Andyjr1515

Very accurate work. True craftsmanship.

And...we're going to take up the kind offer of some panga panga from @GarethFlatlands

Yes - looking really good

Not at all - they are perfectly decent ideas. Trouble is with making it longer is that it would show beyond the end of the fretboard but yes, you could extend the lower part of the body pocket. I personally would still tend to use machine screws as the thinness of the neck in the pocket area means that wood screws would need to be much shorter than normal, thus using significantly less threads to take the force. Machine screw inserts typically have external threads much wider than wood screws and therefore can create the same load spread over a much shorter length. But that's the great thing about this as a hobby - there are a huge number of different ways of solving the same problem

Ah, but there are Standards to keep up, my boy. Standards! Anyway, thankfully insulating is done for the day - and don't you just love the glass fibre prickles of the 'low irritation' modern insulation rolls OK - hopefully this below illustrates where I'm coming from. Both are drawn to the same scale. The top one is an example of the hybrid approach and the bottom one is a typical bolt-on design: The advantage is that, theoretically, the body can be as thin as the neck itself. This is the great advantage of a through-neck too, where you can achieve this or just a much smoother transition at the upper frets. BUT, as you can see, the disadvantage is that there is a shorter length of neck in the pocket itself, and the thickness of the neck at the pocket is much reduced. - To compensate for the shorter pocket, my solution is to use machine screws and inserts - allowing much tighter clamping forces than the normal woodscrews - To compensate for the thinness of the neck at the pocket - and the risk of it breaking - there are two approaches discussed above: * Adding the biscuit joint to limit any bending movement putting stress on the corner circled * @Stub Mandrel 's good engineering approach which recognises that sharp corners promote splits when put under force (the original De Havilland Comet had just this problem with square windows leading to a number of catastrophic crashes) and the solution, which is to add a radius which spreads the stress and reduces the propensity to crack. In the case of the DH Comet, they changed to round windows. In the case of @Stub Mandrel 's suggestion, it is to add a small radius here: Hope the above makes some sense!

Yes you can I'm battling with trying to insulate a 120 year old loft space at the moment, but when I've done for the day, I'll draw you a comparison. If you think of a heel of, say, a P bass, basically this gets rid of the 3/4" lump of wood your thumb would normally hit where the neck meets the body. And that means you can take at least 3/4" off the thickness of the body. I'll draw you a pic as requested.

I like that very much!

Hmmm...I was going to go for a totally different look (see next post) but it's tempting. I'll drop you a PM

In terms of the neck joint, this was the one I did for @eude 's 6-stringer. I cut a fairly standard neck-pocket in the top (underneath in this shot, then an 'L' shaped cut for a half-tenon in the neck: Note also the little feature added - an ebony biscuit joint in the middle. This was actually my safety feature for similar issues that @Stub Mandrel refers too - although in this case it was to prevent the joint failing through the additional tension of a 6 string bass rather than a knock. The idea is that the biscuit takes the force and doesn't allow the joint itself to be strained. I'll probably do both in Tom's - the radius that @Stub Mandrel suggests and a similar biscuit to this. Back to @eude 's, the neck then was attached with machine screws and inserts and the heel sanded flush with the body: As @eude says, it worked quite well - giving the advantages of both through and bolt-on necks without - pretty much - any of the disadvantages of either Anyways, spurred on by beiginners luck, I'm going to try it again

Decent question, Mick, but because it's been carved specially for Tom by his African drum-maker contacts, I wanted to use it as made if at all possible.

It's early days, and there are some aspects I'm not completely decided yet, but these are the early thoughts. I had most of the day without electricity today, so spent quite a bit of time at the table next to a large window with paper, pencil and set-square. On of the challenges is that - although this wood seems much more homogenous than the previous one, at 25mm, it is quite thin. But, I MIGHT go bolt-on all the same. Using the body as my full-size template, this is where I got to during the day: Those of you who remember @eude 's 6 stringer last year might recognise this flush-heel joint I developed for that one: And those who remember the Tom's African Bass I might remember the headstock. Volute especially for you-know-who: Tom generally prefers smaller scale - originally pitching for 32" But...hmmm...not drawn up yet...but what about multiscale? And Tom says "YES" So I'll be drawing a 33" - 31" multi-scale tweak in the next couple of days...

Anyone remember Tom's ( our very own @wwcringe ) African Build? Turning a wavy, cracking, variable hardness, unknown species and less than an inch thick body, presented to him by African drum-maker contacts of his in (I think) The Gambia: Into this fretless through-neck: Which he played later that year at the Mayor of London's Show in Trafalgar Square?: Well - they've presented him with another one: And before you ask....of course I said yes

I think you are right to have doubts. Yes, there will be some electric pickups that are eq'd very specifically, but most will work just fine. @scrumpymike 's original and modified Fender Rascal has 6-string electric single coil lipsticks - and that sounds great!

I generally would, simply because then the bottom of the slot is going to be the nut height so you can be sure where it's going to be regardless of the string. Having said that, for a tryout for a string gauge that you might not stick with, initially I would probably leave the slot alone unless it was sitting so high that you can't judge if it's a keeper or not.

This is VERY exciting. It looks top drawer!

