peted Posted July 17, 2009 Posted July 17, 2009 Very nice indeed. I'm sure Mikey will just be polishing the skills he already has on the Shuker build course next week. Quote
Merton Posted July 25, 2009 Author Posted July 25, 2009 Right, it's been over a week since I took the prototype off Mikey's hands; I've gigged her once and caressed her every day I'm still in love with this bass. [b]Sound[/b] Unplugged, this bass sings. A great fundamental and some really nice harmonics make this sound rather woody and lovely indeed. Plugged in it's a revelation. Cheap no-name ebay pickups they may be, but this bass packs a punch and the 4-way PU switch gives a great fundamental basis to the tone (bridge / B+N in series / B+N in parallel / neck). Through the LH500 and Barefaced Vintage I have to say I was really enjoying rocking out with this bass. It cuts through the band beautifully and packs a huge wallop with it. Nice! [b]Playability[/b] Easy. This may have a chunky neck but it's a joy to get around. The fanned frets were a doddle and on the whole this is a very comfy and easy bass to adapt to. I think it has a fatter neck than my old MIM Jazz V but I have to say, it's a hell of a lot more of a joy to play. Light and reasonably well balanced (a bit neck heavy but it isn't an issue) and ergonomically perfectly suited to me. Grand grand grand. [b]So what's going change on the "production" models?[/b] Not a lot, to be honest. Well, obviously the woods will be a bit more fancy, and Mikey will have the experience of this and Jon Shuker's course under his belt, but most people would be hard pushed to spot many major differences I suspect. Mikey is going to slightly enlarge the body to help with the balance, both visually and ergonomically, whilst the neck is going to be slightly slimmed down. My particular bass is going to have Wizard 84s and I'm intrigued to see what effect they'll have on the sound. The electronics will essentially stay the same but we'll source some higher quality components. Some of the manufacturing techniques will be changed or refined by Mikey (e.g. how to install the electronics and jack socket and how to fret the neck), the fan will be parallel at the 4th fret rather than the 3rd, but as you can see we're really not making radical changes. My particular spec has had a slight modification though. We were going to go for a ziricote board to balance the olive ash top, but I love the maple so much on this bass (and it's cheaper!) so we're going for an all-blonde bass now - rippled olive ash top with maple fretboard. The whole wood spec is like this (shamelessly pinched from an email from Mikey back in snowy February): "Body is hard ash caps top and back, over a poplar core, with walnut accent lines and go-faster stripes. Neck will be walnut-ash-dark ash-ash-walnut, maybe with some artistic used of veneers to make pinstripes between the ash lams." It's obviously still a long way off but it's mighty exciting! This thread has a loooong way to go Quote
Merton Posted August 24, 2009 Author Posted August 24, 2009 Gigged this baby 3 times in the last 11 days, that's about 5 1/2 hours of giggage so far under its belt. Nothing but compliments from me (obviously), the soundmen, the audience. Plays great, sounds great, looks great. Now got a 2 week wait til the next gig (boo!) but it'll be there and it'll be rather fine at what it does. One thing I've noticed, it's bloody good at staying in tune, which is great! Slight tweaks out of the gigbag and that's it for a gig. Nice Having gigged it this much, my comments in the previous post are pretty much still accurate, there's not a lot (design-wise) I'd like to change on my bass. Quote
Mikey R Posted August 24, 2009 Posted August 24, 2009 [quote name='Merton' post='579009' date='Aug 24 2009, 01:05 PM']Gigged this baby 3 times in the last 11 days, that's about 5 1/2 hours of giggage so far under its belt.[/quote] Any photos? We need proof! Quote
peted Posted August 24, 2009 Posted August 24, 2009 [quote name='Mikey R' post='579059' date='Aug 24 2009, 01:50 PM']Any photos? We need proof! [/quote] +1. Need to see the bass in context! Quote
Merton Posted August 24, 2009 Author Posted August 24, 2009 Working on it, I've seen some on a digital camera or two but not yet been given any copies Quote
Merton Posted August 27, 2009 Author Posted August 27, 2009 Some pics: [attachment=31720:DSCN0333.JPG] [attachment=31721:IMG_0151.JPG] Interestingly both pics make it look like the bass is in an uncomfortable position but it really isn't, not quite sure what's going on there Quote
Merton Posted August 27, 2009 Author Posted August 27, 2009 One more from Farcebook: [attachment=31722:Priory.jpg] Quote
peted Posted August 28, 2009 Posted August 28, 2009 Very cool. Do you get many bassists approaching you after shows asking what went wrong with your frets? Quote
Mikey R Posted August 28, 2009 Posted August 28, 2009 [quote name='Merton' post='582721' date='Aug 27 2009, 06:10 PM']Some pics: [attachment=31720:DSCN0333.JPG] [attachment=31721:IMG_0151.JPG] Interestingly both pics make it look like the bass is in an uncomfortable position but it really isn't, not quite sure what's going on there [/quote] Hey Mert, it looks like theres not a whole lot of meat under your right hand wrist - would the design be improved by widening the lower bout to give you something to lean your wrist on? Quote
