Apprenti L'Artisan

What are they like? I was originally going to buy a sub-£200 wooden bow, but since I've been gigging more recently I'm beginning to need an amp and pickup (thinking about saving for a GK mb112) and being a student I can't really afford much at the moment (though I am looking for a job). Are the Thomann bows as good as the Yita music bows? I really don't want to order from China, or I'd order a Yita bow. How does the Thomann bow play compared to more expensive bows? Anyone got any experience with these bows at all? They're a third of the price of the bows I was looking at, but are they a third of the quality too? Thanks all, Joe

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1377207170' post='2184916'] He clearly had his bass set up with very little relief though and sadly I think the recordings suffer a bit because of it. Musically though, wow. [/quote] How do you mean? As in the strings buzzed or some other reason?

Where you based pete? I know of quite a few teachers, and can find out if there's any local to you if you want.

Pickup rout and neck pocket carved with chisels (no routers here!). Now I've just got to finish the pickup cover, if only it wasn't so bloomin' difficult to make in a 6ft shed!!! [URL=http://s1171.photobucket.com/user/Josiah_Goldsmith/media/Basspuprout.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r555/Josiah_Goldsmith/Basspuprout.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Update: soaked and stretched the top into a rounder opening. No hair snagging and easy to drop in and out! Also oiled with neatsfoot oil, and will wax at some point too. [URL=http://s1171.photobucket.com/user/Josiah_Goldsmith/media/Quivertop.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r555/Josiah_Goldsmith/Quivertop.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Personally, I wouldn't bother with D'addario's 'hybrids'. The orchestral ones are more bowable, and sound quite similar. I think Rufus Reid says the same actually, both are good but I think that the orchestral ones are more useful.

I agree with everything ubassman said. The bridge looks like it'll just rewarp. Make sure the seam is cleaned of all hide glue before gluing. What some luthiers do is heat the original glue, then mix the new hide glue with it. I'd get a luthier to work on it though.

Nope. Tie the top like so and I can't make it flap about much at all: Thread one end of the lace from the back through the G-string hole. Thread the other end from the back through the E-string hole. Pull both ends across the top (overlapping to make a squashed X) and through the opposite holes and out the back. Tie both ends together. Ignore the A and D holes, and don't worry if the laces don't form an X on the front once it's tightened. Tie the bottom two separately, and try and get the quiver to sit on the front of the tailpiece at the bottom. I haven't noticed any lack in tone, and the quiver doesn't flap about! EDIT: By 'Tie the bottom two separately' I meant that they shouldn't be tied together. By doing this, the laces at the bottom support the quiver better.

I used a bit of steel wool to remove rosin from my animas. Use the finest you can find, and be reasonably gentle. They might feel weird for a while, but they soon regain their original feel.

GK MB112. Compact, loud, and if you need another 200w you can buy the 112 powered cab! That way you've got 400w, in a very lightweight, portable rig.

Just finished this. Cost me about £6 for the thread, thonging (well that certainly turned up some interesting search results) and a leather punch. Everything else I had, although this is my first time using it all. I made it in preparation for the bow I'm saving up for to get for my birthday (in September), so the bow in the pic is my teacher's. It stays open really well, due to the stiff leather and hole-patches (for the laces) and it sticks out at a nice angle due to how I attached it to the bass. [URL=http://s1171.photobucket.com/user/Josiah_Goldsmith/media/5eb719e9-b4f2-4c7b-a4c6-ccbfe6e31546.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r555/Josiah_Goldsmith/5eb719e9-b4f2-4c7b-a4c6-ccbfe6e31546.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Cheers, Joe

Yeah, I agree. In which case, I think we should give it a go. I'll have a look to see whether I've still got some books to loan (might have already given them away).

I think it's a good idea, provided postage isn't going to be enormous. Maybe the same could be done with magazines as well?

Mixture of a MIJ Maya bass and a Squier (Maya + Squier = Squaya. Get it?). Traded for all the parts so I'm working on the routing and assembling over the next month or two. Here's what I've got so far: [url="http://s1171.photobucket.com/user/Josiah_Goldsmith/media/Squayajazzbass-body.jpg.html"][/url] [url="http://s1171.photobucket.com/user/Josiah_Goldsmith/media/Squayajazzbass-before.jpg.html"][/url] And here's a photoshop mockup of the custom scratchplate I'll order: [url="http://s1171.photobucket.com/user/Josiah_Goldsmith/media/Squayajazzbass2.jpg.html"][/url] I'm going to put a p-bass pickup in the bridge rout (when I can afford one haha) covered by an ebony cover that I'll make later. Going to be simple volume and tone controls (which I also need to acquire) so I'll make a new control plate too. The neck's one-piece maple with ebonol fingerboard and skunk stripe. The body's two-piece ash. Hi-mass bridge (Think it might be a Fender or eBay shop jobbie?), custom scratchplate with no neck-pickup. Don't know what the tuners are but they seem to work very, very well. Thanks to Andy for all the parts I needed to get it fixed! I've been waiting on this project for over 2 years, and I've never had a 'good' bass before so I'm looking forward to seeing it finished! Thanks and I'll keep you updated, Joe

