• 6 String Kingbass
• Graphite neck
• Alder body vacuum wrapped in graphite
• Bolt-On
• Headless
• Flat Fretboard Radius
• Ramp between two soapbar pickups
• Electronics are Vol, Pickup selector, 3 band EQ

After playing my buddy’s 5 string, setup both ways, high C and low B, I decided that I liked both setups so much I’d get a bass that had both. I figured if you’re going to go bigger than four, might as well go all the way. I’ve played four string basses for so long that I had almost settled on never picking up a bigger bass, but I’m glad I decided to. I feel that once I get this bass I won’t really play my fours that much anymore. The chordal options and general increased range just make it that much more fun to play.

I won’t lie and say I’m a little apprehensive about ordering a bass as expensive as the Status without ever playing one. That’s right. I’ve never played a Status. I don’t have personal experience with their pickups, neck contour, headless basses, or graphite necks. However, like almost all of my other gear, I researched very heavily and bought it without trying. I came to the conclusion that something of this quality and durability can be setup the way I like it and sound the way I want. So we’ll see! Now I just have to figure out how to afford it. Ritter might be getting sold.  I love that bass, but once I get my six, I’m not going to be using it too much. No reason to sit on a clump of cash.

Plus part of the reason I wanted a new bass was to have a few things made to my specifications. I love my Ritter, but even a bass of that quality had a few things that bugged me. Nothing against Ritter’s basses, his quality and craftsmanship are next to none. If I had the money and could wait the time, I would have totally done a custom order with Jens. But I didn’t want to wait a year. A few of things I’ve always wanted on a bass were a neck that didn’t shift from weather (graphite solved this), no neck dive (headless solved this), more tuning stability (headless solved this), pickup selector instead of blend knob (Rob is fitting my Status with this), and an even playing surface across all the strings (flat neck and ramp).

I feel that this Status will open tons of new doors of possibilites and playing comfort for me. I never ordered a bass to my specs before, and I can’t wait to get it and set it up. Even my Ritter was not custom. If money allows in the future I will definitely have my dream Ritter. I love Jens’ work too much to not have another of his basses at some point. But for now, the Status will surve my purposes better I believe. Update when I get the bass in a few months.

And to further the weirdness, I’ve developed a fascination with headless instruments over the years. They just make sense to me. So I’m currently seriously considering a Status Graphite 6 String KingBass. I’ve always loved their basses. Plus I adore the idea of my bass being built out of a rigid, durable material that isn’t affected by weather. AND, graphite is technically more resonant than wood.

So nothing set in stone, but I might finally be getting off the Ritter train. I love Jens’ work. I still think he makes the most aesthetically gorgeous basses in the world. And I’m sure I will own more of his basses down the road. But for now, I think I can find something that does what I need better.

If I go with a Status, I’ll definitely not be in the norm! I sure haven’t seen too many 6 string, headless, carbon fiber basses around Kansas City. Have you? My bass students might be a little annoyed. Trying to figure out where the fifth fret on the A string is will be a little harder to recognize with no head and two more strings.

My soloing is so relaxed since I have a full two octaves in any position. I’m playing lines that I’ve never played before. And the chords! Oh the sweet sweet chords. So many options. In my band, Mouth, I do lot’s of soloing, but also lots of accompaniment parts. It is so satisfying to be able to hold a low not on the E and play a full seventh chord on the top two strings at the same time. For the same reason, it is also a great tool while I’m teaching lessons. I can comp more like a guitar player while my students work on playing bass lines or soloing themselves.

So the 5 string with a high C might not be for everybody, but I think I’m going to have to get one. Just too damn cool. The 4 string bass was starting to get a little limiting to me harmonically. That one string addition makes all the difference. Plus if I ever really want those low notes, I can throw a Hipshot D-Tuner on the E string and flip it down to a low B for fun. Time to start selling organs so I can get the custom Ritter I’ve been dreaming about!

