Alpha-Dave

I'm more concerned about his wood store, it could take weeks for the walls to get back to normal humidity, plus I hope all his lovely bits of wood are ok.

[quote name='The Funk' post='23400' date='Jun 26 2007, 10:17 AM']Any idea who he actually is?[/quote] Urb?

Hmm, I thought I was getting the first ACG with a ramp, but clearly not, the neck p'up will be a huge surface to play on!

Bass Labs use them too. To be honest, I feel that it's still not a good compramise and that it should be a full headstock or the chop, not a half-way house bud.

Excellent! Do keep us updated.

Overwater (0.028, 0.032) or DR Sunbeams (0.030) for me as they both make round-wound nickel plated strings.

I thought scratch plates were for guitars, so when strumming with a pick, you don't scratch the finish. I guess with a high-F you can do some serious chordal work, but do you strum much? Sounds like a great spec, I'd always go for LEDs if they're are an option!

The lower 4 strings of a 5 string set will have the same tension more or less as your normal 4 string set, still you may need a slight trussrod tweak, but nothing major. You may need to widen the slots of the nut though as the strings will be between 0.01 and 0.03" bigger.

Possible slight cross-talk here, MB1: I believe alex was refering to the aspiration of playing such a gig rather than it being a regular thing (I may be wrong). Just as a side point, why do you put "MB1 B)" at the begining of all your posts?

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='21960' date='Jun 22 2007, 03:39 PM']There probably will be one in September, we just need to make a decision on whether we use the same venue as last time given there wasn't enough space. If we don't use the same venue then we need to find another with as good or better access and parking.[/quote] I'll have to disagree with you there CK, the issue wasn't the size really because we could have squeezed even more people and gear into the room. The issue is having more than 2 bass amps going at the same time. Unless we hire the NEC or Wembley, it'll never be a 'reasonable noise level' unless we have a set number of amps on or (as I said last time) everyone brings a headphone amp. Also a quiet 20 min every hour would make a lot of sense.

Dava control picks for me. They're thinner in the middle, so by varying where you hold them they can vary in stiffness, which really helps if you want a dynamic range to your sound.

I'd turn up if it was either: really easy to get to (Midlands), or worth a long drive to get to (West country/Highlands or islands of Scotland).

Hey bass_ferret, thank you for stopping by. I have to agree with you that it is nothing like a normal bass, but that's the idea! To be honest I'd love to go to a few band interview and take this, just to see the look of horror on guitarist's faces (I know it's unlikely to get me the gig). The single cut isn't for sustain, it's simply aesthetic so that the angular lines of the body are parallel. I think the headless aesthetic works really well with the angular single cut, it really shifts the visual balance from being a 'long thing with a big mass at one end and a small one on the other' to a 'narrow wedge' shape. My other main reason for going headless is so that it'll fit in a guitar case so it will fit in the boot of my car (my Musicguard insurance policy only covers things hidden in the boot, so I have to put my current basses in gigbags because hard cases won't fit in. Actually I've just had a brilliant thought, I'll ask Alan to make me a headstock out of a scrap of wood that I can attach to the end of the headstock with a couple of large neo magnets, that will really confuse people.

Thank you all for the kind words, I am soooo looking forward to getting this now, only a few weeks away! With so many compliments I almost wish jhferret would pop along to say it doesn't look like a proper bass (I'll send him a PM). My wait may be a little longer though as redwood is quite porous, so needs several thin coats of lacquer because fewer thick ones tend to sink into the grain. Gizmo: that may come in useful. Here is a minor update, the control cavity cover. As you can see the back will be as nice as the front (as it's not wet here, the grain doesn't 'pop', but it will!

[quote name='binky_bass' post='20099' date='Jun 19 2007, 12:01 PM']extended range bass or ERB if you will, would be the correct term for the "instrument" in my avatar.[/quote] I thought 'gargantar' was the new name for single-neck fretted instruments that span the pitch range of a guitar and bass (and possibly mandolin and contra-bass).

Very tough call. There are various UK makers that can do excellent jazzs: Overwater, ACG, GB etc. I'd always go for one of those first, but buying an instrument you like the feel of and then upgrading the parts you find weak 'by ear' is a great way of getting exactly what you want.

I like Warwick black label 45-105 (135), they have that 'shktew..' sound that a suspension bridge makes as you drive over it!

If you have a prototype can you please do a couple of sound clips showing the difference it makes to a fuzz and not to the plain signal. Does this only affect the clipping so therefore it won't have an effect on an overdrive or distortion pedal, only ones where the gain is enough to clip the signal? D. Edit: D'oh too slow!

I thought it was Bootsy with the chicken grease?

Part of me thinks that can't be a factory finish, but then I remember the horrid-green double-neck thumb that was posted here a while back so it may be original.

Comfort strapp, it's great!

[quote name='Mickeyboro' post='17392' date='Jun 14 2007, 09:57 AM']I bought my bass in 1981. It still has the same strings on it now! [/quote] 26 years old !?! Erm ... does that mean you take them off every so often and give them a wipe along with the fret board, or give them a dust while still tuned or that you've never cleaned them or the fret board ever?

cool, how much did you get it for? I considered going for that, but then read the specs and 99lbs in not somthing I need to own!

I was toying with the idea of going, but the only thing that really interested me was a Boss RC50 and I don't really 'need' one at the moment. I can't say I'm upset to see piedog go: a few months ago I wanted a Hercules stand they had a good deal at £20. Their unit was 50ft off my route to work, so I asked if I could pick it up and save the £9 postage but they said no due to insurance reasons not allowing customers on site. I said ok, how about we meet off site or I send a courier to pick it up or anything ... but they said no, I'd have to pay the £9 no matter what so I left it and bought one totalling £21 from a different place. I'm not surprised they weren't profitable!

I tried boiling some Warwick Black labels once, they had more mids back but they still didn't have the 'zing' like a new string. I'm starting to think that it's a cleaning issue rather than a corrosion issue for everything other than coated strings. We have an ultrasound cleaner at work that's supposed to remove any gunk from anything, so I'm toying with the idea of sticking a set in there to see if it actually cleans them or not. Or perhaps an alcohol based cleaner like Vodka might do just as well.