SpondonBassed

I've got an itch to scratch. It breaks down into several sub-itches. I want to do a scratch build I want to own a multi-scale five string bass I want the B to be 34 inch and the G 32inch I want LED side markers I've got enough Sapele left from another project to put towards a headless neck-through I have a hefty chunk of white timber to identify from a kind neighbour who's done the lockdown garage-reshuffle I've been promised a rather nice pre-amp from a kind member I've got an onboard headphone practice module with Aux-in and Phones out. Thanks Owen. I've got a test bed for pups and electronics in the form of a bass I built from a kit a couple of years ago I'm bored It's a start and being honest with myself, it could take as long as @owen's project. I welcome opinions and discussion in order to draw out my ideas. Then I can make a plan. This supersedes the idea of a "dream bass" that I previously wrote about. That one was highly impractical and employed unnecessarily exotic notions such as a white enamelled mild steel fingerboard and gold plated hardware on a gold-leaf flecked white body... I'd have had to come on stage playing it from the saddle of a snow-white unicorn for the full effect to be realised because otherwise - I am just not pretty enough to carry it off. This one is more about the sound it's going to make than how it looks.

Then where have most of mine come from...? They definitely count now.

Welcome Matt. (That looks like an insult... not my intention of course.)

I see 24 frets, a zero fret and an extra one the other side of a bend well. That looks lovely. We must know more!

PM'd.

Drop the Dead Donkey

Have you got extra pointy elbows then...?

No reason why you shouldn't. You could make the leg modification so that you can remove the newer vice if you need to for a one-off. Having said that... I'd imagine you'd be more likely to find the engineer's vice in the way but you can remove that too without a lot of hassle. I have a similarly sized workbench and limitations. I have a vice on each of the long and the short edges that are accessible. If one or both of them is in the way it or they can be removed and put back after.

She's a good 'un. I liked her sense of wit* when she took part in Taskmaster.

Welcome GJ.

Welcome Rob.

That sounds interesting. Might we see you putting up a thread in the Build Diaries soon?

Interesting. It's good to be adventurous.

Ayyyyy! THE Spondz, if you don't mind.

If you are flatting between each coat, the primer should fill quite a bit of the open grain. In fact there is a specific "High Build" grade of primer that acts as grain filler and primer in one. Don't worry, I won't hold you to any one colour. I am just interested to see what a colour finish looks like on the IB5. Mine had such nice grain that I had to leave it natural.

Given that you already play a fretless DB fiver I am not surprised to hear you say that. I'm not set in my ways so much. If you recall a couple of years back; you were kind enough to let me have a go on that leopard skinned beauty of yours at a DB bash near Nottingham. I still wonder at how DB players can hold their arms at those angles and so far out from the body for anything longer than a few minutes. That is until I remember that it took me a long time to adapt to "wearing" the electric bass too. I'm keen to try it. It may well be harder than mono scale but I wont know otherwise.

This one is 34 to 37 inch and way above my aspirations so it's a good thing it's already on hold for someone.

I have a problem with barre chords along the entire length of the neck. I avoid them completely. I take your point however.

Good point, well made.

Yes. The saddle does gain more travel without the string but the thickness of the string itself stops the saddle from going as far back as it might because the break angle becomes so sharp. Dropping the saddle a little would help but I have the action where I want it at the moment. Thanks for the suggestion.

I've got it into my head that I need to spend more time with my old Vantage fretless. It is now on the stand in the sitting room where I can practice with my Zoom B3. It's a lovely thing for an affordable bass with it's P & J styling, its passive reliability and its overall simplicity. One minor niggle is that I can't get the E to intonate well at the twelfth because the saddle wont adjust back far enough. I think it would for lighter gauge strings but its fine. It is fretless after all. Whilst being tolerable, this minor snag got my GAS going in a small way by way of an excuse to sidestep the hardware upgrade pilgrimage and go for a new squeeze, as it were, from the outset. In simple terms: I wanna fretless five now! Heeheehee. I have to satisfy myself that I can get somewhere half decent with my four first so I am being patient while looking into what's being used by like minded players. Two new ideas for me to explore are: Short scale fretless five Multi scale fretless five In some respects the two notions are at odds with each other if you consider a multi scale to have a range of, say - 32 to 35 inches. Despite saying that I don't think it would be a hindrance to have a longer B than I'm used to because much of the convoluted stuff is played on the shorter strings. Having the shorter strings might help me intonate better without so much of a stretch (damn my "webbed" fingers). I don't see multi-scale in the Chowny range but I've really only started to look at this as of this morning. Opinions appreciated, especially from owners.

Do you think it would work?

Glad to hear you've made a measured response. Sorry to see there are such blatant liars out there. The trouble seems to be that these folk can't distinguish between exaggeration and deceit. They have a genuine problem with their moral checklists. Let's hope you can give the item a new lease of life somehow.

No. There is always the brush. If you look up the techniques that traditional coach painters use and then practice a bit with a quality brush and other sundries I am confident that you will get a decent result. You'll need an oil based paint, if I recall. It takes time and you still need ventilation if not a respiratory filter. Water based acrylic goes tacky before you can lay off with perpendicular brush strokes. On the mask issue, the proper filter (carbon granule cartridge with appropriate face wear) for nitro is specialised and not currently in demand for the crisis as far as I know. I'm wondering if @Andyjr1515's ever tried to slurry and buff a solid colour finish...?