Kiwi

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1377800621' post='2192124'] Nice contrast? In the way dog sh*t contrasts with a paving slab? [/quote] Only in your imagination, not mine

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1377799843' post='2192104'] It's got that dreadful lower horn cutaway though, they look so ugly, an aesthetic nightmare rivalling that of the suburban amateur garden designer's split-level decking. [/quote] Nope, you've lost me. I think the lower horn cutaway is a nice contrast. The balance of the curves is different to a double cutaway but not any worse than a Fender. What's the point of an upper cutaway any how? It doesn't serve a purpose.

I think there were different basses in different markets. But definitely headless. It was a time when good design took priority over vintage snobbery. US market: Early 80's Steinberger was everywhere. Sting, Lee Sklar, UB40,Wet Wet Wet, etc. Metal - definitely Charvel and Jackson, I remember Bryan Adam's bass player playing a Charvel. Not bad basses either, the 3B's. [quote name='Samashton12' timestamp='1377762771' post='2191362'] I could be mistaken thinking this was an 80s bass, but the Yamaha BB series screams 80s to me as my dad swore by them and never played anything else around that time period, [/quote] I was thinking the BB5000 was absolutely everywhere in the late 80s...other than in the UK. Nathan East had one, Wayne Nelson the bassist in LRB, Mister Mister...etc. Nice basses too if you liked close string spacing. UK market: Status, no question, with Jaydee and Wal as follow ups. I remember reading the classifieds of NME and drooling over the Statii, Wals and Jaydees for sale. One day I bagged my own Jaydee and it was my only bass for 12 years. It still sets the standard in terms of what I'm used to and feel comfortable on.

There are a few very nice looking single cuts out there...Fodera Beez Elite for example. A Telecaster is a single cut BTW...so is a Les Paul and a Gibson Byrdland...I've yet to hear guitarists moaning about how they look so bad.

The basses I am making are probably dorky. I'm not bothered though, I'd still play them in public if they feel right and sound the business.

Abe Laboriel put down some blistering and growly basslines on a stringray as incidental music for the later series of CHiPs. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CBnzDWkBn8[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbuDiq4VHs0[/media]

There are many hidden Steve's on here. It might be the most popular name for bassists. Oh yes.

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1377526918' post='2188463'] I don't think you can be OTT enough when it comes to planning. If you have good planning and foundations it makes the rest of the job so much easier in the long run. Fascinating so far. [/quote] Well I guess thats one of the unexpected lessons I took away with me! I started to feel pretty frustrated by Thursday morning because we were both fatigued from having worked until 8:30pm the previous two nights. The measuring of pickups and aligning them to the neck taper was taking so long, it was threatening whether I would have anything to take home..very much a case of measuring three times and cross checking then measuring again...and it all had to be within half a millimetre!! I moaned about how long it was taking me to get it right to Jon. He replied "well you also care about getting it right...and you also don't want to make any mistakes. These things [the measuring] take their own time and shouldn't be rushed". Which was fair comment...so I got my head down and kept my eye on the prize...and then made a complete mess of the pickup template!

So the gluing up happened over night for jointing the bookmatched cores and tops. [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][/font][/color] In the morning the blanks were rough sawn to a few mm within the template line and then routered for clean edges. Jon and I had a looooong discussion about chambering...the effect of mass and density on the sound in conjunction with the graphite neck...and the increased mass of a wider body. I reached the conclusion that the primary role of the body would be to dampen the graphite neck a little (not that the steinberger necks need much dampening) and needed to be as light as possible but without over dampening. So the mahogany core eventually became a frame over which the stiffer maple facings would become a skin. I had to rely on Jon's experience with his Artist basses and the chambering he did on my 6 string for the call on how thick the walls of the chambers were. So we rough cut the tops to the body shape (again a few mm within the outline I'd drawn) and then glued the tops to the cores... (yes, too much glue!) and left them that night to dry after clamping up.

