Andyjr1515

That's looking really good.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1470077733' post='3103129'] Gibson did make a long-scale version of the EB3. Have a look at [url="http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/EB3.php"]Fly Guitars[/url] for more details including models with two completely different pickup positions. [/quote] Wow - fascinating, BigRedX. Those pickup positions are quite, quite different!

Of course, the observant amongst you will have noticed that the big pickup goes in the neck position! I also forgot to mention the Varitone... So the spec will be, of course:[list] [*]34" scale, with bridge moved back from original to improve balance and shorten the apparent look and feel of the neck [*]Mahogany two piece body with maple or Wenge demarcation stripe. Chambered to reduce weight. [*]Mahogany through neck with central walnut splice [*]Ebony fretboard and headstock [*]Cherry red stain [*]DiMarzio Number One [b]neck[/b] pickup [*]Still to be spec'd mini humbucker for [b]bridge[/b] [*]Infamous Gibson three-point bridge - purely for a passing nod towards authenticity (even though JB did also play EB3's with the even earlier non-compensated nickel bar bridges, but I do have at least one photo of him playing a three-pointer) [*]Varitone [/list]

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1469985146' post='3102468'] Those two paper templates reminded me of J Kay's hat. [/quote]

That is Soooooo good, Bastav . The degree of originality and innovation surpasses almost any other bass I've ever seen!

Hi I alluded in another thread that I was on the road to another full build. In summary, our old-gits-band's bassist, Pete, has persuaded me in the past to build him two "in the style of" instruments. He is a long-standing Jack Bruce fan and first got me to build him a Jack Bruce Thumb tribute fretless, which many of you will have seen before: ...and - because he fancies himself as a six-string lead player too (actually, he plays a mighty fine lead when the band's main lead guitarist lets him) - an SG-style electric: The new request is a neat seque of the two ... a nod to one of the EB3 fretted basses that Jack Bruce used to play. Happily, Pete isn't a purist. If he was, he wouldn't ask me to build guitars and basses for him More than that, he doesn't want it to be short-scale per the original. So the spec in my mind, so far is:[list] [*]34" scale, with bridge moved back from original to improve balance and shorten the apparent look and feel of the neck [*]Mahogany two piece body with maple or Wenge demarcation stripe. Chambered to reduce weight. [*]Mahogany through neck with central walnut splice [*]Ebony fretboard and headstock [*]Cherry red stain [*]DiMarzio Number One bridge pickup [*]Still to be spec'd mini humbucker for neck [*]Infamous Gibson three-point bridge - purely for a passing nod towards authenticity (even though JB did also play EB3's with the even earlier non-compensated nickel bar bridges, but I do have at least one photo of him playing a three-pointer) [*]Still to be spec'd EQ if any. [/list] I got hold of one of the few remaining three pointers on the shelves - I think the UN has banned them for crimes against humanity: Note the (supplied) Sellotape holding the saddle-screws in....because there's nothing else holding them in, certainly! Two paper templates cut - one for the back and one for the top: Two pieces of mahogany ready: ...and DiMarzio Number One bought from Thomann to achieve free postage for Stuart when I ordered his semi-acoustic's EQ : I think we're away

Thanks folks for the encouraging feedback - always much appreciated

[quote name='ikay' timestamp='1469953256' post='3102179'] ..."[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Will I lose any of my basses current tone if I simply add J pup at the bridge?"[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Adding a vol pot and J pickup to the circuit will change the impedance/loading on the P pickup and the soloed P will sound slightly different. Quite subtle but it won;t be exactly the same.[/font][/color] [/quote] Clearly this is the case with a blend pot. Any idea if the same applies with a three-way switch? I've never been quite sure...

[quote name='W1_Pro' timestamp='1469942508' post='3102125'] Speaking as the man that knows what it [i]used [/i]to sound like, both when it was new and when the last bout of 'repairs' was done, I can safely say that this is unrecognisable. The originally fitted KA preamp circuit, was[i] very[/i] noisy, for reasons I'm still not completely clear about, and the bass after the circuit was removed, simply sounded flat. This, is frankly, amazing work. [/quote]

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1469913565' post='3102009'] Wow! Above and beyond the call of duty. As much attention to detail on the sound samples as you have put into the physical work. Thank you very much. I love the tones when the neck pu is blended in. [/quote] It's an interesting combination of pickups with a single coil in the neck position. With fully variable tone boost or cut for all three levels, plus the split coil option and also the undemonstrated slap control on the push pull, there's almost no tone that is out of reach

