4 Strings

Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here. Quite dark in places!

Work continues apace. Bridge routed in (even if one of the lock-downs is facing the wrong way!); [URL=http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/4Strings1/media/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Bridgerout_zpsba2fefbf.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o760/4Strings1/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Bridgerout_zpsba2fefbf.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Here's why these Hipshot bridges are a bit of a job. The string goes through a hollow, threaded shaft which pulls the whole thing tight into the body. Lots of different radii and depths to get this right. Can also see the controls cover so far. It's held on by powerful magnets to avoid using screws and needing a screwdriver to delve inside; [URL=http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/4Strings1/media/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Stringthrough_zps163ada1b.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o760/4Strings1/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Stringthrough_zps163ada1b.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Headstock looking sweet: [URL=http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/4Strings1/media/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Headstock_zps5a17ac36.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o760/4Strings1/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Headstock_zps5a17ac36.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Neck with yet another coat and rub down; [URL=http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/4Strings1/media/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/fretboard_zps441657a9.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o760/4Strings1/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/fretboard_zps441657a9.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Next will be carving the assymetric neck profile. It's going to be slim, basic measurements taken from my old 'Ray. Waiting for pups to arrive.

Things have moved on, I remember feeling exactly the same when my youngest was on drums with his band when he was at school (give it a couple of secs to get going): http://youtu.be/3x-k2n5jtvE I'm regularly surprised with being proud of youngsters (and definitely not just my own!)

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1381998609' post='2246426'] I don't usually like maple fingerboards but this is looking quite special. The neck joint at the back looks lovely too. [/quote] Thanks, it's an amazing piece of wood, I'm very fortunate. With a joint like that I might have to start practicing up the dusty end! I'm hoping that the frets will stand out, at the moment I'm worried I'll be fretting to ripples!

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1381965854' post='2246300'] My brain went straight to Chic and Edwards, mind [/quote] That's certainly one classic 'Ray sound (the one to which I aspire!). I think they are mostly used with rounds though. Although this example is less twangy than expected: http://youtu.be/GLfZOGaHqpU

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1381939858' post='2245800'] Very stylish. If you use the Pyramid Black Nylons then you'll get gold silks to match your lion. Nice. [/quote] Same with Roto's Trubass too.

Heath has mounted the neck (must admit, I though things would go green first, but he's the expert!) No Fender pick holding slot here! [URL=http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/4Strings1/media/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Neckjoint2_zps4ab133f9.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o760/4Strings1/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Neckjoint2_zps4ab133f9.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/4Strings1/media/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Neckjoint1_zps3b827083.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o760/4Strings1/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Neckjoint1_zps3b827083.jpg[/IMG][/URL] The back has just been roughed out a the moment, the gist of things to come though; [URL=http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/4Strings1/media/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Neckjoint3_zps35207f03.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o760/4Strings1/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Neckjoint3_zps35207f03.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Very exciting stage!

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1381939299' post='2245792'] I like the look of those screw holes under the pickup mounts. Will this mean no hopeless foam/springs under the pickups trying to push them back up against the screws? How did you end up with that body shape by the way? You referenced it shortly at page one but it looks like it's changed quite a bit since then? [/quote] Good question. Yes, there will be springs holding the pup up, height adjusted by winding the screws in/out of the inserts, like a MM (as opposed to wood screws like a Fender). The covers are wood so no thread possible there, I suppose lock nuts could be wound onto the screws against the underside of the pup so that the spring won't be needed to keep the pup up. Trouble is, then the screw would just be loose in the thread. The spring would keep a tension on it and so keep it where it is. Not sure what the alternatives are. My Jaydee has the pup screws mounted from below, which is neat as there are no screw holes in the pup top but still uses a spring to put tension on the screws. We didn't so this as the original intention was to use standard MM and J pup bodies. Are there other alternatives? Body shape is the same. Probably because I've taken an unhealthy micro-managing interest in the build Heath is not doing anything without reference (also, I suppose, as it's not one of his standard designs but to my specs etc). This is as drawn on my dining room table, with a few tweaks since to make lines flow etc. The top and the bottom bouts are more exaggerated than a Fender design (Heath's influence - well, it is a Ruach bass after all) and this is compounded with accommodating 24 frets and the bridge as near to the end as practicable, makes for a more 'stubby' shape compared to the relatively long shapes of G&Ls, MMs etc. There's a bit of those designs in there, a little Wal, a little me and a good wad of Heath. We placed a MM body over the drawing and it was pretty similar.

Tum-tee-tum... [URL=http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/4Strings1/media/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Newlayout_zps7d72ac26.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o760/4Strings1/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Newlayout_zps7d72ac26.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Bridge next

His show has introduced me to many acts and my cd collection reflects this quite heavily, and it's great to see some acts which I wouldn't otherwise see live (Everything Everything for example). I keep some performances for posterity and wander through them sometimes. (An example is Andy Fairwheather-Low's Gin song with that 9 piece brass section - amazing sound!) I suppose there must be 10 others which do nothing for me (Jake Bugg, for example) at all for every one I enjoy (yep, even enjoyed Haim!), and the acts do seem to have become more bland recently, but I still record and watch each show (not always in on a Friday).

