ZenBasses

[quote name='Myke' timestamp='1398791283' post='2437650'] Soo many knobs! [/quote] Is that including the one who sold it?.. Lol... New one should have 1 less knobs.. Unbelievably that bass also had 5 dip switches inside and a overall eq gain pot as well.

My original build was a 5 string elite and didn't have the carbon fiber truss rods but was still stable. The 4 string Horn bass I owner did and that was unbelievably stable. Never moved an inch. Proof maybe the strength of the neck starts in the middle. Your basses look amazing.. The singlecut is what I wanted but at nearly 700 quid more than my build I just couldn't justify it. What's the facing on that one? Looks like splated maple or some strange sycamore. It's lovely.. Your 5 string is also lovely. Looks very similar to my original build with the facing which was madrone burl (see pics). This was the first bass (sticking my neck out here) that Jon made where the control knobs follow the curve of the body in a line. Something I really liked from Elrick at the time I was choosing the spec. Jon has used this again a numerous occasions. If anyone knows where this ended up I want it back..... But it's probably lost forever more. Popping down to see Jon tommorw at his workshop to see the bass before basically the final push. Headstock veneers have been glued in place and it's nearly ready for fretting. Should be an exciting trip out even if it is a 4 hour round trip.

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1398524331' post='2434975'] It's a bit like asking the length of a piece of string[size=4] [/size] [/quote] That's easy Twice the distance from the middle to the end Sorry I couldn't resist... My GB has a battery indicators so I am all right Mainly as mentioned you get a distorted edge to your sound.. A drop off in eq and overall volume. I change my batteries every time I change my strings (about every 3 months) I don't spend stupid money on duracells just whatever is on offer.. I keep the old ones for a while and then recycle them at work. I have had the unnerving experience at a gig once that resulted in 'roulette' praying it didn't die before the end of the gig. It didn't and the result was. "I like when you added a bit off distortion to your sound part way through the gig" Pah shows I nothing about sound.

Spoke to Jon last night and we have agreed to go with the cocobolo. The plank looks light but as the wood oxidises with the air it's turning a lovely orangey / redy hue with lovely markings. Jon says any shrinkage will be minimal and if in the future it's needs the fret ends doing he will do it free of charge. It'll be a one off as it's rare as hens teeth is cocobolo sapwood. We've also decided on some low profile flat top Schaller control knobs as well the uberhorn below has some of the same on but mine will be all black hardware.

Correct the Siricote is the one of the right. I am thinking you are probably right the fret will give it a lovely look.. Just want to see if Jon has any siricote that's a little lighter in colour. Thinking about Siricote if it could be done it would lovely as a drop top with the grain enhanced by a silvery colour.. But anyway I digress. Shall email Jon tonight and see what he can come up with Another update is I've decided to have the rear control cavities and the truss rod cover made from camphor. If I had decided this earlier I would have been able to have matching walnut. But it'll look cool none the less.

The ebony on my GB has ever so slightly shrunk around the dusty end.. But Jon sorted that out for me when I had some work done. At that time he said that was the problem with high density woods such as ebony. It's just hard to envisage what the cocco will look like as a fretboard. Not many example I can find online as most of this type of figuring never makes it to the bass builders and is burnt or most likely sold to wood turners as it can be unstable. Tone woods are chosen for their lack of figuring and straight grains.. The bocote (as it should be as it's relates) looks like a rosewood. Which I wanted to stay away from. I'm going to ask Jon if he has anymore siricote to compare unfortunately a lot of searching on his behalf has only yielded one is usable piece of the cocobolo. As it's always air dryed it's prone to be a more unstable wood. Though my basses are kept at a constant temperature 90% of the time in a dehumidified (is that a word?) room so I guess those conditions should limit any movements. My question is.. If a board does shrink how does this affect the intonation of the notes. Or because it's flat sawn it doesn't tend to along its length rather is radius... Excited and love the knowledge you gain by going through the custom process. If he can get it completed in the time frame it will land just nicely near my milestone birthday or 30..Yay

So we have quite a few new pictures from Jon last night showing a couple of possibilities for the fingerboard He has found some cocobolo sapwood that will do the job but as the grain changes quite a lot within the 6mm thickness he cannot 100% guarantee that there will be no shrinkage around the fret ends over time but it hasn't moved thus far since he has worked on the piece. The others are 2 nice examples of bocote and a stunning example of siricote What do you guys reckon.. Although I love the look of the coco is it worth running the risk of possible shrinkage.? Luckily though he says once the board is choose we are 4-6 weeks away.. Happy Days

