Beer of the Bass

I've never understood the people who claim that bright new roundwounds can be made to sound like flats or even older rounds simply through EQ. The character is quite different, and I think it's as much in the attack and decay as the overall frequency content. I like flats or tapes with the upper mids and highs boosted slightly, they can still be bright but in a way that has grunt rather than metallic clang or zing. I can't get the same sound by using a set of new roundwounds and turning down my tone control - I've tried and it's a different thing entirely.

The third one looks like Barry White.

Here are some actual pictures of my parts. I've had to widen the neck pocket very slightly, but the resulting fit seems good. The green marks inside the cavity are from trialling some woodstain. I didn't like the colour or effect, but no-one will see the blotches when it's been assembled! I'm quite pleased with this neck for the price (I paid about £33) - it's reasonable looking flatsawn maple, the fretting looks decent and the profile is a fairly mainstream C-shape as might be found on most modern Fenders. Having a separate maple fingerboard but still using a skunk stripe seems like an odd design choice, but I guess I can't expect a faithful vintage repro neck for this price. The next steps are going to be drilling out the body to accept a tune-o-matic, then starting to apply some finish. The body came with most of the surface prep already done, so will just need a light sanding, the neck will benefit from a little finish sanding. I need to smile sweetly at a friend of mine to use his back yard and shed, as I'm in a flat and have no well ventilated space for spraying. I've also decided to try winding my own pickups. I already have the wire and some scrap tufnol sheet to make flatwork. The magnets are on their way from a UK company called Cermag and I'm going to go with the cordless-drill winding method, which seems to have worked for quite a few people. I fully expect this to be a bit of a learning experience...

Initial experimentation inside the control cavity (since I didn't have any alder scrap) suggests that a stained finish will not look good on this body. The different pieces in the three-piece body absorb the stain differently and the end grain drinks it up like crazy and ends up too dark. So I'm going to go for a solid colour finish on the body and tru-oil the neck. Out of the Molotow paints, I like the green called Carambola. I want to use this yellow tortoiseshell for the pickguard, available from a couple of eBay sellers. Taste and subtlety would be cheerfully absent from this colour scheme, but no-one else would have one like it...

[quote name='cocco' timestamp='1374416088' post='2148460'] Like what? (Opens worm can) [/quote] Well, there are lots of distinctive bass sounds out there that are quite different to anything you can get out of a stock P-Bass. Try getting the burpy mids of a jazz bridge pickup, the sizzle and and zing of a Stingray, the almost hi-fi clarity of a more modern active bass, the rubbery thump of a short-scale hollowbody, the clank of a stereo-wired Rickenbacker, the quirky midrangey thing of a Wal, the range of an ERB (the list goes on...) out of your stock P bass. You might not like any of these sounds, but they exist and plenty of players love them.

[quote name='cocco' timestamp='1374368602' post='2148159'] As has been said there's nothing a P bass can't do. [/quote] Of course there are things a P-bass can't do. If those happen to be the things you're not interested in doing anyway then you're on to a winner, but I find statements like this a bit silly.

OK, after chatting about this in the Other Instruments section ([url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/208271-squier-vm-jazzmaster-tempted/"]http://basschat.co.u...master-tempted/[/url]), I reckon it would be happier in a thread of its own in Build Diaries. So far I have a guitarbuild.co.uk alder Jazzmaster body and a Dr Parts maple fingerboard Strat neck. I'll stick some pictures up in the next day or two, but the seller's pictures of the body are here: [url="http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage3.aspx?gid=1773413&image=683426967&images=683426967,683426997,683427027&formats=0,0,0&format=0"]http://www.auctiva.c...=0,0,0&format=0[/url] I am determined that the body will be green. At present I'm trying to decide whether to spray it solid green using Molotow paints (or possibly Montana paints which I gather are similar and my local art shop stocks), or whether to attempt a green stained finish with Tru-oil. The neck came unfinished, and I think it will be a nice neck after I've tru-oiled it and dressed the frets. I also need to make a decision on the bridge. My neck has a 12" radius, and the strings will sit quite high above the body if I use the body and neck without modification, so this suggests a tune-o-matic might be good, rather than the more traditional Jazzmaster bridge. Right now I'm still at the stage of gathering parts together, but I'll try and update this with progress as it happens. I think the pickups and hardware will have to wait until next month, as I should have a little cash spare then.

I wonder if I should start a thread in Build Diaries? I've got my body and an inexpensive but quite decent Dr Parts neck. The neck has a 12" radius and the combination of neck/body geometry will put the strings quite high above the body (15mm at the bridge with the action at zero, several mm higher in practice). I could deepen the neck pocket to use the standard jazzmaster/mustang bridge, but the combination of flatter radius and high elevation are making me lean towards a tune-o-matic, maybe one of the Wilkinson roller versions. EDIT: I've started a Build Diaries thread, so any further comments are best directed there; [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/212634-jazzmaster-guitar-build/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/212634-jazzmaster-guitar-build/[/url]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1374058244' post='2144720'] It occurs to me that if lightness and stability are paramount, and the bass will have a solid colour finish, then surely the best material for the job would be plywood? Or perhaps ply faced with something that looks nice for a natural or trans finish. [/quote] The right plywood can work, I have a friend who built a good sounding guitar from high grade Marine ply, but it's not ideal for a solid colour finish as all those join lines tend to show through the finish as the wood moves with age. I suspect they're more prone to hairline cracks around the neck pocket too - all that end grain where you need it least.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1373977286' post='2143736'] Timbre does not go beyond frequencies. [/quote] True, but the bit that's hard to replicate between different instruments with EQ alone is the way timbre varies over the course of the note. I think this is what Lowender was alluding to.