OK so the first installment is going to involve the template making: I can be a bit "Alan Partridge" when it comes to detail I'm interested in...so feel free to let me know if I'm going OTT with the process. I cut out the body outline from the CAD drawing I brought and traced it onto a piece of MDF. Then rough sawed the shape out and sanded the edges smooth on the oscillating sander and then finished by hand. The shape was then transferred to a second piece of MDF for rough sawing and edge sanding. One template was going to be for the body shape, the other for the chambering. We then sawed out two body cores from a plank of honduran mahogany trued up the edges for a super close fit (this took a LONG time...Jon wanted nothing less than zero light getting through the joint) and talked about the top wood. Originally I wanted flame maple for the front and back but Jon didn't have enough flame maple in the extreme level of figure I was looking for...one of the basses would have to be something else. Because the finish was going to be blue burst, we needed a pale wood or the blueburst wouldn't have enough intensity. Jon happened to have some stunning quilted maple. Although the effect wasn't quite what I planned, it would mean identical instruments and a satisfying level of visual impact.

[quote name='matski' timestamp='1377521355' post='2188398'] I saw a bloke play a Fodera at a gig once. Only for one song,mind you - for the rest of the set he played a Fender. Go figure.... [/quote] To my ears Foderas sound very similar to jazz basses!

They are very good and I've been looking for one since I bought the guitar in 2006. I've found it doesn't bend to the point of where the strings are floppy like a floyd rose though but I don't do much dive bombing so no great loss.

He's a very talented producer and probably doesn't get the recognition in this capacity that he should.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1377449547' post='2187667'] I think anyone buying a high-end bass as an investment is a little bit daft. [/quote] [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1377449313' post='2187664'] I keep seeing these threads about "high-end" (i.e. expensive) basses, but I'm betting that well over half the people posting on these threads routinely spend WAY more on their bog-standard box-with-four-wheels than they'd ever dream of spending on a bass. And the bass will routinely hold a fair bit of its value for a long time, if it's rare & vintage it may even appreciate. Not many cars do that. [size=4][/quote][/size] +1 [size=4]I could have bought a very nice car at one point around 2006 but I decided to buy basses instead mainly because I don't like losing value with depreciation. Most of my basses have kept up with inflation and a few of them are collectable and will go up a little in value when I sell. On reflection though, the cars I thought about buying have become very desirable in the last 3 years also...so maybe there are some similarities when it comes to [b]classic[/b] examples of both cars and basses.[/size] I think there is potential for a lot of confusion between collectability, investment potential and rareness. Sometimes the three don't overlap with one another in respect of various brands and models of instrument. There are some rare instruments that are very collectable and will probably increase in value...near mint, custom colour preCBS Fenders for example. There are some instruments that are not very rare yet are very collectable and will probably continue to increase in value...early 80's Arias, Ibanezes and Yamahas for example. There are some rare instruments that are not very collectable and probably won't go up in value...Michael Spalt or Basslab instruments for example. There are some collectable instruments that are not very rare and are unlikely go up in value...Ernie Ball basses in limited edition finishes for example. There are some collectable instruments that are rare and are unlikely to go up in value...Ernie Ball NAMM graphite necked and 20th Anniversary basses for example. etc. etc. There are some rare instruments that will go up in value and aren't very collectible [i]at the moment[/i]...and I'm not saying what I think those are because last time I did that, I couldn't afford them any more. [size=4]I'd suggest that any new instrument is not going to develop investment potential for at least 30 years...and if someone could see that far into the future, their talents and time would probably be better spent in other fields of investment. [/size] [size=4]Investment potential usually comes about because of a close association with history. Fender have a close association with 60's music for example. Racing Ferraris go for massive sums of money because of their association with historic races. Typically properties that have some kind of history also go for higher sums. [/size] I don't think people who buy a new boutique bass do it for investment value. From what I've observed I think they buy high end basses for similar reasons that non musicians might buy a fancy grained piece of furniture like a table or chest of drawers. The instruments are very decorative, functional and usually high quality pieces of craftsmanship.

