Chownybass

New updates to the NT Series bass designs. Here's the 4 and 5 string. These are near final.

On 21/06/2018 at 19:41, Cato said:

 

Nice looking bass and I'm a big fan of Aguilar pups and preamps.

What's the thinking behind the unusual scale length?

On 21/06/2018 at 20:13, PaulFenderJazz said:

Liking the idea of a mid scale!

Thanks. Ideally wanted to do a shorter scale and 32.7" is sort of at the cusp of what works well with a low B.

On 23/06/2018 at 12:54, PaulFenderJazz said:

Any idea when there’ll be more on pricing, finishes and ordering??

 

cheers

£1250-ish. One finish (Red Cedar / Maple / Walnut composite body, 5 piece walnut and maple neck, walnut veneer on the headstock and in a matt finish). Probably a free case.

Hard at work with Retrovibe as a design consultant with new revisions to the NT Series Bass Design.

Will have :

4 and 5 String Bass in 32.7" Scale
Red Cedar / Maple / Walnut Body
Aguilar Pickups
Aguilar 3 Channel Pre-Amp with Active/Passive Switching
18v 
Hipshot Bridge
Hipshot Ultralite Tuners
Maple and Walnut Through Neck
Ebony Board with Abalone Markers
Black / Abalone Hardware
Maple TRC

1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:

I can tell you which bass sounds the best... (The Chowny!).

Found out you guys use Sico Simon for your bass set ups. No wonder they all play well, that guy is a legend and an incredible workman.

SWB Pro is clear and warm. Volante is growly on the bridge pickup.

And yes - Simon @ Sico Setups does EVERY single bass we sell - be it to a dealer or to a end customer. We'd be lost without him.

New video this morning.

Scott Whitley (on SWB Pro) and Danny Sapko (on Retrovibe Volante) lay down some funk in our studio.

3 minutes ago, ped said:

I hate using Skype. There's always a small delay which makes it extremely difficult to talk.

I hate trying to get multiple people in the same place at the same time**. 😉 It's all about compromise.

** since I film videos I actually have to do this. 

3 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Skype comes with it's own separate set of problems, not the least of which is that audio quality can be very variable depending both on the available bandwidth at both ends of the connection and the fact that you are reliant on the person at the other end of the connection being able to make the best of the audio/recording equipment that they have, which will most likely end up being the built-in microphone of whatever device they are using to make their end of the Skype call.

 Earlier this year I endured a podcast interview conducted via Skype of one of my favourite web comics artists. The  general sound quality of the interviewee ranged from poor to almost incomprehensible and was littered with plosives and sibilance. The interviewer by contrast sounded great although in his effort not to talk over his subject there were great pregnant pauses at the end of each answer that hadn't been edited out and consequently completely ruined the flow of the conversation. I stuck with it because the person being interviewed was someone whose work I admire and who also has plenty of interesting things to say. For pretty much anyone else I doubt I would have lasted even 5 minutes.

Which is why I suggested that each person records their own audio too. You could get a few Zoom H1s and post them out to interviewees. Then all the skype recording is used for is a guide for syncing up the mix. And you can edit out the worse of those pauses.. Just a suggestion of course. 

9 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

IME working with just speech requires a whole different set of skills and techniques to working with vocals for a song. 

With spoken work the most important thing to aim for is clarity and comprehensibility. Not necessarily something that most music producers are going to be worried about when they are capturing a "performance". And all those extraneous noises on the vocal track that disappear in the mix will be out there in all their unwanted glory for all to hear and get very irritated by if they occur with any great regularity.

You have two practical challenges too.

You can record via Skype (a good way to do this is log the skype call - and also have each person record their own audio using something like a Zoom H1). You then take all the individual audio streams and edit them together using the Skype recording as a master guide. However - working via Skype you need to be careful not to talk over one another as you don't have body language to guide you. It takes a bit of practice to get right.

