1996 USA Curbow Petite 33 Fret Bass Guitar Review By Scott Grove
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#USA #Curbow #Petite #Fret #Bass #Guitar #Review #Scott #Grove
Originally posted by UCFuEvs_baSE2v4QWtQL2dsw at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oof-I82soIo
Incredible bass ❤
Curbows are work of art, I wish I had a chance to lay my hand on an original one, curently owning Curbow 4 that Greg designed for Cort's boutique basses. Also quite a beautiful instrument!
Where is it today?
Prepare your wallets, everyone!
I met Greg around 1991. He was working out of a small building next to his house in Morganton, Ga. In the late 90s, he leased a large grocery store and had a nice music store in the front and a luthier shop in back where he built guitars and basses. Most of the space had old car parts scattered around. Greg liked old cars and had an early 60s Olds or Pontiac or something; like turquoise convertible – he would cruise around town in. He talked about touring as Jimmy Page's guitar tech. I can't remember which tour, but it was post Zeppelin; somewhere around Outrider, I think. When you first walked into Curbow's Music Store, you saw a big autographed poster of Jimmy hanging over the inside entrance. It read, "Greg, Thanks for taking care of my guitars…… Jimmy Page". Greg said Jimmy's guitars were in pretty rough shape when he started, but Greg knew everything about the instrument and got them in great shape. I worked for a while at his shop in the late 90s helping customers and teaching guitar; about the time he contracted with Cort. Greg was a perfectionist and an artist when it came to building instruments. I bought an old 1970 Gibson SG-1 that someone has nearly destroyed. He fixed it up and I bought it for $250. I still have it. He had some serious bass players coming around quite frequently to pick up their instruments or check on progress. You had to have some patience and a wad of cash, but you knew it would be worth it. You were getting the best bass on the planet, hell in the entire galaxy. He built a 6-string petite guitar that I played a few times- amazing feel and playability and truly a work of art; cost around $7,500. But as much as he charged, he barely made ends meet. He said there was no money in building custom instruments. He put his heart and soul in each and every one; used the finest exotic wood, hardware, etc. Just the man-hours alone ran into the thousands of dollars. If he made a mistake or something didn't come out right, it went in the scrap pile and he started over. They sure as hell weren't cookie-cutter guitars – he didn't care for them at all. He did the deal with Cort mainly for the extra money it brought in so he could continue doing what he loved – build the finest custom bass guitars ever. I believe he succeeded.
Beautiful.
I want to find some of that synthetic material.
"cos im not that cool of a bass player…yet"
I liked that.
Dr. Groovy, that is the Best Sounding Bass Guitar that i have ever heard. you are lucky to have been able to get that. thanks for the nice demo, Cheers Bro, Cousin Figel
Hey can I request to hear it through the Ashdown cabinet
Hey man great sounding bass can I ask if you any basses that you may be selling
Ten grand is a lot but the more you look at it ,and hear it ,,,,there is ten grands worth of bass ,,,love it
Curbow was family friend he lived in Blue Ridge Ga
pretty badass bass
You are way too kind my friend. I appreciate your help!
I'll see what else I can find out for you.. My records are pretty much… well lost.. here some where i am sure… 96 would have been near the end of the back side pup height adjust… pretty awesome look pickups with no screws… they were a bear to build that way!!!
Hi David! Great to hear from you! We have to get together. You name it and you've got it! Yeah, I'm really loving these hunks of wood and wire. lol
They told me it was a '96 at first and then they got in their files and changed their mind and told me it was a 2005. lol There is a 2005 hang tag in the case. I'm not real trusting with them as the guy that owned EVERYTHING there (Ed Roman) passed away and I doubt that the folks working there have a clear idea as to much of anything's history. Thanks so much for the information.
AHHHHH, thanks for the info and it makes sense! I didn't get any sort of documentation at all on it, so with your help…..I'll get this sucker figured out. Many thanks for the info!
Cory the back of the bass is "pudding" Mahogany.. the neck as well as the finger board is rockwood. This bass was built in 1996..well at lest the neck was… I will have a record of the neck.. but i was not working in Greg's Shop at the time.
Because you can work on them if you need to. You can't pull off a neck through and shim it or anything. Adjustability is just important to me, call me crazy.
Scott ! Great video !! I have always enjoyed your open and honest review style – warm regards . Steve .
Why do you demand Bolt-Ons? I like Neck-Thru basses.
That is one long ass bass man.Very nice workmanship and for flat it sounds great.I totally agree with your sentiment about having a beautiful bass even if your not a virtuoso.Hope you enjoy your bass all the best David.
Wow Scott that is a nice bass. Really like the reviews and all the knowledge you pass on. The story behind all these instruments is so cool. Keep churning them out. Much appreciated!
when you hit those highest notes, it sounded like you were going to do a hoppin version of, "For your eyes only."
What a gorgeous bass. Unbelievable.
I do admit, the notes just jump off that thing.
I've seen these selling in the $4500-$5000 range. 10 grand seems like a helluva lot. Was this N.O.S.?
That low E matching up with that last fret made me seek another pair of underwear. This thing is incredible, but I suppose for 10 big ones it would be. This is the first video I've seen of yours, and I gotta say you stay entertaining AND on topic. Keep rocking!
Just awesome workmanship and material choice on that instrument.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards,
Brad.
I hear you. That fretboard is too sweet! The Cort versions actually hold their own. Some of them have the exact same pickup and electronics as this one, so….the sound is pretty hard to tell the difference between the two. The only real reason to pay the difference is JUST BECAUSE. lol Plus, it LOOKS PRETTY. lol
Many thanks! I always feel like I'm saving them from getting in the hands of some sticky fingered kid that will put a bunch of stickers on it and play some really nasty music on it that the instrument wants no part of. lol Sometimes the axes have a voice that is strongly geared for something special and you have to respect that and let it do its thing. If it's not YOUR thing too….then it's best to leave it for someone else, even if it will be another 10 years before you find one that FITS.
LOL, do you remember the 29 and 36 fret Washburns? The 29 had 2 pickups and with the 36….only room for the one pickup like this.
… and I thought the 30-fret Ibanez was crazy.
Scott, I love how passionate you are about all your instruments! Really great to see someone who gives a fuck about proper guitars. Keep on rocking dude
Cort lol!
Wow really sweet! That fretboard was incredible, I really like those but don't have the 10 g, lol Cory for me but maybe I will play around with some things and try and get close to that one' thanks for the review Scott
LOL, I hear you. It's not like I'm spending THEIR money. lol
That's on par with Carl Thompson basses. No farting allowed!
It's a bit tricky way up there. They offered a 36 fret as well. But, as shown in the video, that 33rd fret rang out nice and clean and the intonation was dead on. That was one of the GREAT things about buying semi-locally this time, it was already set up for the desert here. It was nice to bring it home and not have to do anything at all to it. I didn't have to wait a couple of days for the wood to acclimate to the surroundings, set it up and all that. Just plug and play. LOVE IT! lol