He lives and works about six hours away from me and it was kind of an adventure to drive through the Ozarks to nab a peek at one of the finest extended-range instruments made. As I reached the shop and home of Mr. Conklin in Springfield, MO, I was taken aback at the size of the operations facility that his organization occupies. A converted garage the size of a large basement next to the house is home to the drills, routers and such that make Conklin Guitars a reality.

The basses that come out of this small yet efficient and concise facility continue to fascinate people the world over. I picked this particular bass out of an extensive collection of basses being made for people on order in the showroom. Next to the bass I purchased was the almighty 9-stringer slung by bass-god Bill Dickens. This bass plays as well or better than any I have ever tried and its action is mystifyingly low. The uniformity of the notes across the stunning flamed Purpleheart fingerboard continue to amaze me to this day and I have not yet found a dead spot in the neck.

Mr. Conklin's philosophy lies in the neck, as he explained. He uses no graphite-reinforcement or such things as this can contaminate the pure tone of the woods selected for the bass. The bass is balanced extremely well due to its unique upper horn shape. The hardware is the best available and the finish won't wear off in a couple of months. The neck is the only part of the body that is not buffed after final sanding and the texture emulates years of "breaking-in" and wear. The most satisfying parts of the bass lie in the tone and the upgradability. The tone is warm and firm. It is best described as being the ultimate fretted studio sound (think of Anthony Jackson after all that EQing and those incredibly expensive signature Foderas). The upgradability comes in the hardware. The bridge can be retrofitted with piezo pickups at any time and the soapbars can be replaced with split-stereo pickups for panning capabilities.

After you buy one of these incredible platforms for expression it might be slightly difficult to find a set of strings for your bass, but not to worry: Bill will send you as many sets to your door C.O.D. as you need. All this for $3000? Check them out for yourself.

Construction	100%
Playability	100%
Appearance	100%
Sound	100%
Value	100%
Cust. Service	100%
Overall	100%