ACG 9 STRING

[Dood]

[quote name='7string' post='326566' date='Nov 11 2008, 10:43 AM']Here's the latest progress pic of the ACG9. With the bass nearing completion, the excitement is definately building.

With the bridge and pickups in place, you can really see how the finished bass will look.


[/quote]


www.OMGItsAMonster.com/OMG! Nice ;o)

[7string]

I'm a bit late posting these photos as I've been struggling with the go.google computer virus. It's a pain in the rear as it makes any internet connection unusable. With everything backed up (including my whole iTunes library) we had to restore windows on both the PC and the laptop as the virus had jumped across our tiny network.

Anyway, here's the latest pics and it's looking stunning





The rout here in the above photo is for the wires from the piezo elements in the bridge. They'll wend their way through this into the control cavity where they'll be put into one channel of the ACG-01 preamp






With the bridge in place, the wires sit in the rout which prevents them from being squished by the Hipshot bridge above.

Edited November 21, 2008 by 7string

[7string]

You ain't gonna believe this. More progress pics






OK, now the waiting's getting painful. It just looks fantastic (attempts to sound more excited but doesn't know the words to use).

[steve-soar]

I think this may be one of Alans finest yet.
I can't wait to see some lacquer on it.

[peted]

That is gorgeous, and it's not even finished yet! It's a shame you're up the other end of Britain as I'd love to check this out in person.

[7string]

From Essex it's just a swift drive to Stanstead and an hour in the plane

Prices start from 1p + tax.

[peted]

[quote name='7string' post='337848' date='Nov 26 2008, 10:57 PM']From Essex it's just a swift drive to Stanstead and an hour in the plane

Prices start from 1p + tax. [/quote]
You're right, I have no excuse

[7string]

Came across this pic last night and thought I'd post it here.



The string on the right is a .130 which is used for a low B string (on a 5 string bass for example). On the left is a 0.195 which is used for a low F#.

Unbelievably, strings are being made up to 0.239

Edited December 3, 2008 by 7string

[eude]

That's clearly unsane!
Alan showed me that string last time I popped round.

Are you going to be upgrading your rig in order to reproduce the low notes?

Eude

[peted]

...and I thought Dood's .175 F# was meaty. That is clearly silly. The taper must go half way to the 24 fret, and start at the 5th fret the other end to be able to wind it round the tuning peg!

[7string]

It's good fun isn't it

[quote name='eude' post='344032' date='Dec 3 2008, 01:15 PM']That's clearly unsane!
Alan showed me that string last time I popped round.

Are you going to be upgrading your rig in order to reproduce the low notes?

Eude[/quote]


I don't have a rig as I can't play live. I do have an ART SGX Nightbass which has like a gazillion things on it

The real advantage is that this bass has the ACG-01 preamp which goes down to 20Hz already, so even the low notes can be shaped.

[eude]

[quote name='7string' post='344307' date='Dec 3 2008, 04:28 PM']It's good fun isn't it




I don't have a rig as I can't play live. I do have an ART SGX Nightbass which has like a gazillion things on it

The real advantage is that this bass has the ACG-01 preamp which goes down to 20Hz already, so even the low notes can be shaped.[/quote]

Ah right, very nice.
So what do you run your Nightbass through?
I have to admit, I was just waiting for you to make a thread for a new Accugroove rig with one of those 21" speakers...

All that aside, this is going to be one incredible instrument!

Cheers,
Eude

[7string]

I've heard nothing but great things about Accugroove. If it's good enough for Bill "The Buddha" Dickens, it's good enough for me!!



The Nightbass is run through to the awesome power of a magnificent Trace Elliot Boxer 15.

I also take a line out of the back of the Nightbass to a Presonus Firebox for recording. I also have the ART Ultrafoot controller which has 2 continuous controller and 10 buttons to control the sounds.

I would love to get hold of one of those Tonebone Bassbone things so I can keep everything, including my Petersen Strobflip tuner (what a great piece of kit) plugged in all the time. It also allows some wet/dry signal blending.

[eude]

Ah, still sounds like a very powerful lightweight solution
I've had my eye on one of those ToneBones too, pretty pricey though, but the ability to blend wet and dry would be great for when I use distortion.

What's the ETA on the bass, sorry the beast, now?

