ead Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Here's a rather lovely RetroB Mr C made for me and that I formally received yesterday. Looks better still in the flesh. These are ACG pics as I've been too busy playing it to take any pics. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Lovely 😍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 That certainly is a looker, congrats. When you have some time and have stopped the obligatory continuous playing, perhaps you can furnish us with some specs and maybe a small reviewette. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songofthewind Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Wow. Wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted September 23, 2018 Author Share Posted September 23, 2018 (edited) 13 minutes ago, ezbass said: That certainly is a looker, congrats. When you have some time and have stopped the obligatory continuous playing, perhaps you can furnish us with some specs and maybe a small reviewette. Thank you kind sir. The specs are quick to do so here goes: Alder body, light colour veneer and a Cocobolo top (with matched headstock) Neck is 3-pc with birdseye maple on the outer bits and plain maple in the centre Rosewood board Pickups are the ACG FB items that are essentailly humbucking in nature Electronics are J East Uni Pre 3-band active passive with variable mids sweep and active/passive tone control I'll do my best to do a review for you all once I've completed the requisite number of running in time hours. Edited September 23, 2018 by ead 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 What a beautiful instrument 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Beautiful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 That Cocobolo top looks fantastic! Body shape looks great, has nice lines and not over the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naxos10 Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 (edited) Beautiful Mr ead. On the BASS assessment scale (see ACG thread) it would rate as Quite Nice. Edited September 23, 2018 by naxos10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted September 23, 2018 Author Share Posted September 23, 2018 Thanks naxos10, I think that's a fair reflection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyP Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Great looking bass. I like the fact that there is no chrome on it. I'm looking at replacing the chrome tuners and bridge on my SWB-1 with matt black ones, having already swapped the volume and tone knobs. I just prefer the understated, workmanlike look rather than bling. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 I didn't notice that...Despite numerous threads (here and TB) on the subject it seems that there is still nobody making black frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkHeart Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Very nice! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madshadows Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Amazing looking bass John 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eude Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Hot damn! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Hotness! Health to enjoy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 (edited) Very nice looks, I especially like that the fretboard has no dots and the colour scheme is unified. A beauty. Edited September 24, 2018 by itu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 18 hours ago, TheGreek said: I didn't notice that...Despite numerous threads (here and TB) on the subject it seems that there is still nobody making black frets. Is that even possible? Wouldn't the black element get rubbed or chipped off - possibly lowering the fret height and causing buzz? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 (edited) - Edited February 27, 2022 by Jus Lukin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewisK1975 Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Very nice. Congrats! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted September 24, 2018 Author Share Posted September 24, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, fretmeister said: Is that even possible? Wouldn't the black element get rubbed or chipped off - possibly lowering the fret height and causing buzz? I did briefly consider seeing whether I could persuade Mr C to consider brass frets. I don't think he has done so before but I may well be wrong, or from the sainted Mrs ead's perspective it would be highly unlikely that i was right Edited September 24, 2018 by ead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burno70 Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Awesome! He does make gorgeous instruments. I love the cocobolo body/headstock. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 10 hours ago, fretmeister said: Is that even possible? Wouldn't the black element get rubbed or chipped off - possibly lowering the fret height and causing buzz? 7 hours ago, ead said: I did briefly consider seeing whether I could persuade Mr C to consider brass frets. I don't think he has done so before but I may well be wrong, or from the sainted Mrs ead's perspective it would be highly unlikely that i was right When Andy built my Psilos bass we discussed "black metal" - i.e. dipping red hot steel fret wire into oil, turning it black. Though this works in changing the colour it also affects the integrity of the steel apparently (who am I to argue with The All Knowing One??). Still, I'm sure there would be a market for black fret wire if somebody could manufacture it...a Dragon's Den idea?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Cloud Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 2 hours ago, TheGreek said: ... i.e. dipping red hot steel fret wire into oil, turning it black. Oil dripping is pretty good an idea. But that kind of black is not very tough. Sorry, this is somewhat long post, but this may be of help to understand some properties of materials. Basics: PVD (physical vapor deposition) surface is THE super thin black color layer you can see on a strap button, a tuning machine head, or a knob. All these parts are made of pretty soft materials, like steel or brass. To make a long story short, the colour needs support underneath which means that the colour PVD should be put on top of a very hard surface. Otherwise you can almost blow or at least scratch the colour away. There are powder steels and hardened ones that are truly hard but basic stainless or hi-tensile is not. But they are good materials to machine. So if we need a fretwire that can be tinted, we need one VERY hard (and brittle) material type - that is also really hard to machine. If you know anything about hardness scales, here is something to consider: - plastics are less than 100 HV (hardness in Vickers scale) - aluminium and pure titanium (grade 2) are around 100 HV depending on a mixture - stainless steel and Ti grade 5 are around 300 HV - hardened steels start from around 600 HV - ceramics (PVDs, too) 800 - 2 000 HV - diamond 10 000 HV Now these ballpark numbers start to make sense, when I tell you that this 600 HV is the minimum reasonable support for a PVD surface. So if you wanted to use such hard a material you would need much harder tools = expensive ceramics. And quite some time to finish those shiny fret ends or high frets that cannot be bent. I hear someone shouting: where is this carbon-like-diamond, oops, sorry, it is DLC. Well, it behaves just like PVD and it needs support, too. If you put a micrometer thick layer of diamond on top of a cheese, you can cut the cheese with a knife or slicer or whatever. The ultra thin layer just is not tough enough by itself. But together with a hard support they become a very tough and durable combination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.