Or... you all crowd into the same room and record one master set of audio. This gives you the logistical challenge of getting everybody in the same place at the same time - and I predict will be a dealbreaker. Co-ordinating people is a pain in the derrière.

Just FYI. The audio for this was recorded with the Zoom H1 placed on the floor between us on a teeny-tripod (to give you an idea of how well it works for not very much money)

1 minute ago, Sibob said:

My personal take on the format is thus:

A few, perhaps 4, different members each episode, who engage in conversation. Perhaps about some popular threads, or their story getting into bass, their gear etc. It obviously evolves from those basic points as it’s a conversation. 

 I feel that format, perhaps over one hour, would be infinitely more interesting than just one person talking for x amount of time without answer.

 Si

I'd happily come and talk about making basses

I'm not wild on the sound of my own voice... but I LOOOOVE my own opinions

1 minute ago, BrunoBass said:

I see where your coming from. I support the idea of a podcast but I think the majority of members here wouldn’t be interested. Prove me wrong.

Maybe you'd find new members via a new audience. 

2 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

I’m not sure a podcast would reach a large enough audience to justify it..?

There are a lot of very niche podcasts. There's always an audience. I've thought about doing this myself. 

New CHB for 2018 being painted as we speak. That flame though! 😍🔥

New video this morning!

We're actively looking for people to come in and film stuff if anybody is interest. Come alone. Bring a drummer. Come with your band. Whatever you fancy doing.

We're happy to use the might of the Chowny empire* to promote your stuff. 

*actual size of empire may vary

11 hours ago, MWH said:

Damn, too late was the cry  !!!!

Sorry dude.

With the impending release of our new Bass-Mopshere Chorus/Reverb pedal, we thought we'd tease out what we are making next.

The FUNKYO pedal will be a monstrous envelope filter for maximum Funk!

Estimated release about October/November. Definitely before Christmas. 

Updates to follow! 

New video on Youtube today : Chowny SWB-1 Active Bass and Bass-Mosphere Chorus/Reverb Pedal 

***NOW SOLD****

For sale : £360 (special basschatter price) this fretless CHB-1 conversion.

We converted a B-Stock CHB-1 that had faulty fretwork into this fretless beauty!

Only one of it's kind. Fitted with GHS Precision strings.

New video released today

This time our resident drummer (Joe Bradley) had a go playing the bass for us. 

Gear used: 

Chowny SWB-1 bass (in Ash) Active
Little Marcus head
Markbass 4 x 10 cab
Tascam us-1641interface
Ludwig Breakbeats by Questlove drums
Yamaha EAD10 Drum Module

Super pleased to have the legendary Tony Butler on board endorsing our basses. 

He popped up to Chowny HQ to get to know us and have a play on all the basses. Was really good meeting him of course!

New video today on the youtube channel!

MEGA PRE-ORDER OFFER!

Bass-Mosphere Pedals are now available to Pre-Order for £62 (image attached)

Delivery will be approximately end of June. Anybody pre-ordering will be sent a 50% discount code of either a Fuzzster or Pitchcraft Pedal about a week before dispatch.

Also use code "basschatpedal" for an additional £2.50 off.

Thanks for the support.

Pre-Order here : http://chownybass.com/product/bass-mosphere-octave-reverb-pedal/

This happens with most semi-hollow long scale basses. Combination of long neck and light body. 

Jack casady Bass is especially notorious for it. 

A good wide strap with a rough back will go a long way towards alleviating this. 

Some people also add an additional strap lock on the upper horn - but if you do this make sure you glue it as well.

Hope this helps 

Some photos from the factory this morning.

First we have an unpainted test assembly of a 2018 CHB bass.

Next we have some CHBs queued up ready for painting

And finally some painted SWB-1 bass necks in tubes

2 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

I'd be interested to know why the scale length has been shortened, having played 34" scale for the last 45 years, I'm not sure that even only a slightly shorter scale would fit so naturally under my fingers now.

I explain it earlier in the thread. Read back up. And you really don’t notice the change in scale after a minute or two.