Cheers,
Eude

[7string]

A couple of months ago, you could buy a BassBone for £130-ish. Thanks to the merchant bankers of this world (pun intended) that's now £160-ish. Still cheaper than in the UK though.

No ETA has been set for the 9. I'm not in any particular hurry and ACG HQ is a busy place.

[7string]

Went down to ACG HQ today for 2 reasons. 1. To see how the 9 was getting on and 2. to meet up with Scoop to swap my cash for his Dean Rhapsody 12 string.

The 9 is in the process of being lacquered and sanded, but even at this stage it looks the proverbial million bucks. The mahogany top has really come to life with colours ranging from really dark brown to subtle orangey shades. The mahogany headstock is looking equally great with the defined 'v' shape to the grain and again the real variation in colour. The wenge backplate mirrors the wenge in the neck and in the neck joint itself. The whole thing is just show-stoppingly great.

So why no photos? Well, the bass is near completion and after seeing it, I'd rather keep it under wraps until it's properly finished and ready to be unveiled. This is definately one to keep your eye on early in 2009.

In 2 words. [b]IT'S AWESOME[/b]

Edited January 22, 2009 by 7string

[GreeneKing]

Did you get a glimpse of mine while you were there? It's nearing laquer completion now.

[ARGH]

HURRY UP! IM BORED WAITING!!!!!!!!

[charic]

Yeah did you see any others, cant wait till yours is done either though! Hope we get some sound clips

[7string]

There were 2 other basses in the spray shop. The process of lacquering and sanding back multiple times must require so much patience as it can't be rushed!!

Saw the black fretless Finn prototype, a 4 string Recurve and a 5 string singlecut. All of them sound and play great, although I must admit that the Finn fretless prototype is ridiculously good. I'm really fortunate to have the instruments I have here at home, so I'm not easily impressed, but that fretless sounds very very good indeed.

Alan keeps all the pieces for each build safely tucked away when they're not being worked on, so we didn't see every ACG that's in the pipeline.

[BigRedX]

That fretless Finn is really nice - tried it at Bass Day.

Looking forward to seeing your completed, the fingerboard in particular is spectacular!

I think that my next bass might well be an ACG...

[d-basser]

[quote name='ARGH' post='358685' date='Dec 19 2008, 11:50 AM']HURRY UP! IM BORED WAITING!!!!!!!![/quote]

It is worth the wait believe me I saw it

[7string]

Indeed he did


[quote name='BigRedX' post='359224' date='Dec 19 2008, 10:04 PM']I think that my next bass might well be an ACG...[/quote]

Flights from East Midlands to Glasgow are available

[7string]

While trying to be good and tidy up my e-mail account, I found myself going through the folder which contains all the e-mails, sent and received, to do with the 9 string. I was astonished to find it contains [b]237 e-mails[/b] and has my initial e-mails to and replies from luthiers, questions and answers to/from parts companies as well as advice from friends who are also musicians.

The vast majority of the e-mails though, are messages to and from Alan at ACG, discussing every aspect of the build from first enquiry through materials, specifications, electronics and so on. We've only spoken on the phone about this build on a couple of occasions, nearly everything has been through e-mail.

I also found a pic which I hadn't posted before. For someone who thought that mahogany was a dark, plain wood it was quite a shock. Straight after seeing this, I sent and e-mail to Alan saying that I wanted this for my bass



I've put a lot of effort into the 9, but I don't have other customers to deal with and basses to build in the meantime. Just shows how much work Alan (and all the other luthiers) does in addition to the sawing, sanding and spraying.





I have to post these pic which was put on the thread for the ACG 9 on another forum.

The poster thought that the board [b]"looks as though there's a sonic boom coming outa the pickups on the fingerboard!![/b]






My wife and I also saw a devil in the fingerboard !

Edited January 22, 2009 by 7string

[7string]

Received an e-mail this evening, which I read after a night figuring out the Addicted Drums demo.

[size=5][b]First 6 words "Hi Mark, the bass is ready"[/b][/size]

[size=6]YUP, IT'S READY !! [/size]


Needless to say, I'm really, really excited about this. I have a couple of pics which Alan descibed as "not very good". But he's going to get some more in daylight (I would say sunshine, but this is Scotland).

There's going to be a [b]lot[/b] of practising going on over the next few weeks.

I'll write some more when I've collect the bass and played it a little.


Huge thanks must go to Alan for making this mad, mad ERB a reality....