Alpha-Dave

Good thought, and it would follow on well, but there are 2 switches going there for coil tapping/series/parallel and the body is its thinest there for the control cavity, so further counter-sinking the disc would possibly make it too weak.

The Newcastle shop is as well stocked as SoundsLive around the corner, but SL is usually far busier when I've been in. The Middlesborough branch is ok, but doesn't ever have anything in stock that I'd want to buy, and have various issues with getting stock in: for example, I wanted the Hercules stand that holds by the headstock, and rests on the legs (a different version rests on a pokey-out bit). They had a few of type-B in, but I wanted A due to the shape of my bass, but they'd no way get one in stock. ... so I went elsewhere. I've accepted that I have to travel 2 hours to Nottingham (Hotrox) for decent FX, or 1 hour to Doncaster to Electromusic for most other things.

Agreed with most of the above. Assume it's going to be dropped 3 feet on to concrete. If you think it won't survive that, add more protection.

Just get practical for a moment, from the close-ups of the strings, there doesn't seem to be much thickness variation across the board, even taking perspective into account. I think he's used 3-4 Es, a couple of As, a B and a few Gs and Ds. The thinnest 3 strings certainly aren't plain as they would need to be, and the thickest certainly isn't a .145-.175 for a low C#!!!

Good lord! He actually made it out of knotty pine! At least it kept the guy off the streets for a while.

[quote name='Mike' post='37646' date='Jul 27 2007, 08:19 AM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290143303102&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:uk"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...atchlink:top:uk[/url] Check it out! Beastly![/quote] Yeuch! I really can't decide which part I hate the most: all are badly executed.

IMHO the p'ups are a more significant factor. If you have single coils, you will hear the differences in the wood. If you have humbuckers wired in parallel you will hear a sublte difference If you have humbuckers wired in serise you will hear a pretty much no difference If you have active p'ups (EMGs are the only ones I can site) you bass could be made of steel or sponge, it'll still sounds like and EMG loaded bass to me. ... so IMHO yes, wood can make a difference, but you have to have the right p'ups to tell it's there.

I read an article about PRS guitars a while back, they use something called 'slip matching' where they just take to pieces that look similar and move them around until they look the best. I suspect it was just an excuse not to bother bookmatching. The bass will look stunning though, because as the flaming is due to grain and density changes, how it appears depends upon the angle you're looking from. I strongly suspect that Jon deliberately took the photo from this angle to make the grain look as pronounced as possible, which is when the 2 sides will be out-of sync. Any other angle and they'll look perfect, and especially with the blue top-coat, the angle will become irrelevant and will look in sync from any angle.

Wow, that really is stunning!

+1 OBBM: I use 6 of his patch leads on my pedal board, 2 of his muting leads and a speaker cable. I couldn't be happier because the components and work are top quality, but especially because the cost of him making them and posting to my door was less that the cost of buying the bit from Maplins and making them myself!

[quote name='RIM Basses' post='36042' date='Jul 23 2007, 06:28 PM'] 36 inch boards, can you guess the woods![/quote] Left to Right, I'd guess : Olive-Ash : Zebrawood : Wenge : Ebony : Kingwood

What's your point? looks to me like he's just fixing up a Jaguar. Do you mean that the neck, bridge and pick-guard assembly are from a Jaguar and only the body is from an old bass? Excellent bit of recycling then!

[quote name='Alpha-Dave' post='9518' date='May 30 2007, 09:54 PM']I've just bought 10 lithium PP3s, which are meant to be better than Duracel for £15 inc P&P. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10-x-ULTRALIFE-LITHIUM-PP3-9V-BATTERYs-FREE-UK-POSTAGE_W0QQitemZ290121686293QQihZ019QQcategoryZ50615QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10-x-ULTRALIFE-LITHI...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] They arrived today and looked a little dusty (must have been sat somewhere for a while), but they're functioning fine and I just put one in my bass, I'll write again when it dies. D.[/quote] Well I finally had to replace one of these today, they've lasted between 1&1/2 to 2 times the length of a duracell, and at half the cost. Heartily recommended.

Dave: do you mean that for a double conversion - bass to amp, then amp to ears - the delay is too long, or that even in a single conversion - amp to ears - that it is too long? Simply because a cheap in-ears system would be brilliant even for a start.

+1 for UK Custom if you want something full of Woody goodness that isn't a fender clone (unless you ask!). You won't get a Sei or Overwater (new) for that price range (as they employ multiple people, so have way higher costs), but Shuker, ACG, RIM and the other lone builders can put you together something for around that cost. Check out the Build Diaries section, then send a few emails, it'll cost you nothing. The major down side is that despite most holding 'stock' for immediate purchase, to get something truly custom, you'll have a several-month build time.

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='36275' date='Jul 24 2007, 10:29 AM']Why did you not want the front bookmatched?[/quote] Are you serious or kidding? Either way, I agree because it took me a couple of minutes to figure out.: I assume you're referring to the non-matching flaming in the front. The reason for it is that it is *perfectly* bookmatched. The reason for the contrast is because the flaming is due to the grain changing direction and it's density as it follows, therefore perfect bookmatching means that what is a light stripe on one side will be dark on the other.

Both, depends on what texture I need for the song.

Very nice, is it Royal Blue? I love blue maple. How does the stained Black Limba look?

I would never have guessed that!

I assume the delay is responsible for the 1/4 second repeats. Sounds a lot like a synth with all the attack is removed. The notes ring out a lot on the lows and hight so a ring modulator would seem likely, but I couldn't guess the brand.

[quote name='David Nimrod' post='34063' date='Jul 19 2007, 11:48 AM']Maybe I was being a little sour... I guess there's room for everyones ideas of perfection.[/quote] I don't think you were being particularly sour, I actually agree with your post, there are some artists/craftsmen out there who really get so caught up in the work that they don't finish or complete projects well. The most obvious luthier example I've heard of is Ken Bebensee (spelling?) there is a 50 page thread on talkbass of how he had a customer waiting for over 4 years for a bass that when the customer decided to finally pull out, he rushed it in the last few months and still had a very unsatisfied customer. I suspect that these are the people who have turned a hobby/passion into a business but aren't very good at the customer/business side. Fortunately those examples are few and far between, and there are many RIM, ACG, GB, Sei, Shuker, etc owners who are very happy. I'd still recommend meeting your luthier face to face before shelling out though.

It's a nice idea. I just checked my SC to see if the idea was worth pinching, but the lower horn joins at the 24th fret anyway, I I wonder if its a difference between set and bolt on necks or the designs.

Thank you for the replies, After some thought I decided that I'd rather have the logo on the front because headless basses are uncommon and even if people don't appreciate the shape or recognise the ACG logo, then at least they know it's made by a decent company. I did however like the idea of a removable (fake) headstock, but I couldn't think of a way to attach one (magnets?). I would have liked the logo to have a useful function if it was a button: Shooting flames from the head would be a good thing, but Alan says that pyros aren't his thing. Therefore it's going on the upper bout, in the top position like so: D.

Is that some flaming in the Ebony? Very nice.