Everyone meet Clarkson, Clarkson, meet everyone

[Beedster]

I play some right dodgy pubs at times, often playing nothing more the root/5ths in pretty crude bands using what has been described as a somewhat agricultural playing style. Therefore, my Martin, my SLB-200 and my recently departed Bespoke Superlight are/were often a little too nice for the job at hand. So, when I saw this lump of wood up for auction on eBay the other day, I jumped. It's 6 foot tall, weighs more than my car, looks like it was designed by a second rate 1970's East German car manufacturer, and was finished by a four year old with a can of Halfords budget black.

But, this is actually a nice lump of wood, albeit possibly ply. Anyway, £30 got me the body/neck/board, tailpiece and bridge, I've a nice Kent Armstrong mag PUP sitting here, so tuners, tailpiece etc, nut and strings and i'm ready to go. Hoping the whole will cost less than £200, and that I can sling it over my shoulder and walk into town to gig without fear of loss (I doubt anyone would get more than 20 feet with it given its weight), damage (it's clearly made of kryptonite), or personal harm (this makes Simenon's Precision look like a make up brush and is probably legally a lethal weapon).

I'll keep y'all posted on progress in a kinda build/pulling together bit of bass diary style. I think I already have a sort spot for this old thing!

Some pics

[url="http://s80.photobucket.com/user/Beedster/media/IMG_2427_zpsb7de00c5.jpg.html"][/url]

[url="http://s80.photobucket.com/user/Beedster/media/IMG_2426_zps4ffcb02a.jpg.html"][/url]

[url="http://s80.photobucket.com/user/Beedster/media/IMG_2431_zps871c7bd8.jpg.html"][/url]

C

PS it's called Clarkson because it's tall, crude, ugly and a bit out of date, but will despite this be damn good at what it does and not really give a f**k either way

[Len_derby]

Fantastic. I'm really looking forward to seeing this project develop.

The Kalashnikov AK47 Bass? Minimalist technology to provide reliable and basic functionality in hostile environments.

[TPJ]

I have a metal tailpiece going spare if you want it. I'd be happy to contribute it to the project.

[HowieBass]

With a name like that you can expect it to create embarrassing noises at inopportune moments...

[philparker]

So, which one are you going to use?

Let me see - eeny, meeny, miny, moe...

[Owen]

I have a set of machine heads you can have for nowt.

[Marc S]

Looks really good Beedster
Am looking forward to seeing this develop
and to hear your findings / experiences

Very kind offers from TPJ and owen too
What helpful, friendly basschatters

Marc

[BobVbass]

I've got spare set of TS Weichs (previously enjoyed) you can have for it as well if you like....

[Marc S]

What was the description of this "lump of wood" on ebay Beedster?
I'm really interested in this project
It's the sort of thing I wouldn't mind having a crack at myself......

[Jonnyboy Rotten]

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

I thought you were calling it Clarkson because you were going to dress it up in double denim!

[Beedster]

Guys, thanks so much for the above posts. I spent a couple of hundred on parts for this and then realised that I was never going to get the time to do the work so bought an SLB-100 and have listed the EUB project for sale at [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/249110-fs-eub-project/"]http://basschat.co.u...fs-eub-project/[/url]

Should make a really nice EUB project for someone.

Chris

EDIT in fact it's a little embarrassing that I completely forgot I'd posted this thread given the very generous offers above. Guys, please accept my sincere thanks and huge apologies for having not responded.

Edited November 10, 2014 by Beedster

[Happy Jack]

I'm waiting for an offended Argentinian to jump in now ...

[Beedster]

So, long story short, the sale fell through, and necessity being the mother of invention, the idea of Clarkson became reality yesterday afternoon. It's big, ugly, heavy and not yet set up (nut and bridge slots etc, but it's playable, has surprising sustain and actually balances quite well. I was half expecting the rather rude awakening in the night as the tension of the strings pulled the whole thing apart, but having survived 16 hours I think he's good to go!

[url="http://s80.photobucket.com/user/Beedster/media/IMG_5419_zps8ksbxc82.jpg.html"][/url]

[ivansc]

Excellent! Mind you, with all that matt black you may have issues finding it on dimly lit stages....

[bassace]

The table is well put together.

[Marc S]

Glad you decided to keep it and finish it
Let us know when it's set up, and what it plays & sounds like

[Beedster]

Well I took it along to a rehearsal the other night, this over my left shoulder and my PJB Briefcase in the other hand. First thing I noticed was that walking through town centre was not the usual anxiety-inducing experience as is the case when taking my DB. In fact, a couple of girls came up to me and said that were really glad it's a musical instrument because from a distance it looked like I was carrying a large weapon. Little did they know

Anyway, rehearsal, stuck a Wing PUP in the bridge and it sounded lovely, really lovely. Action you could drive a bus under at present, but still very playable, also very solid feel and very very nice board.

How does it compare with my old Yamaha SLB-1 I hear you ask.......?

Sound wise? Better, no joke, might be a function of the decent wing PUP (something you can't use on the SLB), but even unplugged it has a good solid thump with a nice sustain. Playability? Not quite so good because the skeleton frame on the SLB makes it really easy to engage physically with the instrument. Portability? This wins hands down, nothing to take off after a gig, just swing over my shoulder and off I go, no worries about damage.