I scored a Wilkinson VS100C convertible trem in March - rare as rockinghorse poo and a great design for locking the trem when not in use. But it was in gold so I set about replacing the chrome hardware with gold. Mr Shuker also installed and routed for the trem so it floated properly. Apart from pickup screws still being chrome, the rest of the guitar is complete. [attachment=142345:DSC09487.JPG] When I got the guitar in 2006, it looked like this: [attachment=142346:DSCF1200.JPG]

Nice work Jim.

Pickup winding has so many variables its on the verge of a dark art for specific results but it's not difficult to get a decent sounding pick up. There's no harm in mucking about with something if you haven't set your expectations too high.

[quote name='Acebassmusic' timestamp='1377354422' post='2186636']You seem to have listed a lot of things people tend not to like[/quote] [quote name='Acebassmusic' timestamp='1377354422' post='2186636'] I love the idea of combining them all [/quote] It's rebelling against punk.

I think its going to look very classy, even just based on the work I've done to date. The front features some crazy quilted maple. I think Jon might want to do the interesting and tricky bits so I've left him to progress the carved top a bit in my absence and build the bridge anchor unit.

I love Phil Collins's groove playing. I think he's vastly underrated as a drummer but in that clip he's not as relaxed as he has been in other clips. For example his snare isn't far enough behind the beat and it doesn't sit in the pocket very comfortably...compare it to this clip where the playing is much more relaxed (although he's doubling up with...is it [url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Brzezicki"]Mark Brzezicki[/url] from Big Country?): [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcBKbu35nPo[/media] Also I think the hit hat was too high in the mix at the start of the clip but the engineer sorted it out after the solos 4 min in.

