Ken Lawrence Brase 5 Fretted

Figured mertle wood top on swamp ash core (with a nice walnut accent layer), morado fingerboard on maple set neck, 35" scale, medium frets. Seymour Duncan active "BassLines" soapbar P'ups and Duncan "3/STC" 3 band preamp with a very cool "slap" setting - pull the volumne knob and you get a instant scoop EQ. Also has a nice bassive / bypass switch for when the battery is going out. Came with dual-use StrapLoks (the type you can use with a normal strap OR straploks). Unique construction of bass in that the body joins the neck around the 12th fret, ala Fodera. Seems like it should be neck heavy, but once worn feels just right. String spacing is wider than many other 5's I've played - which makes it GREAT for slapping. Since I custom ordered this bass, I could have had any feature I like - Ken is that kind of building. I stuck to a pretty stock arrangement. I think I just requested black hardware, but if I wanted strings-through the body or a hipshot, that would have been no problem.

I ordered this bass because BassAlone had a similar but incredibly ugle bass in stock - - so I knew what I'd be getting. Sound is huge - particularly on the B string - sort of a cross between a nice J bass and a Ken Smith - modern yet with a traditional vibe. Very cool - - and the B string - - yow - tight and big. The EQ is much less harsh than I might have expected from SD - and you can configure the "slap contour" switch with pots on the circuit board. This bass sounds great and sounds like it will sit real nice in a mix.

Great - - Everything looks just right, the fretwork is great, the finish is nice (I opted for oil/wax to save a few bux - and I prefer a non-gloss finish anyway). I had concerns about two spots on the front that John tells me are little "bark" pieces - tiny anyway, but little imperfections nonetheless. The wood grain is sweet, and the joins and general woodworking appear top notch. I'll give it a 9 just because those two little "barks", but that's only because I paid so much for it!

This appears to be very well made - I've only had a it a while so it's hard to say... but it came with a nice form-fitted case and seems rock solid. all the visible parts are sold and work fine. That said, I've not had it more than a few weeks, so I can't say how it will be in 10 years...

It took too long to build this bass. I ordered it in Oct 2000 and got it in June 2001. That said, my customer service was great - John's a nice dude who REALLY like basses - and the one time I met Ken at NAMM he was real friendly. But again - since I haven't needed "support" as such, I really don't have any info.

I've been playing over 25 years and have had many nice and not so nice basses - - so when my wife authorized me to buy "the best bass I could find", I did my homework. After trips to LA and all over the internet, the only basses I played that really "spoke" to me were the Lawrence Brase and a Zon Lightwave that my buddy bought before I could. Since the Brase I played (and really liked) was ugly as all hell (piss yellow finish - - eeewwww) and expensive to boot - I figured I'd risk an order with a nice finish. I wasn't disappointed. Sure, it took a while, but anticipation is half the fun. I am way loving this bass, and am very much looking forward to working with it. Yes it was expensive, but I'm hoping it's my last fretted bass, period.

This bass has a Walnut top on a Ash/Alder body. 3 piece set Maple neck
with Ebony fretboard and matching headstock overlay. 35" scale,without
dot inlays.The body upper horn is attached to the oval to flattened
neck. 2 Lane Poor soapbar pickups with S.D.Basslines active preamp.
Black Hardware and Oil & Wax natural finish.Custom softshell case.

The organic tone lets you hear the woods.Very good balanced pickup
sound,but the preamp Eq ask for a little more lows.The "B" is above
average.

This Brase 5 has low action that demand a lighter touch.The pickups
required some minimal height adjust.Beautiful electronics body cover.

Everything looks durable but the light finish...It looks great but
it pretend easy to wear off.This is my first bass that after buy it,
the neck-truss rod,it dosen't need to be adjusted.(after an air shipment).

In this century, Ken Lawrence really needs an Webpage!

This instrument is a quality mix, vintage + very last; distinctive appearance,excellent construction, and tone.

The bass is a fretted 5 with a set-neck design (neck glued into the body) and the upper bout curves down to connect to the neck at the 12th fret and "brases" the neck in the same way the design of the Fodera Anthony Jackson does. On this bass the body is swamp ash, with a thin stripe of wenge, and then a myrtle figured top. The finish is a gloss. The neck for this bass is VERY comfortable and is made out of three pieces of maple, with a chechen fingerboard. The headstock has a top of myrtle that matches the body and a "KL" inlay, with a 2,3 Hipshot Ultralight tuner setup and a Gotoh bridge. In the near future I will add a Hipshot Drop-tuner - I want a low Bb occasionally!

The electronics are special seymore duncan soapbar pickups, with their 3 band EQ and an active/passive switch - killer sound

I seldom use any of the EQ - THIS BASS DOES NOT NEED IT! I normally play in a church setting through the PA and the sound guy has everything absolutely flat (9,000 watts, Renkus-Heinz speakers & subwoofers, 2-64 channel boards....)! In this setting the band is:bass, drums, 2 keyboards, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and 9 horns! THis bass cuts through it all without sounding harsh. For amps I have an Ashdown C110-300 and an Alembic, Carver, Euphonic Audio larger set-up and it is wonderful with both setups.

This bass has a modern sound and does have a lot of top end (even with only the neck pick-up and the treble rolled off a little). I currently am using MTD strings but will need to experiment a little as you really CANNOT get a P-Bass sound out of this - I want that for country and reggae stuff I play.

This base was delivered in September, 2000 and was made in California. Ken Lawrence is a top-of-the-line builder in the same class as MTD or Fodera, although he is not as well known. His basses show a drive for perfection - on the bolt-ons you cannot slip a piece of notebook paper into the joint between the neck and body!! I literally CANNOT find a flaw on my bass, except for a very small (1/32 inch wide) flat spot on the roundover on the neck at the 17-21st frets!

The action on this bass is VERY low and is still without buzzes, with the neck-body connection the neck is flat from the 12th fret on up.

BTW - I was trained in woodworking by a master cabinetmaker - Ken's work is the best I have seen.

Unless I drop or throw this bass (NOT LIKELY!!) I expect it to be the last fretted 5 I buy. It is the best built bass I have played and is extremely balanced in all ways - sound, build quality, physical balance, and NO dead/bright spots on the neck. It is also extremely stable - I live in San Diego where the humidity ranges from 3% to 93% depending on the time of year. I have not needed to adjust the neck on this bass although there is a (very) little change with the weather!

I WILL get another Ken Lawrence - fretless 5 and maybe a fretted 6 later on. Between John DiMaggio at Bass Alone (where I bought it) and Ken Lawrence, every possible dimension of this bass was discussed before I ordered it, along with the trade-offs for every option. GREAT SERVICE FROM BOTH OF THEM! The only problem is that Ken demands that his basses be perfect - it took 8 months to get it because of the attention he gives EVERY bass. THE WAIT WAS WORTH IT - you will wait the same or more for any other builder in the same category. IN SUMMARY - you get what you pay for - in this case, close to perfection!

I have been playing bass for 5 years but have been a musician (drums, percussion, mallets, keys, cello) for 40. I have NEVER had an instrument that compares to this (I've had a Bosendorfer grand and Sonor drums). If it were stolen, I would IMMEDIATELY order another just like it. I compared it to: Fodera, MTD, Acacia, F-Bass, Hannewinkel, Modulus, Kinal, Rick Turner, Warrior, Wal, and Celinder. This was the best of the lot. My only wish is for a fretless 5 like it although I would get a different wood top for variety (maybe figured walnut?)