Prosebass

And another endorsement for a sound guy...thanks for the purchase Chris , hope you enjoy it

Just like Saturday swop shop.......good guy to deal with.

Q-Tuners are superb. I have recently built a Jazz copy with a Mighty Mite ebanol fretless neck and a single pickup in the bridge position. Probably one of the best fretless sounds I have ever heard. Have a look at it in the link on my signature. Erno Zwaan at Q-Tuner also does replacement Jazz pups that should fit the standard routing

I'll recycle them for you. There is a music collective down the road from me that offers free recording and studio facilities for young uns so I am putting a couple of cheap basses together for them from bits... PM me your paypal and I 'll send you the postage. cheers...Paul

[quote name='The_D' post='331186' date='Nov 18 2008, 12:24 AM']I am still trying to work out what the OP is exactly asking for here. There have been a good few changes in bass designs even down to the sinsonido[/quote] Not after anything specific just opening up the debate as to why basses look like they do and have done for quite a while , and what if any will be the next development that we are likely to see. Plus I'm fishing for ideas .....

[quote name='The Burpster' post='330909' date='Nov 17 2008, 07:05 PM']^ GuitarHero II makes a CD........[/quote] Don't knock it "Its the future" Wonder if they will do a Weather Report add on for it...

Some very wonderful insights into design the reasons for it and why radical design never seems to become mainstream. I agree that technical development and better design all go towards enhancing the basic product but again these are just enhancements and improvements. Must admit that the disappearing frets idea is pretty neat. Maybe, as with some other design icons we will be "stuck" with the four strings on a stick and its derivatives for some time to come. If the bass cannot be seen to develop beyond its present envelope then I wonder what we will see next development wise. I don't think USB has been looked into fully. As a link between bass and amp / computer it could open up some possibilities. Maybe controlling your amp from your bass. 3 buttons would do it just like a Nokia....

[quote name='mcgraham' post='330731' date='Nov 17 2008, 03:33 PM']Whilst I agree that basses by their very nature comprise those aforementioned features, I disagree with your insinuation that the basses that were mentioned are not 'million miles ahead' of Leo's design. The mere aggregation of features does not make something better or an improvement, but by providing an additional feature (or perhaps changing one or even removing one!) that may appear to be a trivial modification when taken in isolation [i]can[/i] contribute to a massively different technical effect that provides a marked improvement. Mark[/quote] I agree entirely, but we have not seen that leap that Leo Fender made in 1948-1950 to change the "popular" bass from an upright fretless to the Precision. That was a major design change. What I want to hear opinions on is whether that leap will ever be made again rather than just tinkering around the design envelope of present basses. Granted uprights still sell alongside modern basses and I love EUB's having owned a Framus but I would love to see a different "mindset" in how bass design could go forward.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='330725' date='Nov 17 2008, 03:27 PM']Define "improve". My coffee cup hasn't changed its shape in a century. It was a pretty good design for drinking coffee then, and it still works perfectly well now. This is a classic example of [i]If it ain't broke, don't fix it[/i].[/quote] Thats what I'm getting at, can it be improved ? The Precision and Jazz are design Icons having lasted 57 and 48 years respectively. Does this mean we are all ultra conservative or that the original designs were so good ?

[quote name='chris_b' post='330709' date='Nov 17 2008, 03:04 PM']You say bass hasn't progressed since Leo then list all the changes!!! I've 3 basses sitting in my back room all of which are a million miles ahead of Leo's original idea.[/quote] They are changes to the basic design, the same with cars....four wheels 2 rows of seats and a fossil fuel engine. A Model T Ford is fundamentally the same as a 2008 BMW 5 Series Virtually 99% of basses have the same layout and design features of a Precision. A neck with frets and tuners and a 34" scale. A body with holes in it for the pups and controls, contoured to be comfortable and a metal bit to secure and adjust the strings. Now unless your 3 basses are in the 1% of something totally different they will share the same design principles of a Precision.

