Ralf1e

8 hours ago, ped said:

But the wood affects the way the string vibrates, it’s attack and sonic signature, which the pickups do pick up. 

This. Saying the timber makes no difference is like saying the ADSR on a synth makes no difference. Pluck two basses the same and one will die a death in seconds while the other piece of timber will ring out and sustain for ages.

Get yer eyes on YouTube and view how Lee Sklar selected the timber for the most recorded bass on the world.

It was the most resonant.

4 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

Precisely. Can't imagine it would be chipped, but why publish a photo that looks that way? Very poor editing.

4 hours ago, BigRedX said:

I don't think the headstock is chipped - it's just badly photographed light reflections which should have been fixed by altering the studio lighting or at least Photoshopped out. It amazes me that these days photos like this are put out for public consumption, when they should have been spotted and fixed at the photo shoot. It says to me that the manufacturers don't care and makes me wonder what other things they haven't cared enough about in the actual construction.

Reflected light in the same photo is white as expected the chips are timber coloured as they would be. The left hand top corner has lost it's point as it would do.

It appears to be photoed at a gig. Maybe it's a customers photoes used by permission. Who knows.

It doesn't look like reflected light.

A multitude of fret board timbers fitted to a multitude of neck timbers all fitted to bodies made of different timbers.

When they tell you your parts are made if this or that they dont tell you what part of the tree it comes from.

Heart wood is darker in colour, more dense and harder than sap wood it will give you a different sound but what you get in your guitar is a lottery unless it is built by a prestigious and honest builder who knows his business.

Hence why no two guitars sound exactly the same.

It's why you play 10 in a shop and find one of them that is a must have.

I love the Gordon Smith Graduate double cutaway stye which is what this really is.

The 32" scale is a question mark for me as is the use of a chipped headstock in the photos. Mr Gordon and Mr Smith made their reputation on selling the only guitars at that time that came into the music shops with a perfect set up out of the box.

They were also popular with session musicians.

When I gave one to my older brother after I hurt my hand. One of his band said "right that's it you don't need to bring a load of your other guitars to gigs anymore. That thing can sound like anything"

Coil tapped hot wound humbuckers. Made in house in those days.

I guess the new owners are not quite there anymore. Close but not quite.

I would have to sell or swap something to own one of them now? 

I am also close but not quite there 🤔

On 05/05/2023 at 09:08, Burns-bass said:

Yet we still pay thousands of pounds for unbroken solder joints and unmolested paint!

Yes then some of us road wear the paint

Looks photoshopped 

5 minutes ago, Ralf1e said:

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/even-fretless-fingerboard-levelling-tips.905673/

Bruce's bit is at the bottom of page 2

He and Musiclogic have to wade through a lot of interruptions to get the point across.

Powerful stuff though.

Opened my eyes.

6 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

Do you mind sharing a link? 

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/even-fretless-fingerboard-levelling-tips.905673/

7 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

Do you mind sharing a link? 

I will try not quite sure how to do that. I expect just copy the browser and past here. Found it. Done👍

Progress Report

The neck is defretted and slots filled with plasticard as recommended by Manson guitars in another thread.

I found the top 3 inches of the neck was falling away on the E string side making a level neck for fretless impossible.

So much for me thinking it was a nice neck just shows how wrong you can be. (Wipes egg off face and moves on)

From a Google search I found a thread on Talkbass about neck levelling which included input from Bruce Johnson amongst others explaining the need and processes for conical levelling and hour glass levelling.

Enter the need for a levelling beam.

Ebay alloy rectangular tube 20mm x 50mm by 50cm long collected in person for less than £10 from a supplier about 19 miles from me. 

Wicks on the way home. Oakley Superflex cloth backed sandpaper Fine 120 grit. Shockingly more than the alloy tube but necessary.

Cut the tape to fit the tube one length for 20mm one for 50mm.

Upholstery spray contact adhesive and carefully apply the tape to the beam job done.

Follow the methods and advice from Bruce Johnson.

Neck is now sorted and very accurate..

Smoothed off with 240 sanding followed by 2000, 2500, 5000, wet and dry the last 3 with finishing oil applied a few drops at a time with an industrial syringe.

Neck is now nice and smooth and shiny.

3 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Little confession time: I've been wanting to love my Spector Euro 5LX bass for a long while, because it's such a good bass - it's got such a meaty Spector EMG growl which immediately announces you're there to an audience and cuts through the mix effortlessly, but I've struggled to "wear" it comfortably and it's taken second fiddle to my lighter Elrick for some while (also a great bass) and I've had it up for sale on and off for 6 months.

 

My particular issue has I've just not been able to find a way wear it comfortably - it's felt a bit too heavy and the fretboard extension was at a tiring angle for my left arm.

 

Fortunately I managed to resist near offers and gave it another go with a wide Minotaur strap tonight which I also slightly shortened. Bingo!! 2 hour gig tonight it felt just fine, well actually more than fine. Singer commented on what a great looking bass it was (it is!) and drummer loved the tone. I'm not disagreeing with either of them 😊

So glad you are finding love for it with just some minor tweak. Long term relationships are stronger when they develop slowly.

