henry norton

[quote name='lettsguitars' post='1035845' date='Nov 25 2010, 03:33 AM']you can eliminate most of the sanding with cabinet scrapers. those things will save your life if you spend a lot of time with dodgy carcinogenic hardwoods.[/quote] Careful! you're giving away trade secrets I use a palm sander for epic sanding jobs. Life's too short for that much elbow grease although I must admit scrapers are very handy for burls and arched tops.

Respect to all the Fender cloners out there but it's nice to see someone applying some original thought to their basses. Like the little (cocobolo?) chunks on the ends of the wings - is it just for show or is there a purpose to them?

The board matches the lacquer well - maybe you should have asked Fred to make your Darkstars with cherry bobbins instead of black

Pretty much all of the above but work out the neck angle full scale on a bit of paper first. As for keeping the wings aligned, you can always bang a couple of slim nails a short way into the centre section, cut the excess off with some pliers and file the stumps down to points and hey presto, you have a way of locating the body wings without slippage when you glue it up. I use a biscuit jointer for all my bodily connections(!) which is essentially the same thing but using flat wooden oval things to keep al the bits of wood square on. Titebond's pretty good but any decent woodworking glue will give you a joint "stronger than the wood itself" as they say.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='1020433' date='Nov 11 2010, 06:31 PM']Interesting - would there be enough room on the body to put the bridge as close to the edge as possible and use a hardtail bridge instead of using a longer neck? Fill in the existing route for the vibrato and maybe even have a 4th pickup.[/quote] Yeah absolutely, although the idea behind this neck was to transform a bog standard Stratocaster (or Tele) into a Bass VI with no more work than bolting a new neck onto your existing body & hardware. That way the bass is a bit longer but you have 2 octave board and no extra work. Landing Guitars [url="http://www.landingbass.com/New%20Main%20Page.html"]Click Here[/url]make more or less exactly what you're suggesting except as a 4 string - a short scale bass neck set into a Strat body with the bridge set right back. They're nice and compact but not what I'm after with this conversion as I want 6 strings and a tremolo.

Here's the neck so far - it fits fine but I need to slim down the profile a bit to go with the 'dainty' string spacing. Once I'm happy with it I'll fit the dots and frets and we'll see whether it really works. I've set it next to a 34" Precision to give a sense of the scale.

Sounds a cool project, especially considering how impossible it is to get hold of an original. I wanted to build myself a 4005 (I hear they made a 6 and an 8 (octave) string version too) but I haven't had the time so far. Rickenbacker reckon they'll never make them again because of the limited demand so if this works well you might find more people doing the same thing. I'll be watching this thread....

I'd do your maths first vis-a-vis importing a new neck from the States as shipping and import duty/tax can add a significant amount to a 'bargain' part. There are a couple of suppliers in the UK who'll do a plain ebony neck for reasonable money, some advertise on Ebay. You could always go the DIY route, buy your Affinity, chisel off the old board and glue a new chunk of ebony on it. It's not as difficult as it sounds...

Thanks for all the comments and the offset guitars resource Stu - it's already answered a couple of my concerns regarding using the bog standard guitar tuners (seems like that's what Fender used which means it'll be closer to a straight swap instead of having to modify them or, shock horror, buy new ones!). I'll keep everyone posted as I go along. I'm puzzling over strings now; Fender Bass VI strings might be too long to cope with the tail piece so I'm looking at the D'Addario and Ernie Ball short scale VI sets. All opinions, positive and negative, are welcome

I've always hankered after a Fender Bass VI but even the Japanese reissues are megabucks so, as I've got all my tools out for a commission at the moment I thought I'd try making a long scale neck at the same time, to retrofit onto a dodgy Strat copy I've 'acquired'. The scale's 29.75 inches and the neck should be a straight swap, tuners and all. Well, that's what I'm hoping anyway. I'm using a bit of slab cut maple I had lying around (I think it started out life as some posh skirting board) but as it's not thick enough to make a one piece neck I've had to machine up a separate maple board. It'll have a flattish vintage truss rod, side dots but no board markers. The pictures are of the rough cut neck/board/truss rod and of the body with a paper neck template in place to see how it balances visually. It might not work first time, (I'm not entirely sure the tuners will cope even with light bass strings), but hopefully I'll eventually get something close to a grands worth of Bass VI

[quote name='chris_b' post='1002846' date='Oct 27 2010, 07:41 PM']And when you wear through the lacquer.[/quote] Unless it's a fretless it would take years to wear through the lacquer on a maple fingerboard. Don't worry too much so long as there's something protecting the finish. I'm about to try an acrylic finish on a maple board which is water based and much less offensive than 2 pack or even cellulose. I'll post up the results on the build diary section once I'm done.

So far as I know Nordstrand do custom spacings (Rumple got some Big Splits made in a 17mm spacing quite recently) - it'll be worth asking before you look elsewhere as they are very cool.

Lookin' good - what's the spec - pickups, woods, scale length etc? Are you hollowing it out? We must know these things......

[quote name='BoomBass' post='996727' date='Oct 22 2010, 10:36 AM']True, but if one doesn't know the difference between pre-CBS and CBS, he/she shouldn't buy basses from those periods :-)[/quote] Fair point, but I'll bet 99 out of 100 Basschatters couldn't tell the difference in a blind test....

[quote name='allighatt0r' post='993543' date='Oct 19 2010, 03:08 PM']Henry means using double sided sticky tape to stick one of these on instead of the bird shaped thing [url="http://www.wdmusic.com/fender_musicmaster_bass_pickguard_mmb_6005.html"]http://www.wdmusic.com/fender_musicmaster_...d_mmb_6005.html[/url][/quote] Thanks - that is what I meant only I'd suggest buying a square bit of plastic and cutting out your own scratchplate shape to fit your bass and cover the holes left by the weird bird/head/face thing you have on there now. I suggested you fit your super duper new custom designed scratchplate with double sided tape so you can always take it off and put the weird bird/head/face thing back on if you ever wanted to sell it.

I'd get a bit of tortoiseshell or black/white laminate scratch plate material and design my own to cover the holes in a more tasteful, less cartoony fashion. Otherwise it's a pretty cool looking bass. If you're really scared about devaluing it by drilling new plate holes you can always double side a new plate on

I can't remember his name but he used to play in a band called 'Cut To The Chase' 20-odd years ago. "Sinuous fretless, nasty slap funk and sophisticated guitar" was the tagline if my memory serves me well.

[quote name='magicmarco' post='989605' date='Oct 15 2010, 08:57 PM']Hi all, Does anyone know what this guitar would be worth roughly? It is a 1967 Gibson EB-2D in perfect working order with its original hardcase. Approx 15 years ago the back of the headstock craked but it did not affect the verve of the wood and was professionally repaired. It has played fine ever since. Reason I ask is that I am thinking of buying it but not sure of its value. Would appreciate any input Thanks[/quote] I was looking at these and US Epi Rivolis a year or two back - they were going for around a grand to fifteen hundred (UK pounds) at the time, depending on condition. They've never reached the lofty heights of Fenders but they've never gone for peanuts either. The 2D was usually up nearer the higher end for obvious reasons of rarity and usability. The repair in the picture doesn't look especially 'pro' but if it's lasted for 15 years then it should last that again. If you are offered a genuine EB-2 in good, original nick for £650 just buy it - I would......

[url="http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/"]Gibson Basses[/url] This website, Fly Guitars, is pretty good for all the original Gibson basses. There were so many Les Paul variants (short scale actives, passives and a low/high impedance long scale semi), you can't pin a 'character' on them as a whole but it might give you a better idea as to what they're all about.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='987186' date='Oct 13 2010, 06:34 PM']I'm listening to the Lakland site right now on Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro headphones through an M-Audio Fastrack Pro audio interface. And I think I'm getting a good idea of how the basses [b]could[/b] sound.[/quote] Bear in mind [i]most[/i] people listening to the music we're all playing (on our ultra expensive basses through state of the art amplification) are either using second-rate stereo equipment or a s##t PA with a sound engineer who doesn't know his arse from his elbow. Just a thought - I still think sound samples can at least give you a good comparison if not a "true" sound

[quote name='bubinga5' post='986516' date='Oct 13 2010, 03:26 AM']Ok.. its a very general thing..Lakland have a set up like.. Fingerstyle Pick Slap.. for every bass.. that works for me...if i was to buy a Laky on those parameters i look at those and hear what i like.....i know i would get a tone out of that said bass... Ok, you have your style so maybe you could get more, but i know where my bassics are coming from....Every one loves a certain tone and they recognise a good one....it dont take much to take the cover off it...[/quote] +1 on that - if anything I think this system is good because it'll show how much or (maybe more importantly) how little difference there is between different pickups, woods and construction. You should always try before you buy anyway but sound samples might mean you're trying ten basses instead of a hundred. The majority of your sound is still in your style of playing, choice of strings & amp/cabs.

