peted Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Hi Mert, Any more pics of the prototype? Is it finished, and how does it play? I haven't had any more news on my own fanned SC, but I'm trying to hassle Jon too much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBeatNut Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 [quote name='Merton' post='387544' date='Jan 21 2009, 02:20 PM']That's a very subtle fan, ain't it?![/quote] Probably for the reasons I outlined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBeatNut Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 [quote name='BigRedX' post='387510' date='Jan 21 2009, 01:56 PM']This isn't for you then?[/quote] Interesting thought ... follow this train of thought if you will. If you had a reverse fan (short string at top of fingerboard) it could help fretless players eliminate the parrallax correction they have to do when learning, or when doing big position changes, so fingers would always visually line up with the edge of fingerboard dots. But that would yield a short low string, and long high string ... so to take advantage of the usual reasons for fan fretting, you'd have to re-string with your low strings at the bottom of the fingerboard and high strings at the top. Shudder to think about the re-learning necessary there ... it would suit Jimmy Haslip though, who (wait for it) is a left-hander who plays left-handed basses strung right-handed ... so his B is at the bottom of the neck. If this doesn't qualify for the thread hi-jack of the year, I don't know what does sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 [quote name='peted' post='387573' date='Jan 21 2009, 02:50 PM']Hi Mert, Any more pics of the prototype? Is it finished, and how does it play? I haven't had any more news on my own fanned SC, but I'm trying to hassle Jon too much [/quote] Not that I've seen - I think Mikey has had Christmas away from the bass building. While the wood gets all aclimatised I think the idea is to do the finishing of the proto. There's still a fair bit to do on that but Mikey thinks that to get mine to the same stage will take a fair few months so I believe there will be two builds running parallel for a while. I could have totally misinterpreted to, I'll leave that for Mikey to answer! [quote name='BigBeatNut' post='387595' date='Jan 21 2009, 03:09 PM'](snip) If this doesn't qualify for the thread hi-jack of the year, I don't know what does sorry.[/quote] Haha, go ahead, I don't mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey R Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 [quote name='Merton' post='387601' date='Jan 21 2009, 03:14 PM']There's still a fair bit to do on that but Mikey thinks that to get mine to the same stage will take a fair few months so I believe there will be two builds running parallel for a while. I could have totally misinterpreted to, I'll leave that for Mikey to answer![/quote] Hey, we said it would be ready for 2012 The real hold up is that Im waiting for a decent moment / place to route the pickup cavites. Either I wait for [i]all[/i] of my neighbours to go out ( ) or find a garage nearby. A friend recently moved into a house on a main road so said the noise really wouldnt bother anyone, so I'll probably do that. Can I categorically state that its not because Im scared of messing up with the router (again) and Im stalling for time. Not at all. About the 3rd fret parallel thing - as the biggest stretch is down this end of the neck, and both me and Mert do most of our playing down there (being BASS players and all ), it makes best sense to make this end the most familiar. As you move up the neck, your fingers naturally start to angle in the direction of the frets, so I think its going to be a win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 [quote name='Mikey R' post='387846' date='Jan 21 2009, 06:33 PM']About the 3rd fret parallel thing - as the biggest stretch is down this end of the neck, and both me and Mert do most of our playing down there (being BASS players and all ), it makes best sense to make this end the most familiar. As you move up the neck, your fingers naturally start to angle in the direction of the frets, so I think its going to be a win.[/quote] Wot 'e said BTW, "a few months" to me means about 3 years, so we're still on track Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 Mikey got the protoptye strung up at the weeked, and it looks cracking! This shamelessly pinched from Mikey's Talkbass thread: "Fitted the bridge pieces today. I spent a long time trying to figure out a jig to get them all properly spaced, in the end I got bored and just measured for the screw holes relative to the center line and 12th fret. (The other pencil lines on that pic are the layout for the pickup routes. I really should use a sharper pencil.) I then strung her up. Because Ive still got to route the pickup cavities, it was only a temporary job so I used some plastic I had lying around to make saddles for the edge strings, the other strings just went over the zero fret for now. I'll do a proper nut some time later on. I found that a standard 5 string set of Rotosounds just about fits the 35 1/2" scale length. It actually plays quite well, considdering its my first fret job and I dont think the fingerboard is totally level. Up to the 12th fret the intonation is fairly good, up to the 24th fret it gets progressively sharp. I believe this is due to cutting the fret slots in slightly the wrong place - I'll be more careful next time. As this bass has non parallel frets, getting them all in the right place is much more important than with parallel frets. If they are all out even by the same amount, the thing still wont intonate correctly. It might also be partly due to accumulated errors with my measuring and placing of the bridge pieces. Ive still got to carve the outline... " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Ooh. So the only issues you've found making a fanned fret instrument have been through the use of 'engineering tolerances'? Those close-up shots of the nut and zero-fret seem to play with perspective. The first one looks like the nut is straight, but the second one shows a definite slant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey R Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 [quote name='peted' post='436920' date='Mar 17 2009, 09:28 AM']Ooh. So the only issues you've found making a fanned fret instrument have been through the use of 'engineering tolerances'? [/quote] Yep - on a parallel fret intrument, of all of your frets are out by the width of your fret curf, then just move your bridge saddles back by the same amount and youre good to go. With non-parallel frets, if your frets are out by the width of the fret curf, then each fret, in the direction parallel to the string, will effectively be out by a distance [geek]inversely proportional to the cosine of the angle.