BigRedX

The ACG pre-amp arrived on Thursday and I finally got around to fitting it yesterday.



I've put the gold knobs on and I think these are the ones. Because they're much bigger than the original knobs I think that black would be too overwhelming now. The pre-amp itself is absolutely amazing! I'll be using this at rehearsal tomorrow night through my rig, but just through the BassPod and my studio monitors it's possible to really fine tune the sound and get for me just the right mix of bottom end thump and middly mwah...

OK as discussed with Ped in the McIntyre Guitars thread, here is a selection of weird and wonderful bass manufacturers and luthiers that I have bookmarked.

I'm going to try and post one a day going through my list. Hopefully there will be something here for everyone eventually and also hopefully some new makes that not everyone will have seen before.

Feel free to comment, dis my taste in musical instruments etc...

And without further ado here's the first on my list

This is an Aquilina Triton 5 string.

More information from the [url="http://aquilinabasses.free.fr/"]Aquilina Website[/url]

Based in France. Reasonably conventional by my standards, but there's some nice design ideas here such as the balanced XLR out as well as the standard jack and the unusal truss rod access. It's an elegant shape, although I think more could have been made of the extended cutaway access. This will set you back about €2,000.

There's two other models and they're all available with 4-7 strings.

More tomorrow...

I'm selling it because I've since bought three other fretless basses that are far more my style (see the fretless thread in Bass Porn for more details) and consequently it's no longer getting the attention it should.

Ta for the bump...

That Clifton bass looks nice. How does it sound being shortscale? Also what is the wood for the fingerboard?

You can make do without any instrument you choose just so long as you craft the arrangement well enough. The bass guitar as an instrument in 'popular music' has had people writting it off since the early eighties - and yet it's still here being used as much as ever. Just pick the right instruments to make the right sounds for the kind of music you want to create.

I think there's only going to be a couple from the UK in my list. However just look through the build diary section in these forums. You'll find that there are one or two more UK luthiers than Shuker... ;-)

That initially doesn't look too bad - some nice design ideas like the black brust finish and the inlay fingerboard markers, but then scroll down to the last pic and look at the state of the grain on the neck! If they'd had any sense they'd have covered that up with a nice black brust finish as well.

There's about 100 (although some are guitar only -as I'm a guitarist too). Of course it's ever changing as some new ones turn up and other luthiers seem to leave the business. Maybe I'll post a top twenty cooling looking (but obscure) basses over the weekend if I have time?

How about a Nash Bass? If you like the relic'd look...

[url="http://www.musictoyz.com/img200707/nash105.jpg"]Here's one[/url]

[url="http://www.musictoyz.com/img200707/nash14.jpg"]And another[/url]

Personally I don't think any of the 'scarring' looks natural, but then again unless you know where every scrape and ding on your bass has come from then it very rarely can.

[quote name='Russ' post='56533' date='Sep 6 2007, 02:27 PM']90% of Chris' customers are guitarists, and guitarists are almost always interested only in the classic shapes if they want a custom instrument. The site is tailored to that market. If you go down to see him, he's got pictures of various non-traditional custom instruments he's done, including basses.[/quote]

In that case it's a pity he's not put any up on the site. Over the last year I've been building up a collection of bookmarks for interesting guitar and bass manufacturers and luthiers. Unless you know them personally these days the first point of contact is the web site and this should give a flavour of what they are about. Chris' web site says he can build you a very nice instrument based on traditional designs. For me when there's so many other sites flaunting their weird and wonderful ideas for instruments, it's unsurprising that after a look around at the 5 or 6 conventional looking instruments on show, I moved on to other (for me) more interesting sites.

[quote name='Mokl' post='56612' date='Sep 6 2007, 05:26 PM']I definitely don't want a 36" scale, although that Overwater is a bit of a beast! Surprised you would be willing to part with that one![/quote]

Thanks for the reply. The Overwater is a wonderful instrument and it would only be in exchange for a Wal or similar that I'd let it go.

My advice would be to expect to pay VAT, Duty where it applies and a clearance handling fee on any thing you import over £15 including the postage. That way when you don't get hit for the charges you can be pleasantly surprised.