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1469814343' post='3101314'] Stunning work. I love the hatch on the back. You have to look closely to see it. Can we hear what it sounds like? [/quote] [url="https://soundcloud.com/andy-rogers-6/custom-semi-acoustic-bass"]I've done some simple recordings - all of the same sequence- directly through a Focusrite Scarlett interface into Ableton Live with no effects applied on Soundcloud here [/url] Each switch position is announced before a small clip and includes:[list] [*]Bridge (full humbucker); Middle; Neck [*]Bridge (full humbucker) with no boost; with full mids boost; with full bass boost; with full mids and bass boost [*]Middle postion with no boost; with full mids boost; with full bass boost; with full mids and bass boost [*]Neck position with no boost; with full mids boost; with full bass boost; with full mids and bass boost [*]Middle position (with bridge pickup in split coil mode) with no boost; with full mids boost; with full bass boost; with full mids and bass boost [/list] What it will actually sound like will obviously be hugely influenced by the rig it goes through but this hopefully gives some indication of the huge variety of sounds. I haven't done any recordings with full treble boost - the impact through my rig seems less than with the bass and mids boosts and, of course, this is where the hiss will be most audible.

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1469894105' post='3101852'] Already done that Andy. Fella's even replied Sadly none of us were close. How long will I wait before spilling the bean ? [/quote]

[url="https://www.facebook.com/eddie.tahuka"]And this is his Facebook page[/url]....easiest thing might be to ask him

His full name is Eddie Tahuka

Here are a couple more shots - the headstock logo shows up much more on this. The bassist's name according to Reverbnation is Eddie N. :

I like that a lot

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1469814343' post='3101314'] Stunning work. I love the hatch on the back. You have to look closely to see it. Can we hear what it sounds like? [/quote] Thanks I actually don't have a bass rig but I will do some sound clips on my little valve guitar amp. It won't give any idea in absolute terms , but the comparative differences across the many settings may be of interest.

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1469817498' post='3101332'] It started looking nice and ended looking gorgeous. Cracking job Andy! An archtop bass is third on my to-build list [/quote] Hi, Norris A six string carved top archtop electric has been on my list for ages. Seeing the skill and work clearly put into this original build has made me have second thoughts!

Just for the record, this is it, new strings, all set up and - apart from a couple of gold screws I'm going to replace - ready to go It's quite a bass... ...and so onto starting the EB3 style SG Bass for our old-gits-band's bassist. As always, thanks for the comments and encouragement along the way

Looking good, Andy

Thanks for the kind words, folks OK - we have a fully functioning bass: Got some tidying up to do - and I need to see if I can drop one of the pots a little....it's a different spec to the rest and the knob is sitting a touch high - and I need to put a thicker bit of foam under the bridge pickup. Then it's fitting some new strings Stuart has sent to me and final setup and see if I can polish out some of those historical belt-rash and dings a touch. I don't use couriers with guitars and basses over a weekend but this should be on its way back to Stuart on Monday

You know when I said "It'll be something daft like a missing earth or something"? Well how about the "Actually, the volume knob on the amp I was testing it on just wasn't up high enough" daft reason There were no strings on for my initial test and I was using the trick of just tapping the coil slugs with the end of a screwdriver...on an electric six string amp...at electric six string sort of volumes... Happily, my checks for earth continuity etc, etc, merely involved looking with a torch and using a multimeter rather than taking all the gubbins out again. Having walked away from it for an hour or so, I thought "let's go back to basics...could it be the guitar lead, could it be a dud battery, could it be [b][i]the f*****g volume wasn't high enough"[/i][/b] Ho Hum... all seems to work tickety-boo....everything Result....sort of

Isn't it nice to be right ...about the minus 3, All in and plugged in.....and not a peep. Nada. Diddly squat. It'll be something daft like a missing earth or something. At least now I know what I'm going to be doing tomorrow

Difficult to get perfect wiring runs with so many cross lines on the looms, but the main thing is to try to avoid wires crossing the 'f' hole (approx marked on the cardboard): On a scale of 1 to 10 what do you think the chances are of this working first time? Minus 3???

[quote name='W1_Pro' timestamp='1469708310' post='3100490'] Phew. Rather you than me. If I was doing this wiring it would[list=1] [*]never work again and I'd [*]manage to give myself an almost fatal electric shock from a 9v battery. [/list] [/quote]