I was inspired to try it primarily by listening to the incredible guitar player, Allan Holdsworth. If you watch any Holdsworth solo, you’ll be baffled by the sound, speed, dexterity, and gorgeous horn-like phrasing he achieves. And if you look closer you’ll realize that his right hand is only plucking about a tenth of those notes. He is the king of the legato style of playing guitar. Meaning that his left hand does a lot more work than it is normally associated with doing. Instead of the right hand “activating” the string to make it sound every time, the left hand will do a lot of it by doing very accurate hammer-ons and pull-offs. By doing this cleanly your right hand is allowed to work much less, but you gain speed by your left taking over the work. It also helps achieve a very smooth sounding phrase.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been working really hard on cleaning up my hammer-ons and pull-offs. I’ve always done them (especially when slapping), but the’ve always been a bit sloppy. Especially the pull-offs. The strings on bass are thicker than guitar obviously, which makes them more difficult. But they are still perfectly doable. Getting this technique under my belt has allowed me to relax so much more while soloing. I can achieve blazingly fast runs without the right hand having to match it. I obviously still pluck each note when I want a staccato sound, but the legato playing style has opened up so many new phrases for me. I’ve even started incorporating it more in my bass lines. Most bass players do not adopt this style for some reason, but it is definitely a skill I would suggest to a lot of my students who are looking to achieve more horn like phrasing and speed. It takes a little work at first to make it feel comfortable, and to achieve and even volume with plucked notes (especially the pull-offs), but it pays off massively. I’d be lying if I said my left hand isn’t completely dead after a practice. New muscles are being worked!

This is definitely a revelation I will pass onto my bass students.

So I’ve gone down the path of lunacy. I’ve been in contact with Jens Ritter for a while about getting  2 custom four strings made (one fretted one fretless). But recently I realized I already own an incredibly nice 4 string fretted from Jens. And also, that if I had a fretless made, I wouldn’t play it too often live because I dont’ like switching basses on stage. So I thought I’d try something a little crazier. How about a double neck, fretted/fretless, headless bass covered in marred platinum with LEDs? Yeah I know, I’ve lost it. But who cares! I sent off my rough mockup to Jens to see what he says. It might never happen, it might be the dumbest idea I’ve had yet, but it could be a wild turn in my playing as well. Keep you posted!

Sept 17th, 2011:

For this first post I’ll start with a review of some newly acquired gear: My Bill Fitzmaurice designed Jack 12′s (built by Leland and Sam Crooks). WOW! That is the first thing I want to say about these cabs, because it is the first thing I thought when I plugged them in. Now that that’s out of the way, let me explain a little about these very unique cabinets.

These cabs are horns, vs. the usual direct radiating bass cab. They consist of a single Eminence 3012ho neodymium driver and a cross-firing melded piezo tweeter array consisting of 16 tweeters. I can select to use all 16, 8, or no tweeters on the array. So between the two cabs I have anywhere from 32 to 0 tweeters available. This may sound extreme to some, but these tweeter arrays are so well designed that even with all 32 on the high end is sweet, soft, controlled, and anything but tinny and harsh. The fact that the 12 inch driver is set in a horn allows it to go lower and louder with the same amount of power that would be given to its direct radiating cousins. One can compare a horn loaded cabinet to a megaphone and the voice. With a direct radiating cabinet all the sound immediately dissipates in every direction just like your voice does when you talk regularly. But in a horn the sound is focused and amplified, similar to when someone uses a megaphone or cups there hands around there mouth to be better heard at a distance.

Prior to using the Jack’s, I was using two Accugroove Tri112′s. I didin’t think ANYTHING could top those cabs. As far as direct radiators go, it doesn’t get much better than Accugrooves. But with the Jacks, I get more volume, clearer highs, and I can hear myself better on stage because of how the horn “directs” the sound. What really sold me on these was what my looping sounded like through them. With my band Mouth I have moments where my cabs really have to be able to handle a full spectrum of frequencies. I’ll have a sub synth bass line, a pad/atmospheric sound, and a melody in a guitar players range all playing at the same time. The Accugrooves handled this situation quite well, but the Jacks handle it astoundingly well. It sounds like 3 different people playing each part. There is no muddiness whatsoever. They sound absolutely gorgeous.

Anyway, horn loaded cabs aren’t going to be for everybody, but I don’t think I’ll be able to go back. So if you have any questions, as usual feel free to contact me. If you are interested in learning more about these unique cabs, check out Bill Fitzmaurice’s website.