henry norton

[quote name='sambassman' post='1072085' date='Dec 29 2010, 09:08 PM']i thought it was something like that. couldnt be too sure though cheers pal [/quote] If you use active pickups like EMGs (not just an active tone circuit but proper active pickups), you won't need an earth connection to the bridge but otherwise it's pretty essential.

Is the '51 P the new super J????????????

[quote name='gilmour' post='1070064' date='Dec 27 2010, 01:50 PM']Aren't most of those short scale?[/quote] Well the Thunderbird had a 34.5" scale mahogany neck - mahogany is lighter than rock maple but is still very strong. It's also very stable.

[quote name='gilmour' post='1069903' date='Dec 27 2010, 02:28 AM']I heard that mahogany couldn't be used as a bass neck as it wouldn't be strong enough. Is this incorrect, if not what have you done to strengthen it?[/quote] Gibson and Guild players might have something to say about that!

[quote name='Doctor J' post='1069477' date='Dec 26 2010, 10:53 AM']I ordered a Hotwire 5 string many years ago, a custom jobbie with Q-tuners and a fancy Noll pre. While it was being built, however, I picked up a battered Bacchus 5 string cheap which was a revelation and, in truth, the Hotwire never really got a proper look in once it arrived such is my affection for the Bacchus. A couple of days ago I found a set of 6-strings I had bought for my old 6er but never got to use before I sold the 6... I found myself looking at the C string... then the Hotwire... then back to the C string... then back at the Hotwire... thought "[i]what have I got to lose?[/i]" and strung it up E to C. Wow! What fun. Now I'm using every bit of will power I have to resist ripping the frets out of the (absurdly) expensive Hotwire but, to be honest, I think a defretting is inevitable. Fretless E to C with lovely clear Q-tuners, how could that possibly be a bad idea?[/quote] You must be having a Steve Bailey moment. You could always try the high C on your Bacchus - you might just go mad for that combination thus making the Hotwire your default low B bass. That way you might not feel so bad about ripping the frets out of the old battered bacchus.

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='1066718' date='Dec 22 2010, 01:55 PM']Indeed. A quick look on the Warwick website (why didn't I think of that before? ) [i]claims[/i] that the bubinga and maple versions are both 4.3 kg (4-string). That's about 9½ lb... but of course there'll be big variations around that average weight.[/quote] Sad to say there's not much weight saving with semi hollows due to the big old chunk of maple up the middle - Gibson ES335s weigh in at around 8lb so another pound and a half sounds about right for a heavier, longer neck and probably heavier (German quality!) construction, heavier machines and hardware. I might have gone for one if they'd made a shorter scale version - they certainly look the part.

[quote name='wesfinn' post='1065839' date='Dec 21 2010, 05:01 PM']Gil is the master of vintage repro. One of my biggest inspirations and a genuinely nice guy who is always willing to share information. His basses are worth every single pound even though they are a several thousand![/quote] It's a really interesting thread, especially his tuning fork trick and his jig for squeezing all the glue out of the fingerboard joint. I pity the poor tech who has to lift the board off one of his guitars 'Several thousand' is allot of money for a new Fender clone though. I think it was Bill Nash who said, once you get past the 2-3000 (presumably Dollars) mark with a Fender type instrument you stop paying for craftsmanship and start paying for the name on the headstock. For several thousand pounds or dollars you can be looking at some real 60s vintage mojo.

[quote name='bartelby' post='1063410' date='Dec 19 2010, 01:03 PM']You might be able to get it for 1/2 that price [url="http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=1673322702&searchurl=bt.x%3D0%26bt.y%3D0%26sts%3Dt%26tn%3DSetup%2BAnd%2BRepair%2Bof%2Bthe%2BDouble%2BBass"]here[/url][/quote] Unfortunately that's the 'coda' supplement to the original book - it's just got some updates, erratum and extra bits of information for users of the original book. Anyway, there are probably a few people on the forum who'll be willing to thumb through their copies for the benefit of a fellow forum user The board looks to be in fairly good nik from what I can see in the pictures which must have been a bit of a relief.

[quote name='apa' post='1063980' date='Dec 19 2010, 09:53 PM']Perfect and very true lol. Thats exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks Henry Yep the blanks arent expencive even when you add postage. Was just wondering since Im off to a quit good wood suppliers soon anyway so could look around. Im asking on this element since its a critical part and not just esthetics. Ill have a looky on the net. Anyone recommend a good one? A[/quote] [url="http://www.touchstonetonewoods.co.uk/"]Touchstone Tonewoods[/url] [url="http://www.luthierssupplies.co.uk/"]David Dyke (Luthier Supplies)[/url] Both do postage and give a very personal, helpful service, so you can't go far wrong with them.

