rk7

Then after a day on the router table, the chambers were in!

I remember Martin telling me that Chris May had looked at the potential chambering, and suggested the one down the centre line of the neck between the pickups, which is a fair chunk of wood. All suggestions gratefully received! ha ha. As the pic shows, there has been a significant amount of wood removed overall, so at this point I'm getting excited about the overall result.

11 hours ago, Si600 said:

Sorry to hear that you've been unwell, I was just wondering where you'd got to the other day.

In principle it's no worse than Andy chambering Harry's Harley Benton...

Apart from the magnitude increase in the cost of the bass in the first place and the quality of the instrument.

I'm glad that Martin agreed to take it on for you so that you can keep your favourite instrument.

All the best with your health and stay away from this pesky virus!

Hey there!

Yes yes! RK rides again 😁

I haven't seen the post you are referring to, I must track it down and have a read. I'm a big fan of Andys work. I'm sure it will be a quality job. Yes, the cost of the bass (c.£4k) was a factor, but an unusable instrument is unfortunately just that. Martin is a legend, and he was familiar with the original construction of the bass, so it was in the right place in his hands. He us also a really good friend so was well aware of the problems I was having. Top man eh!

Thank you for your kind wishes, and yes, I am in total isolation at the moment to avoid the C-19 mayhem.

12 hours ago, sprocketflup said:

I've often wondered if this process was possible (seriously considered taking a forstner bit to the wood underneath a very weighty P basses scratchplate) so this thread is fascinating to me

The Sadowsky method of chambering is probably worth a look. Thats how they do it, lots of drilling, but they do this from the back of the bass, and then glue a one piece back over the drill holes. I had originally suggested this to Martin, but he already had the chamber jig for the Perception. He had used it on one of the pair of basses I saw on that visit to the workshop that marked the start of this journey.

12 hours ago, TheGreek said:

This is like a horror film to us Overwater owners. I actually cringed when I read 

Lets hope this has a happy ending..

I must admit I was rather nervous throughout the whole process, but I knew the bass was in good hands. Martin is an artist/artisan.

24 minutes ago, BassBus said:

I remember having a wee shot of this bass at Moffat many years ago. I'll watch with interest Robin. Take care of your health.

Graham

Hey Graham.

Yes Moffat was a while ago wasn't it. It was great to meet you there. Hope you are well my friend!

RK

p.s. Hope you liked the bass

Martin also deepened the control cavity, and the battery box hole. Whilst the bass was 'backless', this made good sense, to remove as much wood as possible.

It was then on to making the MDF template to guide the router cutter when making the chambers:

The job is progressing nicely!

Martin and I had discussed options for the new Back facing for the bass following the chambering activity. Initially there were two options available. Surprisingly, Martin still had the offcuts from the neck of the bass from when it was originally made, and so suggested that he could re-construct the back of the bass with the neck-through material still visible. However, I was quite keen to have it reconstructed along the lines of the Overwater Progress bass, with a full one-piece back facing, and a maple veneer between the body and the back facing, and this was the chosen option. A piece of Walnut was duly book matched, and a piece of maple sourced:

So, the Perception was taken through to the Overwater workshop in Carlisle, and left in Martins capable (culpable?) hands, heh heh. And the process began.

First, Martin stripped all the hardware and electronics from the bass, and made an MDF jig to be fastened to the front. As this is a complete bass, the fretboard prevents the bass from lying flat on the router table.

Also, upon stripping the hardware from the bass, it became obvious that the ferrules for the control cavity cover screws would need to be removed. These ferrules would make a right mess of the router bit when the back of the bass was removed. So, out they came! This is another element of the task that is not normally performed. Once there ferrules are installed, they are not intended to come out. But, Martin devised a safe way of removing them without damaging the body of the bass.

With the offending metalwork out of the way, next job was to mill 5mm off the whole of the back of the bass:

Eek! The point of no return!

Phew, job done. Its strange to be looking 'inside' the bass.