Some of you will know I have been doing a bit of work with Jon Shuker on a bass build idea I've had for a while mainly because nobody makes a bass that fits my specifications. So this week was the day the ideas became more tangible and it also gave me an opportunity to learn more about luthiery. The idea was based on these principles: 1) A wide bodied five string: Ergonomics are a very personal thing...I prefer VERY wide bodied basses as I owned a Jaydee MK Series II for 12 years and it pretty much set the standard for other instruments in terms of comfort. The Pangborn and Alembic I own are the two basses I feel most comfortable on but neither are 5 strings and I definitely NEED a B string in my life. 2) Headless but without a large chunk taken out of the body for the tuners. I also like the weightless balance of headless basses I also have a stash of Moses steinberger necks which have proven to be very stiff and warm sounding. I'd brought a neck over with me from NZ but forgot that I had left a four and a five with Jon anyway. So given we had two five string necks, it made sense to make two bodies and for one bass to have a defretted neck. Part of the design challenge was to come up with a wide bodied design that could be headless but without a nasty great chunk scooped out the bridge end of the bass for the tuners. Jens Ritter provided some inspiration on that front with a special edition headless fretless he'd built some time ago. But Jon and I have developed Jen's great design idea a few steps further in the interests of practicality, tonal options (and, it has to be said, a lack of super deep routing bits!) We will end up with a bass where the tuners will be flush with the back of the basses rather than protruding so they can sit in a case without bending the tuner screws and the tuners will be mounted on a removable tone block for ease of repair or maintenance. I've also admired the Fodera Beez Elite single cut body shape so that kind of set the standard for the quality of curves, especially around the upper and lower bouts. So while I didn't want to copy the Beez Elite shape (not wide enough) I did want to produce a single cut that had the same fluid curves. 3) Aesthetics inspired by a D'Aquisto/D'Angelico jazz archtop: In terms of appearance, I've think jazz archtops are very elegant. So I wanted to borrow some of that 40's Art Deco aesthetic too but without compromising on any contemporary design features. I also think D'Angelico/D'Aquisto make some of the most elegant archtop guitars I've ever seen, and they're not tied to traditional finishes. My favourite uses a stunning blueburst finish. I also have a very distant memory of seeing Daryl Jones playing a stunning (Leduc?) fretless jazz bass with a carved, flame maple top in an 80's Hartke ad. Both led me to choose a carved top in maple with edge binding and maybe an f-hole. 4) Basic sound: warmth with lots of midrange growl and some mellow but clean highs. The standard for this is my Spector NS5CR. It's all maple and sounds very growly with a nice amount of warmth. I wanted to keep some of that but with the growl slightly lower and with a bit more warmth. I've also played a number of chambered and semi hollow basses which also had loads of growl. Mahogany is generally a good bet for lower mid range growl although it can still be a bit of a lottery with the density of wood. Sometimes it can sound a little boomy. So chambering seemed to be one way of reducing the mass a little to remove some of the potential for boom, lightening the weight, make those mids more prominent and provide an opportunity for an f-hole to enhance the jazz archtop look. 5) Flexibility I approached Aaron Armstrong, who makes the pickups for Ken Smith, and asked him to provide a couple of designs based on the Ken Smith spec but with more warmth, same mellow highs and a more neutral midrange. I also asked him to design them so coil splitting was available. I have coil splits in my Spectors and they are really great for emulating close approximations to other basses. I located the pickups nearer the bridge so that the potential for midrange was maximised. I should be able to get a nice burpy midrange with both pickups on, plus a passable stingray sound with the neck coil in the bridge pick up and the bridge coil in the neck pick up on. I don't expect to get a stingray sound, just something that sits in the mix in a similar way. For the electronics, I went to Klaus Noll who has built me variations on his three band parametric eq over the last 6 years. I really like his circuits and also he's great to talk to about various ideas. The latest circuit he's sent through has yet further refinement on the previous versions he's sent so it will be interesting to see what difference the changes will make. So in summary the spec is: Body: Wide shape, single cut, carved top with edge binding. Mahogany core, quilted maple top, flamed maple back, edge binding on front and back. Neck: Moses headless Steinberger 5 fretted and fretless Bridge: Custom made assembly with no hardware visible. Pickups: Armstrong Custom made Electronics: Noll 3 band parametric with customised frequency centres [attachment=142212:DSC09390.JPG] Above, the bass is mocked up with the CAD drawing I produced. It's not to everyone's taste I'm sure, but this is intended to be a very individual pair of basses that feel right to me and are satisfying to look at. Over the next four weeks, I'll post pics here of the build process as I sort through the photos of work already done. More photos will be posted as I continue to complete the fretted bass. The fretless will follow the same process so will probably skip straight to a pic of them both when the second bass is finished. I suspect there's another 48 hours of work left in the fretted. A good 56-62 in the fretless.

The two basses I'm building will be identical - wood from the same planks, electronics and pickups will be both the same also and graphite necks. One of them will have a fretless neck however but it might be possible to swap the necks around once built. Will be interesting to see if they sound the same...