If you go to a luthier supplier you can specify how dark, brown, cream, streaky, wavy or dead black a board you want. An ebony fingerboard blank isn't actually that expensive if you're building one instrument and yes, I'd go to a luthier supplier because you generally pay for wood by volume (even for smallish bits) and you'd probably have to buy a larger chunk from a timber supplier, consequently paying for more wood you won't use. Tonewoods are usually dried and stored with instrument making in mind and are graded on quality (tightness & straightness of grain, figure or lack of, density etc.), none of which you're likely to find from a wood yard unless they're very very good indeed, and there ain't many very very good wood yards around Or to put it another way if you can't justify 20 quid for a decent ebony board you're going to have bigger problems bringing the rest of the bass up to the lofty standards of your pro quality ebony board!

If you really want to have a go yourself try this book [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Setup-Repair-Double-Optimum-Sound/dp/1892210061/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292702498&sr=8-1"]Repair & Setup of Double Bass[/url]. It's rather more money now than when I bought mine but you could probably ask your local library to get hold of it. It has a smallish section specific to laminated instruments but a wealth of information on general setup and repair, which, looking at what you've got, will take the most time. Fitting bridges and shooting fingerboards are quite involved but neither's impossible, you just need to take your time. Just do it

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1055700' date='Dec 12 2010, 10:14 AM']I think/hope I know Bob well enough to ask this question without it derailing this thread. Something has always puzzled me about these 'glass-like' finishes and BO necks. The neck is coated in a uniform thin veneer of very hard lacquer, it is then put onto a bass and with strings, brought up to tension which applies a bow to the neck (I'm assuming the neck does retain full truss rod adjustment); why doesn't the lacquer crack or craze as the neck starts to flex/bow? I can accept that a normal fretless/fretted neck has some give for the wood fibres to move (the fretted would have more latitude with the fret slots) but something which I visualize as a sheet of ice (the epoxy coating) surely can't have that much give... can it? I know that this is one of those things you just accept because there are loads of basses out there with this type of finish but is there a risk that the 'glass' will shatter?[/quote] Most coatings like cellulose, polyester and epoxy are actually very flexible. Epoxy is very bendy when it's cast in a thin sheet. Even glass has a degree of flexibility if it's thin enough which has led to a few people [i]fitting[/i] glass fingerboards to their fretless basses/guitars. It's a bit misleading when some coated fretless boards are claimed to be 'ultra hard' or '80% hard as glass' - the terms 'hard, tough & strong' are often confused or mixed up for artistic license.

If it was an EB-6 it might just be worth the work....

There are quite a few individuals on the forum who have the skills to make you a thru necked bass. Maybe you could re-post the thread as "are there any makers on the forum who'll build me a........" Thru's aren't rocket science to build, just a bit different.

[quote name='JimD' post='1053011' date='Dec 9 2010, 05:55 PM']If you are into SG-type basses, check out Mike Watt's basses in his "Thud Staff" section. [url="http://hootpage.com"]http://hootpage.com[/url] He's done various customisations and tweaks to the different models he has had over the years. Watt was the bassist in The Minutemen and Firehose and has been bassing for J.Mascis and Iggy and the Stooges for some years.[/quote] I think Mike Watt used an original T.bird for some Minutemen stuff and a J/P maple neck Precision for most of fIREHOSE. That said, he seems pretty well sold on hot rodded short scale EBs these days. I know this because Mike Watt is probably the biggest single reason I started playing bass guitar and definitely worth checking out whatever you play. Here's another link to Mike Watt and Gibson basses in particular [url="http://www.flyguitars.com/interviews/mikewatt.php"]flyguitars[/url]. I'd also recommend you just get yourself an Epi EB-0. It's the best hundred quid I ever spent and that's after twenty odd years of Jazzes, Precisions and Stingrays. It's a Marmite thing but it's worth trying.

Mine's never added any noise - it's totally subtractive and pretty much independent from the rest of the electronics as it's wired direct to the output jack. It's moderately useful but some of the sounds (mine's got 5 settings plus a 6th 'off' setting) are too woolly or too thin, but it does give more variety than a bog standard passive tone will.

Like SteveO says, actives are normally switched on when you're plugged in - the actives are wired 'on' all the time and plugging in usually completes the negative/earthing side of the circuit, so the first place to look would be the wires coming from the circuit to the jack socket.