And for completeness, I didn't think it was thermal shock. None of us know, but like @EssentialTension speculates, it is my guess that it had a drop-shock in transport. From the photo I don't think it is serious - trust me, a structural failure of the skunk stripe is much more dramatic. Looks to me more like a split in the lacquer and that indicates a one off handling shock (couriers don't generally place large, heavy boxes...they do tend to handle them 'robustly') While there's no knowing whether this was exacerbated by the strings being slackened or not, nowadays, based on a bad experience I had shipping a bass overseas, I personally go for either strings AND truss rod slackened or strings AND trussrod at normal tension. Reason that I don't just slacken the strings only is an unproven and personal concern that the backward bend is stressing the neck into a shape it doesn't usually sit at, with the fret slots opened up slightly and the trussrod exerting quite high stresses at the two ends and middle. My fear is that with a 'robust' handling drop, this combination could be the straw that breaks the camels back. Certainly, in the case of my bad experience - and based on other evidence pretty sure triggered by a drop - with the trussrod at full tension and the strings slackened, the 'hump' of the tensioned trussrod split the fretboard /neck joint in the middle of the neck and loosened 4-5 frets. I've always meant to ask here what other folks do. This thread sort of does that

Number 2 catches my eye...

I think we've all spent time and money trying to get 'the edge' only to find out that we already had it That said, I am surprised. For 6-string electrics I rate Tonerider very highly - and more because they do sound very warm. I don't have any experience with their bass pickups. I am surprised they are ceramic magnets...

I use a set of feeler gauges (couple of £'s from Halfords). I set the feeler gauges at the height I don't want to cut lower than and lay them against the nut on the fretboard. I then file down to the metal and know I'm not going to overdo it. The feeler gauges are tough so the file will slide across them if you get right down to them. Ideally, the slot wants to be angled slightly down towards the pegs but level is OK. Just avoid it sloping down towards the fretboard as that can change the intonation and/or create a sitar-like buzz.

^ my thought too. The reason that the note sharpens is because you are, effectively, bending the string, albeit vertically rather than horizontally. This is usually at the upper frets, 12th and above, because the string is progressively higher off the fret the further up the scale you go and therefore the amount you are bending the string is more. If, on the other hand, you are going sharp on the lower frets, then you must be bending the string (vertically) quite a bit down near the nut. And yet, normally, the string would be pretty close to the fret at those lower fret positions. And that means that your nut slot is still too high as, normally, you would not be having to press down on the string very far before it gets to the fret - and certainly not enough to audibly sharpen the note. Might be wrong, but that's where I'd look first.

Nice carve on that

A bit like the Bert Weedon book for 6-string guitarists, this was very much a beginners bible for bass playing when most people learnt by copying what someone else down the road who happened to have one did. But it did come out 50 years ago. And 50 years ago, the recommended way to start a diesel truck in icy weather, was to take off the air filter, soak a rag in paraffin, set light to it and bung it next to the air intake while you turned the starter motor. No longer the recommended way.... And 50 years ago it would have been quite difficult to find out even what the tuning notes were, let alone how to set it up to play well! So it was actually an important book even if the general understanding of what works and why have moved on a bit. But you never know...not setting it up with a 1/4" action might be why I'm so s**t at bass!!!!

What specific problem are you trying to solve / advantage are you trying to obtain @jebroad ?

Worth drawing it out full-size and seeing where things would end up. Based on where your bridge is drawn at the moment, can't see why it wouldn't be possible - and you don't have to go crazy skewed to give a tangible advantage.

Attendance & Gear List: 1. @Frank Blank‘s Partially Acoustic Corner - Godin A4, Rob Allen Mouse, ACG Harlot SC, Ibanez SRC6, QSC K12.2, Helix Stomp, HX Edit. 2. @Rich's Garden Of Delights - Shuker custom 5, Tanglewood acoustic 4, EBS Neo 2x12 & probable new amp (tbc) - both basses strung with nickel Elixirs. Possibly some FS stuff, details tbc once it hits the paid Marketplace. 3. @wrinkleygit, Jabba’s Semi Hollow Fretless, ‘72 Gibson EB0, SWR Working Mans 10 combo & 1x10 ext cab & a set of h’phones. Both basses strung with Labella flats 4. @scrumpymike Setting aside a bunch of FS stuff to give SW Bashers first shot and minimise packing and shipping work/costs. Unless cash flow dictates earlier sale, this will include: a couple of BF cabs (either SC Gen 3s or Two10s, to be decided); BF One10; Maruszczyk Elwood 30" scale; Spector Bantam if still unsold (already posted FS); Eden WT550 if still unsold (already posted FS); Ampeg PF800. 'Keepers' also on display will be: the other pair of BF cabs; my no. 1 gig bass 'Rascal Mervyn-Lyte; 'Rascal Lyte Mkll - provided I can decide what it's going to be in time for AndyJr to build it; my no 1 gig amp (Subway 800+); my old no 1 gig amp (Genzler Magellan 800). All of which will hopefully bring forward the day when Mrs Scrumpy can finally join her old man in retirement 😁 5. @Pea Turgh My Frankenstein Jazzguarman(!) strung with D’Addario XL Chrome flats. My black bitsa (same strings). Probably my Peterson combo which I’ll flit between selling and not selling (still). 6. @stevie Ibanex SR1200-VNF, Ashdown RM500, BCbass 112, plus some other bass cab developments (probably) 7. @yorks5stringer Gretsch Electromatic, Markbass CMD101 Micro Marcus Miller 8. @Andyjr1515 Not yet sure what I will be bringing except my athletic physique and chiselled good looks (and if you believe that.... ) 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.