mikebass456

American basses and British amplification - a recognised winning combination!😁

Got the templates cut out ok ready for the router work later on. Spending ages on getting all the detail and slight lumps out of the edges was well worth it at this stage, so there was no extra 'shaping' required once the body and neck blanks had been cut out. Pile of wood ready for gluing together - beech and an old hardwood plinth/shelf (still not sure if its mahogany or not.....)

Cover Band Bingo must have most of them listed......😂😂

I sometimes open the case just to have a quick sniff - theres something about the smell of US basses......it was the same with the G&L USA 5 string blueburst I used to have as well😎

I bought a 3 band Stingray off e-bay a few years ago - paid about £800 for it including original case. The only downside to it was it was a sort of sparkly red/black burst - candy apple I think it was referred to..... Anyway, I took it across to Jon Shuker in Derbyshire not long afterwards to have it resprayed gloss black, and it just looks the business now! Its got a matt black scratchplate (with white side laminate), rosewood fingerboard and chrome hardware and is so smooth and fast to play. It doesn't come out to play as often as I would like (especially at the moment), but has got the full stingray range of sounds and tones! My dream bass would be a natural body/maple fingerboard classic 5 string stingray, but they seem to be so far and few around.............

One of the main parts of the preparation for the build was the making of various jigs for some of the processes. This one was to cut the scarf joint angle in the neck blank - Pinterest was found to be a very rich source of inspiration and ideas for every step of the build, especially for the jigs and formers/templates etc.........

To be fully authentic, it would also need to take the skin off the back of my thumb against the inside the chrome surround of the bridge pickup...... I may have incorporated a little artistic licence in my interpretation of the style.......😉

So, here's how it all started. Having played Kala acoustic U-basses for a few years, I decided that I would try and build a solid-bodied version to the same short scale and with the same 'rubber' strings. Being also in posession of a full size ricky, this was to be my inspiration and starting point. Bear in mind that this is all retrospective, as the build was completed last year, but I thought I'd put the pictures and thought/build process up in case it proves inspiring or helpful to anyone else...... As such, I'll trickle the pictures and info in when I have a few minutes here and there, rather than just dump the whole lot on in one go (its not like I'm particularly busy currently.......)

Good idea! I'll get onto it tomorrow morning............cheers!😃👍

Jumping about a bit here, both the body and neck blanks gluing up ready for next stage.

How it all began..............with some strips of beech and and old hardwood shelf

Same here, except that I've only got about 9 feet by 9 feet to work in, so theres no room for expansion! Love the build photos - used to follow a chap on Instagram who made similar instruments a couple of years ago. Now I've got more time on my hands, I've pulled together the build pics I took during the making of the Ricky inspired uke bass I posted earlier. I'll drip feed them out rather than bang them all on one after the other - after all, its not a patch on the works of art you're crafting there fella!

You've probably looked into this already, but just in case......can't you get your last employer to take you back on and furlough you on 80% of what you were being paid? Doesn't cost them anything as they get it from the Govt anyway.........fingers crossed for you on the UC and jobsearch - hope the latter option works for you though!😉👍

My drive home from gigs usually sees more deer than badgers.....equally likely to potentially take the shine off the end of the evening for both me and bambi.........

The discussion in general on basschat seems to be either badgers or bog roll currently.......

Yep - I modelled it on lemmys ric. I was going to have a crack at carving the oak leaves into it as well, but bottled it and went for the pickguard instead......😎

Looking like a superb job! Here's the even shorter ukulele bass i finished making last year. i can add all the 'during construction' pics as well if anyone's interested in them.........

We were about 3 months apart on the gigs, not as if it was the week before, and i have had to move gigs before in other venues for this purpose, so i do appreciate the thinking behind a request not to book too close in another venue. I'm in another band now that doesn't play in the same town, so might grow a tache and see if I can sneak in under the radar.......😜

Fully agree with the above - the jar is a great way to help the smaller venues to put live music on regularly, which at the end of the day is the main point. The 'LL is very nice and good at getting the PA sorted for bands - I've been to see quite a few there over the years. It was just bizarre that my old band got all their gigs cancelled and barred from the place for playing elsewhere in the town though.........

Classy looking rig you got there now!😀👍😎

I've got all of those, plus drummer-related tourettes..........

Slap or fingerstyle binky?!😆😆

Plenty off time for him to sort out some backing tracks then.......😀👍

Previously a quality manager in various packaging companies around the area. Now working two days a week as a systems coordinator for a small printing company, largely on the quality and health and safety documentation. As with kiwi, the missus is self employed working from home, earning about twice as much as me. No kids, mortgage or loans to pay, so I've decided to take a sabbatical year out of work when i get to 55 (next year) and take an equivalent years salary as a lump sum out of one of my pensions to just play in as many different music opportunities as come up, while looking for something completely different to retrain in for the remaining few years before the state pension kicks in.......all suggestions welcomed!

Having said that,we did have some great gigs in the place I'm thinking of, up to the point where the whole band was barred for daring to play gigs at another pub in the town...........😜😂😂