[/geek] When cutting the fret slots, I guessed this difference would be negligible - I got that wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 (edited) More shamelessly pinched fromMikey's TB thread: [quote]Pickup cavities routed! That was the part that was worrying me so Im glad its over. I didnt have the camera this weekend so I didnt take any in progess shots, but heres where we are at the end of the weekend: Heres the pickup routing template. These were cheap ebay pickups, so they are both the same size, so I only need the one template. I routed the pickups in two stages. So that I could get the tight corners on the pickups, I used a 17mm template collar and a small 4.7mm spiral bit rather than a bigger bit with a bearing. But, removing that much waste with such a small bit would take forever. The solution is to start with a 27mm collar and a 12.7mm bit, which takes us 1mm up to the line and works very quickly, then finnish with the smaller bit and collar. It took some fiddling to get the maths right, calculate the correct collar diameters then calculate how much larger the rectangular template would have to be. I then routed the ears. The two holes on the template are 18mm diameter, so allow the 17mm collar to fit with a little play. My local tool shop didnt have any 17mm bits, otherwise I would have made it exact. I just positioned the cross hairs over the correct spot and routed. The results arent perfect. I could have made the template so that theres less space between the pickup and the edge of the cavity, and I could have positioned the ear template a little more accurately, but its good enough for the job. I finnished up the weekend with some carving the back under the top horn. The bad photo doesnt really show it, theres a bevel up to the edge of the birch strip which then curves around the lower horn. I used a spokeshave, chisel, rasp and sandpaper wrapped around a tin of beans for this. Still needs some tidying up but its nice to end the week on a high: Those cheap nickel screws are only temporary. Once I get this one nearly done I'll change to black screws with ferrules. EDIT: forgot to say, I also planed some wood off the back of the neck to allow me the take the action up a little, the bridge pieces were up as high as they could go, so now Ive got a little more room to play with. I had to put the strings back on, so I can play it during the week. Next weekend, routing the control cavity. Im just waiting for the components for the passive electronics to arrive so I can measure out and make a template.[/quote] Edited March 23, 2009 by Merton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey R Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Mertons a little bit busy right now () so heres a pic to keep the thread going... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Ooooh, very nice. The grain in that top wood looks luuuuuverly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 [quote name='Mikey R' post='469533' date='Apr 22 2009, 12:55 PM']Mertons a little bit busy right now () so heres a pic to keep the thread going... [/quote] Nice one Mikey! Can't wait to get my mitts on either this proto or my one1 Thinking I might bring the famerlee up in Octoer half term and do the tourist thing never did whilst at university. Plus, of course, I'll need to drop in and play the bass etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey R Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Merton' post='476377' date='Apr 30 2009, 08:47 PM']Nice one Mikey! Can't wait to get my mitts on either this proto or my one1 Thinking I might bring the famerlee up in Octoer half term and do the tourist thing never did whilst at university. Plus, of course, I'll need to drop in and play the bass etc... [/quote] Sounds like a fine plan, I'll get the kettle on! What I rekon we should do is, when this ones finished, you look after it for a few months and tell me what you like and what you want changed for your one. I might even get to do some [i]more[/i] sanding on this one tomorrow. Hard ash body == hard work Edited April 30, 2009 by Mikey R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted May 1, 2009 Author Share Posted May 1, 2009 [quote name='Mikey R' post='476511' date='Apr 30 2009, 11:28 PM']Sounds like a fine plan, I'll get the kettle on! What I rekon we should do is, when this ones finished, you look after it for a few months and tell me what you like and what you want changed for your one.[/quote] Sounds like a fine plan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 How's this coming on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey R Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 [quote name='Finbar' post='490924' date='May 17 2009, 10:08 PM']How's this coming on? [/quote] Slowly Im afraid - lots of family things to do this month so no free weekends Mert and I have decided to just put a thin finish on it and let Mert play it for a while. Not far off finishing it up, but its finding the time thats a problem. Ive got a jam with some friends on Wednesday, if I get it wired up I can give it a play with a whole band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 [quote name='Mikey R' post='491116' date='May 18 2009, 09:20 AM']but its finding the time thats a problem.[/quote] Find the time, find the time!! Only kidding very excited about seeing this in the next few months! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey R Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 (edited) I took the unfinished bass to the jam last night. Whilst waiting for the drummer to arrive () I installed the pickups and wired the neck pickup direct to the jack socket. No solder, so it kept coming loose but it gave us an idea of what the bass sounds like. And, sound quite good it did - as expected, it sounded quite bright with one single coil wired direct to the jack with no vol or tone controls, but it was way clearer than I thought it would be, no wooliness to speak of. Way different to my SGC with knackered strings and a P pickup . I was really quite pleased with it! Is it considered rude to put up soundclips before the bass is finished? [sub]EDIT: just noticed the post number. Excelent![/sub] Edited May 21, 2009 by Mikey R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted May 21, 2009 Author Share Posted May 21, 2009 [quote name='Mikey R' post='494000' date='May 21 2009, 10:18 AM']Is it considered rude to put up soundclips before the bass is finished?[/quote] Absolutely not, bring it on!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey R Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Quick question - Does anyone know where I can host some mp3s? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 soundclick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 [quote name='Mikey R' post='494669' date='May 21 2009, 09:26 PM']Quick question - Does anyone know where I can host some mp3s?[/quote] You can attach them to a post on here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey R Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 [quote name='cheddatom' post='494992' date='May 22 2009, 11:22 AM']You can attach them to a post on here![/quote] Cheers - I'll see if I can do some recording on Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey R Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Ive attached some quick tracks I did using a friends recording setup this evening. Its DI'd into the Yamaha desk (dont know the model number), output via firewire into Cubase on the PC. The bass is hard wired with both pickups in series direct to the jack socket. Back at home, Ive maximised it using Audacity. I tried MP3 but Audacities codec makes a real mess of the recording and theres no way to increase the bitrate, so Ive left it as WAV. The playing is a little bit jerky, Im still getting used to the fanned frets. Im very pleased with the tone! The hissing is probably due to the fact that I havent shielded the pickup or control cavities yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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