mcgraham

[quote name='Gunsfreddy2003' post='1286848' date='Jun 29 2011, 07:37 PM']Can't quite see that it would really work though![/quote] Though I've not heard it in person, in principle it makes total sense. Here is a video demonstrating the visible effects.

Sounds great. I like the fingerboard wood in particular (Alan has a great selection of woods). Is the Salace body shape on ACG website? I can't seem to find it.

TNIT, it'd be easy to think that, and there is a little bit of give towards the strings, but very little. Basically you lighten up your touch, gain some anchorage from the side of the thumb and any other parts of the arm in contact with the bass, and is also supported by the shoulder/arm complex. Having said that, if you like to reeeally dig in, then floating thumb probably won't feel quite as physically satisfying as anchoring. Like any technique (particularly those worth learning) there are aspects you need to get comfortable with. The benefits are great though.

TBH you learn to find that perfect balance spot for your own body where it isn't too high or too low, and feels incredibly relaxed and requires very little effort to keep it there. Some guys overdo it and hoist their plucking arm up like they're about to do the Ricky Gervais dance; others underdo it and they relax so much they get a crook in their wrist, which is also bad for carpal tunnel and causing impedance of movement long term.

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='1285162' date='Jun 28 2011, 12:21 PM']Ah, good man; you remind me of me. I have spreadsheets full of tension calculations for various scale lengths, gauges and tunings.[/quote]I'm not [i]that[/i] OCD *flicks light switch on and off 5 times* [quote]I'm [b]really[/b] looking forward to hearing this beast.[/quote]Glad I'm not the only one

Probably 0.105? There's a number of factors going into play here. If you downtune a standard 34" scale to C#, the third fret would be about 28.5" scale and so the tension along the length of the string would be the same as what you'd expect on the 28.5" scale length. Now, although that string could seem quite floppy when plugging away on the open C# at 34", imagine that the string was securely clamped at the 3rd fret, i.e. put a nut at the third fret. The amount of absolute 'side-to-side' give of the string will therefore be reduced (relative to the full length of the string) in response to a pluck of a given energy. So actually its not going to [i]feel [/i]as bad as it might initially seem. Also, an easy way to increase the absolute tension is to increase the string gauge. Obviously its not going to sound exactly the same as a standard bass, but Hunter's bass sound on the Novax guitars is stupendous, so I have no worries about it sounding good.

No worries. Yes - it will have two separate pickup systems, two separate electronics systems and two separate outputs. However I'm going to have a stereo-to-mono switch put in so that, should I desire, both pickup/electronic sides can be sent to the same jack. I'm thinking it would be cool to have a 3 position switch: centre is standard stereo to have that bass/guitar separation; left position is both pickup systems through the bass output (and the P-retro so as to effect all the strings) to make it an ERB; and right position is both pickup systems (and P-retro for the bass side only) through the guitar output to make it an ERG. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=142430"]Build thread here...[/url]

Cheers guys. Much obliged. Jondeeman, that sounds great and I may look into that for my normal basses in future... unfortunately for this project I need [i]totally [/i]custom strings: 8 strings, fanned fret from 28.5" scale bass strings fanning through incrementally to 25.5" scale guitar strings, tuned EAD on the bass with tapewound, and ADGBE on the guitar side with nickel plated steel roundwounds... Can't quite pop into my local music store to ask them to make up a suitable set let alone buy them as a pre-made set... 'oh you're after strings for a fanned fret 8 string bass and guitar hybrid? tapewound bass y'say? let's have a look see... ah yes here we go, would you prefer the light gauge or medium gauge? d'addario have got a 3 sets for the price of 2 offer on if you're interested?' Somehow... I can't [i]quite [/i]see that happening

Cool.

JTUK, I don't think an order will be on the cards for close to a year. I just won't need them til the instrument is ready y'see. If you are cool to wait that long and there's any benefit to a group order then sure, but otherwise I wouldn't hold out for me.

