lettsguitars

pics as requested. specs are scroll. 34" honduras mahogany neck with indian rosewood board and jescar frets. side dots and ziricote headstock cap. sapele body core with english walnut top, ziricote back and cocobolo cat's eyes. imp humbucker, vol and tone and series/parrallel switch. hipshot tuners. ebony bridge and tailpiece. 5 string. 34" honduras mahogany neck with f**kin awesome maccassar ebony board. side dots and ziricote headstock cap. honduras mahogany body core, cocobolo top, zebrano stripes and purpleheart/walnut cat's eyes. kent armstrong neck pup. vol tone. hipshot tuners. ebony bridge and tailpiece.

[quote name='Metalmoore' post='1095973' date='Jan 20 2011, 08:57 AM']I only get the internet in work but they block eBay. Any pics available?[/quote] i'll post some pics this avo, about 4 o' the clock. now get back to work you lazy bum! cheers

i have a couple of builds on ebay at the moment if any bc'ers are interested. i would be happy to pull the auction (bin) and offer a discount for any of you guys and would also make a donation to bc for any sales generated here. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/handcrafted-4-string-scroll-bass-guitar-jon-letts-/180614589831?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2a0d77ed87"]4string[/url] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/handcrafted-5-string-fretless-bass-guitar-jon-letts-/180614583288?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2a0d77d3f8"]5string fretless[/url] thanks y'all

[quote name='gilmour' post='1095828' date='Jan 19 2011, 11:57 PM']Looking good, what are the pickups?[/quote] they are handmade by a friend of mine. called I.M.P. (ibstock magnetic pickups). all custom and scatterwound passives. great pickups. the case on the single coil is a little 'bumpy around the logo area which is a shame and i may have to have it recovered by ben if ed isn't happy with it. the vac forming process has been a steep learning curve for ben, but he's gettin there. highly original though and they are noise free and loud. these are quite simple alnico designs but he does coil tap, at no extra cost and offers all sorts of magnet, rail, air coil design options. also does all my wiring. what a guy! i have a 4 string on ebay right now with his 'ibstock brick' humbucker, if you wanna take a look. cheers

haven't forgotten about this one. ed's away for a few months, so we're on hold for a bit. got the pups in though and pretty much finished. just a few touches.

a bass guitar is exactly that! a guitar in the bass range. i guess there is no such thing as a bass, as 'a' bass is just poor grammar. 'i play the bass' would make more sense. but 'this is a bass', huh? i presume a standup bass is a bass violin or cello. obviously we all use the bass term cause it's the most popular form of bass instrument.

very interesting.

[quote name='eude' post='1089187' date='Jan 14 2011, 12:12 PM']Personally, I'm a flat fingerboard convert. My Shuker 6 string has a 20" radius and my newer ACG 5 string is flat. I'm so impressed with how the flat board feels, I don't think I'll ever change from that now. You can of course get marginally lower action, but I guess you can close with most well thought out necks. I'm not sure how it'll work with a shallow/thin neck, as it would very much feel like a plank of wood as you say, but with an asymmetrical neck shape it feels right. Also, on a extended range bass, it certainly makes sense, as it brings the lower register strings closer to your fingers. I've played a fair few flat 4 strings too and they felt fine, really comfy, however having played 5 and 6 string basses for so long with my tiny wee hands, pretty much anything with 4 strings feels like putting on nicest comfiest slippers in the world to me now, regardless of the spec. Another thing to consider is that radiused boards only came about to make chord shapes, predominantly bar chords, more comfortable to play, so at least initially, it wasn't really relevant for bass, depending on how you play, or what you're used to. I guess it's just one of those marmite things.Eude[/quote] erm. haven't violins and standups always had heavily radiused boards? i go 20" on a five and 16" on a four and to radius a board by hand is probably the most stressful part of building a bass, and all that sandpaper is expensive. but $999 to add a radius is absolutely ridiculous! i would expect you to radius my house for that! personally, i would never leave a board flat unless specified. i don't understand how a flat board would allow lower action either, unless the radius was poorly done. how low do you want the action any road? isn't low action a tonekiller. and i find i lose a lot of attack when slapping if the string height is too low. don't get me wrong, i like a nice action as much as the next guy, but no lower than sort of .120 at the 12th or summat.

