Author Topic: Rick Turner Renaissance Basses (Read 256 times)

jack · « **on:** January 04, 2006, 03:34:42 PM »

Hey all, Anyone ever own one of these basses? There's a semi hollow 5 str fretless in my neighborhood for 1300. Internet search shows this to be a fair price, I think. I've never owned a fretless or even played one regularly. I think the added bonus of the semi hollow is I'd pick it up everytime I walked in the room and play acoustically. Anyway I see the subject has come up, and some of you have owned one of these (mik, jaurigemma). I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts on sound, reliability, playability, etc. Thanks, Jack

edwin · « **Reply #1 on:** January 04, 2006, 05:19:45 PM »

I've never owned one, but I've played one and heard them played live (through a great system at the Boulder Theater by a great player, Derek Jones). They are simply awesome. Built like a classical guitar and they sound somewhere between a fretless bass guitar and an upright.

HTH
Edwin
Can you tell that I want one? :-)

jlpicard · « **Reply #2 on:** January 04, 2006, 07:43:58 PM »

If you can get your hands on one BUY IT! imho they are the best! And you'll be getting a bit of Alembic in the process! (Mr. Turner) I actually passed on one on Ebay about a year ago for $800 (lefty) and I've been kicking myself ever since.

811952 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 05, 2006, 06:20:16 AM »

I spent about half an hour with one and loved it. Very organic sounding, and ridiculously sweet neck.

John

palembic · « **Reply #4 on:** January 05, 2006, 07:28:03 AM »

IFF I am well informed Dela has/had (seen the New Orleans area disaster) such a bass.
My Chi is a Rob Allen MB-2 and that is a similar instrument.
I am not in the market for a collection of basses but this bass -well ...in this case read this type of basses- is very rewarding to have: the tone is COM-PLE-TE-LY opppostite on an Alembic. If I can see it well the bass you propose is strung with Bronze-wounds. In my case I have the Labella nylon flatwounds.
Don't panic about that fretless issue: just start with your ears and heart, not with your eyes and -in time- the rest will come.
I would advice the use of a good tone control system if played live! CHi and my SF-2 are made for each other.
Just some thoughts.

Paul the bad one

jack · « **Reply #5 on:** January 05, 2006, 08:12:10 AM »

Well I played one (4 str. fretless) on at a 48th St. store last night after work, just to get an idea. Must say is sounds a little thinner than I was expecting. It was wound with nylon-core bronze strings from Thomastik-Infeld (the guy said they were the factory strings and the internet backs him up); I assume the bass shown above is wound with the same.

I didn't have much time (the store was closed when I walked in) but it certainly seems to be well made and very playable (nice neck). The sound seemed a little thin to me, but maybe I just need to sit down and work with the controls a bit. In retrospect, I should've tried it unplugged; maybe I'll go play the one above tonight.

For 800 it'd be a no-brainer. As it is, buying this would probably put me out of the instrument market for another couple years at least. My Epic is really all I need in the fretted dept., but I've secretly been on the lookout for an Alembic with the low-pass filter.

Maybe the answer is buy this baby and send the Epic back for an upgrade? Not a bad idea...

On another note, the one I tried at the store did not have a thumb rest, and this one does, an absolute must for me.

Anyway, thanks for the input, and I'd appreciate any other contributions.

-Jack

kungfusheriff · « **Reply #6 on:** January 05, 2006, 02:12:36 PM »

Jack,
RT says there's a trimpot on the circuit board that adjusts low-end output.
T-I Acousticores are the stock strings, and unless my memory's tripping me up (again), RT is credited with that design, too.

jack · « **Reply #7 on:** January 05, 2006, 02:20:00 PM »

Yeah, I saw that, that's good news.

There's also a neat interview that discusses the history of Alembic and etc.

http://www.renaissanceguitars.com/interview.html

kmh364 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 05, 2006, 03:38:37 PM »

Cool interview! Thanks for the link!

spose · « **Reply #9 on:** January 05, 2006, 03:44:23 PM »

Hippies with routers!

heehee

kmh364 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 06, 2006, 06:29:46 AM »

Yeah, that is a good quote! It's a wonder some of them still have all their fingers (and toes?), LOL! Anybody that spends time in a wood shop around rotating machinery knows what I'm talking about.

kmh364 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 06, 2006, 06:47:19 AM »

Yeah, that is a good quote! It's a wonder some of them still have all their fingers (and toes?), LOL! Anybody that spends time in a wood shop around rotating machinery knows what I'm talking about.

gbarchus · « **Reply #12 on:** January 06, 2006, 10:42:09 PM »

I use T-I Acousticores on my Washburn AB40 fretless acoustic/electric. They were designed for basses with piezo pickups. You have to get used to their feel but they WILL change the sound of your bass in a positive direction!

jorge_s · « **Reply #13 on:** January 09, 2006, 02:59:36 PM »

I own two of Mr. Turner's basses. All I have to say is: 100% good bass, worth every penny. I'll stop with that being the Alembic site and all.

jack · « **Reply #14 on:** January 24, 2006, 09:07:54 AM »

Thanks for the input everyone. Took the plunge on Sat. Love it. Sounds beautiful and easier to play than I thought. Quite a looker as well. Took it to band practice last night. Rave reviews from bandmates.

Thanks again,
Jack