peted

No pics yet? Come on. Stop being selfish

[quote name='dood' post='446960' date='Mar 27 2009, 09:58 AM']Jon is still keeping the front of the bass secret from me! It's very exciting as he has done something a bit special for me! So, I am being teased too as I haven't seen any full pictures of the bass yet! I can't wait![/quote] Quite obvious really... He's slipped with a chisel and there's no easy way for him to say that you'll be getting a bass with a big gouge in the front of it. Obviously waiting to tell you in person in the hope that you'll forgive and forget.

[attachment=22831:DSCN5204.jpg] [attachment=22832:DSCN5205.jpg]

Wow! That's a gorgeous Shuker you've got there whynot. Congratulations.

As an alternative solution to the original problem (carting round a heavy combo) - have you thought about buying a sack cart or similar? I think it's a great way to have 'termporary' wheels for moving an amp around and you could push it around with your bass on your back or strapped to it in some way. A much cheaper solution than buying another amp too.

[quote name='eude' post='445669' date='Mar 26 2009, 08:37 AM']Wow! That's quick mate! Good news though, can't wait to see 'em pics! Eude[/quote] I'm quite happy that the progress so far has exceeded my predictions, but cautious as it sounds like the fret fanning hasn't been tackled yet. I'm guessing the lack of fancy wood veneers and things has reduced the build time of the body without all that gluing and pressing. I'm quite excited about the prospect of getting some pictures too. As is generally the rule of the Bass Build forum, it didn't happen unless the photos have been uploaded

Received an email from Jon last night. The body has been routed, shaped and is ready to accept the neck. The neck is cut and routed to shape ready for the fretboard. Once the fretboard is on the neck can be glued into the body. I've been told that I shall receive some photos tomorrow. Glee

[quote name='Musky' post='444841' date='Mar 25 2009, 11:25 AM']Thomann have got them under £300 - just! [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/hartke_lh500.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/hartke_lh500.htm[/url][/quote] Remember that you have to buy a new power lead when purchasing from Thomann (I got caught out when I ordered my Zoom H4 )

When I looked on [url="http://www.thebassmerchant.com"]http://www.thebassmerchant.com[/url] yesterday they still had the LH500 priced at £225 IIRC. EDIT: I obviously don't remember correctly! As GreeneKing correctly points out, they are actually [b]£329[/b] at the Bass Merchant. My bad.

Ooooh, you tease! You might want to point out to Jon that the battery cover is missing

I have owned Squire, Tanglewood and Warwick, and am now getting a custom luthier build from Jon Shuker. I think that the build quality between the big brands and lesser known ones has become far less an issue since I first started buying basses. Modern production techniques and I suppose increased competition in the Far East has created some amazing basses to be delivered that beat the big brands at their own game. I think what you really pay for now with big brands is the after-sales service. Warwick usually have a great reputation for keeping their customers happy with their instruments with some free replacement parts and a warranty neck replacement for bolt-on necks (after all, we pay enough for them, and certainly don't buy them for their resale value!!). I've gone custom this time so I can get a bass which is a bit different to 99.9% of basses out there, and still get the customer and after-sales service.

What a great mash-up. A truely individual instrument.

What an interesting project. Good luck, I'll be following this one too.

A while ago I picked up a cheap Tanglewood fretless on ebay for £90 delivered, just to cure myself of a fretless bug. I think that is a much better idea than de-fretting an existing bass just for a whim.

I haven't tried the Line6 Lowdown LD15, but I love my Lowdown 110 Studio. Highly recommended.

Is it 'late next week' yet? No? Why not? ;D

Ooh. So the only issues you've found making a fanned fret instrument have been through the use of 'engineering tolerances'? Those close-up shots of the nut and zero-fret seem to play with perspective. The first one looks like the nut is straight, but the second one shows a definite slant.

[quote name='Hoppo75' post='431004' date='Mar 10 2009, 09:01 PM']I've just received mine today.....OMG it's absolutely out of this world. I appreciate the Marmite taste that can be Hartke, but this amp is superb. Talk about tone shaping, what with the 10 band graphic, blendable valve and solid state, not to mention the contour control - it has totally blown me away. Oh...and now it is coupled with the 2x12 pro series cab, it looks fab....my life is now complete (that is until I stick the Mullard valve my Pops has just given me.[/quote] You have exactly the same amp and cab setup as me! I put a Groove Tubes Mullard re-issue into the amp years ago and it sounds great. If you find that the your setup starts to sound a little 'thin', add an Aphex Bass Xciter between your bass and the amp and you'll find tone nirvana I don't use the graphic EQ, just a little bit of tweaking using the two contour controls. I find that the built-in compressor is absolutely useless. It sounds OK when the bass is played on its own, but you'll wonder why your bass sounds terrible in a band setting. I turned the compressor off and suddenly my bass found its place in the band mix again.

That's looking great Dood, and it's not even finished in the photos. How long was the wait between applying the finish and getting the final product for the Doodle? Are you going to have to wait for any hardware to arrive to complete this bass? Do let me know if the 'Void make it daaan saaarf when you're up to gigging speed as it would be great to catch up.

Wow, that is gorgeous! Congratulations. How does it sound?

I've worn ER20s for a couple of years now and they are the most important piece of kit I own. I actually prefer the sound of the band with them in now! Like someone has already said on here, they do let a bit more bass through than top so I don't need to turn my rig up so loud to hear myself. I'd like to add a little tip to get used to the sound when wearing ear plugs - wear them at all gigs, not just the ones you are playing. If you go to someone elses gig then pop your ear plugs in and listen to their playing. Your brain will get used to attenuating the various instruments to levels you recognise and you won't have the stress of trying to play while you are training your ears to hear with plugs in.

That looks great. It isn't doing any favours making the wait for my custom fanned fret bass any easier! Is that your first fanned fret bass? How are you finding the stretch on the 37" side?

You could do a lot worse than checking out the Warwick Rockbass range. They have maple necks rather than the usual Ovangkol wood used in normal Warwicks. The maple will probably lend a sound more towards a Fender or Music Man.

I got Jon Shuker to fit a MusicMan pickup to my Japanese Squire P. Because both the P pickup and the MM pickup are designed to be full range solo ones it sounds [i]massive[/i] when they are used together. Used it live a couple of times and it had a tendancy to actually dominate the mix a bit too much. I thoroughly recommend adding a 2nd pickup to your P!

Yikes, that must be quite frustrating to wait so long for your custom bass and it not be quite what you were after. I hope that Jon can do the necessary to get the sound you've got in your head.