[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='1088703' date='Jan 13 2011, 10:40 PM']Ironically I took an interest in this thread as it was an unusual concept that Inhadnt experience or heard of... However I changed my strings from light's to mediums today and my D string is phasing!!!! Definitely no twist. It's sat firmly in the nut with no issues. I'll try the pickup height tomorrow and if it's still there then the lights are going back on!! Shep[/quote] ha. it's contagious.

drummers! you gotta lovem. ours just doesn't turn up. especially during world cup time. ok, i accept that football and b***j**s are top priority for a lot of folk. just a little courtesy and a text message would do it, but nothing. as for music as a job, that rarely happens unless your willing to play other peoples music. which is not the point in my eyes.

you play drum and bass? wrong forum!

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEivBiNAkFU"]primus playing spirit of radio[/url] cant quite hit those notes. wheres my voice gone? all credit to herb alexander though. what a drummer

to compare the '75 (year before i was born) findin my way with the '91 version is incredible. sounds soo much better in the 70's, and i dont mean the playing, but the actual sound. where did we go wrong? too many effects and 'better' equipment now i guess. funny how improvements in audio technology just make things crapper. although lee looks hardly any different.

cool video. golden era of rock. if i played like that i'd have to stick one duff note in there, just to bring balance back to the universe.

you can usually feel a twisted string 'rolling' under your right hand fingertips (right handed player). can't imagine a slight twist causing any major problems. especially not on the same two strings, every time with that many sets. could be wrong, i'll have to research that one. interesting thread. i would instinctively say any phasing issues were a pickup problem.

[quote name='yorick' post='1088121' date='Jan 13 2011, 03:07 PM']If you've got access to a Dremmel type tool, use one of those with a small cutting disc to cut a flathead slot in the screw. That or use it to cut the strap button off leaving the screw to be removed with mole grips.[/quote] [quote name='mart' post='1088474' date='Jan 13 2011, 07:23 PM']Yep, you're absolutely right. Following the suggestions from everyone I took a Dremel to the strap button and, eventually, cut that off the screw. This took quite a while because I couldn't cut along the axis of the screw without cutting the wood, so I had to slide in at an angle. Once the button was off, the mole-grips were on, and it came out without any hassle at all. Thanks so much to everyone on here - I was getting real stressed about this, and you guys sorted me out in a matter of moments. Now I can go and play with the thing instead of just worrying about it! P.S. Talking to my wife about mole-grips, she mulled over the name: "Hmm, yes, moles do have a good grip. I remember when the cat brought in a mole, and somehow the mole got loose and then bit my mum's finger. She naturally pulled her finger away, but found that the mole was still attached - now dangling in mid air. How I laughed."[/quote] brilliant. i wish i could have seen that.

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='1087937' date='Jan 13 2011, 01:30 PM']Same here. A 34" scale doesn't equal a floppy B, there are plenty of basses around in that scale with a great sounding B - although the 35" scale is generally accepted as a method of maximising the clarity of the B. Anyway, don't get caught up in pickups. True, less winding does bring out more of the tops and more winding will give greater output... however that will be at the expense of both bass and tops and gives a more humped mid range response, not a "flat" response. Don't think stronger magnet is better either![/quote] i wasn't talking about stronger mags. just the fact that, if your using pole pieces each string is liable to maintain more of its own characteristics. whereas bar mags will give a more even output over all the strings.

[quote name='digitalmetal' post='1087771' date='Jan 13 2011, 11:36 AM']Was just a little confused by this,[/quote] an upright bass has a string length of 40" bass guitars are short scale basses. 34" is SHORT. a .130 b is always gonna sound full at any length, and imho is floppy on a 34" with 38" from nut to tailpiece (34" nut to saddles). if you want those higher registers to have as full a sound as your b, you need a longer scale. so i believe anyroad.

have you thought about kent armstrongs? i could rattle something together in a coupla days with a kent neck pup for you to hear if you like. as i think they're the same size.

i have on my early efforts. never had the things around long enough to gather much of an opinion though. i only use my friends handwound jobbies now like. he can make you some to fit your specs (no harm in a plug). all handmade and scatterwound. coil tapped etc very versatile. we'll have a coupla basses finished in a few days if you would like to hear em, i'm sure i could arrange it. and yes, the 45 is wide enough for a 66 string i reckon.

[quote name='peteplaytime' post='1087508' date='Jan 13 2011, 01:49 AM']Me (and band), absolutely gunning for it at a charity gig in the summer...[/quote] you're all staring at the floor. stand up straight young man.

i have an emg 45 hz six knocking about if you want it.