BottomEndian

[quote name='Clarky' post='974725' date='Oct 1 2010, 11:31 PM']Did a quick google - his most recent bass ( he seems to have had a number of black Ps including one with cream Dimarzios) has black body hardware but chrome tuners. So I guess they are trying to be faithful to the real McCoy. I won't be buying one mind.[/quote] Works better for me with a chrome bridge: But either way, not for me.

Would it have [i]killed[/i] them to put black tuners on it? The black-on-black-on-black of the body makes the headstock look completely washed out.

[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='974715' date='Oct 1 2010, 11:20 PM']Cosette?[/quote] Cosette as in Euphrasie Fauchelevent from [i]Les Misérables[/i]. Yes, my wife's much better read than me. (She was using the racy curves to force a lady's name on the bass. I was going more for Gary or Steve.)

[quote name='Marvin' post='974400' date='Oct 1 2010, 06:15 PM']The Anchor in Westward Ho![/quote] Whenever I think that Britain's a miserable place full of miserable old buggers making each other thoroughly miserable, I like to remember that there's a village in Devon with an exclamation mark in its name. How utterly, rampantly, frivolously joyous. (It could only be improved by being twinned with the Quebec town of Saint-Louis-du-Ha!Ha!)

[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='974682' date='Oct 1 2010, 10:46 PM']Do I need to add an ACG to my growing collection….?[/quote] Yes. No home should be without one. Incidentally, Mrs Endian has taken it upon herself to name this bass Cosette. Each to their own. She made comment about the "racy curves".

[quote name='skelf' post='974657' date='Oct 1 2010, 10:15 PM']Those are really good. As is well documented I am crap at taking pictures. Can I steal them for my site.[/quote] Why aye, man! I'll email you the link to my Picasa album so you can download the full-fat hi-res versions.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=104998"]Behold the porn[/url].

I was going to write something about this bass, but I think the pictures speak for themselves... For spec and stuff, [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=61632"]read the build thread[/url]. I'm so delighted with this bass it's unreal. Hats off to Alan.

[quote name='squire5' post='974286' date='Oct 1 2010, 04:17 PM']So I guess it's capo technique that's to blame,rather than any instrument faults?[/quote] Just make sure it's not exerting too much pressure, and that it's [i]just[/i] behind the fret, where a well-placed finger would be. If it's sitting midway between frets, that allows the capo to bend the string much further, pulling it much sharper.

[quote name='squire5' post='973914' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:20 PM']I guess then,that relieving the tension on the capo would help[/quote] It's definitely worth a go. IME, the Shubb ones aren't actually too bad (compared to the spring-loaded clip-on ones), but he might just have the tension ratcheted up for security.

Capos are the devil's spawn for this sort of thing. The pressure they exert on the strings seems to be higher than the typical fretting pressure applied by a finger, which bends the string sharp. Result? You've got to play sharp to match. Oh, and the bending's typically not uniform across the strings either, so the guitar will need retuning [i]to itself[/i] after putting a capo on. That's cheap capos, I should hasten to add. There are all sorts of [url="http://www.g7th.com/capos/performance"]more expensive capos[/url] that purport to exert only the necessary pressure, but I have yet to meet a guitarist who has one.

[quote name='eude' post='973836' date='Oct 1 2010, 12:42 PM']Any more pics of this lovely bass on the way? [/quote] If I ever get some decent natural light. So, er... probably April-ish? Nah, I'll see if I can dig the bounceable flash out tonight and lay it down on the bed for some proper porn shots.

OK, here's an initial, rough, rather embarrassingly bad Recurve-vs-chambered-Skelf piezo comparison I threw together as an afterthought in ten minutes last night. It's the same little five-note figure played on each string, from G down to B. Each figure starts with the open string, then some stopped notes and a slide, so you can get a little hint of the different core tones of each bass. The Recurve was rolled to piezo-only, the low-pass filters were opened up fully on both basses (with the cutoff-frequency boost rolled fully off), and the high-pass filters were entirely off on both. I plugged into my Bass POD XT (using the "Tube DI" emulator with everything flat; no drive, no compression), direct to the computer via USB, into Audacity. You hear the Recurve first, then the Skelf, both playing the figure on the G-string; then the Recurve again, then the Skelf, both on the D, then Recurve/Skelf/Recurve/Skelf... all the way to the bottom. Just so we all know the specs... Recurve: [b]Solid[/b] black limba body, neck of wenge and black limba (mainly wenge), fingerboard is acrylicised macassar ebony. Skelf single-cut: [b]Chambered[/b] ash body, myrtle top and back, neck of ash and wenge (about 2/3 ash, 1/3 wenge), fingerboard is plain black ebony with maple lines. Some notes, caveats and apologies: 1. TI flats on both basses. 2. Bear in mind that the strings on the Recurve are brand new, and the strings on the Skelf have been played in for a good while. That said, listening acoustically, the Skelf's strings don't [i]sound[/i] noticeably deader (I find that TI flats tend not to deaden down as much as some other flats), so I think the main difference in tone is [b]not[/b] coming from the strings. 3. This is [b]not[/b] a tone I'd choose to use in a sensible musical situation. I've just set the filters to fully open, which is something that I can easily duplicate across the two basses. Electronically, the signal path should be absolutely identical (although I did notice that the Skelf is easily twice as loud as the Recurve! Need some trim-pot adjustment, I think, but I've normalised everything for this recording), so there's an easy, direct comparison. [b]This is certainly [i]not[/i] a "demo" of the tones that either of these basses can achieve[/b] (well... OK, it's [i]one[/i] of the tones...), and I don't want to do Alan's work a disservice. Again, this is just a test. 4. For some idiot reason, I play all the minor sevenths on the Recurve slightly flat. Still need time to adjust to the unlined board. 5. The action on the Recurve is a touch low for me on the heavier E and B strings, so they rattle, buzz and choke like an S&M bee with a loose screw under my cack hands, I'm afraid. If it wasn't already two hours past my bedtime when I did these recordings, I'd have done a retake with a softer touch. It may have some bearing on the tone that the Skelf's action is a [i]little[/i] higher than the Recurve's, but the neck relief's almost identical: within a gnat's bollock of dead-straight. 6. You'll notice the masses of finger-noise and the sort of "scrape" as my fingers pluck the string. Again, in a sensible situation, I wouldn't have the filter this far open, and that noise wouldn't really be noticeable. You might even detect the odd creak of the strap-end leather against the body of the Skelf (although I think I stayed pretty still doing these). 7. I tried to pluck in roughly the same place along the string's length. Right-o... [url="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/429522/ACG%20build/acgpiezos.mp3"]Click to listen[/url] My thoughts: The Skelf is immediately "woodier", with a low-mid emphasis (maybe even slightly "boxy"?), while the Recurve has more sort of "bark" in the higher mids. The obvious difference in the high end may be attributable to the newer strings on the Recurve, and a certain amount to the setup, but I think a large part of it comes from the fingerboard. It may be the acrylicic impregnation; it may not be... whatever it is, the Recurve's board feels noticeably smoother than the Skelf's, and absolutely, impenetrably hard. In terms of feel, it's almost like a synthetic or poly-coated board, compared to the natural ebony of the Skelf. In summary... Recurve: bright, growly, lively Skelf: woody, organic, sweet To put it in crude terms, it's like the difference between a Jazz and a Precision, just from the piezos. My conclusion: I can justifiably keep both basses. And I can justifiably sell my SR5, because the Recurve's magnetic pickup cops the StingRay tone pretty well (and does so with more finesse, IMV). Coming soon: soundclips in a sensible, musical context, with sensible, musical tones from the preamp.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='972395' date='Sep 30 2010, 09:51 AM']That Stingray looks huge on her[/quote] She's 5'3". I'm 5'6" and a StingRay doesn't look any more sensible on me either. Doesn't stop me playing 'em.