Put on some Sister Sledge or Chic, listen to 'Nard Edwards and those flats on a Stingray. (Actually, listen to a master at work on them!) And, as others have said, it's you, your sound, go for it, if you don't like it being £20 shorter is the only outcome. Doesn't matter if some others don't think it's the 'done thing'. For what it's worth, I use a Stingray with dull Newtone Platinum round wounds (not quite flats but with the thinner outer windings) and love the sound I can get from them.

[quote name='Jazzneck' timestamp='1381857493' post='2244645'] Not from 3 metres up and hurled diagonally onto a concrete slab it didn't, believe me.......... [/quote] I was being facetious. The saddest bit was not so much the loss of the classic amp but the Dad's reaction. I wonder if spotty youth hurled diagonally onto a concrete slab would have been better.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1381781435' post='2243769'] No I'm not joking; Fender really do claim to be able to predict the sound of a finished bass by tapping on the neck and the body . Hilarious but true ! [/quote] Saying they can predict something by doing it is one thing but I'm afraid I can't believe they do anything of the sort to the hundreds of pieces of wood that pass through their mass production every day. The bodies are machined a stack at a time. Especially the Mex bodies: [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/chadbang/media/IMG_5891.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v336/chadbang/IMG_5891.jpg[/IMG][/URL] You may find a custom builder doing something like this as he wanders through his suppliers stock.

[quote name='Jazzneck' timestamp='1381853413' post='2244577'] A boring tale......... I played a festival once where the middle class twunt of a bass player who went on before us threw his Ampeg SVTIII head off the back of stage during the load out "because I'm having a bad day". It broke into many pieces. [/quote] Thought they were supposed to survive that sort of abuse...

Unwind Yourself is my fav Marva track. Thanks, not come across Betty Davis - yep, pure funk! If you're on the 'Tube, try Lyn Collins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UekD68Hf54 I'm off to Spotify and Betty Davis...!

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1380457137' post='2225470'] All this talk of Robert Palmer and Mel Collins (in the King Crimson 8 thread) got me thinking back First: Alan Bown: [media]http://youtu.be/jJutfDZxgGE[/media] Then: Elkie Brooks and Vinegar Joe: http://youtu.be/3G51tmiwMlk [/quote] Bass player is great! Forgot I fancied Elkie Brookes.

[quote name='crag42' timestamp='1381833732' post='2244247'] Graham Central station and sly and the family stone Getting back into my funk [/quote] Yep, been going even further back - Marva Whitney. Amazing band - James Brown's band I think

[quote name='rk7' timestamp='1381785114' post='2243860'] Yep, Myke is right, the dark green is cool! The bass is looking awesome, and the time you are taking to get everything just-so is gonna pay big dividends. Keep up the good work! RK [/quote] Thanks, RK, although time is actually of the essence! We're hoping the end of this week for the 'First Draft' as it were. If Heath can do that it would be great, first gig would be Saturday evening! However, although the way is now open for some serious progress, there's much to do. I'm suspecting the First Draft will be without tuner (ordered but no idea how long it will take - took the Hipshot gear long enough to get through customs!), with an initial take on the neck profile (I'd like the opportunity of a second bite at that, if poss) and likely no standy-uppy things. I understand today will be a routing day, pups and controls cavities. Heath believes he's found a way of squeezing everything into the single controls cavity without the extra rout under the MM pup for the tuner circuit. This may be because I was (no doubt unfoundedly) worrying about the amount of wood being taken out between the neck joint and the bridge. All guitars with pups have this, of course, but I just thought the more solid this piece of body the better. (Heath is a patient guy - I hope he remains that way despite this build!). The Kent pups are actually quite shallow and allow the routs to leave a healthy bit of meat behind them.

Give Heath at Ruach a buzz. http://basschat.co.uk/user/22083-harleyheath/

It's beautiful. If you sell it to someone on here, pay the fee.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1381769636' post='2243460'] Although having said that , you do realise that Fender tap their bits of wood with a mallet first to check they sound O.K nowadays ? They will almost certainly scrape the paint off the body strategically to ensure the best possible sound from that resonant piece of body wood [/quote] You are joking...?

Well, they deaded up again, slapped them about a bit more, some twang reappeared. There's certainly something in it, I don't go for a lot of twang in my sound, but if I need a bit I'll give them a slap!

Thanks, Myke, I'm hoping to make the transition to top dots smoothly. I hadn't noticed if I use the front ones or not, when I took notice I find that I do, so I'm starting to only look on the top. The Jazz shaped pup will not sound exactly like a P, I don't suppose, as the positioning will not be the same (there's around 35mm difference from the bridge to the magnets of the top and bottom pups). Also, I'm assuming the winding has been compromised, although I don't know how, to fit it in the Jazz shape. I just didn't want it going too bassy like the front pup if a MM HH or, actually a Jazz. So, it's positioned at the average dim for a P, we'll have to wait and see. I just wanted it to sound like a P but not look like one; Let's hope Aaron Kent has been able to work some magic! The dark green def. There have been several greens on the way to the right one, I'm hoping Heath's patience lasts until we get there!

Back to colour! The least important but seemingly most difficult choice! Heath has been sending lots of pics of colour samples of various greens he's mixing to head towards the desired tone. Here's an example showing more mud being added from a previous example. Still more mud, I think, although it would look good with this on. I hope we settle on one before we start endangering the rain forest with many more of these samples! [URL=http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/4Strings1/media/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Sage1_zps3f4bd8b8.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o760/4Strings1/Ruach%20Utility%20Bass/Sage1_zps3f4bd8b8.jpg[/IMG][/URL]