The GB in question was bought in 2001 and it was Bernies 'test mule'for a number of years. I got it at a great price at am NEC convention. My opinion of this GB compared with others is that it was never intended to be for resale but as a testing ground. Indeed the parismic paint job was a design idea and was the first to have it. The electronics when Jon serviced it appeared to have been setup in several different combinations in the past. The frets at the dusty end aren't as well finished as you would normally expect from a GB. It's quite possible the nut was 'wrong" in the first place. I don't know if Jon did anything to the Nut when it was setup. I was never made aware of any such alterations. The bass has always had the same gauge strings on 45-105s and it was set up with strings provided by myself. It might have been shimmed at some point. Can't get a good picture but the glue/resin used to fix the nut appears to have crumbled in that area in the nut has dropped slightly and it was being Bridged on the headstock where the mark is in would assume this would lift the strings ever so slightly out of the nut allowing the vibrations to wear it away. As for the material I am not sure.. Could be bone?. All I know is I restrung it about 2months ago again with the same set elites and I am pretty sure I would have noticed this then... The mystery continues. Luckily Singlecoil.co.uk in Leeds are happy to replace the nut. I really like brass nuts but this would look odd.. Unless you can get them black coated. All the best Ben

So you sit down on nice rainy evening and decided to have a bit of therapeutic cleaning and restringing time. Only to realise that there's something a miss at the headstock. My e string has been a bit dead for a while and thought a change of strings (even though they ain't that old) was in order So ordered my usual set of Elites 45-105s It would appear the g string slot has either broken or completely worn away. This was set up by Jon Shuker about 8 months ago and I am sure he would spotted such an issue. As you can see from the pictures a small groove has formed on the actually headstock itself. So it looks like that'll be route of my dead e string and time to get a new nut fitted. What do you guys think? It hasn't been dropped or anything and it appears to have cracked the lacquer. Somethings as mentioned in a miss

I was inspired [media]http://youtu.be/9qIaUqO35UM[/media] No I am not mimicking Pino Its not rehearsed and its full of mistakes..!! But, I enjoyed myself.... Also the first Vid I've recorded with my £80 Yammy... Cover Your Ears..!!!!!!!

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1386531896' post='2301164'] Alembic Europa 5 [/quote] That's 2 things I've got right on BC this week. I'm on a role Seriously though I've been loving Mr Bungle on the journeys to work since this post was started Makes public transport much more bearable Hehe

I saw Mr Bungle when they were touring the California album http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4rqXqpLCZ0 Perfect example of their music Ps is the bass player playing a Alembic or a reversed headstock pedulla? Or neither..lol .

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1384792269' post='2280778'] yep, ACG as ead said I wonder if it might be related to reducing neck dive as the headstock is slightly shorter and therefore has a reduced lever arm / 'moment'? [/quote] Thus is mighty true.. And that's a stunning ACG as ever... It's all a bit of mine field considering it's such a functional part of most string instruments.. Patenting shapes, finishes, electrics, pickups etc etc.. Fine I get that... It is like buying a car only to discover the indicators are in the glove box as someone patented the indicators stalks.

Some informative stuff there.. I'd better check with Jon to see if he knows of any legal reason (bar humbug to EB) as to why it can't be done.. The GUS headstock is where I am heading. Probably the same Schaller or Gotoh tuners as Jon uses... Thinking the 3+1 A. To be a little bit different B. Quite short in the arms... G string is sometimes a stretch.. (enter the crudest comment here).. Not that is problem but would be nice to be little lazy Thanks guys

I think I'd send a few blank cheques and a spec of complete artistic license to Jon Shuker, Bernie Goodfellow, Martin&John and Rob Green... Plus maybe a few more.. See what I end up with..

In deciding the finer details of a new Shuker build it's down to the headstock layout. I was thinking that a 3+1 layout would be something a little bit different. Apart from the obvious Musicman example are there any other good examples that use this config. I seem to remember that Mtd did a few but I might be mistaken. Also is there actually any benefit to having a 3+1 setup...?. On a 5 string it makes sense to have 4+1 or a 3+2.. Cheers guys+gals