Matte_black Posted June 30, 2008 Posted June 30, 2008 (edited) Hello! With the "special permission" of Ped (thanx man!) I'm posting here a couple of my works... I'm a young builder and, being a student, I don't build on a regular basis... not yet. Let's talk about these puppies. The first one has a 1 piece European Ash body, a quarter-sawn Ash neck and Padauk fingerboard with 19 frets. 2 actions truss-rod, Seymour Duncan soapbar and chrome hardware keep the thing pretty "clean" looking. The scale lenght is 30" and the bass is very easy to play and sounds pretty warm and funky if plucked while the slap sound is pretty crispy. The typical sound you'd expect from an Ash bodied bass. The second one is a sort of "twin": 1 piece Okoumé body, quarter-sawn Padauk neck with Padauk unlined board, 19 "frets". Same 2 actions truss-rod, Bartolini "reverse-P" pickup and chrome hardware. This bass is very light, about 3-3.1kg. It's balanced and very easy to play. Lots of "mwah" everywhere. They both have my logo on the headstock and strap buttons... but they weren't on when I took the pics. I called this body shape "Bean bass". Both basses are finished with catalyzed oil (like Danish Oil but a bit tougher). The "standard features" on my instruments are: 1) Deep set-in construction; 2) Body without neck-heel (you can play all frets without ever reaching the body); 3) Thin finish; 4) Quarter-sawn neck and, on fretted, fingerboard; 5) Simple, straightforward controls (usually volume and tone) and one single pickup; 6) Oil finish; I usually charge €600 (about £480) for a 4 strings bass (only for wood and work, hardware and pickups must be paid for separately) but the price for BCers is £500 each one SHIPPED WITHIN EUROPE. I'll give you a 24 hours approval period and if you don't like the bass you can return it, losing only shipping costs. I've sold a bass to a nice guy in Japan and he wrote a review for Harmony Central... [url="http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Electric+Bass/product/Prometeus+Guitars/Scroll+Bass+Fretless/10/1"]http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews...s+Fretless/10/1[/url] And my personal site is here: www.prometeusguitars.com while I keep the Myspace mirror updated more often: www.myspace.com/prometeusguitars As you can read I keep prices very reasonable as I don't build full time. Drop me a line if you're interested in my work... even just for curiosity Before starting my building adventure I've owned about 200 basses... don't let the price fool you, these puppies can beat instruments that cost 5 times more. Edited July 1, 2008 by Matte_black
Mikey D Posted June 30, 2008 Posted June 30, 2008 I strangely like the body shape of them, I think because it reminds me of my mid section!
machinehead Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 Those look really beautiful. Excellent work. Good luck with selling. Frank
GreeneKing Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 Really nice in a 'less is more' kinda way. They deserve a good home. Peter
crez5150 Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 Wow... really like the look you've created MB!! I'll check your web site out now.... interesting to see if you have any shortscale 5'ers there... J
Marcus Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 I hope they get adopted as a pair.... shame to split them up
Chris2112 Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 Thats a really great body shape you've got there! Very nice looking basses.
Matte_black Posted July 1, 2008 Author Posted July 1, 2008 Hello! Sorry for the delay... thanx to everyone who commented my work. The bass in my avatar was the first "ready for a sale" instrument I've built. I usually keep using the "scroll" on almost all the body shapes as I like it a lot and it really adds something to a body shape. I must be completely honest: I like the fretless more but only 'cause I'm in a "fretless period" The fretted one has really a nice bait if you pluck on the pickup and the dynamic range given from the single pickup is pretty wide. Yes, I keep my instrument pretty clean and simple. This is the way I like it and I A/Bed them with basses that sell for 5 times that price... I never needed an active preamp... you really have enough punch in passive with these woods and construction. About a 5er in 30" scale: I'm probably going to make one soon and the japanese guy that bought the first bass wants a 7 strings 30" scale hollow body, he's probably going to order it in September. It could really be a nice building experience. I'm actually working on a "Swan" fretless (30" scale) with Ovangkol neck and body and Olivewood fingerboard and controls cover and I think I'll start another build as soon as I get rid of a couple of University exams this month. I mainly use Padauk, Afzelia, Ovangkol, Ash, Wengé, Ebony. Oh, I attach pics of the back, so you can see the neck joint. On my newer builds I also use wood nails to make the resonance and strenght even better.
Bassassin Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 Another +1 for the body shape - these are great, original-looking basses and I'd love a go on one! From a purely aesthetic perspective, the plain body shape is much more pleasing, unique & immediate than the sculpted version in your avatar, in my opinion. That said, I'd certainly like a better look at that one - do you have a thread in the "porn" section? Sadly I can't afford either of the two for sale at the moment - but if I come into a few quid, you could get a commission! Best of luck! Jon.
Matte_black Posted July 1, 2008 Author Posted July 1, 2008 (edited) Thanx for your kind words... no, I never posted in that section but I could do it as I have the "in progress" pics of the fretless. The Carl Thompson tribute body you see in my avatar is much larger than the "Bean bass" and it's good for 34"+ scale. It's a matter of taste... I like the Scroll but I literally fell in love with the 30" scale as soon as I completed this fretless. It's so easy to play and so light that you can play for hours without problems (only 3kg!). I'll certainly expand my 30" scale basses line soon. In fact when I make a bass to keep it "in stock" I'm always going for that scale lenght 'cause it's really something you all should try. 10cm shorter than a 34", you have your first fret where a 34" has its 4th or 5th... go figure! In the pics you can see the difference in size between the body shapes and the "Bean" shape next to a Jazz body (made by me, of course). Edited July 1, 2008 by Matte_black
neepheid Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 Nice work there - that's something to aspire to. Just wait 'til I get a bandsaw.
Matte_black Posted July 1, 2008 Author Posted July 1, 2008 (edited) Yes, a bandsaw is definitely needed to cut body shapes, neck blanks and fingerboard. I use a small one made by Valex and it's enough for me. But if you ever used one of those 200kg monsters with a 2cm wide saw you feel the difference Today I ended up making some serious work on my last build: 30" scale, Ovangkol neck and body and Olivewood fingerboard (unlined fretless). The neck pocket is now ready. A couple of days of hard work and it will be ready to rock! Edited July 1, 2008 by Matte_black
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