CookPassBabtridge

57 minutes ago, itu said:

Can I see echoes of Affirma here?

Nice bass. I very much love that it is original and not that billionth copy of [alphabet].

Thanks very much! A little bit I guess, yeah. The main influence was Carl Thompson but I liked the idea of both the top and bottom horns having a similar curve. 

1 hour ago, anzoid said:

Beautiful piece of work! I had the privilege of seeing this whilst "under construction" when I visited Tom to buy his Warwick Thumb. The body was (is) graceful and carved with real attention to detail and form. Would love to try this out!!

You are most kind! Photos are not my forte so I feel that these pics don't quite do it justice. In any case feel free to let me know when you're next in my neck of the woods, you'd be most welcome to drop by for a chat and to give it a try!

Wow, stunning! Another fan of the transparent red here. Looks pretty close to my dream spec too, very nice. 
 

What’s the lead time on an Overwater these days? 

7 hours ago, Gwilym said:

The MW also means Maple/Walnut. I've also seen MS models, also bolt-on i think but speculated to be Maple/Shedua.

The G means the neck has graphite rod re-enforcement.

There were also the BSRxJ models, great basses, used to own one and probably should have never sold it. They were BSR shaped with jazz style pickups. No longer made apparently.

Ahhh, really interesting! Makes sense too (my MW is maple/walnut). Although still confusing, as for some models the last two letters refer to the woods, and others the name and graphite rod reinforcement. 
 

I was tempted to order a BSR with jazz pups a year or so ago…in some ways glad I didn’t now as I would have ended up disappointed! 
 

Lovely looking basses though:

Just to add what others have helpfully said - yes, Ken Smith model codes are surprising confusing. From what I understand though, and using my USA bolt-on as an example:

BSR4MW

BSR = body shape (as opposed to a BT, which I think is their more vintage body)

4 = number of strings 

MW = model designation, in this case bolt on.

For me the confusion comes from that model designation bit. So MW means bolt on, but other models are described in other ways, not just by neck construction. So another example:

BT5EG = using the ‘rules’ above, would be a vintage shape 5 string neck thru, but the EG stands for ‘elite’ and there are other neck-thru models. 

LOVE Marleauxs, and this is a truly fine specimen. Can’t believe it hasn’t sold yet at this price. 

I'm really interested to see how the Azure Lagoon looks once all the coats are done - I have also been caught out by the 3 month shelf life and foolishly tried using it on a dark wood - did not go well! Yours looks great already though.

Hi All,

Wanted to share my second bass build with you fine folk (first build here).

Overall I am pretty pleased with it. It sounds great if I may say so - reminds me of a punchier P-Bass. I suspect that's down to the pickups more than my craftsmanship or choice of woods, so I'd happily use those EMGs again (if I can ever get my hands on some).

I did make a few mistakes and won’t highlight them all here for fear of being too self-critical, but the main things I’d change design-wise are the headstock as the break angles for the strings aren’t great (would also match the headstock topwood a bit better to the body), and the neck profile ended up a little thin for my liking. But this is all a learning process.

The next build that I've just started will go back to basics - a variation of a P/J bass, so I can focus on getting the finish perfect and not worry about cutting funky wood shapes, exotic top woods etc. Will also post that here when it’s ready!

Main specs as follows:

32 inch scale

Chambered mahogany body

Walnut and flame maple top

Walnut neck

Rosewood fretboard

EMG CSX pickups

EMG BQS preamp

ABM bridge system

On 24/06/2022 at 11:37, Graham said:

Let's talk about this album art, as it's a real stinker.

 

It's almost as bad as the art from Dance Of Death. Not quite, but almost

Woah woah, let’s not say things we can’t take back 😂 I agree the artwork is pretty terrible - as others have said it’s almost a trademark of Mustaine and co. 

Loving the new track, I hope the album is just as good. Megadeth have had ups and downs the entirely of their career in terms of their musical offerings (unlike most who seem to go on a gradual downward trajectory), so can’t wait to hear this one. 

If you need the money/space for a new bass that you’ll play more often, then sell and don’t look back. I spent years hanging on to instruments that I never played and purged my collection earlier this year - hasn’t bothered me nearly as much as I thought it would. In fact it afforded me the resources to spec a dream custom bass that should be with me in a few months 😬

We’re all different but having one or two very nice basses that I play frequently, rather than having lots of decent ones that only get played every so often works well for me. 

