kahler 7410, but it's done properly all the time. When was the last time you heard a guitarist complain that his Floyd was installed crooked? It's as if the guy sees a bass and a bass trem, and he freaks out. Again, there is no excuse!

I feel very fortunate to, not only be playing in a band that actually supports and encourages what I do, but to be with such a guitar whiz like Andy who I know is going to do a perfect job on my basses every single time, no matter what the work may be.

Sorry for the rant, Guys. It's just that I feel overprotective of all of you that have been through this sort of crap, and it really pushes my buttons.

yep, some of those very same people will say "why did you put a trem on the bass, that's stupid"....but then you see a dozen floydrose tremmed guitars in the background....

In the time that I haven't been able to play bass, I've been thinking...ruminating about the concept of the "bass guitar" a lot. It's so simple, but still so ambiguous. No matter how many times I try to define it, I'm still left wondering exactly what it is. It's a slippery concept....it can mean anything to anyone. Bass...? Guitar...? Anything in between!! It's such a beautiful creation. I feel overjoyed every day to have taken the time to understand this instrument and to allow myself to express my creativity through it.

EricHaven wrote:

A Floyd is infinitely more difficult to install than a Kahler 7410, but it's done properly all the time. When was the last time you heard a guitarist complain that his Floyd was installed crooked? It's as if the guy sees a bass and a bass trem, and he freaks out. Again, there is no excuse!

I think you nailed my sentiments there. But instead of kindly asking them about it, I was scared and presumptuous and didn't do anything...except complain, complain, complain to myself.

eric? were you drinking wine again???

ha!

na ... furreal. i run across this with all kindsa bass stuff ... not just trems. it seems to me that if its not for sale on the GC floor, not boutique or not plugging a p bass directly into an ampeg svt and 8X10 and playing with a pick ... its all those responses that eric stated.

i do have a certain beholdeness to everyone here ... so if i come off cross at times ... or just get rude and tell you straight up whats up ... its only because i'm trying to help. honestly, at times, i feel like i could do more for you guys here (but sorry ... i cant buy everyone a new bass ).

boots ... i seem to remember you and i having some discussions before about this installation of your kahler?

madmike wrote:

plugging a p bass directly into an ampeg svt and 8X10 and playing with a pick

...people do that still ? --eww

madmike wrote:

... i cant buy everyone a new bass ).

i'll take a used one then

madmike wrote:

eric? were you drinking wine again???

Nah.

Beer.

madmike wrote:

boots ... i seem to remember you and i having some discussions before about this installation of your kahler?

Yeah...too expensive to ship. I'm in no hurry to do it now 'cos I can't play anyway! But thanks, bro!

amimbari wrote:

madmike wrote:

plugging a p bass directly into an ampeg svt and 8X10 and playing with a pick

...people do that still ? --eww

If you mean "eww" cos it's downright dirty, then I agree!! haha