My current experience is that anything imported and handled by ParcelForce in the UK will be subject to customs charges.
With other carriers YMMV.

It's £18 or £36 if the package is marked as a gift. Don't forget that postage costs are also included in the calculation. Also the carrier in this country will add a customs clearance handling fee of between £8 and £15 (depending on who it is) to the duty (if applicable) and VAT that is charged. Be careful a package that is just over the limit can suddenly get very expensive.

Ta.

Actually I'd come across this web site before, but as replicas of other maufacturers instruments don't really appeal to me I hadn't bothered book marking it. Also does anyone else think there's something wrong with a site that gives over more screen to show of the 'web designers' skills than pictures of the instruments themselves?

Can someone post a URL please?

A quick Google didn't reveal it....

I selected both equally.

In my current band I play about 75% fingers on fretless and 25% pick on fretted, but that's just because most of the songs we're currently doing suit the fretless and fingers. It all depends on the song.

It's the Infeld (as in TI) version of the Andreas Shark Bass. The original which is no longer available had an Aluminium fingerboard. Even this watered-down version no longer seems to be available. There used to be a link in the Infeld web site but that's long gone.

I've got an Andreas Black Shark guitar which is one of the guitar versions of this bass:


If anyone here has one of the original Andreas Basses with the aluminium fingerboard I'd be interested in buying it...

I hinted in the fretless thread in Bass Porn that I might be selling this and now I am.

Squier Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz.
Currently modified with a Badass II Bridge, J-Retro Pre-amp, Schaller Straplocks and a Fat Finger (not shown in the pics).






£300 (including all the original parts as well)
I also bought (but haven't fitted) a set of Bartollini J-Bass Pups (9J1 L/S) which I'll include for an extra £50

If you'd prefer, I can put it back it to it's original condition with the Fender-style bridge and the passive vol, vol, tone controls - that'll be only £150.

For me there are some good looking single-cuts and some horrible looking ones.

Just as there are some good-looking double cut basses and some horrible ones too!

I've yet to find a single cut that wasn't a Gibson Triumph Bass (and probably doesn't really count as a single cut bass in the current meaning of the phrase) that felt comfortable to play due to my guitarist thumb technique, but that doesn't stop me looking (and having GAS for) the good looking ones.

After a bit of Googling...

From [url="http://www.activebass.com/members/richardnaimish/"]Richard Naimish's home page[/url]

[quote]I'm currently seeking an investor to help me relaunch the Naimishbridge. Please contact me if you, or anyone you know, are interested in this unique 21st century opportunity.[/quote]

So guess the answer to your questions is that it's not currently available.

There's some more detailed information about how the bridge works at the the end of [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=177238&page=2"]this thread on TalkBass[/url]

HTH

I bought a 30 piece allen key set from Focus - 15 metric from 0.7mm - 10mm and 15 Imperial from 0.025" - 3/8" and I haven't yet found an allen screw that one of them won't fit. I've also discovered that some instruments require both metric and imperial keys depending which part you're adjusting!

Guitarnuts is a brilliant site.

I used their Lonestar Strat wiring diagrams when I upgraded the pups on our lead guitarist's strat last year.

Excellent info and theory.

If you're not into 35" then I don't suppose you'd be interested in 36"...



Won't hurt to ask though...

[quote name='woodster' post='53148' date='Aug 31 2007, 09:32 AM']I played in a jazz funk band with Nik Kershaw before he hit the big time[/quote]

Is that the band mentioned in Giles Smith's book "Lost In Music"?
There's a whole chapter on Nik Kershaw.

I started on guitar, but even then I wanted to play the bass. In my first band, for a long time we had no bass guitar, and when we finally did, bass duties were shared between all three instrumentalists. However as this band 'progressed' we all started focusing on individual instruments, and I ended up as the bassist (probably because by then I actually owned one and therefore had the most time to practice).

These days I play bass, guitar and some keyboards (mainly for programming), but I enjoy playing bass in a band context more than the other instruments, and I consider the Bass to be what I'm most proficient on.

I do relate to the situation of changing instruments because of the band you join. In the early 80s I auditioned for a band as a bass player, and ended up playing synth for them for the next 6 years, during which time, I hardly played any guitar or bass at all!