Maude

You Talk Too Much - Sultans Of Ping

I'm going to let it acclimatise overnight and inspect a suspect joint. I think I'm worrying about nothing because I reckon the issues with the bass are just manufacturing issues rather than damage. Apart from the fingerboard having a tiny gap to the soundboard, the actual neck and heel are two pieces of wood and I can feel an edge along that join, I just want to see check if that changes with string tension to see if it's separating or just not a great joint. Then I need to mock up a raised bridge and tailpiece to see if the soundboard is happy with the change in directional forces. If it doesn't seem happy then I'll just repair and keep it as is.

You are correct on all counts. Yes the easiest way to achieve a steeper neck angle is to remove the neck, reshape and refit. The problem is me doing it without completely destroying the body. That's why I was hoping to manage something by just replacing the fingerboard and shaving the skinny end and packing out the fat end. But without a new board I can't tell, but you may well be (read probably are) right. How easy is it to remove the entire neck from the body of an acoustic usually? I'm happy to be refinishing this as the finish isn't great anyway. A bit of time sanding it and oiling would do it the world of good as the wood is quite nice.

It'll be even more interesting when I'm sat on the shed floor in tears surrounded by little broken bits of Aria. 😉

I've lost count of the amount of cello necks I've bought without realising. 😆

Well it's here. 😬 Opened the door to the courier holding a soggy tattered box. To be fair he said he had logged it with his supervisor before leaving, so if anything was water damaged then it would be covered. So I've bought an already damaged acoustic bass, that has now, judging by the filth all over it, been dragged around in its box to the point it's soaked up enough water that it's just falling apart in your hands, and is in such a state the delivery driver is genuinely apologetic. Can't see anything going wrong here. 😆 The first box pretty much fell off and the bass was inside a second, guitar box which also felt very damp, not wet but had lost all its integrity. I get the bass out fearing the worst and do you know what? It's alright. 😃 Inspection time. No real damage that I can see as such. A small chip in the top of the headstock that was listed, much bigger chips on the shoulder of the headstock that wasn't listed. The neck seems fine and the fingerboard I don't think is lifting. So better than expected. There are issues though. These aren't complaints as such as it's only a £250/£300 bass anyway. The finishing could be better, certain parts not shaped very well and everything feels dry and slightly rough. There's a little lip where the neck and the heel are glued together, and other joints that could be tidier. This is nit picking and leads me to think that the gap between the fingerboard and body that was the main reason for the price reduction has always been there, and isn't from being dropped, or whatever. Just a bit more not perfect workmanship. It hasn't been smashed by G4M like some of their stuff but has been bought and returned. The actual issue with it is the buzzing on the board. The action is very low and while the E and A strings are fine, the D just starts to buzz a bit from around the 13th fret upwards, but not too bad. But the G stays on the same note from the 13th fret up to about the 16th/17th and then progresses as normal albeit buzzing like the D string. The board may have lifted there or was never glued down properly from factory. I've tuned it up and will let it sit overnight and inspect tomorrow as the wood is very cold from its journey so I'll let it settle. Maybe a little tweak of the trussrod will sort it, not that it needs it if I'm going to attack it. I was kind of hoping the board would be hanging off to 1, save me work and 2, ease my guilt over wrecking a decent instrument.

My Hofner Artist used a different tuner to the standard small Hofner guitar type that they used on the Violins and Clubs. Bigger like a normal bass tuner but still smaller than the norm today, with a large square pearl head. I'll have a look but I'm guessing they'll be the standard Hofner size. 👍

Thunder In The Mountains - Toyah

I you have long fingernails the only way I can see them not catching the strings is to adopt a plucking technique similar to a double bassist. A doublebass is usually plucked using the side of the finger tip, so would be beside your nail, as in this link. https://images.app.goo.gl/A62RFFja6njc6tTp6 The only other option is to buy some of those fake thumbs used for 'The disappearing handkerchief' trick. 😁 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3X-Soft-Rubber-Thumb-Magic-Simulation-Fingers-Appear-Disappear-Joke-Trick-Props-/202672360175?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

Absolutely the right move in my opinion. It's got just the right amount of detail to add interest without cluttering the design. The soundholes and quirky pickguard/control surround are the perfect amount of detail with the control surround mirroring the soundholes. Even a second pickup would clutter it I feel. The headstock matches the overall esthetic perfectly too. Profile, features and colour? Perfection! 👌

Probably beyond me, or more importantly the tools I have I'm afraid.

I love that! Very 50s Sci-fi kitsch. I bet it's even better up close with the bakelite bits. 😎

I have had the same thought, as the bass comes the bridge, and bracing, is designed to work with more of a shearing force than the straight downward force a floating bridge will place on it. My plan, and I use that word extremely loosely, is to knock up a rough bridge and tailpiece, hook the tailpiece over the bottom strap pin, with a suitable brace over the bottom of the bout, and try it as it is before removing anything original. The strings will be miles above the fingerboard but I'll be able to roughly judge its tone, and strength, on the open notes. Possibly even leave the normal E and G and fit the A and D over a tall narrow bridge to compare the two. If it really isn't going to work then I can just repair the original damage on the Aria and keep it or move it on. On the other hand it may be terminally broken from the outset. Obviously with lockdown and everything I haven't been going out or doing anything really that costs money, so if it implodes then although I'll have lost money, I'll still be up for compared to normal life expenses. And in the words of Henry Cole from Shed And Buried, "We may not have made any money, but we've had some fun doing it". 🙂 Edit. I could add a soundpost if the top looks like imploding.

Time Bomb - Rancid

Dead End Street - The Kinks

I haven't even considered the finish yet, it might be matchsticks by that point. 😆

Nope, it makes no difference on mine.

Not quite, if the idea here was to add a link for feedback to your sig so that everyone can find it easily, then that's not a good solution if some people still can't see that info. I'm not going to argue though as internet arguing just doesn't work. Feel free to put whatever you want in your sig, just understand that some won't see it.

So because something happens on your device it must happen on everyone's? Righto, at least that's cleared that up.

Screenshot in portrait. Screenshot in landscape.

Calm down dear, it makes no difference on my phone using the mobile site. As I said earlier, avatar, name and watts rating is the only info visible. No location, no post count, no sig, nothing other than that ve stated twice now. It's no problem though.

No you won't get any nut wear issues with that. Those string runs are exceptionally straight compared to some basses.

@mybass, I've got an EUB, it's not acoustic and you can't play sat down with it on your lap. 😉 I appreciate the input but this is mainly about just trying to do something different. The closest off the shelf bass to what I want is the TB-10, and at over £2.5k it isn't in the price bracket of home noodler. Even then it doesn't have an extended board like a DB. This may well turn out to be a disaster, but it's a bit of fun and I thought I'd document it so everyone can point and laugh when it goes wrong. Or maybe even be amazed if it works. 🙂

Ghost Riders In The Sky - Stan Jones and the Death Valley Rangers

It's the right (plucking) hand that I want the extra fingerboard length for. The picture in this link shows why, including why it needs to be raised off the soundboard, see his thumb. https://images.app.goo.gl/E9a6uj9SBseZjEBE8