shizznit Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 (edited) Just finished a call with Jon and placed an order for a custom Uberhorn 5 string! We are still discussing the electronics package whilst I do some research, but the following specs are set in stone... Swamp Ash body (with a burl top of some description 2mm) gloss lacquered Bolt-on 24 fret Maple neck with birds eye maple fingerboard (burl matching headstock) no fingerboard markers Reverse Headstock - 1u/4d (shape 1 on website) Brass nut 34" scale Medium frets Single Delano FE MM pickup (bridge) [i]provisional[/i] Seymour Duncan 3 band active/passive EQ[i]provisional[/i] Schaller 2000 bridge black (17.5mm spacing) Schaller BML machineheads I have left Jon to his own devices to pick out a burl top. Not really bothered if it's maple, walnut or whatever...it will be so thin it won't really affect the tone of the swamp ash, but Jon is going to have a dig around to find a really gnarly looking burl top! The Uberhorn body has the least mass compared to the other models, but we are going for swamp ash to cut down on weight as this will be my dedicated live instrument (look after your backs kids!). So excited about this build! I'll post photo's of the build when in flow as and when I get them. Much respect and appreciation to Dood for helping me get this build off the ground. You're a legend bud! Edited March 5, 2012 by shizznit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Ooo I've subscribed to this, look forward to it coming together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherairsoft Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Awesome. looking forwards to seeing this take shape! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 The uberhorn body is well fit! It is not often I see a "new" shape and think "that works". I fell in love with the uberhorn the first time I saw it. I owned a 33" 5 (with low for a time (waiting on a body to mate with a neck I already have) and it was just superb. You will love it. I discussed the 33" scale thing here http://basschat.co.uk/topic/130240-shuker-uberhorn/page__hl__uberhorn__fromsearch__1 if it helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizznit Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 [quote name='owen' timestamp='1330989054' post='1566072'] The uberhorn body is well fit! It is not often I see a "new" shape and think "that works". I fell in love with the uberhorn the first time I saw it. I owned a 33" 5 (with low for a time (waiting on a body to mate with a neck I already have) and it was just superb. You will love it. I discussed the 33" scale thing here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/130240-shuker-uberhorn/page__hl__uberhorn__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.u...__fromsearch__1[/url] if it helps. [/quote] Owen - Thanks for mentioning your post about your Uberhorn. Your feedback about the 33" scale is quite interesting. A friend of mine that has a small collection of Sei basses took ownership of a 33" Flamboyant 6 string early last year and you are right that the low B does balance a bit better with the rest of the strings. I have come across a lot of players lately dropping down to 33" scales. But, I have been playing 35" scale basses for a few years now and the main benefit for me is the extra tension in the low B because I have a very agressive picking technique. It definately helps to elimate the momentary sharpeness in pitch if you pluck too hard. That said, I have gone for a 34" scale neck on this occassion simply because I am fed up of buying strings that don't fit over the nut properly. My old MTD 535 was a pain because of the added feature of the zero fret and the taper on the string quite often didn't get over the nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 *Subscribed!!! Would you mind PM'ing me what sort of price this is coming in at? I've got a few ideas knocking around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 [quote name='owen' timestamp='1330989054' post='1566072'] The uberhorn body is well fit! It is not often I see a "new" shape and think "that works". I fell in love with the uberhorn the first time I saw it. I owned a 33" 5 (with low for a time (waiting on a body to mate with a neck I already have) and it was just superb. You will love it. I discussed the 33" scale thing here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/130240-shuker-uberhorn/page__hl__uberhorn__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.u...__fromsearch__1[/url] if it helps. [/quote] Odd - obviously the "low " was meant to be "low B". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizznit Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 It's top time! Jon picked out some very nice burr woods for this build. This has been so tricky for me as I like 5 out of the 9 that he has selected![list=1] [*]I really like this dark buckeye looking one, but it's quite a small piece...waiting for Jon to confirm if he will have enough of it to work with. Also, that piece looks like a swine to fill in too! But, I think that one would look lovely with the darker part at the rear of the body and expose that lovely figuring at the lighter part of the piece with all that blank space between the pickup. It would also make a lovely headstock laminate. [*]This a very pretty piece and an almost perfect candidate for a book match. The only criticism I have about this one is that the diagonal, grey'ish light streak will cause a weird 'V' shape when book matched. Lovely piece, but probably not a front runner. [*]This piece is absolutely gorgeous! The figuring is beautifully formed. That will definitely give a very elegant appearance to the instrument. [*]If Jon doesn't have enough of #1 to work with this piece is a definite back up plan. This is a seriously pretty piece of wood! That will look stunning as a book matched top. It’s much lighter than #1. Might have to ask Jon to darken it a bit if we go for this one. Not too much though because I wouldn't want to ruin the beautiful detail of the figuring. [*]I have seen this type of birdeye burr on a couple of Warwicks and is a very attractive. It has a lovely light honey colour with a high gloss lacquer. That said, I would probably like to darken this piece a tad too. [/list] So, some lovely pieces of wood there. All very pretty and all have stunning attributes. The top will be purely cosmetic (2mm thick) and won't contribute to the tone of the bass. I want the swamp ash to be the fundamental tone generator. What would you go for? [attachment=101892:burl2.jpg] [attachment=101891:burl1.jpg] Also, we have decided to go for the single Delano FE MM pickup (bridge) with the Seymour Duncan 3-band preamp with passive switching and split coil parallel/series switching. I want a strong and dynamic pickup with a very open mid and top end, but a preamp with a reasonable flat response. Jon thought this would be the best combo for live use as the EQ sweeps on the Seymour Ducan preamp are not as wide as Aguilar, EMG, Bartolini preamps. I play with a pretty flat tone tuning on the bass itself, so this sounds like the right way forward. I'm a bit nervy as my ears have been so used to Bart's