RichardH

Bit of a rethink on the finish - Mike wasn't happy with any of the stains, so he stripped it back to natural, and it's now going to be a burst to natural..... [quote name='alittlebitrobot' timestamp='1451037741' post='2937932'] Yeah, it'd be good if they could give the website a proper update whenever the workshop is fixed up. I remember, when I was trying to find out who made Tom Jenkinsons bass, I found that website and I didn't know if the company was Zoot, Iceni or Purple Chili. Anyway, I assumed the company was finished or something because there's been no activity on the site for years and the shop button doesn't work. No need to jump feet-first into the whole social media thing, but a more up-to-date site would let people know that the company is alive and well. Such nice-looking (and sounding) basses. I'd love to play one someday. [/quote] Looks like your [url="http://www.zootbass.com/"]hopes have been answered[/url]....

The original intention has been to keep it natural wood, but to stain it down a bit to get the grain to pop. Mike's been experimenting with various stains, and a lot of them have made the wood look too yellow, and have brought out some funny pale bits in the wood that didn't take the stain. I've told him to use his judgement, but not to faff around forever with it - we can always go for a gloss black if it comes to it, which would look pretty good with the chrome and tort. Remember this build is a "quick and dirty" from an existing body he's had knocking around the workshop for years - the main attraction of it is the fact that it's super lightweight. We're not even sure what timber it is - all we know is that it's an oriental hardwood of some type!

Fascinating stuff - look forward to the updates on this one!

Well, a nice update from Mike to see in the New Year - pictures say it all really....

Yes, Mike is still producing basses and cabs. He's currently redoing his main workshop though, so the CNC machine and his "big boy" tools are in storage while that happens. As I understand it, once that is up and running, there will be more in the way of stock instruments. However, he is still building basses and cabs in the meantime - he just sent out a lovely pair of Zoots to a customer, and is also completing work on an interesting custom Zoot specced to be very similar to the Squarepusher bass that is mentioned further up in this thread. He's been doing a fair bit of repair/upgrade/refin work on basses for people as well.

I've not witnessed it in use, but I suspect Mike uses protection and safety equipment when it is being used in anger! Tuners and pickups should be with him tomorrow, so hopefully more progress to report soon!

Time for some neck carving... Mike has a neck carving jig that means a lot of the donkeywork gets done with the router. All sorts of clever angles and stuff involved....

Already got the pickups on order - it will be an Aguilar MM/J set - I'm happy to have a pickup cover on the bass, so no worries there. Mike's hopefully carving the neck next week

Haha - yes indeed! Waiting for hardware and pickups to arrive at the moment, so a bit of a pause in the build.

Yes, I know that - since it is a budget and quick job, I was just expecting a one piece neck like Mike sometimes uses in his trad looking Precision and Telecaster shaped "Talisman" basses. Here's the neck released from the clamps ...that second neck is a wenge beasty that he's building for someone else at the moment - I think it's going to have LEDs in it too. I'm not having front dots on the front - less work, and in the unlikely event that I miss them, then they can always be added afterwards.

Neck blank marked up and ready to get attacked Truss rod in place At first I assumed the four parallel lines up the neck were just markings for position, but the close up here made me realise that Mike has laminated the neck and run some ebony pinstripes up between the layers. I had been expecting a one piece neck, so that was a bit of a treat. Being cynical, I reckon it was just cos he didn't have any big enough lumps of maple around, so he's bodged a few offcuts together with some 6" nails and made it look like it's supposed to be like that... Neck shape roughed out Fretboard in position One or two clamps...

I think the pickup route for the MM pickup is oversize, so it needs to be covered by a pickguard. If I were speccing from scratch then I may well have gone for no pickguard. The body will be natural - maybe a bit of a tint to the finish - it's already got a sealer coat on though so again we're limited as to what funky finishes could be applied. Natural + tort is a classic combo in my book It's tempting to start speccing "interesting" things, but I keep reminding myself that this is a bass to take out to pub gigs, and is being built to a budget and intended to be turned around quickly (though the pickups will take a bit of time to arrive from the US). I have some pics of neck progress I will dig out later and put up.

I've been having a few shoulder problems recently, and although my G&L isn't super heavy at 10lbs, it aggravates my shoulder after a 3 hour rehearsal.... So I was chatting to Mike Walsh and asked him if he happened to have any pre-made bodies knocking around that were particularly lightweight - the idea was to see if I could get him to build a lightweight "workhorse" gigging bass using stuff he had part finished already - partly to keep the cost down but also to speed the build time up. Anyway, he sent me photos of this, which he described as one of the lightest bodies he's ever made Here it is with a scratchplate on - I'm going to have one in tort though, and will be adding a J pickup - since the body's routed for it, it would be rude not to, wouldn't it. Unfortunately he didn't have any necks built, but did have a couple of pre-slotted rosewood fretboards - I've gone for the lower one ...So that's what we're going for. I am having Aguilar MM and J pickups in it, running passive - but using a Noll mixpot to allow the pickups to blend properly.

Wishbone Ash's Martin Turner is still rocking his white Thunderbird...

Looking good! What are you going to do about painting inside the port, or are you going for the bare timber look for baffle and port?

I'm getting a "content unavailable" message when clicking on the photo lists, Kipper.

Thanks Peter. We've had quite a time of it getting going with this - and Peter and the other people who've placed orders have been very understanding. We're slowly getting there, and are working through backlogs. Once we have things back on track, we're confident that we'll be able to turn cab orders round in a much more timely fashion.

I was going to say - sounds more like a hole than a port!

I can't comment on which sounds "best" - the key difference between the Alpha/Alphalite and the 18 Sound driver (apart from the price) is that the 18Sound is more efficient and is therefore louder. This is why it is needed for the 15 range as the 15" woofer kicks out more than the 12". If used in a single 12" cab, you need toi pad back the 18Sound otherwise it will be too prominent. The only reason to use the 18Sound in a 12" cab is if you intend to pair it with (say) a 12Sub - then you can have a pad switch for the mid to have it eitehr in padded "mode" when using the 12/6 by itself, or unpadded with you stack it with the 12Sub. The crossover for the 18Sound dirver is different from the Alpha crossover, and has a couple more components in it. Yes, you need a separate crossover for the tweeter too - in fact it is just a high pass filter, allowing only frequencies above 6Khz through. A lot of people find they don't need the tweeter, as the mid reaches right up to 6Khz so it's not like you won't get zip and sparkle from the mid.

Very nice. Fully agree re the comments on the photos and explanations.

Yeah - it'll cost a bleedin' fortune in drivers!!!