Bought John's Logarhythm. Simple and smooth deal, and it turned up wonderfully packaged. A top fella to buy from.

[quote name='skelf' post='971588' date='Sep 29 2010, 12:12 PM']the piezo can be a bit over powering in the treble department[/quote] That may be the understatement of the year! Someone (I think Peter?) described the high-pass filter as like adding "gravy" to the "meat" from the low-pass filter. With the piezo on the Skelf, it's like horseradish. A little bit goes a very, [i]very[/i] long way. Great for bringing out that crystalline "rasp", but I never take it more than about a fifth of the way up from zero.

[quote name='skelf' post='971552' date='Sep 29 2010, 11:39 AM']I would be really interested in your thoughts regarding the two piezo setups to see if the chambering makes a difference. Different woods as well which will make a difference but hopefully not as much as the chambering.[/quote] The filters in the EQ01 and EQ02 are the same, aren't they? So if I set them the same on the Skelf and the Recurve (assuming I've rolled the blend to fully piezo), the preamp should be doing exactly the same thing, right? I'll try to throw together some rough soundclips at some point soon so we can all compare and contrast.

Well, it's here. All I can say is... if you thought those pictures looked good, you'd be completely floored by this bass in the flesh. It's just f***ing gorgeous. Alan is like some sort of sorcerer of wood. Can't wait to get home tonight and fire it up. I've popped it on the scales here at work, and it comes in at almost exactly 4.2 kg, which is 9 lb 4 oz. Pretty impressive for a 5er with a shedload of wenge and ebony in the neck. The body must be very light indeed. Popped it on a strap, and it balances perfectly. Having had the Skelf for a while, the neck feels familiar straight away, but I can immediately hear a subtle difference in the acoustic tone. More of a low-mid grunt, rather than the Skelf's high-mid growl. Obviously, it doesn't have the Skelf's chambered-body resonance and acoustic loudness. I'm hoping the piezo tone on the Recurve is noticeably different from the Skelf, so I've got a tonal excuse to keep both.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='971123' date='Sep 28 2010, 08:29 PM'][/quote] Maple fretboard would look brilliant with that. Please tell me the neck's got a maple board. Looks good, BTW. I'd happily tote that in public.

[quote name='Conan' post='971382' date='Sep 29 2010, 08:24 AM']I find the low mass very appealing[/quote] Completely off-topic here... you're not a physics teacher are you, Geoff? As a physics student, I got into the habit of referring to mass instead of weight, but all the non-physics types found it really odd.

Bass Direct have the double iGigs in stock at the moment: [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/IGIG_Bags.html"]http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_sp.../IGIG_Bags.html[/url] No singles though. If you email Mark, I'm sure he'll let you know if/when they might be coming in.

[quote name='Conan' post='970719' date='Sep 28 2010, 02:38 PM']Will think about that Owain, cheers. But it's on a school night therefore unlikely I think. [/quote] Believe me, that thought's crossed my mind. But I can't see Mr Manring coming any further north, so I'm grabbing the opportunity while it's there. That said, I reckon he could get quite an audience in Hall Two at the Sage. Hmmm. Someone should have a word with the bookings people there for the next time MM comes over...

[quote name='Conan' post='970707' date='Sep 28 2010, 02:26 PM']I loved his work in Dads' Army, so I'll try to be there...[/quote] Classic-comedy-related jokes aside, if there's anyone from the Tyneside/Tyne Valley area who's interested in this event, like I said... I'm planning on going down and back up on the night, so there's potentially space in my car for another 4 Geordies.

[quote name='Conan' post='970686' date='Sep 28 2010, 02:09 PM']This could get interesting!![/quote] Not very. It's all been done before.