Bass Culture

It's been a while since my last update, mainly due to Covid-related delays. Anyway, after some months waiting for the outstanding Hipshot order that my custom stuff was on, it finally turned. Can you spot the obvious mistake anyone? Anyone who answered 'they've only sent you 3 f**king tuners for your 4 string bass gets a gold star! Anyway, that was a few weeks ago so hopefully the missing one will show up before too much longer. Which gives me time to throw in some of the latest work on the headstock, which we're capping with a veneer to match the body wood. Here goes: I don't know yet if the capped head stock is going to look classy or simply 'a bit much'. Time, I think, will tell...

350/360 no good? Same pre-amp section as the 650, I think (could be wrong though, I'm trusting to memory).

Thanks stewblack, always good to have options.

At least there's the option to send the money as a gift and avoid the fees, I guess.

Interesting - thanks. We'll have to bear that in mind should the wait prove too long from Rautia then.

No sooner do I post those than another few are sent through!:

Mike's been a very busy bunny recently, it seems. He kindly sent me another batch of progress photos, so here we go: Starting to feel like real progress now. Still at the mercy of deliveries from the States (Hipshot hardware) and Finland (Rautia pickup) though, so here's hoping they won't be too delayed. Exciting times!

True to form, this is going to be fabulous.

@Prostheta - good to hear from you and thanks for commenting. Glad to you had a chance to catch up with Mike and I'm very glad we're using your preamp. I think this build is going to be fantastic. I appreciate anyone who's ever had a bass made for them - and I've had a few - becomes a bit like a kid waiting for Christmas Day. The concept is an interesting starting point in itself but knowing the quality of parts we're using and the level of Mike's work it's very difficult not to feel especially excited about this one.

This is the pickup we're going to be using: https://www.rautiaguitars.net/aria-pro-ii.html There's few alternatives (including Kent Armstrong) but the consensus among the Aria users groups and on the forums is that the Rautia is the most authentic. I think the control array we've settled on, along with Mike's planned duplicate, 6-way, 'varitone' control is going to offer a huge amount of flexibility. That said, it's probably wasted on me as I tend to spend time finding my chosen 'sweet spot', then leave it there forever after. 😊

Something a little different to get your teeth into, Mike.

I hope they're there now!

I suspect there’s many of you who will relate to this but, following my first Zoot build about 4 years ago I’ve became something of an addict (multi-ACG/Maruszczyk owners – you know I’m talking about!). My first Zoot was a passive 4 string, so obviously that needed a fretless 4 to keep it company. Equally obviously I then needed an active 4 to ‘complete’ the set (well, active/passive actually as it had an East Uni-pre fitted; also went for Mike’s funkmeister body shape on this one so it was, you know, a bit different). As others will have found though 3 is an odd number, so that won’t do. So, there I was, wanting to pull the trigger on a new order, without having a sufficiently differentiated specification to justify another commission. Those of you of a similar age (I’m 57) may feel the same but, for me, there were two basses that stood out during my Thursday evenings glued to ‘Top of the Pops’: a Wal and an Aria SB-1000. Never had the funds for a Wal (have tried quite a few over the years though) but I did own a fretless SB-900 for many years and loved it. As a youngster the fact that it weighed the same as a small cow and had a slab body that made no concessions to forearm comfort – the same as the 1000 – didn’t really bother me, but as a now 57 year-old player, these things matter. So an idea started gestating for my new Zoot – a bass with the SB-1000 sound signature and tonal shaping, but in a lighter weight, more user-friendly body. Some initial googling and thread searching on here led me to discover the Rautia MB-1E pickup that is a direct replacement for the original, as well as Prostheta’s BB Noisekiller preamp. We hit a bit of a hurdle when it became apparent that he was no longer able to produce replacement 6-way varitone circuits at a commercially viable price but, once I located a circuit diagram of the original which showed the capacitor values, Mike has volunteered to make a duplicate for this build. And lo and behold the Zoot ZB-1000 is born! The bass is going to be a medium scale (32”) bolt-on build (yes, I know, I know, SB’s were neck-through and long-scale but the build incorporates my ergonomic preferences). Other specs are: Body: 7/8th sized Zoot bass shape with carved top. English spalted beech on American light weight Swamp ash divided by Ebony veneer pin stripe. Headstock veneer to match. Neck: Roasted Canadian flame maple with Purple heart stringers and ebony veneers. Rosewood f/board, darkened with small amount of clear satin lacquer. Black Hipshot hardware with gold bridge saddles and tuner bushings. Tone Controls: As above but with additional series/parallel switching and passive tone. Some photos of the early stages for your delight and delectation. More to follow as the build progresses. The body: The neck: The fingerboard: The contouring that original didn't have: I'm hoping it be ready in time for Christmas - what a present that will be!

Can't see anyone adding further to this thread as BassBunny has said all you need to hear. .

Righty tighty (i.e. tensioning the neck away from the strings so the are closer to the fingerboard) Lefty loosey (releasing tension on the neck so it becomes more concave). Only ever do 1/4 turns or - as Hellzero says - things can go south quite easily. You can check relief by stopping the E string on the first and last fret. The middle of the neck is usually around the eighth fret and there should be about a credit card width space between the bottom of the string and the fret. Much more and you need to tighten the truss rod slightly, much less and you need to loosen it.

The can of woodworms, if you will...😉

That's a start - thank you!

Slight tangent this, but can anyone point me in the direction of a decent (physical) guide for using either Logic Pro X or Garageband? I've a Macbook Pro I originally bought to run theatre lighting software but - like many of you - have been 'inspired' by lockdown to do some home recording. I quickly lose the will to live trying to wade through online Help to find out how to turn the metronome up on Garageband so I'd really like a physical manual I can refer to more easily...before I lose the will to live trying to find out how to turn the metronome up in Garageband. 😀

Welcome aboard. There's quite a community of us in Chester and its environs and quite a variety of gear too, so if you ever fancy trying a particular piece of kit don't hesitate to put the call out - someone local might have it covered.

Ha ha - I blame Covid!

Mmmm, nice. What's the top wood on this?

4 pages and no mention of John Wetton. You philistines!

Myself and my good friend, Les, are popping over from Chester on the Sunday. If anyone sees a shortish, fattish, middle-aged, bald guy, er 'improvising' on basses outside most normal people's financial grasp, it could well be me.

Generally string spacing on a 4 string would be 19-20mm (at the bridge, string centre to centre). That sort of spacing on a 5 string could make for a neck that was potentially too wide for some players so many 5 string basses tend to be 17-18mm. What works best for you is entirely down to what you personally find most comfortable. I've only got small hands and only play 4 stringers but tend to look for a spacing of about 17 - 17.5mm if possible. I think I've seen some of Mark King's Status basses were 16.5mm.