for several years, but I am confident this choice will hit the mark after a lengthy conversation with Jon. Oooooo!!!! I have forgotten how much fun this is! It brings back good memories when I was discussing the build with Mike Tobias for my old MTD 535 years ago. I got the bug again. I am certain that I am going to order another bass from Jon once this one has been completed (probably won't be able to wait that long!). Jon is looking forward to this build too as he has never built an Uberhorn with a reverse headstock before, so this will the the first of it's kind! Tidy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 It's between 2 and 5 for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I vote for number 1 as I'm very taken with buckeye that has lots of black in it, it's top of my list for the next build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I like 1 myself, then 2. Hopefully there's be enough of 1 for what you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizznit Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Finally decided on a top! Jon found this one and I really like it... [attachment=102068:burl_goahead.jpg] He said that the gloss lacquer will darken it quite a bit which will give us a nice contrast between the top and the swamp ash. The swamp ash hasn't been selected yet, but once you have seen one you have seen them all! Not really fussed about that because you really won't see much of it head on anyway. It's there just to give me the tone I want...nothing else. Jon told me this morning that he has reserved a few boards of outrageously pretty bird eye maple a couple of days ago from his timber supplier...one of which he thinks will match the top perfectly, so as soon as he send me a pic of that I will post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Wow! This looks like a great build in prospect.... Looking forward to the next installment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizznit Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 (edited) [quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1331296085' post='1570901'] Finally decided on a top! Jon found this one and I really like it... [attachment=102068:burl_goahead.jpg] [/quote] *for those wondering what type of wood this top is* I didn't actually know what species of wood this was until this morning! I automatically assumed it was buckeye burl, but Jon told me it is [b]Canoe Wood Burl[/b]. Its usually used for carving wooden fruit bowls! Jon hasn't made many basses with this wood because most folks will automatically go for the buckeye, walnut, myrtle and maple burls, so he struggled to find an example how it will look. He sent me this image of a 9mm pistol with a canoe tree burl handle grip to demonstrate how the top will look like when it is lacquered... [attachment=102451:imagesCA3HLXPO.jpg] Very pretty . I have never heard of this wood before, so it's nice to add a bit of obscurity to make this build a bit more special. Jon has quite a lot of work to do with this top because of the amount of holes he has to fill in and its quite brittle to work with, but he is up for it because thinks this will be one of the prettiest basses he has built for a while and is prepared to put in the effort. Can't wait to see how this baby will turn out! Edited March 14, 2012 by shizznit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scojack Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Nice, cant say i have heard of Canoe Wood either ....maybe Birch ? Lovely looking stuff anyroads..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizznit Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 [quote name='scojack' timestamp='1331730709' post='1577835'] Nice, cant say i have heard of Canoe Wood either ....maybe Birch ? Lovely looking stuff anyroads..... [/quote] I am not finding a lot of information about this wood on the interweb. It's either very rare or could be called something else?? It looks very close to poplar burl, but much darker. At close examination it looks very different to buckeye, myrtle, imbuya, camphor or anything else I have tried matching it to. I'm completely lost. How did Jon get hold of this? I'll have to investigate further the next time I chat with Jon. This has left be a bit bewildered! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Commonly known as tulip poplar [url="http://www.sierrapotomac.org/W_Needham/TulipPoplar_070514.htm"]http://www.sierrapotomac.org/W_Needham/TulipPoplar_070514.htm[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Here's quite a nice example actually Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizznit Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 [quote name='charic' timestamp='1331733623' post='1577912'] Commonly known as tulip poplar [url="http://www.sierrapotomac.org/W_Needham/TulipPoplar_070514.htm"]http://www.sierrapot...plar_070514.htm[/url] [/quote] Nice one charic! The description says that tulip poplar is light in colour though. The burls must really mess up the natural pigment. I wasn't too far away saying that it looks similar to poplar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizznit Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 [quote name='charic' timestamp='1331733742' post='1577916'] Here's quite a nice example actually [/quote] Those samples are seriously outrageous! Me thinks I made a good choice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Incase you're wondering how I found out: Search google (with quotes quotes where they are): "Canoe Wood" Alternative Names Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 [quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1331734032' post='1577927'] Nice one charic! The description says that tulip poplar is light in colour though. The burls must really mess up the natural pigment. I wasn't too far away saying that it looks similar to poplar! [/quote] I think the direction of the cut might have something to do with it aswell but if you think about it. The lighter the wood then the more the burl should stick out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizznit Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 [quote name='charic' timestamp='1331734996' post='1577962'] I think the direction of the cut might have something to do with it aswell but if you think about it. The lighter the wood then the more the burl should stick out [/quote] Yup, that makes sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shizznit Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 Jon has laminated the neck and has started carving it. The body has been cut, so I should have a pic of the body and neck together this week. It will be a rough representation as Jon still needs to fill in the holes on the top and headstock laminate as well as carving the radius around the body once he has done that, but I will get a good idea on how it will look. Can't wait to see how the reverse headstock will look on this design! The build is still very much in its infancy and there is a long way to go, but it feels good to know that it starting to take shape bit by bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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