Yeah, I've looked at the Mastery bridge, and while it looks good, it would absolutely blow my budget for this project! I'm a bit concerned that the Mustang bridge only comes in 7.5" radius though. I haven't got my neck yet, but it will likely be flatter than that. Some folk use tune-o-matics, but the spacing is wrong for a Fender. The Warmoth modified mustang bridge looks good; [url="http://www.warmoth.com/Modified-Mustang-Bridge-Chrome-P616C700.aspx"]http://www.warmoth.com/Modified-Mustang-Bridge-Chrome-P616C700.aspx[/url] I'm planning on leaving off the rhythm circuit controls on mine, and I'm trying to decide if I'm brave/foolhardy enough to order up the pickup flatwork and magnets and wind my own! I have a roll of 42 gauge wire stashed away, so it would be an option.

I realise this thread goes back a while now, but what was the white coat that you used before the red? I'm looking at the Molotow paints at the moment and can't find a dedicated primer in the range. I've got Jazzmaster guitar body, and I think it's going to be one of the more bilious greens!

Surely inductance wouldn't be an issue unless you were using wirewound pots, which I have never seen in an instrument. Ordinary carbon pots as found in guitars and basses aren't coils, so I'd think they wouldn't behave as inductors to any great extent. I can just about imagine capacitance varying between pots of different design, but any amount of capacitance which would audibly effect your signal would also be measurable. Anyone want to try it?

I'm thinking of doing this one in a solid colour, using Molotow spray paints, as they're cheap and LukeFRC on here has had good results with them. I still need to find a neck...

Right, I've made some progress in my Jazzmaster aquisition plan. Rather than springing for the Squier, I've bought a decent looking unfinished alder body from an eBay seller (it's one of these; [url="http://www.guitarbuild.co.uk/product.php?product=91"]http://www.guitarbui....php?product=91[/url]). I'll finish this and add other bits as and when I have spare cash. I haven't decided on pickups yet, as there aren't many affordable aftermarket Jazzmaster pickups out there, though there's nothing to stop me using some other type of pickup with a custom pickguard. Almost anything that gets that bright, clear single coil sound could work for me. I'm going to use the original style tremolo tailpiece, as that was one of the things I liked about the Squier.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1373567977' post='2139181'] Fixed..? If comparison is to be made, I should suggest to at least compare rubbish to rubbish.... [/quote] I didn't intend to compare the music, he's just an example of a performer with somewhat androgynous appearance, who I actually do remember watching on TOTP with my gran. My point being that "girly" looking men or "butch" looking ladies have existed in rock and roll for decades now, to the point that I'm surprised anyone needs to comment on it.

Mind you, regardless of whether it bothers anyone, it is a little like my Grandma watching David Bowie on top of the pops and saying, "Is it a boy or a girl? Where's the tune?". I don't know about anyone else, but I'd like to think I'm not quite at that stage of incomprehension of "yoof" culture yet! Although I probably am, in ways I don't even realise...

I've not been particularly impressed with the Crate taxi amps on bass when I've heard buskers using them - they've just sounded like a distorted mess, although perhaps they were running on low batteries. The Phil Jones briefcase sounds great for a battery powered amp, but is more expensive than you'd want for the occasional busk. Double bass can be a good option for busking if you're away from noisy traffic, but you have to want to play double bass in the first place. Making bass work outdoors can be a bit of a problem. I find myself getting jealous of tuba players!

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1373456927' post='2137755'] You know I know the difference. I know I drifted over that line, I don't usually, but in this case I did. I am terribly sorry for this moral transgression. I did say the bloke on the drums is pretty good though, so it's not all bad is it. [/quote] Sigh. I hate to be the no-fun, PC guy but misgendering is a classic playground bullying tactic. Even if the drummer [i]was[/i] trans (which I don't think she is), what of it?

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1373454188' post='2137708'] I am free to make any judgements I like, and you are free to judge my judgements. But I judge your judgement that I made any judgements as inaccurate. I expressed idle opinion based on that song and video in the OP, I think it's dull, typical LA shtick. I've checked them out and although I still find it very very dull, I see they have had some promotion and attendant success by getting some exposure and some decent gigs. Check out Savages if you like raw girl power with integrity, I expect a boatload of Siouxsie comparisons though .. [/quote] Can you see the difference between saying you don't like a band or don't see their appeal, and just flatly slating them? I'm fine with the former, but tend not to listen to those who do the latter. I would say you drifted over that line, and I suspect you would not respond graciously if someone was to describe your own music in similar terms. DV's guitar is kind of crude and rudimentary, but I think a lot of folk get off on the vocals, drums and sheer energy of the thing. There's nothing wrong with that!

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1373441943' post='2137529'] Awful. No commercial potential so they won't be making their own money that way. The bloke on the drums is quite good though. [/quote] So much hostility on this thread! The album seems to be selling well enough and they're getting higher profile gigs than most of us will ever achieve, so who are you to judge their commercial potential? The idea that something you dislike must have no merit looks a lot like pure snobbery, and I thought better of you than that.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1373411263' post='2137427'] Use a keyboard. [/quote] Yeah, I'd go with this idea. A good monosynth, with a couple of expression pedals for filter cutoff etc, and you could no doubt do something interesting. I think continuing to play music would be the most important thing regardless of attachment to a particular instrument, rather like the way Robert Wyatt adapted his music-making after his accident.

[quote name='kevin_lindsay' timestamp='1373321729' post='2136266'] Hugh Reed and The Velvet Underpants [/quote] A friend of mine was sacked from them. I have never quite found out why...