Kiwi

He's a member here, you could drop him a PM and let him know in person.

[quote name='zoonyboy' post='1173677' date='Mar 23 2011, 07:01 PM']It has a reasonably low action, I don't think it would go ultra low. The neck has a preset amount of relief, which is not adjustable, but makes for a great playing experience without rattle or dead spots. The frets are larger than an early Stingray and the fingerboard is of a larger radius, so it doesn't play exactly like a Stingray, also it isn't through the body stringing. It does sound amazing though![/quote] The through body strung ones are extremely rare. I had one that was made especially for Cliff Williams from AC/DC where they basically stuck a graphite neck onto a 79 body. I've owned another Cutlass I and a Cutlass II and all the basses I've ever played have had bowed necks including the ones I've owned. But I live in hope of finding one with a straight neck one day...

Whats the action like on the cutlass? Can it be set low?

[quote name='Count Bassy' post='1171752' date='Mar 22 2011, 08:54 AM']I don't see anything there that couldn't be done with a three axis machine and a ball end cutter, provided you had the right post processor to go from the CAD model to the NC data. You'd still want to hand sand to take out the machining marks however.[/quote] Its definitely possible but how to register the body for machining the underside once the top is done? Spector tend to leave a chunk of the neck unmachined at the bridge end of the bass and deal with it by hand during general sanding. The risk of getting it wrong even by a few mm is quite high.

[quote name='apa' post='1171672' date='Mar 22 2011, 07:48 AM']I got as far as pressing the button on a 3D modelled body for a Ray project. Only thing stopping me was the guy who was programming the Tooling path.[/quote] The free software offered by emachine works out the tooling path for you.

Wow, super handy link! Thanks! Gibson have got things down to a fine art where they'll do a body by hand and scan it into their milling machines and it turns out pretty much perfect. That would be my preferred route as well but a 3d scanner is a fairly expensive and specialised piece of kit and prices for scanning services were pretty steep last time I looked. Industrial design schools will have one though so it may be possible to wangle something if you have contacts.

had a brief flirtation with an CR5 upright and chucked it in because I struggled.

I've done some research into this. If you have relatively modest expectations, its possible to whack something together in Google Sketch Up and export it to a 3 axis machine. If you feel like doing something with compound curves (warwick/spector bodies), things get a lot more complicated and require a 5 axis machine. If you need small hardware jobs done, its also worth looking at this: [url="http://www.emachineshop.com/"]http://www.emachineshop.com/[/url] Materials tolerances are hard to judge by computer, neck pocket fits still need to be done by hand...unless you have the neck dimensions measured to fractions of a millimetre or dont have high expectations about the fit.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1167889' date='Mar 19 2011, 02:19 AM']I suppose it depends on the application. If you're doing something where you're up front a lot and soloing then it's worth having a bass with a recognisable character.[/quote] That wasn't what I meant. [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1167889' date='Mar 19 2011, 02:19 AM']I think for most people a bass that plays well with a solid core sound that works well in a band mix is enough, and you can get that for under two hundred quid. You just can. There's no argument.[/quote] I'd argue against that. I went for something that cost 650 quid instead and it does the job better than any other bass I've played.

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1167680' date='Mar 18 2011, 10:37 PM']Machines are so advanced no, they should be able to knock out instruments to a decent quality without having the prices sky high. IME the price comes from having very high quality control (so you're paying for wastage) or having them hand built (which means better attention to detail, though not specifically anything better overall). Neither make the end instruments better, they just make it less likely you'll get a duff one. Brands like Westfield show that you can make cheap basses that are way above their price point in quality, but dogs can get through the QC.[/quote] The main difference I'd pay for is having wood that has a specific tonal character. There are far fewer luthiers out there who can guarantee with any certainty what an instrument will sound like than many would have you believe...apart from well worn ash or alder or mahogany bodies are used with maple necks...especially when complicated combinations of wood are being used in one instrument. If anything I've found lots of different woods tend to make the instruments sound more generic. A bit like having too many ingredients in a dish. I don't think its a question of boutique or not, more a question of construction. Better sounding instruments to my ears tend to have fewer woods used.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1165976' date='Mar 17 2011, 04:47 PM']If you think of the people who are collected under the umbrella term of 'musician', it can include a whole load of people who can't actually [i]play[/i] anything.[/quote] We call them hip hop producers.

Gibson are to bass guitars what Alembic are to guitarists.

Someone please message him and ask him if he's got anything in pink? It would make my day.

I'm hitting 40 this year. Haven't been looking forward to it but thankfully I don't have much grey hair, not much of a belly (thanks to working out 4 times a week), stayed out of the sun when I was a teenager so don't have many wrinkles and I managed to get all the toys I thought I might need before I left the UK. So now its time to get serious about things that are REALLY important...

More info is available on the Jaydee forum. [url="http://www.jaydeeguitars.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8&start=0"]http://www.jaydeeguitars.com/forum/viewtop...t=8&start=0[/url] The Jaydee website normally has a serial number section but its being updated at the moment and is offline.

Get some fimo in the colour of your choice, bake the basic shape and sand to a smooth and flat finish. Sand the sticking face true and flat then apply double sided tape. Bish bosh.

not at this point in time, it'll be a fairly expensive thing to do. I'll fit a set of alnico version of the pickups already installed and also install the 3 band para first and see if that at least allows me to control the brittleness a little more.

John went from a 0XXXX to a XXXXX based numbering system around the late 80s/early 90s. I've never seen a bass with 10XXX though only 61XXX, 71XXX etc.

There are a couple of Wal owners near brighton

[quote name='philsimmonds' post='1153434' date='Mar 8 2011, 10:46 AM']I run a night in west london called W3 Music Live.. There's two house band sets and a jam! If your game for a play or a hang! It's worth popping down! With some wicked young players.. There's a little article about in bass guitar mag this month if you want to know more! thought i'd try reach some different people if your not readers. Goldhawk Road, Ravenscourt Park, W12 8EU. - At the Ravenscourt Park Grand Union Bar! every wednesday, free entry.. all pizza is £5 on that night... its nice. and drink deals from 6-8pm n we start between 7.30/8 Let me know if your interested[/quote] Sheesh, thats literally a 10 min walk from where I used to live on Curwen Road off Askew Road.