Great guy! Did a straight swap within 2 days, and got a good deal all round. Andy's a lovely guy, and was very prompt in answering any questions. He was very generous and friendly at all points in our communications. He also replied to messages very quickly, and very helpfully too. I wouldn't hesitate to do business with him again. Thanks Andy! Joe

Don't bother with the fake vibrations thingy, playing will do the same thing and IME more efficiently. I doubt it's a bad bass, although it's possible that the top's been carved quite thick. What strings are on it? Shortening the tailpiece won't do anything, tuning it to a IV 2 octaves above might (never bothered though because it seems like a load of mumbo-jumbo). Soundpost is definitely important, maybe get another luthier to look at it and adjust it? Also, thinning the bridge will help. Wood does sleep, but it won't sound 'bad' before playing it a bit, just a bit less open. My advice is to play it for a few weeks and see what happens. If there's no change after a week or two, have a different luthier thin the bridge and fiddle with the soundpost. Best of luck! Joe

Bridge should be centred between the notches of the f-holes. Make sure the back of the bridge is at 90 degrees to the top

Okey-dokey. Hope the photo links work. [URL=http://s1171.photobucket.com/user/Josiah_Goldsmith/media/db1.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r555/Josiah_Goldsmith/db1.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s1171.photobucket.com/user/Josiah_Goldsmith/media/3.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r555/Josiah_Goldsmith/3.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s1171.photobucket.com/user/Josiah_Goldsmith/media/2.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r555/Josiah_Goldsmith/2.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s1171.photobucket.com/user/Josiah_Goldsmith/media/1.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r555/Josiah_Goldsmith/1.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Not sure where they all went. Here's what I found. The screws were definitely NOT me. I'm gonna replace them with maple dowels when I next have the strings off. It's pretty much done now. The before photo was after I'd cleaned it, so not entirely accurate. It's fully carved, my teacher loves it! Apparently it's 4x times louder than his Paul Bryant and growls beautifully (which I'd definitely agree with). I still need an endpin tip, bow and quiver if anyone has one, but apart from that I'm pretty much set!!!!

Hello, I'm Joe. I look forward to sharing what knowledge I have with everyone on this forum and learning what I can too. A year ago in october, I was given a broken double bass. It was sat in my art classroom and my teacher ignored it, so it sat their gathering dust. After about a year of asking, he said he'd think about giving it to me. I wrote a letter in the place of the bass (my poor wooden heart splits etc etc) and he told me I could have it. So I carried it from one side of town to the other, ducking under doorways when it started to rain. Having spent weeks repairing it, I put a picture on talkbass to see if anyone knew what it was. A lovely guy in America (who is now a good friend) gave me all the parts I needed to fix the bass! I brought it to my local(ish) luthier for a set up, and now it plays great! A couple of weeks later, someone else on talkbass gave me a set of anima strings, which sounded perfect on the bass and were awesome with the bow (I didn't know how to bow then, so my luthier played for me). The strings that my friend in America gave me were great, but they weren't quite what I was looking for at the time. A few weeks ago, someone saw me playing at a gypsy jazz gig, and offered me a prototype tanglewood curbow bass. I defretted it and now I have a killer fretless to go with my first bass. My first bass, I'd been looking in the friday ad for bass guitars, and an Ashton popped up locally for £40. I travelled over to pick it up, and it was in imaculate condition (the stickers were still attached to the tuners!). This was about two years ago. Before the double bass, I was given a Maya jazz bass from the '70s. I was expecting it to be rubbish, but the body was two-pieces of solid ash and in pretty good condition. The neck was broken though and the electronics were a mess. The other day I was offered the parts needed to fix the bass including a new fretless neck. I traded the strings I had on the double bass before (also very generously given to me by the same luthier in America who gave me all the parts for the double bass. What a great chap!) and I'm expecting the parts for the bass by the weekend! Not bass related, but I also draw a lot. I'd been looking for a drawing board, and found a small wooden one on freecycle which I was offered. The lady with the drawing board then emailed me, telling me that someone was offering a full draftsman drawing board for free, so I ended up with a £1000+ drawing board for free too! I'm also studying to become a luthier. The lovely chap in America who helped with the double bass also gave me loads of tools to get started on lutherie, and without him I'd be making much slower progress than I am!!! I've also befriended a guitar luthier, who keeps inviting me round his shop to watch him work and perform small tasks (bending rosette parts etc) and who also gave me a Warwick 5 string body because he'd built his buddy a new body and his friend didn't want anymore!!! I've been wanting a 5 string fretless for ages and now all I need is a neck and some hardware!! Just thought I'd share my story with all of you because it goes to show that their are still nice people out there in this world. I think it's very encouraging. All the best, Joe

You can get low G-string sets. I'm not sure if they're available on sopranos though.