henry norton

[quote name='jonthebass' post='1251627' date='May 31 2011, 04:21 PM']There's that lovely Alleva at Bass Gear: [url="http://www.bassgear.co.uk/products-page/alleva-coppolo1/alleva-coppolo-kbp4-limited-supreme/"]CLick here[/url] I've tried that and it's very nice...[/quote] At £2.5k for an ex demo I should hope it would be very nice indeed. If I had that kind of cash for a Precision I would buy me 3 American Standards and use the change for the variety of strings. That way I would have 3 distinct Precision sounds, the nice US neck and as a bonus I wouldn't have to look at that hideous, clubby Alleva headstock

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1251518' date='May 31 2011, 03:07 PM']Hmm, this could get silly. 1 rosewood - flats 1 maple - rounds (nickels) 1 rosewood - D'addario Chromes (inbetween!)[/quote] Hmm, no number of Precisions can ever be deemed 'silly', unless you're John Entwistle of course

Exciting times ahead! Are you still going for the white to black sunburst?

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1251269' date='May 31 2011, 12:35 PM']No matter what I try to do, I end up knowing that I actually want more than one Precision, hence I am currently on the way of acquiring another American Standard. Part of me thinks its time to start looking at a vintage P bass, because as much as I love my Stingrays, the simplicity of a P bass and the way it ALWAYS fits in a mix just seems to work for me. Its almost like I can see myself just collecting P's, despite the fact they are all very similar.[/quote] American Standard, yes indeed. Don't accept cheap or expensive immitations!!! By the way you can always justify another bass just by stringing it with different strings. For example you have your workaday P strung with Bass Centre stainless rounds, your 60's revival P strung with Rotosound TruBass nylons and obviously another bass strung with half rounds when neither full rounds or flats are quite right. That's 3 Precisions fully justified already without even getting into nickel rounds, metal wound flats........

During my heady days as a designer of expensive furniture we always used machine screws into inserts, never screws into the wood. Leo's woodscrews obviously worked well but weren't meant for constant use. You could probably buy inserts and machine screws from somewhere like Screwfix for a couple of quid rather than pay luthier prices for the same thing but in a nicer plastic bag This is the way forward for detachable necks [url="http://brunner-guitars.com/flash/"]Brunner outdoor guitar[/url] (check out the outdoor guitar assembly/disassembly page)

[quote name='bassman2790' post='1250527' date='May 30 2011, 06:33 PM']Ever since I saw Geddy Lee play a Rick back in the late 70's, I've had a hankering for one of these iconic basses. Following the sale of my house, I had enough free capital to realise my dream. I realise that Rickenbacker has THAT tone but, for me the £1750 price tag is just too much[/quote] I think it's more to do with expectations than whether a Rick is actually a good or bad bass. If you've been brought up on a diet of Fenders a Rick might well feel clubby, sharp edged and awkward. I don't like Jazz basses much as the body feels too big for the skinny little neck and I'm sure if I had to lay out 1700 of my hard earned to add the Jazz sound to my arsenal I would walk away. Luckily a half decent Jazz can be had for a couple of hundred quid so adding one to your arsenal won't be the same kind of decision as adding a brand new Rick. I like Ricks - out of all the big brands they're the most consistent and one of the most unique. Fair dues if you just didn't like them, but compared to the equivalent Fenders or Gibsons, I don't think they're bad basses.

For most players there is a much bigger difference in feel between nut widths than there is between board radiuses (radii?). The 7.25 inch vintage Fender isn't massively different to the 10 inch modern Fender fayre or even 12 inch Gibby boards when measured over only 1.5 inches of a Jazz neck at the nut. I wouldn't worry too much about the numbers and have a play of each option, factors such as finish and radiused edges will have an equal, if not bigger impact.

Yeah I remember that Summer Of Love! I was seriously into Stingrays at the time but I still remember being quite taken with Mani's 4005. Really nice job by the way - it is 'the resurrection'

[quote name='skej21' post='1247552' date='May 27 2011, 09:34 PM']Surely the TRUE holy trinity would be like Muzz's. All three basses having the same colour scheme, but with the added bonus that they are all 'year of birth' basses too?[/quote] Well that would count me out as I was born in 1970. Allright for all you young'uns I suppose....

[quote name='chris_b' post='1246796' date='May 27 2011, 11:54 AM']There's a lot work in making a neck so I'd expect it to be more expensive than you think. It’s also a cost that you are unlikely to recoup if you sell the bass. A couple of weeks ago I asked Lakland about a fretted rosewood neck for my bass and they quoted $1000/£600 plus shipping.[/quote] I would think that a fair chunk of that would be for the Lakland transfer on the headstock...

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1246867' date='May 27 2011, 12:47 PM']I'll get back to you with some mock-ups when I get time but this fella seems to cover a few bases for you at once (chrome hardware though) [/quote] Ebony board too although IMO it suits the all black finish better than rosewood.

[quote name='mojobass' post='1245762' date='May 26 2011, 04:25 PM']ive got two warwick fortresses at present and LOVE the feel/profile of them, so i'd love to have a custom built neck with the same profile etc and woods (wenge/wenge) for a project build. Anyone any idea how much (roughly) it would cost to have one built from scratch?[/quote] What's the spec? A plain neck can be quite reasonable but once you start adding binding and inlays it goes up kinda steep The fun part of it is you can tweak the design, like coming up with your own headstock shape to complement the shape of the project body.

