iiipopes Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 My custom fanned fret P-style bass: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Cool! It's interesting how it's more like a "half fan" ie a traditional nut and first fret, then fanning down from there, compared to the Dingwall method. What's the neck pickup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iiipopes Posted April 27, 2012 Author Share Posted April 27, 2012 (edited) I'm glad you asked me that question. Actually, the first fret is also fanned. Think about the math and it has to be. It's just that like everything else in a progression, the first one appears subtle. I designed it myself, acted as my own general contractor, and did the electronics work myself. My old left arm and hand injuries have haunted me. So about twelve years ago I set out on a quest for an instrument that I could play more than 20 minutes without cramping up. Nothing commercially worked, of course. Then I stumbled across the Novax site, with links to Sheldon Dingwall. But fanning both ways made it worse, not better. Then I stumbled onto an etching of a 16th century lute called (translated) "Pandora's Box," with a square nut and fanned frets forward. I was off and running. I measured my hand very carefully at rest to arrive at a 1.67 nut width and 2.38 (1/8 narrower than standard) heel. I like the full 34 inch for tone on the low E string, but the 33 1/4 Rick scale for feel on the G string. Under the bridge cover is a repro "bolt stock" bridge cut in two with half of it moved up for the G & D strings, narrowed to 2 1/16 overall spacing for my right hand; crown radius 10 inches; .875 thick @ the 1st fret, C profile with rounded edges. The P position pickup is a Rickenbacker HB-1 measuring at @ 14kohms. The J pickup is a DiMarzio UltraJazz neck version to match the narrowed string spacing. (Since both bridge and neck UltraJazz pickups are wound the same, they sound the same from neck to bridge). The HB-1 is placed proportionally in the position of the GD segment of a traditional P pickup, and the J pickup is between the '60's and '70's position. Notice the angles are different to match what would be the continued fanning of the frets if carried through. The strings are through body, with the G string at a perpendicular angle down from the bridge saddle for maximum sustain and the E string as shallow as possible to retain as much brightness as possible. The alder body was from a no-name bass I was just going to use to whittle on to make sure the neck worked until I could get a better one, then I bumped it against the Am Std P-bass I had at the time. They tone-tapped the same tone, and I got lucky when I got under the paint: real 2-piece alder, well seasoned, not too heavy. A friend routed the pickup routs for me. The neck blank, traditional maple w/ rosewood, came from an east coast wholesale supplier custom milled to my width & thickness, and was fretted by Sheldon Dingwall with Dunlop 50X100 frets so I have a lot to crown over time with wear. The tuners are Hipshot Ultralights, which weigh 1/2 as much as traditional Fender-Schallers, so no neck dive. I shimmed the neck on both sides of the heel for a really tight fit in the neck pocket. The electronics are straightforward Jazz wiring VVT, with a .033 orange drop tone cap and a .01 inline cap to the J pickup to eliminate phasing and comb filtering with both pickups full on. CTS pots, of course. Let's see: there are four actual Fender-brand parts on it: the string tree and the three knobs. I've added bone intonation shims at the nut to eliminate string stretch pulling sharp at the 2nd & 3rd frets. How does it sound? Huge. It's not just deep in the groove, it's digging it deeper. Even though I've played everything from Friday night to Sunday morning, the best way to hear it is my one lucky gig: the last Lawrence Welk Special, "Precious Memories," which was taped a few years ago and airs occasionally on PBS fundraising week. I'm straight into the board with just a touch of compression for broadcast and a slight broad dip of a couple dB at 1.3khz to even out the response of the pickup. It's been posted in eight parts on YouTube. I play everything from opening credits to bonus outtakes, except for the obvious orchestra overdubs. The pickguard started out white, and has patina'd nicely. This is my #1 electric, and if anybody is interested, I have a hardtail 2-HB Strat-style guitar to match and another guitar with active minibuckers in the pipeline. Edited April 27, 2012 by iiipopes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 That's a great story and a great looking bass! Well done bud! Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iiipopes Posted April 27, 2012 Author Share Posted April 27, 2012 Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 fascinating read - thx for sharing and kudos to you for a great project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBassBob Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Very cool dude! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattB Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 if you can be arsed it'd be superb to see it in action. Perchance a cheeky iphone video and youtube posting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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