Kiwi

Not quite sheep, but close enough.

yeah its freaky but over the course of 6 strings, an extra mm can make a difference I guess! I really like the Alembic spacing BTW, less stretch required but it didn't work on the Elan I owned. The B and E strings were definitely too close together.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='301183' date='Oct 7 2008, 12:15 PM']Thanks. I might measure mine tonight to see if mine's tight or wide. I always thought it was wide, but 17mm seems like a big gap to me![/quote] As Eude says, its measured centre to centre. I asked Jon for 17mm to be the tightest spacing at the C and G string and for the remainder of the strings to be adjusted for gauge as they get thicker. Its one of the other advantages of having a bass with mono rail bridge units. Alembics have string spacing of 16.5mm and thats pretty narrow, something like a Yammie TRB has spacing around 18 or 19mm IIRC.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='301648' date='Oct 7 2008, 07:36 PM']It seems there isn't going to be a headless version...[/quote] Well thats a bit disappointing. The outline around the bridge looks a little odd if that is indeed the case.

OKdoke, looks like the upgrade has staunched the flow of bogus accounts so I've removed Admin validation from user account signups. There's a chance that some accounts may have slipped through while we were still learning to recognise what was bogus. Hopefully though we've cleaned up most of the problem.

whats that? any indication of prices?

I want one, in headless, but how does one reach the 24th fret ?

My custom Shuker will have string spacing around 17mm. I prefer narrow string spacing it seems although its not as easy to pop. I can pop on the Spector without too much trouble.

The forum has been upgraded, I'm going to keep the Admin validation on new members for the rest of the day to see if the upgrade actually does the job its supposed to. The main change in the upgrade is a more sophisticated Captcha feature so hopefully that should answer your question Waldo?

does that mean you aren't so worried about the sound?

did you try many other 6 string basses before you decided to go with MTD or did you decide to get a 6 version of the 5 you already liked?

OK, I liked (and still liked) my Smith 6 which is now owned by Platypus because it had a very warm tone and very mellow top end. The neck was just a bit too wide for me at the dusty end. Plus it also had a growly upper mids but it was quite scooped. I like the Spector because its not scooped but its a pretty aggressive instrument nevertheless. I'm hoping the headless Shuker coming will be a combination of both. What I'd love to be able to do eventually is play unaccompanied so I've been looking for an instrument that is quite easy on the ear. I've had a go on graphite necked Status and Modulus basses (quite hard sounding), a Fodera Imperial (nice but expensive) and a wooden necked Status Energy (not bad but it sounded a little honky), an old Shuker 6 in almost all mahogany at last years SE Bassbash, my old Alembic Elan that I bought from Ped (dark sounding and damn heavy) and a few other basses in shops that weren't that memorable.

there's a version of that Wang Chung song here with clearer bass and close ups at 2:59 and 3:07

I was just having a plonk on the Spector 6 this evening and comparing it to the Smith 6 that I used to own. Both basses had strong and weak points. I was thinking that there are certain basses that have good and bad points depending on the genre but I'm not aware that I've ever seen strong opinions about great 6 string basses expressed here. Does anyone feel like putting a case forward for a 6 string they've tried and liked?

There are certain patterns with the email addresses as well as the IP numbers. BTW the forum should be updated soon.

[quote name='cd_david' post='300140' date='Oct 5 2008, 08:46 PM']I wonder if this is applied as a finish coat to the necks and then bodies of Vigiers, The necks stay perfectly rigid over time however as we know wood swells and shrinks even tiny amounts, which would cause the smartie effect? Dunno what do you think?[/quote] If the bass was finished in automotive lacquer, the lacquer would have similar problems. It doesn't take up the movement of the wood very well and can crack.

Im thinking that some of us are bound to play the same venues at some point, so if we can get a few more posters listing the name of the venues we play at it'll probably help a lot. I've been advised offline about a couple of places I've listed already that we'll be treating more cautiously nex time.

my spector 6 is also neck heavy but I have a huge leathergraft 4"wide strap that helps. I'm thinking about hipshot ultralights but they're a low priority at the moment. Some additional weight in the body might help but the instrument isn't exactly lightweight as it is.

here's mine: Genz Benz Shuttle with an EBS Neo212 that weighs about 24kg.

it could be a reinterpretation of Mustang Sally... Approaching a traditional and well known favourite arrangement, with an intent to re-examine traditional boundaries of musical taste, discover potentially unchartered areas of meaning by juxtaposing the traditional arrangement with a purely stochastic event, study the subsequent overlap with a view to defining those areas of convergence and highlighting areas of musical conflict by using a palette of contemporary textures. Linda Barker says: [i]I really really like it![/i]

FWIW, one of my bass tutors long ago told me he read the dots judging their distance from one another on the stave rather than recognising which line they were on/off.

I definitely admire them, but I'm probably a minority voice in finding their song writing a little insipid and lacking in passion. I've found myself listening to many of their tracks waiting for the climax or waiting to understand the point of the song and the light bulb never really flicks on. Undoubtedly thats more a reflection of my poor musical understanding than them as a band. Having said that, I love the bass tone on Aja. Something I've used as a benchmark for my own gear testing.

I think what counts is how it sounds, regardless of the technology or specifications.

[quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='297410' date='Oct 2 2008, 11:38 AM']Another block lover. I have recently realised that I have a huge weakness for block pearl inlays. They are like the eyes of a beautiful woman, to me! I hope Kiwi's new builds don't have blocks, or I'll have to pawn my CD collection and buy one.[/quote] LOL, with the wooden fingerboard versions inlays would be definitely possible. BTW, I'm having to take a view on the timelines for this project at the moment with my work situation being so uncertain. There's only so much I can pump into this per month. Jon and Rob also tried to set up a 3d model of the body in 3D Studio but there have been problems with importing such a complicated model into ArtCAM and the CNC machine is only 3 axis. So it looks like they're having to build two models, one with the radius and one with the body outline with a third model for pickup routs, neck pocket, control cavity etc. Eventually I think I might have to take the first finished body and get it 3d scanned like Gibson and Warwick do.