I know I love mine and it also turns heads and gets compliments on it's looks and sound although mine has factory fitted Barts. 🤗

1 hour ago, ordep said:

Update: DHL decided that they will just return the item to thomann as they “cannot gain access to the property” which is bs as our front door is just a few steps from the public road and they have delivered to us several times before. So I immediately called CS, only to be passed around then got cut off. Tried online chat, told the agent that I will just pick it up from the depot as soon as I can, and was promised that it will be tagged as for collection and will be ready for me to collect. Drove 45 mins, and what do you know, it is on its way to Germany already. 

They are Chinee. They come from whan king

It's quite likely you will find when you take it apart there is already a factory fitted black stick on shim in the neck pocket

Check the new neck is straight first in case the truss needs a tweak.

When you try your new neck on dry fit it i.e. (no packing or shims) if its a snug fit and lay a straight edge along the neck from the nut slots to the bridge saddles. This will give you an idea of the way the strings will lay and the angles involved. It will also show you if your bridge and or it's saddles are already too high or low etc.

If there is an ever increasing big gap along the neck from the nut to the bridge saddles lower the saddles. It the gap is still too big then you need a shim in the heel of the neck to tilt the neck back a bit.

A thin shim can make quite a difference so go easy and add a little bit at time.

Brass shims are available from Amazon or Ebay in mixed sized packs

Stew mac suppy wooden wedges at pre set angles but if you only need a little shim that can be overkill and a bit of plastic card does the job as mentioned above 

Have fun with it and take your time. It will help teach you how a guitar works and why it sometimes doesn't 😀

That is lovely. I wished I'd seen that earlier. I've just done mine board with plasticard in the last 24 hrs

I take it that is laminated pick guard or similar ?

Also a fabulous way to recycle damaged p guards.

On 05/10/2017 at 22:40, Manton Customs said:

You'll likely get better results with plasticard/styrene sheet. It won't contract at a different rate to the fingerboard like Maple will, or stain from the surrounding oily wood like Maple can. It'll hold up better and is easier to work also.

The contraction/swelling thing is less of an issue as you'll be coating the board, but thought it was worth mentioning anyway!

Thank you so much for this. I to am in the process of de-freting in my Bitza project and followed your advice as regards the plasticard.

Not yet finished but I am pleased with what I see so far

Used .5mm plasticard as the previous fret tangs were about that.

At home I use one of three things

An Eden Metromix EM275

It has 2 inputs plus 2 aux imputs plus 3 outputs for phones

2x10 speakers with twin cones and can be stereo with pan available 

Or an Ashdown  Electric blue 180 great tone machine and extra speaker output

Or A HB Mighty-15TH Tube Head Selectable to 7 or 15 watts put through a cab.

I also use this di'd to FOH for  Church gigs and it sounds very warm and good

Lovely looking bass. 24 dot marker fretless. Maybe a bit ambitious 🤣

Showed my wife this yesterday as she's never heard it

Just bought Bead string set from Sifi

Great communications, packaging and deal

Thankyou so much.

1 minute ago, SpondonBassed said:

 

You may be lucky and get a good match with your veneer but I'm betting that even if others can't see the lines, you won't be able to unsee them.  That isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I honestly believe you will always see the difference in the grain which will be across the neck instead of down it.

Only other way I can think of is to powder timber the same  matched colour and make a glue or resin mix up of it.

Oh yes! They are brass and set back into the neck

Absolute class.

On 01/05/2023 at 18:55, ezbass said:

I think the OP should be retitled, Musicians…. Why Are They Such Knackers.

 

I have had a almost a week of passive/aggressive shenanigans from the drummer, with him manufacturing a scenario where he can take offence at something trivial and throw his toys out of the pram. If you want to leave just say you’ve had enough, don’t look for someone else to blame. FFS! 😤

I think you are right. Musicians are creative, artistic, sensitive people as are mathematicians, politicians etc. Lol

They constantly need reassurance that they are better and more valuable than they are or they loose confidence and run away to hide or become instant megalomaniacs.

Someone said the other day "throw a stick and you hit a guitarist they are everywhere and everyone wants to be one but you will hardly ever hit a bass player"

He had a point.

13 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Looks like your pickups are the Seymour Duncan Hot as it's what they are supposed to read.

 

I've got an original 1981 set on my PJ Leduc BD3 and they sound amazing, really!

Thank you for that, very helpful. The white cases are in a bit of a state with a sort of flakey skin and are all glued together from underneath inside. Have to write mojo on them or something with a sharpie. Couldnt bear to try to replace the casings and f**k up the pickups especially as I was given the bass for free.

Lovely looking bass. I love the way the string clamps are staggered along with the angled headstock to blend in with the multiscale design.

Are they individual clamps or part of the head end?

Any chance of a close up photo of them.