Dom in Dorset

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1361872210' post='1992072'] Design by committee usually only ever makes progress on the basis of consensus. On Basschat that means you could be here for years. [/quote] We have all the time in the world. As for the strings issue, we'll make a provisional decision based on the most popular choice by midnight (GMT) tonight.

"A camel is a horse that was designed by committee" With that in mind, I thought it might be fun to design a bass guitar by committee to see what monstrosity or piece of ultra bland averageness we can come up with. I'll act as chairman and put forward design elements to be considered, once an agreement has bee reached I'll publish the spec in post 1of this thread. Items already debated can be reviewed at a later date.We will also attempt to cost this project. We'll make up any other rules as we go . Item 1 on the agenda : Number of strings. I think that it should be four. Anyone else?

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1361745800' post='1990321'] I think the only reason I got mine from Canada was because CH didnt do the 5 string version. And yes you do, Ive seen one A [/quote] Ahah! the penny drops, I suppose another reason for the custom pickups was that Wizard don't do 5's.

CH Guitars do them too (I have a couple) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-string-Bass-Piezo-bridge-B41-/130818307588?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&var=&hash=item642495fccd

It's not over .... I had a day in the studio and because I've not had a chance to road test this bass I took the Mk2 as I know I can get exactly the sound I'm after from it. I ran into an old problem - cheaper instruments often struggle to produce a good sound in the studio (even if they sound fine live) , no idea why but it's something that I've noticed over the years. the Mk2 has pickups that came from a Lindo bass that was about £100 new. the Mk3 has some similar looking pickups that cost me £7.50 new! I bought them just to see how they would do. I've not really had much chance to try the new bass plugged in yet but I think it deserves some nice pickups , probably Wizard 64's.

having tried this bass i have to admit it's good despite having too many strings and active circuitry. Some questions: I take it that Wizard 74's are half way between 64's and 84's? Why did you go for that type of pickup? Did they charge you much extra for them? I'm thinking of putting some 64's in my new fretless.

I have an acoustic with a broken pickup, I think that if I was ever required to play it live and plugged in I would just mount a precision pickup in the sound hole. Not a true acoustic sound but I don't think that anyone would notice.

I think that the problem of softness was exaggerated by the the fact that the twin neck was my main bass for 18 months during a very busy period. It didn't fit into a proper case and was kept in a keyboard bag. Cherry isn't as tough as ash or maple. The oil finish is really what brings out the colour.

My twin neck was made from cherry, it's not at all heavy, the only negative is that it's not very hard wearing, easily dented or scratched. I oiled the wood with linseed oil so it came out a darker colour.

Your reply should have been: "I've been in the business all my life, i have good gear , good image, pro attitude and I'll happily bend over backwards to accommodate whatever demands are placed upon me by your band , I agree to do this without knowing anything about your band's repertoire, location, etc, yours sincerely, your bitch."

There is a school of thought amongst certain people that "professionalism" equates to being rude/pushy/up-tight/egotistical/self centred/self important and so bloody great they can get away with all the aforementioned unpleasantness. Thankfully this band are only "semi-pro" , best avoided just in case (after a lifetime in the business) they turn pro.

Update: i did all the work that I'd planned to do today quicker than I expected so I had an hour to kill before the school run. I'd examined the neck carefully and noticed that the board was still very uneven. I took the neck off and sanded it down with 150 grit paper stuck to the underside of a plane. I spent about 20 minutes on it paying special attention to the heel end where i'd had the clearance issues. I've just put the neck back on and the early signs are of a huge improvement, super low action, all notes nice and clear. If this is foreplay, I'm a dead man.

Thanks everyone, yes the strings are Fender Black nylons, I love to tone and feel of them, slightly lower tension than most strings. The strings aren't getting enough clearance from about 15th fret position, I'll sort it out over the next few weeks. I won't be using it on this weekend's recordings, I won't have time to perfect it before then, I'll use the mark 2.

To recap: Version 1: (in all it's plywood glory) Version 2 : Version 3:

Well, not quite finished, I still need to make the cover for the wiring and there are a few duff notes at the dusty end but I've reached the "take it out and play it for a while to find/solve teething problems" stage. I hope to rehearse on Wednesday (my first chance to plug it in) and record on Saturday.

This looks like it's from the California Jam, looks like the same bass, but a better view of the pickups.

Looks a bit Guildesque to me, the second one is a wonderful picture!

I'm trying some old strings on to get the board / set up finished, I don't have my amp at home, hope to hear what this bass sounds like on wednesday.

Damn fine screw, just what the doctor ordered.

this gig is(?) in Bath , 61 miles from Poole, see you there!

[quote name='neil_d' timestamp='1360709280' post='1975335'] Seems pretty pointless to me. Could almost as easily put on your own gig which would be more fun and not lining someone else's pockets. [/quote] My thoughts also.

"if you bring in 80 people" 90% of fliers will be stuffed into the pockets of people who will make no effort to go and will forget all about it , 9% will think about going but forget/find some other excuse, 1% [u]might[/u] turn up , some of those [u]might[/u] remember their flier. It's not about the money, I just can't see anyone turning up. "But if it's in term time students will come" - they aren't going to shell out £5 to get into a venue on a monday night on the off-chance that the band that they've never heard of is to their liking.

We've been offered a gig at a well known venue in a town 30 miles away where the band we aren't known. The deal is that we are given fliers advertizing the gig, every punter who pays £5 to get in and hands in a flier we get £1 , basically lazy venue getting us plug away like mad and get people in on a quiet night. Even if we leaflet every gig we play for six months I recon nobody will turn up. We don't do it for the money (middle aged folky/originals band) but I couldn't be bothered busting a gut to play to (at best) five or six die hard friends and famillly that we have to nag into turning out. I'm the only one in the band who sees it this way , am I being too pessimistic?

Once it kicks in it's the most uplifting thing ever and that Entwistle chap could get to be quite good if he put his mind to it. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TAp_p4oSV4[/media]

Now with knobs on: