I think that while there are a lot of exceptional handbuilt basses out there (and my goodness, your path certainly took you through a good number of interesting axes !), the unique blend of Ron's electronics driven by Susan's design and Mica's sure hand results in something that just can't be had anywhere else.
I firmly agree with Mica that while there are other fine basses out there, they often sound alike as they all generally buy pickups/electronics from the same list of usual suspects. Very few craft their electronics and most hardware in-house, and the few that do don't have a resident genius in a lab. I've read where Ron said the idea was for as little to get in the way of the vibrating string as possible, and maybe that's the key: The whole idea is to be neutral as to be invisible, to where, like he said, 'there's nothing to get between the mind and the fingers expressing those ideas'. That's a lot to wrap your head around, yes?
I always say that they are just not for everybody, but IF you, like us, 'get it', there simply isn't anything else. I always think of these as one of the classic, short list of masterpiece instruments, like a Selmer Paris horn or a Bosendorfer nine-footer or a D'Angelico archtop.
The truly scary thing? They'll build you another one JUST like you want. BTW, when you get to talking in earnest with them on a new build, LISTEN to what Susan or Mica suggest: They have an uncanny knack of translating your babble into a solid instrument.
When I had my Elan built, I spoke with Susan once, maybe twice, and we never talked about it again. Bear in mind, I'd never seen an Elan in person. So, 10 months later, it gets here, I open it, and it's EXACTLY what I had in mind. Stupefying . . . . sometimes I think, hell, it really IS magic, the things they do.
J o e y
