SamIAm

Nods. I did, the problems seemed to be with topological naming issues, a widely recognised and challenging problem which the OSS community are tyring to solve ... a bit beyond my ken to help with! S'manth x

As a climber that made me laugh! S'manth x

Thanks @JGTay I had a play with Freecad on MacOS a while back, but found it to fail when I had complex models. I shall have another go tho as it appears to have had a new release since then. S'manth x

I'd been using Fusion 360 for designing and CNC toolpathing on my first bass build, it was a wee bit unreliable but wonderfully powerful! After a fire in my flat I no longer have a powerful Mac laptop and am using a linux based system ... Fusion 360 (running under wine) is a mare! Any suggestions for a decent CAD/CAM package for linux? S'manth x

How beautiful! Does it sounds as good as it looks? S'manth x

That is the approach I'm taking with the asymmetric neck on Phoenix. S'manth x

Progress on Stompz is not stopped, but is slow! I'm trying to select the "brain" for it, something that will be small and low drain on a battery. I hoped that a Pi Zero W (As I have one) would be ideal ... but then I realised that it does not have an ADC (Analogue to Digital) capability. This means that whilst it would be fine for detecting the pressing of the foot switches, it is not able to "read" the position of an expression pedal I still think it it a good way to go, but I now need to either: Buy an ADC for it, an easy path but requires more spend ... which I can ill afford at present. Transmogrify a Pi Pico (Which I already have) into and ADC. S'manth x

As part of my bass build a very lovely BCer is sending me a pair of Bartolini Quad Coil pups, I gather they are passive. I'm trying to decide if I am going to try to add in an onboard preamp, but my knowledge is low. What are the pros/cons of onboard vs offboard preamps? S'manth x

I continue to be blown away by the kindness of folks! (And @TheGreek, you claim to be cynical but I appreciate your PM post fire, reaching out to me to ask how you could help!) A kind BCer has sent me a pair of Bartolini Quad Coil pups for Phoenix! This means that I will be able to return the EMG pup I ordered from Thomann (I love their money back policy) as soon as it arrives. I gather the Barts have a sensing width of 88mm so I can go for a slightly wider string spacing (17mm I think will do nicely) and having two of them, with the quad coil switching ... I'll have sonic possibilities I never dreamed of! A question for those of you who know ... I gather the Barts are passive. What are the pros/cons of having an on bass preamp vs an external one? S'manth x

Has it passed yet? I give it till next week at most S'manth xxx

Lovely paint job! (I am biased towards 5 string fretless ... but sub short scale so yours is safe for now lol) S'manth x

Looks SO gorgeous! S'manth x

👋 Welcome Tim!

I drove out to Heathfield today (It's about midway between Royal Tunbridge Wells and Eastbourne) to visit https://luthierssupplies.co.uk/, it is an aladdin's cave of beautiful wood (and other luthier related stuff) run by David Dyke, the atmosphere is full of the most lovely aromas full of promise of things to come. I'd visited once before, on the 8th of August to collect materials that were intended to be the basis of Flo, my second bass build. Pictured below is Twiggy (My first bass build) and the block of maple for Flo as well as the truss rod, carbon fibre support rods and wood to form the skunk stripes. Just 24h later it looked like this. Today, in an act of amazing kindness and generosity, I was given (at no cost) replacements for many of the bass build bits I lost in the fire. A lovely block of Idigbo (West African Hardwood), truss rod, two carbon fibre shafts and some strips of wood for the skunk stripes. (S'manth pinches herself to make sure she is not dreaming) S'manth x

Some years ago I required some cushioning for a similar problem whilst sat for a couple of hours on hard chairs. I found that a styrofoam bead filled, horseshoe cushion (One of those sold to air travellers as a neck support for snoozing) worked amazingly well ... and was small enough across to fit on most any chair. S'manth x

A delightful development! After a phone call to the luthier who supplied the original block of maple for my second bass (Which was turned to ash by the fire) it seems that he is going to give me a replacement block at no cost! (I was stunned!). I am hopefully going to pick it up tomorrow (Thursday) and it will mean that I can start the physical build of Phoenix! (I'd best start drawing up the design plan!) People are so wonderfully kind! S'manth x

Both. Phoenix is going to be made from a single piece of wood (Like Twiggy). The neck is going to be on the chunky side, with Twiggy I freformed the neck until it felt good ... I later discovered that I'd a profile that was quite similar to the .strandberg* Endurneck ... for Phoenix I aim mindfully crafting the profile in an Endurneck fashion, I plan to have a dual action trussrod and a pair (one either side of the truss rod) 4mm square carbon fibre rods; given the asymetric neck profile I want to reduce the risk of any untoward neck bending. S'manth x

OMG ... I'd missed that wood-database ... awesome info, thank you!

I've been offered a block of Sweet Chestnut for my bass build. It has been aged about 50 years and does not appear to be twisted. I've searched the web but not found a lot of information regarding its suitability for use in making a guitar. I'd appreciate hearing your experience, info, views relating to this. Is it a 'sweet' choice or a highway to dissapointment? S'manth x

Looks fab! I shall follow with great interest. What wood are you using for the body/neck? S'manth x

Some developments today. My makerspace colleague informed me that he believes he has a piece of Sweet Chestnut suitable for Phoenix; hopefully seeing it on Wed or Thur. I had been looking for a pup, my first choic was an EMG MM5TW ... but hens teeth are easier to find! I did locate a pair of EMG 40TWXs here on BC and was invensigating getting those ... and then I discovered that Thomann had the EMG MMTW in stock! They are a 4 string pup, but on Twiggy I used an EMG MMCS (Another 4 string pup) with great results. She was setup with a 16mm string spacing at the pup and given the scale length of 30 inches this actually worked very well for me. So ... I ordered one! With paypal I can spread the cost over 3 months (Cash flow is a challenge at present). So ... Wood - Hopefully sorted. Tuners - Arriving in the next week or so. Pickup - Hopefully here also in a week or so. I need to get a truss rod and a couple of carbon fibre stiffening rods ... but I'm almost at the point where I cn start the physical work on Phoenix! Very excited! S'manth x

I am particularly keen on the dual coil switching system. I’ve found a used set but we have yet to figure out a viable shipping approach.

Tried them. After speaking with their supplier they said it could take months! S’manth x