SpondonBassed

...and the temptation to garrote the occasional punter with it would be a distraction.

Welcome Ron. I agree with Reggaebass. What you have is a certain amount of mojo. While a refret is okay to keep it playable, it might be wisest to leave as is if you want to preserve its value. You've come to the right place for pointers. I am no expert but there are a good few here in the know, as it were.

While I agree and indeed may go that route one day, I don't like the thin string part. It may well be strong enough but it looks daft.

Does it work on a double bass?

Welcome Brent.

I doubt that there will be many wanting to do the cruise ships this year.

Just off the Raynesway? Cool. Spondon frames were the coolest way of repairing a bent superbike in their day. I often wished I'd taken that route instead of reliable (boring) shaft driven 'bikes.

All hail the driller killer! It's funny how drill bits can steer a curved path. Even with high tech bits, the the timber can have little areas of dense grain that pull on the cutting flutes and cause deviation. I'm betting that's the case with African Drum Wood too. Well done.

It might be that you will go for a different design. It will still be a reflection of your own style. It is that which is evolving and very nicely too if I may say.

Have no regrets. Your design style is evolving into something more coherent, that's all. With a couple more under your belt you will have a well refined instrument.

Did you apply the colour with a roller and acrylic?

It's fine. It's not like I am a concert pianist.

Those hours would be workable in a "good" area I suppose.

I'm opening a tin of corned beef later on. Would you care to perform at the ceremony? I'll even let you do music.

There is something very satisfying about how you've embedded that carving. I find a similar advantage with my two paddle basses. If you use an inline jack plug the location of the socket (at the lower edge of the paddle) puts the plug in the way of your thigh sometimes. A recipe for instant crackling, if not the sort you'd get in a bag of scratchings. If however, you use a right angled jack, the body of the jack swivels nicely behind the paddle's body and the cable runs neatly up to the strap from behind. Tidy.

Your diligence has paid off. That cab looks solid.

We blew-in nearly twenty years ago. We'll never be considered Old Spondonians. You know of it?

That great if you are Sir Patrick Moore and you want to play your xylophone like a keytar.

We've ALL heard that one before. Welcome to the forum John.

I know. Right?

It's already been done.

Aw. I've already posted the photo for that on the DoI thread.

Yes. Because that won't brush off when it's dried up.

I hope the tour goes well for her. I have been known to tap an odd toe or three (because they're webbed) to her tunes on the radio. I don't however feel inclined to buy any of her material on the strength of what I've heard so far. Hearing that she uses a gob-iron on nearly every live tune is a deal breaker. Pass.

Alarmist Marmoset!