[attachment=142198:DSC09412.JPG] [attachment=142199:DSC09431.JPG] [attachment=142197:DSC09466.JPG] [attachment=142200:DSC09440.JPG] This week was spent with Jon Shuker in his workshop developing and building a couple of bass bodies I've designed. It involved 12 hour long working days mainly because so much care needed to be taken with measurements and making templates. That, AND I had to make life more complicated by choosing to do edge binding, a carved top and back. (Turns out the edge binding was a really good idea anyway for hiding all sorts of router slips!) However my experiences REALLY opened my eyes about what it takes to build good basses. 1) One of the things I wanted to learn was tolerances because different materials have different tolerances on different parts of the bass. I discovered that Jon isn't so much a craftsman as an engineer when it comes to joints. He effectively operates a zero tolerance policy...by that I mean, for things like gaps in joints and routing neck pockets...it's perfection or nothing. My conclusion? Sure we are aware of tolerance issues in 70's jazz basses but now I realise how sloppy even a mm gap in a neck joint is. 2) Operating on a zero tolerance basis for joints and neck pockets TAKES TIME...for example, it took me two hours alone just to measure up and rout the pickup template because it needed to be aligned with the neck properly (and even then I messed it up). Rough carving the top and back took the best part of three hours. (Even CNC milling of a carved top takes a long time to program so for a single instrument there is no advantage compared to doing it by hand.) Jon was also adamant that these things should not be rushed. For the basses I'm building, I've put in 53 hours in 4 days so far and while one body is ready for carving the top and back, the other hasn't had the edge binding or rear facing glued on. My conclusion? Never again will I question how long it takes to make a [i]completely[/i] custom bass (including templates) or hand crafted features like edge binding or a carved top. 3) The price of materials has gone up by 50% in the last 4 years. Exotic woods such as 5A quilted maple and electrical components like dual gang pots are being bulk purchased by Far East manufacturers as soon as they can find them. A modest slab of 4A flamed maple has gone up from 150 quid to 400 quid. Already my Noll preamps have gone from 190 to 300 euros. Hopefully there will be other sources of supply which Jon can help out with. My conclusion? Unfortunately for Mr Aspirational Bass Player, this means that both electronics and fancy woods will push the price of exotic basses through the roof once existing stocks have been used up. I don't want to sound like I'm an endorser, I paid full whack for the week and it goes without saying I recommend the course. If anyone wants more info, feel free to ask. The point I was left wondering about is...given the work and increasing cost required to build a boutique bass by hand, what is it going to do to the market? My conclusion: I think we will be seeing the smaller one-man bands gradually being priced out of the market as the cost of materials becomes more unaffordable for many.

This week was spent with Jon Shuker in his workshop developing and building a couple of bass bodies I've designed. It involved 12 hour long working days mainly because so much care needed to be taken with measurements and making templates. That, AND I had to make life more complicated by choosing to do edge binding, a carved top and back. (Turns out the edge binding was a really good idea anyway for hiding all sorts of router slips!) However my experiences REALLY opened my eyes about what it takes to build good basses. 1) One of the things I wanted to learn was tolerances because different materials have different tolerances on different parts of the bass. I discovered that Jon isn't so much a craftsman as an engineer when it comes to joints. He effectively operates a zero tolerance policy...by that I mean, for things like gaps in joints and routing neck pockets...it's perfection or nothing. My conclusion? Sure we are aware of tolerance issues in 70's jazz basses but now I realise how sloppy even a mm gap in a neck joint is. 2) Operating on a zero tolerance basis for joints and neck pockets TAKES TIME...for example, it took me two hours alone just to measure up and rout the pickup template because it needed to be aligned with the neck properly (and even then I messed it up). Rough carving the top and back took the best part of three hours. (Even CNC milling of a carved top takes a long time to program so for a single instrument there is no advantage compared to doing it by hand.) Jon was also adamant that these things should not be rushed. For the basses I'm building, I've put in 53 hours in 4 days so far and while one body is ready for carving the top and back, the other hasn't had the edge binding or rear facing glued on. My conclusion? Never again will I question how long it takes to make a [i]completely[/i] custom bass (including templates) or hand crafted features like edge binding or a carved top. 3) The price of materials has gone up by 50% in the last 4 years. Exotic woods such as 5A quilted maple and electrical components like dual gang pots are being bulk purchased by Far East manufacturers as soon as they can find them. A modest slab of 4A flamed maple has gone up from 150 quid to 400 quid. Already my Noll preamps have gone from 190 to 300 euros. Hopefully there will be other sources of supply which Jon can help out with. My conclusion? Unfortunately for Mr Aspirational Bass Player, this means that both electronics and fancy woods will push the price of exotic basses through the roof once existing stocks have been used up. So...I don't want to sound like I'm an endorser so it goes without saying I recommend the course but if anyone wants more info, feel free to ask. The point I was left wondering about is whether we will be seeing the smaller one-man bands making custom exotic basses being priced out of the market and falling back on mainly repair work...?