RonC

As i said before, just take lessons... Video's on YT are nice but they will never correct you which increases the chance that you'll learn the wrong techniques. Besides that, there are lot of crap lessons on YT too.. And when you've finally learned the "wrong/bad" techniques you'll get stuck someday. Its harder (and takes more time) to "unlearn" bad techniques then to learn the good ones rightaway.. Succes!

It truly doesn’t matter what instrument you put in Barends hands, it always sound great with him! 😉

Just PM me or contact me by email: [email protected] I'm setting up my workplace at home this year and will finish luthiers school by June 2026. Until then I unfortunately don't have time to take orders... So by the end of 2026 I've planned to start building, One day a week besides my daytime job.

My dear friend and extraordinary bassplayer Barend Tromp offered to make a demo video of my bass! I'm very happy with the result, Barend played some killer grooves and is able to really push an instrument to the limits! So finally you guys can hear my "black beauty"! [youtube] Also check out Barend his solo work with contributions of Michael Manring, Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn! Barend Tromp spotify

The best way is to find yourself a good teacher.. He can actually see what’s happening and help you. Also important so you don’t teach yourself wrong techniques. It’s harder to unlearn wrong techniques (and a waste of time) than to learn the right ones directly.

Wow, that’s a nice piece of wood! I can’t wait to see more of it!

Just turn it back, there’s no harm done. i always place a mark with a pencil so i always know where i started.

Just look right on top of the bold, then it doesn’t matter if you adjust the trussrod from the headstock or the body, in all cases left/counterclockwise or right/clockwise is correct.

Loosening is anti clockwise. Tightening is clockwise. Just always look at the top of the bold. Be a bit careful with tightening, the wood needs to have time to work, so never tighten more than 1/4 to 1/2 turn a day… succes!

I see you live in Belgium, I live in the Netherlands close to the Belgium border (Weert). So maybe it’s not too far away, I’m happy to do a proper setup for you. Otherwise, there are quite a lot of good luthiers in Belgium who can do this for you.

This method is only to check the nut. if there’s a light tick at the 1st fret your nut is fine. Fret 3 is no influence of this method. i would now loosen the trussrod a bit, start with 1/4 of a turn (anti clockwise).

As @JJMotown mentioned, it’s probably too much backbow. To check if it’s the nut simply press the string on the 2nd position and tap with your other hand right above the 1st fret. There has to be a little relief. When you hear a light “tick” when the string hits the fret then it’s okay. When it’s already pressed against the fret and you don’t hear the string hits the fret your nut is too low.

Wow!!! what a stunning bass!! Absolutely beautiful!! enjoy it!!

Almost the end of may… is it finished?? I’m dying to see the end result!!

Thanks!! those frequencies sound indeed far more usable! (I don’t even hear anything anymore above the 15kHz…)

Does anyone here has experiences with the Darkglass tone capsule preamp? For the bass I’m building right now I’m gonna use a Lace Aluma bass Barr pickup (at the stingray position) and the Darkglass preamp looks quite interesting to me.

I just added a transformer to the preamp so the balanced output is working now too. soundsamples will follow soon now!

That's what i thought also, when i had Paul made me a new body (2011) I wasn't able to make one myself, plus the fact that if Paul would build it it would be an all original Wal again. Ever since i started at a luthiers school in 2018 i had thoughts if i could restore this body, cause its a really nice piece of wood with a beautiful centre stripe, but there's to many wood missing on crucial places to make something nice of it again... It's a shame but now i'm glad i've got some cash for it so i can use it for the new build!

In the end it’s just a piece of wood…

I've thought about that too but not only the horns are cut off, the upper- and end part of the centre piece (below the armrest) is also partly cut off, that makes it difficult... i think you can only use is when the body is fully covered with lacquer.. so i think its easier to build an entire new body....

My new build will be a fretless, headless 5 sting neck through. 5 piece neck: 3x wenge, 2x padouk. Swamp ash body with padouk top. Black hardware (not decided yet which) and one Lace Aluma Bass Bar PU at the stingray position. Model will be inspired by the NS Design radius bass, still have to work that out.. .

Well, the demolished body is finally sold.. still got a nice price for it, money i can use for my new build! Very curious what the new owner is gonna do with it! Hopefully he can make something nice out of it.

Around 530km (1060 in total) to trade a Wal for a Wal! From my hometown in the Netherlands to Hull, I booked a minicruise for it. We swapped basses at a parking lot!

Great job Rob!! always nice to see your process, love it!