Kiwi

hahaha, ok if he's telling porkies, maybe I will withhold Jon's posh coffee supply until he surrenders.

Forgot to mention that Jon said he plans to let the bass grace the home page of the shuker website for a bit too.

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='326716' date='Nov 11 2008, 01:25 PM']Basstalk (the American based website) have a preferences facility to select only certain forums in which to "search" for new posts... this means that the vast majority can be filtered out by the user to suit his/her tastes... (you just need to be a member to use that, not a supporting member)[/quote] It's possible to subscribe to forums here as well. Go to the pull down menu in the top right hand corner when you are viewing the forum and click on subscribe. [quote name='Currrls' post='330862' date='Nov 17 2008, 06:03 PM']What about an IRC channel. don't know if anyone uses them already but it might work[/quote] I used to be an avid IRC user before Bassworld. I personally like the idea of a dedicated channel but its harder to manage and if more than 10 members are using it heavily then its hard to track conversations without going to private rooms. Also if an IRC channel was too popular, would it drain interest from the rest of the forum?

hi chris, welcome aboard

[quote name='LWTAIT' post='330773' date='Nov 17 2008, 04:27 PM']its a problem i had in my graphics coursework, that you had to give a reason why you were designing what you were designing. there had to be gap in the market or a problem with the original product. their isnt either of these things with bass.[/quote] that's what I was hinting at, too.

[quote name='Prosebass' post='330735' date='Nov 17 2008, 03:41 PM']Granted uprights still sell alongside modern basses and I love EUB's having owned a Framus but I would love to see a different "mindset" in how bass design could go forward.[/quote] Like this? [quote name='Prosebass' post='330733' date='Nov 17 2008, 03:33 PM']Thats what I'm getting at, can it be improved ? The Precision and Jazz are design Icons having lasted 57 and 48 years respectively. Does this mean we are all ultra conservative or that the original designs were so good ?[/quote] Lets not look at the bass guitar in isolation, the original designs were an improvement on earlier guitar ideas too (including those by Les Paul). Have recent innovations I've already mentioned been successful? Sure to a certain extent, we still have instruments with graphite necks and laminations and active circuits and headless designs and fanned frets and 15 degree twisted neck and vibrato bridges and onboard tuners and stereo circuitry and optical pickups and neck LED's. Put all those together in one instrument and compare/contrast it to Leo's Fender P. How does that stack up in terms of design? And then lets consider whether that instrument is MARKETABLE? If it doesn't sell but is still innovative, is it successful?

There's a certain performance envelope for any piece of design that is based around fitness for purpose. So long as the bit of kit does what its supposed to and doesn't cause more problems than it solves then there's little reason for its to evolve. Any attempts to force it to evolve are often meaningless in the long run. Sales hype, decoration or otherwise frivolous features often masquerade as innovation (tm) (pat. pending). Usually the most significant way in which otherwise stable design ideas develop is with the advent of new technology eg. graphite composites, or new manufacturing techniques, eg. laminated necks or the use of NURBS modelling in CNC milling. Ergo, you could also say the precision bass shares 100% of its design with a guitar. The only thing fundamentally different is the scale.

[quote name='OldGit' post='330350' date='Nov 16 2008, 11:18 PM']However, at least in the old workshop, his coffee leaves a bit to be desired .[/quote] Still? Even after I got him a kg of single estate bourbon coffee and a link to a website where he can get more? Has he got a mini fridge yet so the milk doesn't go off? I'll probably end up having to give him that as well. Jeez the things I have to do for a decent cup of coffee...

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='329737' date='Nov 15 2008, 05:27 PM']Here's hoping. I'm kinda limited though as I only like natural or black. I don't fancy any of the coloured ones - maybe a Blue Dawn but they never come up.[/quote] [url="http://www.gumtree.com/london/75/29305875.html"]http://www.gumtree.com/london/75/29305875.html[/url] Probably better not let this one get away then...?

If you mean the grain, aim for a late 80's instrument. If you mean the polyester finish then most basses before the late 90's had it and most produced even today. We could probably date your preferred instrument if you gave us the serial plus shots of the bridge and neck joint. Stingray necks are approximately half way between a j and p bass.

I tend to use compression after the synth pedal to even out any cone-blowing peaks

1984-85 was one of the worst years for Musicman instruments. My mate Hugh had an 84 stingray with a wonky neck. Apparently Leo's company was subbed to make necks for Musicman at the time and they didn't do very good work. Some were shipped without attached truss rods (ie. fitted but not anchored). Certain parties even suggested the drop in quality control was deliberate...

Jon was in Shepherds Bush to catch the Stranglers at the Empire tonight and dropped off a first run of the body using a cracked piece of mahogany waste he had lying around. [attachment=16015:prototyp...irst_cut.jpg] The edges haven't been radiussed, the two halves of the run are slightly out of register, the pickup routs are a mess (because of the CNC machine's own limits) and slightly too close to the neck and I'm not certain about the return for the headless tuners either. The neck pocket is also going to be done by hand to ensure a close fit ... ...however I'm quite pleased with how sexy the shape is and with the neck it should balance almost perfectly on the leg. The body is very wide but definitely feels good. There's support in the right place for the right forearm and I'm thinking about chambering where the wood is thickest. The rough cut is very thick still so I'm in two minds about whether to leave it like that and have two very deep but also quite comfortable chamfers, or to make the body thinner but less contoured.

If you're going to use a compressor, its probably a good idea to make sure you don't use extreme compression settings. The raised gain will result in a raised noise floor and may create false triggers when you're not actually playing notes.

Jon sent me this pic. Apparently there have been some issues with lines in the wood that haven't hardened properly when the original layers of finish were applied. Jon's not sure about why it has happened, it could be pores or pockets of resin but he's chased out the unhardened lacquer with some acetone and he's filling them with superglue. [attachment=15981:DSCN5059_1_.jpg] No getting past how mouth wateringly stunning that wood grain looks though. [quote name='mcgraham' post='296131' date='Oct 1 2008, 06:56 AM']You getting excited CK?[/quote] Now I've seen how the facings look, I am! It's been a bloody long wait though.

I've sorted it.