Sort out the Yamaha (I'll be doing an epoxy fretless coating 'how to' in build diaries soon), I reackon it's a better bass than a Squier, asides from the more important fact that it isn't a fekkin' Fender clone. Be green and be different.

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='1244869' date='May 25 2011, 10:59 PM']Back OT, music shops rely on us buying "above our station" as it were, if we didn't, they certainly wouldn't survive on sales to pro's![/quote] Ha! That's if the pro's didn't get their equipment free through an endorsement in the first place

I remember doing exactly the same thing. I had a very early Stingray 5 which I decided to sell because I always preferred gigging with my Squier Precision as I could be more relaxed with it. I was always worried the SR5 would get stolen or scratched (!). That said, 20 years on I play bass for fun and don't live in London anymore, I would go out and buy another SR5 today if I could afford it.

What about a Marshall Superbass? It'll weigh a ton and be too big to sit on top of your cabs but it might be closer to what you want. Whatever you find, it will be heavy and probably too big

Double soundpost! Apparently they're quite popular with rockabilly players (and sticking a DB through an SVT classic is going to cause more than a small feedback problem I should imagine). Apparently it totally kills the acoustic sound but if you never use it unamplified.... [url="http://doublebasschat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8487&highlight=double+sound+post&page=3"]There are loads of threads about this on here[/url]

Man I wish I had some luck like that. Six quid! Yes I would keep it and get it painted and refretted properly. I wouldn't worry too much about originality now it's had a big hole cut in the body and needs a refinish, so I would go for a decent aftermarket pickup, vintage single ply scratchplate then get on and play it. Refins and refrets only affect the value of the bass, not the playability. Oh, I would check the truss rod tfirst to make sure it hasn't been wrecked - you'll find the date it was made on the heel of the neck.

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1237523' date='May 19 2011, 11:35 PM']What makes a high end bass worth the money & where's the difference to justify it over a good sub £1000 (or even a good sub £500) job? Is a £1300 Fender P 5 stringer as good as a £1300 Dingwall Combustion & is a £2k+ "copy" P bass from the likes of Overwater or Sadowsky any better than a Fender P & actually worth the difference? & why do I need another bass when I'm happy with my Ibby (other than wanting 5 strings & no frets)? Hopefully with the right ammo I'll talk her into letting me get a custom made Ritter Raptor [/quote] There's a school of thought that says paying anything over 2k for any Fender clone is money spent on a name rather than wood, electronics & skilled labour, (unless it's inlayed with gold and diamonds of course). That said, I figure a high end bass, especially one made for you, makes you a happier person, gives you more inspiration than your £99 plywood Encore did and consequently makes you play better regardless of setup, pickups, hardware etc. And surely a happier 'you' would make a happier wife too... BTW, I find massage oil works better on my wife than danish oil does, just don't try rubbing it into your woodgrain

[quote name='neepheid' post='1237871' date='May 20 2011, 11:37 AM']It would seem to me that your first narrowing down of the options should be a question of scale. A lot of hollow body basses are short scale, which may or may not be your bag. A lot of them are short scale - Gibson EB-2, Epiphone Rivoli, Guild/DeArmond Starfire, Hagstrom Viking, Danelectro Longhorn/other short scale. Long scales include the Gibson Les Paul Signature, Epiphone Jack Casady, Danelectro Hodad/other long scale, Lakland Hollowbody, Warwick Star, Spector Spectorcore, G&L ASAT Hollow etc.[/quote] +1 on that, plus are you going for it because you like the look of proper semis (in which case Ibanez do a semi and a fully hollow bass as well as Gretsch and a load of dodgy fleabay basses too) or do you just want the sound, in which case there are a fair few chambered basses you could look at asides from the Lakland, although I haven't yet found a chambered bass that sounded or felt quite as 'acoustic' as a proper arched top semi.

That covers the strings too - it's quite an extreme measure just so you can't see the writing on top of the pickup

[quote name='untune' post='1236291' date='May 18 2011, 09:48 PM']I think I've looked at every possible soapbar out there I think, haha, I'm sure barts sound great but I don't like that huge embossed logo on them, think it looks a bit tacky Either way I've sorted a custom one out, turns out that it'd cost roughly the same as a Seymour Duncan etc but I get it made to my spec, so I thought why not [/quote] Is it in chrome or is it going to be in the typical soapbar 'any colour so long as it's black'? I was in touch with Lollar's a while back and they're working on a chrome T.Bird pickup which should come in comfortably under the Lull version if all things are equal and add up. That said, it won't be available for a few months

Respect to everyone's experience but all this experience has all been on different basses with different necks, boards, pickups, electronics and finishes. Someone here recently posted a link to a comparison between an alder bodied Jazz (I think) compared to a bit of 2 inch construction grade pine. It said quite alot about what we hear and what we perceive. I like basswood for solid finishes because it's light and cheap and sounds fine. If you want to lighten up your bass I would go for it. Are you thinking of replacing a body or building an entirely new bass???

Thanks for the comment Chris, always a pleasure hearing form you, although I heard you've given up your precisions and gone entirely DB. Are these vicious rumours true??? As for the headstock Lawrence, well, I'm waiting on the 'Cease and Desist' letter from Sue Ryder's solicitors as I write this post. I've greased the truss rod threads and glued up the neck, cut the tuner holes and stuff. It's all just woodwork from here on so I won't bore anyone with posed pictures, but I might post a couple of in progress shots of the coating process if anyone would like to see how it works.

Lookin'good. Precision with an ebony board shows some proper class. Tweak your upper mids and get out there with it