[quote name='mcgraham' post='330702' date='Nov 17 2008, 02:52 PM']I think there's been quite a few little advancements that help to perfect an already pretty good design. At the end of the day it's an electric bass guitar, i.e. a longer scaled fretted electric guitar. Beyond better/improved construction with better quality materials, I can only think of a few more things I'd like to see. I'd quite like to see more preamps with a headphone jack out, i.e. an onboard preamp that allows you to hear your instrument without a rig. Electric violins have this, some electric guitars (e.g. traveler guitars) as well, even some electric pianos! It seems a fairly obvious design option considering that the bass is an [i]electric [/i]instrument. Perhaps more transparent pickups/means of detecting motion of the strings? Forgetting about what sells and what people expect to hear for a moment, consider that in dealing with sound signals, it is useful (not saying best as it depends on mixing purposes, at least in music) to start with a 'pure' signal first, and then effect it after achieving this. You can't reintroduce something accurately into a sound that wasn't there to start with etc. Some pickup companies have gone for this such as Q-tuner, certain active pickup companies etc. Oh and more companies producing basses with finger ramps! Mark P.S. I'm not saying that any of these things will take off, but I think that they are common sense ideas that I rarely see or hear about.[/quote] A few inexpensive guitars have a headphone out but basses don't seem to have adopted it. It is easily possible to include one. Having built 3 basses with Q-Tuner pups I can vouch for their "transparency" . The problem here is that a bass fitted with them sounds superb through headphones and then loses a lot of that transparency when plugged into an amp, maybe a transparent amp is needed as well. By finger ramps I take it you mean a method of thumb placement ?

[quote name='Protium' post='330693' date='Nov 17 2008, 02:37 PM']Racing stripes?[/quote] Been done...... [attachment=16063:zoom_b_mach4_red.jpg]

Bass design hasn't progressed any since Leo Fender did his stuff back in the 50's Body shape has changed and you can have as many strings as you want it would seem but the basics are the same as ever. We now use attractive woods and carbon fiber but essentially its same old same old... Do any changes need doing or are we destined to be playing Precisions in 2058 ? (not me personally I'll have croaked) Midi bass failed, headless is still a niche, 4 strings tuned EADG still rule, is there anything that can be done to improve future designs ?

Do a Stu Hamm and stick a Precision Pup in between your Jazz pups.....just a thought

Meths , Meths and more Meths or denatured alcohol as it is also known. I also use it with fine wet and dry when finishing as being a solvent it does not soak into wood as water will. Using water on a rosewood board will harm it as it opens up the pores of the wood. As it is a solvent care should be taken and if using on a finished surface test first. Also it burns with a clear flame so you cannot see it even if it is alight. If it wasn't for the toxins put in it and the coloring it would also make a nice aperitif

Chris was good enough to send me some Roto's which he didn't like for Free ! What a guy......

Pleasure to deal with Will when he bought some pups off me a few weeks ago. Cheers mate

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='327444' date='Nov 12 2008, 11:43 AM']According to "Ask Gary Willis", you can shim the neck of a bass in order to lower the action. He recommends using a business card folded and trimmed.Is a business card really enough to significantly alter the height of the strings?[/quote] A business card will alter the action a lot, but I would not suggest a hard plastic shim. It is not the thickness of the card but the fact that if you place it under the heel at the end of the neck pocket it pivots the neck , so at the nut the neck can move a considerable amount in relation to the bridge. I would suggest using cardboard from a cereal / fag packet (as this will shape itself to small irregularities) the width of the neck and approx 3/4" wide. Remember you need to "pivot" the neck (lift it at the heel) as opposed to lifting the whole neck. There is no golden rule just trial and error although I would set your bridge to mid point in height before starting, and also take out any concave bend in your neck.

[quote name='steve-norris' post='326322' date='Nov 10 2008, 09:46 PM']some things while great entertainment while alone or with a small group of like minded individuals really should not be made public. [/quote] Brilliant , you make it sound like some evil depraved act against decency....which I suppose it is to some.

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='322013' date='Nov 4 2008, 06:08 PM']I'm gonna have to say that I don't go with that. True some are but I believe they're in the minority. Peter[/quote] Most I have experienced have the fret lines where the frets would have been and you adjust your finger positions to suit your style of playing. If the lines were placed in another position I think even more confusion would be created.