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1048281' date='Dec 5 2010, 03:59 PM']Stupid question maybe, but do you mean bridge or do you mean nut? I've never seen a plastic bridge for electric bass, and even the Fender bent-bit-of-tin bridge would be pretty hard to break by cracking the saddles![/quote] Sounds like a 'nut' question rather than a 'bridge' one although you can indeed get plastic bridge saddles like the original phenolic '51 Precisions. If it's the nut you need to replace there's loads of different materials - brass (goes green after a few years, harder to work than bone) , polished stainless (bloody hard work to shape but looks good and lasts well), bone (easy to work and looks OK but smells a bit when you're working it and goes a bit grey and greasy looking over the years), ivory (looks good, ages well, easy to work but hugely un-pc and so far as I know, pretty much unobtainable), Graphite impregnated resin (OK to work, slippery but usually black), corian (man made, easy enough to work, very white, doesn't smell when you work it and it's what I usually use), A load of other specialist nuts like 'Tusq' that are meant to transform the sound of your instrument, improve your love life, enlarge your p........ , you get the drift, but for anything up to 25 quid as opposed to a couple of quid for bone or corian (or a couple of years suspended sentence if you're caught using uncertified ivory). Does this help or have you really broken a saddle on your bbot bridge???

[quote name='jimbobothy' post='1047096' date='Dec 4 2010, 10:11 AM']Fair enough, then how about [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ultra-Rare-SEI-5-String-Super-Jazz-Bass-Flight-Case-/190472552997?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c590c8225"]THIS ONE[/url]? The grain does appear to match up very nicely. I might be thinking too much into it and the luthiers manage to find a matching piece from another lump of timber but sometimes I think the covers just match too well for that to happen![/quote] If you look closely it doesn't match exactly so is probably taken from the same part of the tree, possibly the next slice along, (bookmatched, where the timber is cut and opened out like a book to give a mirror image like on the very best curly and flame maple tops/backs, but flipped over). If Martin has access to a decent sized saw he'd have no trouble cutting a thin cavity cover off a big chunk.

Here's my EB (actually an EB-0) bought used from here and with the original trebly, quiet Epi pickup moved to the bridge position, a 4 magnet monster mudbucker placed in the neck position, again bought for not much money on the forum and a bass varitone from some American guy on the internet. It'll do most sounds from muddy ground shaking through Stanley Clarke slappy to Jaco harmonics. All in it cost me less than one DarkStar pickup! I think some people are disappointed with Model 1s because they are bought to replace an Epiphone neck pickup, which has a very different output and tone compared to an original Gibson Mudbucker. They really are boomy and muddy whereas the Epiphone is quite clear and low output in comparison. As the DiMarzio was originally developed to give Gibson players clearer, less distorted output, it's ended up sounding fairly similar to the toned down, sanitised pickup now used in Epiphones. When someone pays big money for a replacement pickup they're looking for a dramatic change, which swapping over an Epi pickup for a Model 1 won't give.

[quote name='dmz' post='1041639' date='Nov 29 2010, 10:00 PM']If you do go down the B. Hefner route you'll have to add tuners as well mind....[/quote] One of the most important (and overlooked) points is the finish. The standard finish Hefner spray onto their necks might not be thick enough to cope with the constant abrasion of rounds. At the very least you'd need a urethane finish, not cellulose, sprayed rather thicker on the board than on the rest of the neck, and if you're really serious most commercial coated fretless (like Pedulla and the old Fenders) are sprayed in the dreaded polyester. The alternative is epoxy (which is what I use) as it's tough and safer to apply but you won't find much 'off the shelf'.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='1041269' date='Nov 29 2010, 04:28 PM']DarkStars are unlikely to be an option. The web site is still there, but Fred Hammon is reportedly not answering emails. They don't often come up for sale used.[/quote] Umph is waiting for a couple of DarkStars to be delivered for his Shuker build at the moment (in Build Diaries) so I hope for [i]his[/i] sake Fred's still in business. He hasn't been very quick answering the couple of emails I've sent him in the past so maybe people are just getting a bit impatient in this instant messaging world in which we live. The pickups themselves are pretty good although you could buy a couple of Model 1s and a tone circuit for the price of one, but remember you can always take it out again if you decide to sell the bass on. They fit a standard guitar humbucker sized rout so you can always replace it with a £12.50 Wilkinson or something similar if you decide to flog it.

I'd check out some UK/European suppliers first as once you've taken into account the cost of the parts, packing and shipping, import duty and VAT it often adds up to quite allot more than you'd think. Allparts UK for instance?

If it's done properly it shouldn't make much difference. I usually do a scarf joint because I think the contrast on the back of a laminated neck looks really good (in an Alembic kind of way). I don't think anybody's done much scientific analysis of the differences so I'd do what you think will look better.

That actually looks like a good way of doing it although you might have a problem getting a clear lacquer to stick to a wax based liming paste. If you want it all sealed in you might be better off spraying it up in a few coats of black then blowing over that with a coat of white and cutting back through it with wet & dry so it rubs away on the flat bits exposing the black but gets left in the grain. That way you can lacquer it to your hearts content. Do you really need to put a clear coat over the top of this? I thought one of the nicest things about open grained woods was feeling the texture of the grain, something you would lose if much clear coat was used.