Mikey R

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='381416' date='Jan 15 2009, 03:50 PM']Oooh! The Wenge - beware the lure of the Wenge! Theres some gorgeous big railway sleepers of Wenge in the warehouse near the wood floor section. Serious money but mouthwateringly wengey.[/quote]

I dont think Ive got any tools that would actually be able to cut a railway sleepers worth into usable chunks! Then theres the look on my wifes face as I try to get it into the car.

Last time I went, there was a HUGE slab of bubinga, about the size of a kitchen counter top. It was a monster.

Cheers Al, Im going wood shopping this weekend so I'll dress warm and take a pair of gloves. Whenever Ive gone to the mill, Ive always spent at least 3 hours in there as it takes that long to pick out the good pieces - and I reckon I miss a lot of the really good stuff.

I hope theres some good wide 15mm maple left this weekend

BTW, that walnut looks clear and quartersawn - that was such a good find, hats off to you!

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='381118' date='Jan 15 2009, 11:43 AM']Here's the two body wings cut to final size and sanded. Next the edge channel will be routed for the binding.
[/quote]

Hey Al, Looking so good! Wich I could build this fast

What were the rough thicknesses of the maple and walnut boards? Ive only ever seen 25mm boards at Boddys...? Or did you plane down the maple?

Ricks are, what, 1 1/4 inch so ~32mm thick, so youd either have to resaw or plane the maple down quite a lot.

Stupid question: Is that the same toaster pickup as the guitar?

[url="http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/Replacement_%22Toaster%22_Pickup_Front_SRK1F"]http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/Replaceme...kup_Front_SRK1F[/url]

Or does Kent make a bass version?

Looks like fun

If those are all identical pickups, then they wont be humbucking - Im guessing this wont be a problem for you tho?

Subscribed!

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='374552' date='Jan 8 2009, 10:39 PM']Also got a jig made tonight for the router, for shaping the fingerboard radius when it arrives. Hopefully Saturday I'll have time to go out and buy all the wood. then we can really get going.[/quote]

Hey Al,could you post details of your jig? Is it a compound radius?

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='376284' date='Jan 10 2009, 05:25 PM']I go up to Jogn Boddy's specialist timber warehouse in Boroughbridge - a bit of a hike but a vast selection of hardwoods cut and planed to different sizes. Takes a bit of rummaging round to find the right size/thickness pieces but thats all part of the fun. They had in some gorgeous thick slabs of Wenge today, well worth a trip if you're in the area.[/quote]

I like John Boddys, its not so far from here. Do you get all your stuff from the shop or do you venture into the yard? Theres always loads of good timber in the shop, and not just the offcuts, but Im wondering if Im missing anything from the yard?

[quote name='peted' post='371608' date='Jan 6 2009, 08:16 AM']Received a reply from Jon last night saying that the jumbo fretwire shouldn't create an issue for the intonation. Disaster averted [/quote]

Good stuff!

Hey, I just re-read the specs, I see you want jumbo fret wire - a lot of the guys in the US who build multiscale instruments use narrow wire, like banjo or mandolin wire. Mert and I are using medium acoustic guitar wire, cos our fan is much less than a novax.

The reason is, using wider frets effectively moves the fret in a direction perpendicular to the fret.

With parallel frets its all OK, as the direction perpendicular to the frets is all in one direction, towards the bridge, so that the space between them will still be correct.

But with non-parallel frets, the distance you will move parallel to the strings will actually depend on the angle of each fret, so the intonation will be subtly incorrect. By using slimmer frets, you minimise this error.

I havent done any maths to figure out the error, it may be negligible, but thought I'd say

[quote name='budget bassist' post='364252' date='Dec 27 2008, 04:16 PM']looking good, i like the truss rod wheel hole there, pretty cool idea![/quote]

Cheers! - but its caused problems so its unlikely I'll be doing that on Mertons bass, with the angled frets and maple board I think it doesnt leave enough wood

Merton, wat do you think?

Oddly enough, it seems to be the aspect of this bass most people dont like!

[quote name='budget bassist' post='364252' date='Dec 27 2008, 04:16 PM']Also, i think your bass is effing gorgeous d-basser![/quote]

Totally - its very difficult to come up with a design that looks good with a slanted bridge, Dingwalls get it just right!

[quote name='d-basser' post='363142' date='Dec 24 2008, 11:16 PM']SUPERIOR TO A DINGWALL!?! nothing is superior to a 37" B!

that build looks awesome though, lovely piece of work[/quote]

I think I remember its strung with a high C rather than a low B

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='362798' date='Dec 24 2008, 02:08 PM']Thanks mate! I've reset the neck and added an active/passive switch since last time but stuck with the same pre-amp. Need to start playing it more, at the moment I'm in love with my jazz bass.
I will port the Lemonbacker project over shortly...[/quote]

Hi Al, good to see you over here! This bass was the original inspiration for me trying my fanned 5

So Im guessing resetting the neck made all the difference? How did you do that? Re-routed then shimmed?

Very nice!

A PJ setup gives you good P tones and quite good J (ish) tones.