All in all, quite chuffed

Edited October 21, 2015 by Beedster

[Marc S]

My first ever DB was a Stagg EUB (just a couple of years back)
One of the annoying things I found when playing this, particularly at a gig
was its' tendency to swivel around on the endpin during playing - esp when you really didn't want it to

That may have been due to a not particularly good rubber stop / grip on the endpin
Or my incorrect useage of the funny little sideframe pieces on the stagg...
It did this swiveling rather less at home, but then when you play a gig, you're on different surfaces,
some of which might make it more prone to swivelling

I just wondered, is Clarkson prone to this sort of movement?
Or is it less likely to do so, maybe due to a greater mass than the Stagg?
Do you intend fitting anything like those frame pieces, to mimmick a "body" to rest the bass against yourself?
.... or do you just not need this?
Are you playing Clarkson while standing, or seated?

Oh, that's lots of questions
Still, I'm so glad you completed this build, and pleased you're chuffed with the result

[Beedster]

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1445416398' post='2891246']
My first ever DB was a Stagg EUB (just a couple of years back)
One of the annoying things I found when playing this, particularly at a gig
was its' tendency to swivel around on the endpin during playing - esp when you really didn't want it to

That may have been due to a not particularly good rubber stop / grip on the endpin
Or my incorrect useage of the funny little sideframe pieces on the stagg...
It did this swiveling rather less at home, but then when you play a gig, you're on different surfaces,
some of which might make it more prone to swivelling

I just wondered, is Clarkson prone to this sort of movement?
Or is it less likely to do so, maybe due to a greater mass than the Stagg?
Do you intend fitting anything like those frame pieces, to mimmick a "body" to rest the bass against yourself?
.... or do you just not need this?
Are you playing Clarkson while standing, or seated?

Oh, that's lots of questions
Still, I'm so glad you completed this build, and pleased you're chuffed with the result
[/quote]

I had a Stagg and a Dean and both were nightmares for spinning around at inopportune moments. This is largely why I moved up to the SLB. Clarkson on the other hand is actually so heavy that it has its own gravitational field, meaning that I have a tendency to spin around it when playing live!

All joking aside, I've found that with body-less EUBs I have to play in a very different position, with the centre line of the bass leaning away from me rather than towards me as it does with DB. That is I have the endpin almost at my feet but the scroll a couple of feet away. This works for Bluegrass/root-5th playing that is what I'm mostly doing with it, probably wouldn't work for Jazz where I'd need to get up the dusty end a bit more. As I mentioned above, the SLB was a much easier bass to actually engage with physically, but at 1/10th f the price I'd take Clarkson any day! On this basis I may think about engineering a faux bout as it might be useful in certain situations (and of course would make the whole thing look even more like the giant crossbow the ladies in question above thought it was).

[Beedster]

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1444754326' post='2885652']
The table is well put together.
[/quote]

Ha ha, only just saw that

[fatback]

Out of curiosity, is there any reason that EUB players don't use a fork-shaped spike to stop the swivel? Or do you need it to swivel a little bit?

[philparker]

[quote name='fatback' timestamp='1445431932' post='2891411']
Out of curiosity, is there any reason that EUB players don't use a fork-shaped spike to stop the swivel? Or do you need it to swivel a little bit?
[/quote]

Mmm...my Eminence has a 'T' shaped end pin - and that works.

[fatback]

[quote name='philparker' timestamp='1445458611' post='2891705']
Mmm...my Eminence has a 'T' shaped end pin - and that works.
[/quote]

Would someone need a side frame thingy at all witha T-shape end pin? Or does the frame bit help in some other way as well?

I've never even held an EUB, but i have wondered.

Edited October 21, 2015 by fatback

[Beedster]

[quote name='fatback' timestamp='1445465412' post='2891760']
Would someone need a side frame thingy at all witha T-shape end pin? Or does the frame bit help in some other way as well?

I've never even held an EUB, but i have wondered.
[/quote]

If you want your EUB to feel like a DB, yes. The SLBs are extremely good in this respect with a substantial lump of nicely shaped wood doing a very god job of standing in for the upper bout. Most EUBs have utterly crap bits of anything from plastic to metal that extend from one of more parts of the instrument in an attempt to provide the player with some great stability. With the exception of the SLB and the Bespoke, Ive yet to come across any that do the job well, so I tend to treat an EUB as a different instrument and play it as per above, if I need to stabilise it in any way the back of the lower body sits against the inside of the top of my left calf.

[Marc S]

On the Eminence, the T-shaped bit on the bottom of the endpin allows for slight side to side movement
It doesn't swivel at all, but the sideplay is enough for the player to "dance" as much as you'd normally need to with a DB
There's actually no risk of the Eminence swiveling like the Stagg can do
The Eminence also has a small wooden plug in T shaped device, to rest the bass against your body

This works rather better than those odd wire assemblies on the Stagg
although due to the general stability of the Eminence, I wouldn't be worried if I'd got to a gig and had forgotten it.
The Eminence also comes with a stand, which you can play the bass on
This is useful for gigs where you're doubling up with bass guitar too.... Making switching between the 2 much quicker.

Beedster, I just wondered how much risk of swiveling there was with Clarkson,
but as you say, its' mass probably stops this risk occuring
I just wondered whether you'd have more peace of mind if you had some sideframe thingys fitted?
I recall one gig with my Stagg, where the stage seemed fine to everyone else,
but my Stagg EUB just kept moving! I don't know what sort of polish the proprietors of the venue had used on it.... lol

Edited October 22, 2015 by Marc S