Bridgehouse

I wonder if you get a free tetanus shot with it as well?

A shim utterly ruined my set neck Shuker.

Well flip me. Spent most of the evening bashing the TI Flats on the Shuker Fretless. I really did not expect them to work well on it at all. But they did. Firstly, yes.. much lower tension. Truss needed relaxing off quite a bit, but once it had settled the TI's liked a perfectly flat board with pretty much no relief at all. No buzzing or deadness anywhere and an action of 1.8mm at E through to 1.4mm at G. Now, the Shuker has a phenolic resin board and it's flat - if it has a radius it's 16" or more. Although the TI's are loose they aren't flappy - not how I expected. I think that a bit of tension is added by the break angle after the saddles and the through-body design. Tone is exceptional. There's a superb balance across all the strings - volume, tone, mwah, it's all really nicely balanced. Feels really nice and vibrato and slides are consistent and sound lovely. They are better than the Chromes I had on before. I'd say significantly better - which I didn't expect at all. I thought TI's were best on an old thumpy P-Bass, not a modern piezo and under-board Jazz fretless. Piezos can have a bit of an issue with mid-range sometimes, they can be all top and bottom. The TI's seem to add a big chunk of mid back in which was very pleasing, and I think the combination of that plus the better string to string balance actually made them sound and feel a bit brighter and more lively than the Chromes. With a touch of treble and the right mid-range boost they had a bit of an air of rounds about them - more so than the chromes. All in all a very surprising result. They are staying on. I'm going to get another set to put in the bag as a spare set.

I’m shocked. I need to do a bit more research, but I’m shocked. I’ve used Chromes on the Shuker fretless for years. I was always led to believe that a higher tension suits a fretless much better. Anyway, a fit of boredom this afternoon made me try a set of TI Jazz Flats on it. I expected floppy, buzzy, thuddy, nothingness.. but no. Not at all. There’s a specific way to set up the Shuker. Deck the saddles and leave them. Tighten the truss until it’s past flat and then slowly ease it back until you get the action you like with no excessive buzzing or notes cutting out near the nut. With this method and the Chromes on I usually ended up at 2mm at the E and 1.5mm at the G, and a reasonable balance between clarity, mwah, and sustain. With the TI’s I’m getting 1.8mm at the E and 1.4mm at the G and notably better balance between clarity, mwah and sustain. It just sounds better tonally as well. Now the strings are floppier than the chromes, but I play very lightly with fingers so I don’t mind. It’s also hard to really dig into the Shuker given the board runs right to the saddles. I shall give it a good bash tonight and report back - I’ll either be converted or rip them off by COP tonight.

Well, you can see which bass he would have saved in a fire….. not that one.

Cor, old thread and big gaps in posting, but seeing as it’s popped up I ought to add a pic of Uberhorn 001 I suppose. African Blackwood on Mahogany. Piezo and under-board Nordstrand Jazz John East preamp system It’s been though the wars but it’s stil #1..

Well, Been a month (just over) now since discharge from hospital. Have picked up a nice CS fretted Jazz to fill the fretted hole, but the Uberhorn is still the Bass that I come back to time after time. It gets at least some play time every day - even if it's just 10 or 15 mins. I still feel like I'm getting to know it each time I play it, and it feels like more and more of a friend every time as well. I think it's rare to find any instrument that you really connect with.

I’m not - but the sparkly nail polish option is tempting. I shall see once colour choice for the body is made

I may rifle through Mrs B’s varnish box later…

Well, here’s a close up for ya Ricky - there’s definitely enough depth in there to get a bit of paint in. What you thinking? Black?

Dunno, maybe… I’ll have a look later!

Oh and table might get refinished in oil if I can be bothered in the spring!!

Not going to attempt contouring - don’t have the right tools or inclination/skills to do a convincing job. Going to concentrate on the finish and the build up for now I think!

And the body.. Lovely bit of wood. Rear control cavity all done and I have a box of bits now including a pre-shaped cover plate for it as well!

Got my knobs out for @Hellzero Yeah - slight mismatch but close enough for me and given the total cost of the bits was £3.50 then I'm more than happy!

First up is the neck.. Very nice it is too. It's had a light oil coating on the board (as I think this was originally intended for another project - and I got them for bargain basement pricing). However, a wipe of acetone should get rid of it if I want to redo with something else, which I may well, but it's going to be a simple satin oil and rub down for the finish..

Some packages also turned up today...

The white balance is completely off - I need to take them outside to photograph properly. As you say, it's close - not perfect, but close enough.

Pickup covers have turned up - they do appear to match the knobs @PaulThePlug !

Ba-dum tsh

Apparently some of the crimson oils grain fill as well.. so we shall see. I’m always up for experimenting - I once grain filled a guitar with egg white

I read he pined after it...

I'm tempted to try the Crimson shots and thin them with Isopropyl Alcohol. I also quite like their vivid colours as well - but mostly I want to try their finishing oil as it looks superb. The yellow in that body will really pop with a bit of a build up of finishing oil. You using Tung? I think Tung gets absorbed a bit too much for a deep finish.

Spirit Stain Rainbow Colours?

Dunno, but he’s having a retirement clear out in the new year so he may well do then!!