[quote name='skelf' post='351760' date='Dec 11 2008, 01:50 PM']Very hard to come up with a new take on any kind of bass. I think that it is a reverse off-set means it will be compared with the Skelf as there are very few of them about at the moment I don't know of an other,I am sure there will be but I have not seen it. The top horn is along the same lines but this is because it works well with the off-set. There is still enough different for me not to be in the least bit bothered, If I thought it was a copy I would have been in touch with you about it.[/quote]

Cheers Alan!

[quote name='Merton' post='351748' date='Dec 11 2008, 01:39 PM']Now you mention it... Yes, I see! It's held together with gaffa tape! [/quote]

Thats just cruel

Just for that, Im not going to install any extra neck bolts - see how you like that!

[quote name='skelf' post='351598' date='Dec 11 2008, 11:07 AM']Passing resemblance is right not a copy so I don't see a problem. I spoke to Mike at the bassday and said it was in the same ballpark shape wise but I didn't say stop making it or anything like that so fire away guys.
Alan[/quote]

Cheers Alan - I picked up a load of tips that day, thanks for sharing! Youre right, if I made it curvey it would be in the Shuker ballpark, if it was big and rounded it would be in the Fedora ballpark. So theres only really so many ballparks a singlecut could be in, I like ours

So it seems like all positive feedback, momentary self-doubt over, so I'll stick with the original design.



Mert, you had that Citroen BX at Uni, do you see a resemblance...?

Hey,

Sorry for lack of progress, Mert and I have been a little stalled on this one, Ive been kept out of my open air workshop (backyard) because of the snow

We were talking today about the shape. A few people (Alan included!) have said it looks a little bit Skelfish, the closed top horn does look quite a bit like the single cut Skelf. This is unintentional but I dont want to accidentally rip of another builders design.

I wanted to ask the folks here if anyone agrees and thinks I should be changing the shape?

Cheers everyone!

Spose we'd best get busy then...



Looking forward to how yours turns out! I was really impressed with the Shukers I tried on Sunday, yours will be a top bass when its done.

I was lucky enough to wander past and catch a glimpse of this bass as it was being handed over

In the flesh it looks really nice, just like all of Alans other ones on the stand!

[quote name='Merton' post='315528' date='Oct 27 2008, 08:25 AM']I've spent several hours on the phone talking to the MD of the company who does the PCBs for Trace and I can guarantee that the build quality will be second to none.[/quote]

most of us just try the amp out in a shop - Mert, on the other hand, really does his research!

cool! nicely done!

[quote name='yorks5stringer' post='301562' date='Oct 7 2008, 05:35 PM']Am considering an Aldi router, on offer this week![/quote]

as Ive heard, cheap routers dont always work out, sometimes you have to bin them and buy a half decent one anyway. you might want to consider an entry level bosch, ive got one and it work for me though Im now eyeing up the trade rated bosch...

[quote name='Finbar' post='298084' date='Oct 2 2008, 10:16 PM']I would hazard a guess that the BL-6 would justabout fit (I like small string spacings), as some of the 6 string EMG pickups (and I'm sure many others) also do. However, when you take into account the slant, they may not quite be long enough, as you suggest. I'd be interested to see about that.[/quote]

Merton and I are using single coils (Mertons gone for Wizard 84s)

The pickups have a string spacing of 19mm, the spacing on the bass is 17mm, which gives us just enough slant for the 34 -> 35.5 inch scale.

If you want Neos, you could have some made up specially for you - SGD makes neo pickups, I think I remember him saying he always uses bar magnets instead of poles to avoid string spacing issues as well, so thats good for a fan too

EDIT: heres a link [url="http://www.sgd-lutherie.com/pages/products.html"]http://www.sgd-lutherie.com/pages/products.html[/url]

EDIT: I think neo magnets are an option on Wizard pickups..?

[quote name='Finbar' post='296990' date='Oct 1 2008, 07:39 PM']I did look at Q-Tuners actually! I'm interested for sure. But I don't think they're the pickup of choice for pick playing. I know that isn't your thing at all Alex, but do you have any insight on that?[/quote]

If you want slanted pickups for a fanned bass, then Im not sure if the BL series Q-Tuners would work, the pole pieces wouldnt be under the string any more. I would guess the BS would be fine though, just like any other single coil.

[quote name='Finbar' post='296990' date='Oct 1 2008, 07:39 PM']And Mikey - let me know for sure [/quote]

Just follow Mertons thread
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=21386"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=21386[/url]

[quote name='Finbar' post='293126' date='Sep 26 2008, 10:04 PM']Fanned frets. As has been mentioned, I would love to give something with fanned frets a go. Ideally a 6/7+, but even a 4 would give me a good idea to start things from. If ANYBODY can help with this (I'm in Sheffield, which pretty much counts d-basser out ), I would be in indebted to them.[/quote]

I work in Sheffield, Im puting together a fanned 5 prototype for Merton so if you dont mind waiting a few weeks till its strung up, you could try it out I cant guarantee the quality at this point, it wont be a Shuker for sure!

Otherwise, I rekon there will be a fair few fans at Bassday in Manchester

[quote name='Merton' post='295572' date='Sep 30 2008, 04:13 PM']I do like the look of the neck join [/quote]

Its gonna get more carving done to it, just you wait!

EDIT: Oh, and if youre wondering why its all stripey, its cut from timber I had in the cupboard, total cost about £20.