[quote name='discreet' post='984719' date='Oct 11 2010, 07:59 PM']Another few hours stolen when I should have been obeying the orders of frau discreet... Phase Plug Extension... I've no idea what this object does, but it must surely be important! That's the joy of these plans -- all the mad science has been done, so you don't have to do it. Mindlessly following the plans without question is definitely the way to go, IMHO. A bit of sanding and it's on with the lid! Note attractive paving stone accessory. Tea and several fags. After trimming Horn Panels flush to Sides (during which process I very nearly removed my knackers with the saw -- which would have made my hilarious 'MAY CONTAIN NUTS' scrotum tattoo bitterly ironic), I cut and install Side Panels. I need to cut a little bit more accurately next time. A halfway decent table saw would help immensely with this. I haven't got one. Well the bleeding has stopped now, so tea and a fag while I GAS for some new trousers. And a table saw. And a proper jigsaw. And a new workmate-thing. And a rechargeable this... and a sparkly new that... and... and... It's a box! Rear Flange to support Back Panel... heu he, I said 'Flange'. Flanges fitted -- 'Flanges'. Ha he heh. Oh, for God's sake grow up. More next time. [/quote] Are you sure this is a speaker and not some bizarre North Korean Death Ray device, designed to bring the Western Infidels to their bourgeois knees?

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' post='982898' date='Oct 9 2010, 09:57 PM']Get a copy of this book: [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Your-Own-Electric-Guitar/dp/0953104907/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1286654194&sr=8-3"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Your-Own-Elec...4194&sr=8-3[/url][/quote] +1000000 on that one - 'Build your own electric guitar' is the absolute bible when it comes to building a solid bodied guitar or bass. It'll be the best money you'll ever spend if you're thinking of building your own. Materials wise, it can be a bit expensive buying wood from luthiers so it's often better to go where they but their wood; [url="http://www.luthierssupplies.co.uk/"]David Dyke[/url] [url="http://www.touchstonetonewoods.co.uk/"]Touchstone[/url] They're also very friendly and full of useful advice. If you've got at least a bit of an aptitude with woodwork and you take it slowly there's no reason you can't build a decent bass. You don't need too many tools either. Oh, and ask lots of questions on the forum here.

[quote name='tremblap' post='980955' date='Oct 7 2010, 10:06 PM']I think the title says it all: a big mess! It started with a dream I had with my favourite and exclusive Montréal-based luthier Pierre Laporte, who has made my 3 other basses: a bolt-on fretted 5 strings, a neck-through fretless six string and an acoustic fretless classical six string (nilon strings!) I wanted something like a dirty thump, and his basses have way too much sustain for that ;-) So we went along with the idea of a Gretch but 6 strings, 35" scale, and in tune! The latter is always a problem with suspended bridge but the tunomatic is the best invention on earth... but I wanted RMC piezo in there too, and six string bass tunomatic does not seem to exist... I happen to have a CNC research department at my uni, so I contacted them and we designed something around the pickups. If it interest anyone, I can post pictures of the model as it is a build diary. So far we have a first computer model, a 3D powder printing of it (crazy technology), a revised model and now a plastic printing of it... the next step is the actual metal CNC... we might be able to try many types of metal to see if and how it changes the sound! Anyway, if anyone else than me is interested, I'll put the pictures as we go. pa[/quote] Looks really cool - I've got a couple of questions. A 35" scale isn't the way I'd naturally go if I wanted a dirty thump (particularly after you mentioned how your other basses sustain too much!) How is your luthier going to go about it? Secondly, Gretsch-wise, are you going for solid or semi construction?

It's tricky 'cos when you spray over an existing coat it really needs to be cleaned and keyed by sanding it, otherwise the new coat of paint won't stick. Obviously even a light sanding is going to cock up the writing. I've found that allot of permanent marker fades sooner or later whether it's covered or not, so maybe it would be better to keep it as is then touch it up from time to time. I know it's cheating but it could save you allot of hassle and money