SpondonBassed

I wonder if Eric ever bothered to learn the bassline to the Wailers' version of I shot the Sheriff? I know both but jam sessions always seem to favour the Clapton version which is a bit boring.

Welcome Jam. That's a fine bit of timber on that Thumb. Striking grain pattern. I went to school in Olney for a few years. We moved away from Buckinghamshire as the new city was being built in the early seventies. I always think fondly of the area.

Outdoor Subs I was only joking when I posted above but it actually IS a thing you can do. Gawd help the neighbours. Tell them it is merely a mole deterrent when they complain about you playing Prodigy at five past midnight.

A successful completion to a home build. It looks grand. Those knobs should be easy to adjust with the edge of the little finger while playing. Cool.

Lovely birdseye detailed fretboard. Happy NWBD!

Oo. Picky. Heeheehee They are lovely things even if you never used them in anger.

At MBB5 on Saturday Andyjr veneered what we think was a Paulogrady body. It offered no indication that he was cutting into it when he trimmed the veneer with a scalpel. There were a couple of places that got unintentionally scalloped. On the plus side, it is dead easy to dress out minor damage. It is feather light though. Probably about the same as Balsa. For these, I'd say a veneered top and back would be a good way to go. Y'bugger! You've got me thinking about a scratch build now.

When the bridge is sunk to depth your minor error will become a nice feature with the oblique cut through one corner of the bridge rebate. Nice.

Seriously. I often wondered about using blockboard with a combination of Purple Heart and a suitably contrasting other timber. You can buy large chopping boards made that way that would take some of the labour out of it but without the full Battenberg effect. If you are a joiner with access to the full workshop, I shouldn't have to tempt you much. I'd imagine care would be needed to use a combination of timbers with similar shrink rates and seasoning times. Wotcha reckon?

Your next build could then be the Battenberg Bass complete with raspberry knobs.

No need to raise the saddles to compensate if there is enough body to take the neck pocket and pickup cavities the same amount deeper. It makes the forearm rest look a bit uncomfortable though.

I'll take civil engineering over ASBO engineering any day. It amazes me when I see the lengths that some people go to to install subs in their home. Heeheehee

Modest too.

If I ever get this ingrown big toenail removed I'm curing it like a conker* with the intention of using it as a plec. *How to cure a conker

Your English is fine. We have so-called native English speakers who could learn a lot from you. Heeheehee The images are good too. The body shape now makes sense. So it's the Multiscalpentorzedless Bass. Cool. It needs a loooooooong name just so the name plate doesn't get lost somewhere in that vast expanse of timber and fretwork (It's not going to be fretless as well is it?). As the owner of two paddle basses I got used to the lack of a forearm resting zone. I found a way of anchoring my wrist just where the palm of my hand starts on the edge of the paddle shaped body. Often the pick-up bezel served as a thumb rest but only for short periods. There has been a fair bit said and done about lightening of bass bodies elsewhere in the Build Diaries. I am sure you're aware. With a pioneering spirit such as yours I have every confidence that you will work out the wrinkles in your plan.

Ah. The man behind the spider exercise. Cruel but character forming.

That second point is one I would not have realised until I get into pedals. They tell me it's inevitable even though I'm not into them yet. I reckon that belongs in the top tips/hacks thread.

The only thing that I can add is that it was great to meet up with fellow BC members again. I've been to three Bashes so far. One of them was a double bass bash. I've enjoyed them all.

Well said. I'm in complete agreement.

I'm with you on that. It's about the most ambitious build I've seen here. We were talking about it briefly at the fifth Midlands Bash Bash yesterday. Three BC members who build regularly gave presentations on their methods and the tools that they use. When your "ergonobass" was mentioned the question of playing position came up. I kind of assumed that you'd have to play this like an upright instrument unless you were seven feet tall. Having seen you do the double cut body, I am thinking again... If played horizontally by a right hander, am I right in thinking that you would have to have the bridge a lot further to your right in order to reach first position? PS: The links to your earlier photos are broken. Have you still got those images please?

It's @owen's fault. Heeheehee Looking forward to seeing how you get on.

34" I sometimes think I'd like a go on a longer scale but it remains a notion of fancy. I don't want to change scale as I have a better choice of strings at 34". Although 34" scale, both of my headless basses require double ball end strings. It's sometimes hard to get the ones I want in DBE though. I wouldn't want to add another layer of complication by going extended scale on my conventional bodied stuff. I find that five stringers are a mixed bag when it comes to the low B. Some B strings feel quite different to the E A D and G. My Steiny for example took a bit of getting used to as I'd tend to push the string over the fret ends until I refined my fretting. I managed to get a set of SS flatwounds for it off a fellow BC member and it improved the feel of the low B against the frets. My Ibby on the other hand feels consistent across all five strings. Some say the answer is to go to a longer scale. I couldn't say because I've never had the pleasure of trying one long term. I'm none too bothered. You can't miss what you've never had. Piano tone can be achieved on standard scale basses by using superwound strings. These aren't as common as in the eighties but I'd recommend you try them if you like a lively zing and that well defined tone characteristic of piano strings. The key is in the detail below. Only the core of the string sits on the saddle. The string windings start on the neck side of the saddle where they don't add stiffness at the bridge contact points.

No. You don't.

Bless you.

That is a great shame.