Yea the El Cap is really beautiful sounding. I'd been lusting after it for ages, but when I tried it out it was more a realisation that I'm not anywhere near that fussy about delay live, and that I generally prefer dry digital delay with no modulation for anything other than totally clean guitar sounds. More my own preference rather than a disappointment with the product. The 'Lex' is pretty cool - the 'preamp drive', 'mic distance' and 'cab orientation' controls are pretty boss. The preamp drive in particular gets a really nice gritty sound to it. The speed-up/slow-down/brake/ramp-speed options make it really tweakable. As an aside, I've been after a great Leslie sim ever since hearing Charlie Hunter years ago. He used to use a H&K Rotosphere, which sounds decent, but used a Leslie on gigs if he could source one. Bizarrely, the two best videos I've seen/heard of him using that sound: 1) he uses an actual Leslie cab 2) he uses a phase 90 set to high speed... so I'll probably just get a Phase 90 at some point instead of the Lex.

Obviously the OC2 sounds stonking, but I also really liked the resonance filter section. I think a LPF might be on the cards for me at some point.

Yea I'd say there are some interesting sounds and textures in there, but really fragmented and disjointed such that it's hard to enjoy any of it. Casting some vision out there, if they added a drummer (in the JoJo Mayer vein), an acoustic guitar for some definition and texture to the musical backdrop, and some backing/alternate vocals to give the vocals some depth, I could see that shaping something out of their current sound that I'd be very interested in listening to.

Oh I didn't mean he would! Just that I wouldn't ask him to. Early Feb could be doable, but I won't know til August time (long story).

Sure. Thanks.

Cheers bud! They look like a good start. I don't see tapewound on offer on their website, but then I could/may try standard roundwounds on the new instrument to start, so they would be an ideal choice then. Keep the suggestions coming!

Does anyone have any recommendations of companies who are happy to do custom orders? They'd need to be a company that can make tapewound strings. Any feedback on companies to use or avoid are welcome! I ask because I'll likely need a custom set for the upcoming ACG build.

Looking at the dates for the bass bash (early Feb?) I don't imagine that it's going to be possible for Alan to shave 4-5 months off the projected build time - nor would I want him to really, I'd rather he took his time and got it right than rushed it.

Good point TNIT. What I found really helped with this is to practice everything I know starting with one finger, then starting with the other. I try to run exercises against a metronome twice at each speed this way so that one starting finger pattern doesn't become better than the other - in much the same way you wouldn't work out your right bicep 80-90% of the time whilst at the gym and your left only 10-20% of the time, you'd want to keep the time spent on each as even as possible.

Thanks eude! I know it's a long way off but I'm really excited about it. I've basically got a year to source all the necessary bits for the rig. I've got the bass side sorted: amps (Berg IP stack) plus the effect board (OC2>Compressor (maybe)>Orbit). Guitar side is a little bit less concrete, but will definitely be a Marshall combo amp (set clean) plus the effect board (whatever that might be - pedal preference seems to shift on a daily-to-weekly basis). Will need to look into string options too. When the instrument is complete I will probably travel up to Moffat to pick it up (provided Alan is OK with that), particularly as it would be somewhat unfair for him to build such an unusual instrument and not see the nutter who ordered it try to play the thing. So if any of you want to come along too (whenever that may be) you are more than welcome to.

I don't dig that band in the slightest.

No thanks.

I've been following Strymon since they brought out the El Capistan. I finally got to check it out, and it sounded stupendous. I didn't buy it as it happens, cos I found I ended up just dialling in a virtually straight digital delay sound. The Bluesky Reverb is stunning. I take it you've heard the clips? In particular the 'shimmer' setting sounds beautiful. If you're looking for that particular sound then the Lin6 Verbzilla 'Octo' setting is similar, and much cheaper. I'm not a great user of effects unless they are overt (I don't like spending vast amounts of money on 'so subtle I don't notice it whether on or off') so I wouldn't use it on bass myself, but check out Hotrox in Nottingham if you want to give it a whirl.

Shep, I was thinking the same thing - "that's ain't big! That's just functional!" I also played bass with a guy with a pedalboard that was far bigger than the incarnation of yours I got to see. He was (and still is) the main lead fulltime musician though for a large church in Australia, so the pedalboard was used for everything.