I owned a German Metro J and ended up selling it. Sounded nice and played well but I let it go because the hum cancelling pickups were too mid-scooped for my liking and the VTC was too aggressive. As in, turn it up more than 25% and it just sounded messy. As others have said the boutique Jazz bass market is very saturated so try before you buy. 

Wow looks great! Another vote sans pickguard. 

20 hours ago, Wilco said:

I’m hopefully off to Bass Direct on Tuesday morning to try a carbon 212.

 

Any current GR users with carbon cabs got any longer term real world feedback on sound & durability?

 

Ooh. Be interesting to hear your thoughts once you’ve tried them. And if you get the chance to ask Mark what the difference between the Aerotech and True Carbon models is that would be awesome 😬

5 hours ago, binky_bass said:

Looks like the top of the cabs have the carbon weave showing vs the pre-2022 ones that have tolex on top and weave on the sides.

Cool. Looks like they’re the same price as the AeroTechs, I presume it might shave something off the weight otherwise it seems a bit pointless to bring out a new version for cosmetics alone.

I’ve just seen that Bass Direct are now stocking ‘Full Carbon’ cabs. These appear to be new for 2022 and in addition to the Aerotech cabs. Anyone know what they are? Are they even lighter than the Aerotechs? I wasn’t sure that would be possible! 

Adrian bought my Thumb bass and was a true gent - paid a deposit up front, collected exactly when he said and was a nice guy to boot. Really enjoyed dealing with him, would happily sell to him again in a flash. He also didn’t seem bored of my chatter for the best part of an hour - added bonus! Cheers Adrian. 

On hold.

20 hours ago, Jimothey said:

The two guitars are on guitarchat and all the others except the Mm P bass as I havent started a new build thread for it as yet? Are in the Build Diaries section....... 👍🏻 

Cool I’ve just checked them out, that P-Ric in particular looks 👌🏻

On 14/03/2022 at 23:06, Jimothey said:

Also the Sapele bodied Corvette build that is going to have a Thumb inspired pickup config keeps staring at me in the workshop so I'm going to have to get moving on that one aswell..... 👍🏻 

 

I really like the corvette body shape and I think the Thumb pickup position would work really well on it - looking forward to seeing that one as well! 

This is looking great, can’t wait to see it finished! 

15 hours ago, Jimothey said:

I've almost finished 2 guitars (a firecaster and a tele 🤫) I don't really play guitar but I'm finding reasons to keep them but I need to sell them to pay for some more bits for some other projects for a few basses I'm building which are the P-rick, Fenderbird, another corvette style build 'The Chevette' and a MM P bass build which I need to sell a couple of them also! 😭

 

Building is a slippery slope before I started 3 years ago I had 2 basses now I've got 12..... 👍🏻 

Nice, at my current rate I think it’ll take me a few years to get 12 done 😂 I look forward to pictorial evidence of all of these projects, the P-Ric in particular sounds rather fascinating! 

5 hours ago, Jimothey said:

You'll plan to make and sell but if your anything like me you'll make one and then convince yourself that its not good enough to sell just so you can keep it for yourself! 😂

 

You've done a great job on your first build! 👍🏻

Thanks! Haha, that is definitely the case with this one, I doubt very much that it will be going anywhere.

My second build isn’t too far off being complete, let’s see what I decide to do with that 😂

11 hours ago, Alien said:

Looks great, especially as it's your first attempt!
My first (and so far only) build was designed around an Aria neck that I bought locally, with body wood coming free from work (apart from a few quid going into the staff tea & coffee fund)

It's still around in MK somewhere, and it resurfaces from time to time at local jam nights.

 

Thanks, love that story! I think that’s the ultimate aim for me, to get to a stage where I can sell a few builds. Perhaps as a side hustle. I certainly plan to make a good few more, and won’t have the space for them at home if nothing else 😂

Thanks very much @andyaber and @benh, I think I’ll defo use that headstock shape again but just make it slightly wider. Will push myself a little bit further on the next one and see what happens! 

54 minutes ago, 40hz said:

I normally can't stand modded basses. This however, looks superb. Nicely done and very tasteful.

Thanks, very kind of you to say - I thought really carefully about these mods so they’d enhance the bass but not take too much away from its inherent character.