Merton Posted August 28, 2009 Author Posted August 28, 2009 [quote name='peted' post='583160' date='Aug 28 2009, 07:31 AM']Very cool. Do you get many bassists approaching you after shows asking what went wrong with your frets? [/quote] I've had people ask if they can buy it off me, why fanned frets are good, and also had people show absolutely no interest whatsoever! It definitely provokes more of a reaction than anything else I've played tho :_ [quote name='Mikey R' post='583391' date='Aug 28 2009, 11:28 AM']Hey Mert, it looks like theres not a whole lot of meat under your right hand wrist - would the design be improved by widening the lower bout to give you something to lean your wrist on?[/quote] No thanks, that would lead me to lean on the body more and that would squish my wrist and lead to carmpy, carpal tunnelly type problems. I'm really comfy with it as it is Quote
Mikey R Posted August 28, 2009 Posted August 28, 2009 [quote name='Merton' post='583478' date='Aug 28 2009, 12:46 PM']I've had people ask if they can buy it off me, why fanned frets are good, and also had people show absolutely no interest whatsoever! It definitely provokes more of a reaction than anything else I've played tho :_[/quote] Excelent! That is one of the bonusses of playing a crazy one off bass, getting the interest. [quote name='Merton' post='583478' date='Aug 28 2009, 12:46 PM']No thanks, that would lead me to lean on the body more and that would squish my wrist and lead to carmpy, carpal tunnelly type problems. I'm really comfy with it as it is [/quote] Good stuff - just wanted to check. Quote
Mikey R Posted August 28, 2009 Posted August 28, 2009 [quote name='Merton' post='583478' date='Aug 28 2009, 12:46 PM']I've had people ask if they can buy it off me, why fanned frets are good, and also had people show absolutely no interest whatsoever! It definitely provokes more of a reaction than anything else I've played tho :_[/quote] Maybe we should make a load and try to sell them at your gigs. Buy the CD, T-Shirt and bass guitar. Winner. Quote
Merton Posted August 28, 2009 Author Posted August 28, 2009 [quote name='Mikey R' post='583585' date='Aug 28 2009, 02:31 PM']Maybe we should make a load and try to sell them at your gigs. Buy the CD, T-Shirt and bass guitar. Winner.[/quote] You've got 2 weeks to get me 10 made... Get to it, man! Quote
Merton Posted February 15, 2010 Author Posted February 15, 2010 Well, it's been a while. Lots going on in the background for both me and Mikey hence this has taken somewhat of a backseat. Until now. Last night Mikey sent me this: [quote]Maybe this will cheer you up - Gluing up the scarf joint. Remember we were taking about the thin fillet of walnut? Should look nice when we carve the volute! Things are happening! Finally![/quote] Hooray! I miss the prototype loads so am dead excited to see the work start again on my one. Quote
peted Posted February 16, 2010 Posted February 16, 2010 Yay! It's about time the Build section saw some raw timber Quote
Merton Posted February 27, 2010 Author Posted February 27, 2010 (edited) OK, Mikey got some new facings in this weekend, so we've had a re-think- here is the new top in all her glory [attachment=43716:newmert.jpg] Edited February 28, 2010 by Merton Quote
LukeFRC Posted February 27, 2010 Posted February 27, 2010 just found this thread. I have to say that that is possibly the first ever single cut ive liked the shape of. I like the indent for the jack to go in. The only thing I don't really like the the slabby-ness of it, it would be nice if the edges were not as harsh. although you said how you were carving it a few pages ago and looking at the tools you said you're using I understand why! Whenever I've had to similar I've had access to a big version of one of these Quote
EdwardHimself Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 Very nice looking thing you got there, certainly not your average run of the mill bass that's for sure lolz. Quote
Merton Posted March 4, 2010 Author Posted March 4, 2010 Cheers guys! It's Mikey's design, I'm sure he'll appreciate the nice vibes Luke - it looks more slabby than it actually is, though it certainly isn't anyywhere near as round as say a Spector. I like it, it works for me and is mighty comfy Quote
peted Posted March 5, 2010 Posted March 5, 2010 See! I told you you'd be finished before I got my grubby mits on mine! Can't wait to see this one take shape. Will it be ready for the next SE Bass Bash? Quote
Merton Posted March 5, 2010 Author Posted March 5, 2010 [quote name='peted' post='764695' date='Mar 5 2010, 06:51 AM']See! I told you you'd be finished before I got my grubby mits on mine! Can't wait to see this one take shape. Will it be ready for the next SE Bass Bash?[/quote] Pissobly. I've given Mikey a "deadline" of August I'd prefer it to take a long time and be brilliant than be rushed and not quite right tho Quote
Merton Posted March 21, 2010 Author Posted March 21, 2010 Central body slice with go-faster stripes: Quote
Merton Posted April 3, 2010 Author Posted April 3, 2010 Upper wing being glued up Out of the clamps Lower wing being glued to central lam And the upper wing added. Mikey made the workbench himself, he's quite proud of how useful it is Quote
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