Thanks for reading

RK7

Those of you with very long memories may recall the extensive build thread for my custom Perception neck-through 5 string build by Martin at Overwater Basses some years ago. 2013 to be precise. This was to be my 'bass for life' given that I specced the whole thing from a completely blank sheet of paper, as a once in a lifetime opportunity. This bass is the one I always reach for, despite having two other Overwaters. I also have an 07 Perception bolt-on 5 string, and a 4 string Scott Devine Jazz bass, strung BEAD. Despite this, the custom Perception gets the most use, and is plugged in for every gig I play.

The bass is Walnut, with a Ziricote facing wood, a Wedge/Walnut neck, OW pickups and Hipshot hardware. It is therefore somewhat weighty, to say the least, but has tone and grunt to spare. The sound is awesome. I am also lucky enough to have a full Vanderkley rig to play it through. Go me! And now, for your viewing pleasure, here's a picture of the bass and rig:

However, into every life a little rain must fall, and a few years ago I was unfortunate enough to suffer a major Heart Attack. I was whizzed into hospital, had a stent fitted, and began my recovery and rehabilitation. I have since had a further 7 (yes seven) smaller heart attacks over the intervening period, which means that my chest is permanently weakened. Initially this was apparent when moving my Vanderkley 215MNT cabinet, to the extent that I commissioned Marc to make me a pair of 115 Lightcore cabinets and I sold the 210 on to a good friend.

As time went on, I began to struggle with the weight of the bass over the course of a full gig or practice session, both around 3 hours. It got to the point where I was facing the possibility of not using this fabulous instrument any more. I also count myself very lucky in that Martin Lee at Overwater has become a great friend (and mentor/teacher) over the years. I happened to be in the OW workshop one day recently, and Martin showed me two basses in construction. Both were at the 'finished woodwork' stage, but one was standard and one was chambered. I picked up each bass separately, and the weight difference was simply astonishing!

The seed was sown, as they say, and I started to chat with Martin about getting my custom Perception chambered. This may seem fanciful, but please bear in mind that I was facing the prospect of not being able to use this bass for much longer.

Martin, however, burst my bubble rather quickly, by pointing out that the chambering process is done during construction, but had never been done on a built bass, particularly one with the price tag that mine had!

Undeterred, I began a process of grinding the poor man down, and a short while later ended up back at the workshop with the bass on the bench between us, to have a serious look at how the job could be done. This is the benefit of having a friend like Martin! Martin then took my issue to Chris and Kirstie, to get their views. Again, there was a reluctance to take on such a task, but after explaining my problem to them, Martin got their agreement to take the request further, and serious talks began. This is one of the greatest benefits of being part of the Overwater 'family', as the support available from them is without equal, long after instruments have been bought and paid for.

So this post, readers, will describe the process of chambering a completer, high value bass.

Thanks for reading this far! More to come

RK7

Thank you so much!

Its been a while 😊

RK7

Hey there,

could you point me towards the 'approved' way of adding an image, or images. to a thread please?

many thanks

RK7

What a clever idea!! Very impressive.

I'll take some more pictures and post them. My board was a shameless copy of a Salvage Customs item, although it remains unused to this day. I enjoyed the build though!

RK7

There it is! Not sure if the pictures are still embedded though, which may mean the link is useless.

RK7

I made a similar pedal board some time ago, there is a link to the build diary on here somewhere.

thank you please

RK7

Hi chaps! I'm back!

Great thread, I have a similar project in the 'potential' box at the moment. Watching this one with interest.

Great work Andy, as ever!

thank you please

RK

Nice work!

I haven't done any Basschatting for a while due to ill health, but I thought it was time for 'the return of the eyebrow'. I have therefore just discovered this thread today. On the upside, I had 14 pages of superb Build Diary to read in one go.

Incredible work Andy, as ever!

Subscribed in an instant

RK7

Lovely work! Very impressive outcome.

RK

Subscribed!

RK

Fascinating thread with the usual level of skill on display!

Great work Andy,

thank you please

RK

Great work, very impressed!

RK

Great work!

Glad to hear you are finding some tools scary. I thought it was just me. I'm terrified of my hand held router, even when it's unplugged.

thank you please

RK

Great work! Keep it up!

RK

Welcome!

Following this thread with interest,

RK7