Alpha-Dave

Hi folks, I was thinking that perhaps it's worth starting an FAQ section for the really useful posts that rapidly drop down the board (like BOD2's compressor write up, or LFAlex's string tension reply), or other examples like tonewood links or 'whats the difference between a bolt-on and set neck'. I Figure that there are 3 ways of doing it: 1) re-starting the wiki from basstalk. 2) a designated forum area. 3) a single sticky at the top of each forum that links to the best pages there in. Thoughts? D.

[quote name='The Funk' post='5682' date='May 24 2007, 12:56 PM']6000 grand? As in $6,000,000 - that's a lot of 0s!!! [/quote] You should see 'em though! They make the Mona Lisa look like a child's cartoon and Damion Hirst like a Maniac with a chain saw and half a pickled cow! The only art made by a living artist to invest in for sure!

[quote name='Rich' post='3834' date='May 21 2007, 06:52 PM']Do my eyes deceive me, or is that string really 5mm thick..??? [/quote] Erm, 0.175 inches is 4.44 mm

LOL!, initially I was trying to keep the costs down to see how it would compare to one from our side of the pond! I see that was rather pointless now.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='5329' date='May 23 2007, 08:58 PM']LOL, you don't sound like you're a fan of EMG's [/quote] Yes and no, I think they do their job perfectly, but I think their job is to have a high out put to noise ratio, and I think that a lot of the acoustic subtleties of an instrument are lost in that process (as it is even when wiring coils in serise or parallel). Concerning materials variation, I asked the guys at overwater why they didn't use computer modeling to find the best resonance and combination of materials for the ultimate bass, they said that it's impossible because the materials vary so much from tree to tree, the best example being an acoustic guitar manufacturer who makes dozens of sound boards that look identical, then goes along the line tapping them to select the absolutly best and most resonant for the top-end models.

Good call R5, I hadn't seen that one. CK: I can see where you're coming from and with a pair of single coils, or 'buckers in parallel you may be right, but stick a pair of high output EMGs on there and it might as well be made of plastic and cork because it'll sounds like any other with those p'ups (ok maybe not that extreme, but you get the gist ...)

I just put together a custom quote on the Alembic website, I had no idea that their prices were that crazy! [url="http://www.alembic.com/cgi-bin/quote/quote?model=Series+II&strings=6+string&direction=Right-handed&scale=Long+scale+34+inches&necklam=3+Ebony+neck+laminates&fingerboard=Macassar+ebony+fingerboard&surface=Fretted&fngbdwidth=Comfort+fingerboard+taper+%28wide+bridge%29&inlay=Alembic+Dragon+inlay&fngfront=No+front+LEDs&fngsd=Bronze+side+dots&pegheadshape=Crown+peghead&pegheadbevel=Bevel+front+and+back+of+peghead&woodtop=Redwood+Burl+top&topmatch=Bookmatch+top+to+center&woodbody=Flame+maple+body&woodback=Redwood+Burl+back&finish=Polyester+clear+gloss+finish&bodyshape=Standard+Omega+body+shape&bodycontour=Tummy+and+elbow+contour&logotype=Recessed+silver+logo+w%2Fshell&bridgeblock=Bridge+block&tailpiece=Bird+tailpiece&trusscov=Wood+truss+rod+cover&plate=Continuous+wood+backplate+%28for+model+electronics%29&hardfin=Gold+plated+hardware+%28estimated%29&machines=Gold+Alembic+Gotoh+machine+heads&fastener=Gold+recessed+strap+locks&electronics=Anniversary+electronics"]http://www.alembic.com/cgi-bin/quote/quote...ary+electronics[/url] I mean $1200 for a redwood front and back that can't cost them more that $400 at the very outside (they'll more likely pay $150): [url="http://www.exoticwoodbrokers.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=267"]http://www.exoticwoodbrokers.com/index.php...products_id=267[/url] Has anyone ever bought one of these or know anyone that has? D.

[quote name='R,5,R,5...' post='5185' date='May 23 2007, 04:35 PM']Alembic (them again) also do ebony and maple necks that must be pretty close to graphite in terms of stiffness.[/quote] I'm not sure; the ebony laminate that Alembic use is pretty small for the amount of difference the claim it makes. I'm of the opinion that a wood must make up at least a 3rd of the neck-mass to make a difference, and on an Alembic it can only be 10-15% at most (they are quite thin strips!). The necks that Alan at ACG is making (one for me) that is 50% ebony is more likely to make a difference I think. I would have gone for 100% ebony, but aparently there are stability issues with a 1-piece Edit: this is the sort of single-laminate I mean, that I'm sure is more cosmetic than they claim: [url="http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_direwolf.html"]http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_direwolf.html[/url] This one however is more like it! [url="http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_leftisright.html"]http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_leftisright.html[/url]

Hmm, IMHO the centre of CK's JayDee looks really good, but the edges where the body wood is dyed looks odd to me. Sugden: Do you have a mock-up of how the black Limba would look edge on when dyed?

Brilliant! For a first effort that's superb. Did you do much research before hand or sort issues as they arose? I can't quite tell from the images: did you route under the tuners, or are the central 4 easy enough to turn without having to get your fingers underneath?

Claro, but as with many lovely pieces of wood, I think that one may be dificult to carve a bass out of that looked good symetrically becuase there are some cracks in it. Alse there is an issue that a lot of the best figureing would be lost under the p'ups, bridge and neck pocket.

Ahh, that makes sense now. I do have to admit, a few months ago I was looking all over ebay and the US stores for high quality wood for basses that I could store for a while to eventually make instruments out of, but quality wood keeps croping up! I'm tempted to get this piece of burl walnut that would have been good for a single piece body, but it would weight soooo much and the shipping would be half the cost of the wood! [url="http://walnutwoods.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/37.27.11gcomp.jpg"]http://walnutwoods.net/Merchant2/graphics/....27.11gcomp.jpg[/url]

I thought you sold that piece of redwood you had? It certainly is soft: Alan and I looked at it when it first arrived, and were considering going for an oil finish but you could make dents in it with just your nail, so he's going to pore fill with a hard coating as deep as possible. As the top of the ramp is red-wood too he's filling that with a thick coating too so that it doesn't wear through too quickly. This is the kind of glassy finish we're aiming for on this Nordstrand:

CK: I hope so! I've only seen a couple of quilt red wood tops, but I think they look better than red-dyed maple because of the extra vertical grain pattern Sugden: This way the ramp and the p'ups will all be the same surface, so I won't feel any edges. Plus this way the p'up tops will be curved to match the fingerboard (I think I went for a 24" radius or something so it's pretty darn flat, but it means there won't be a difference between them anyway. Also the most useful part of a ramp is over the neck p'up or even towards the neck (we couldn't put a ramp there because of the truss-rod adjuster), so only having it between the p'ups is quite far back. The last major reason is to increase the woody goodness of the bass.

Hi Mark, are you having wood p'up covers too? That must be the most interesting piece of quilted maple I've ever seen, I love the way it changes from ridges to circle like bubbles! Is it going to be a heavy black stain, then sand back or a flat-thin tint? 6 months, I don't envy you. I bet you'll be watching the dollar fluctuations throughout that time! D.

That's a silly idea, I need some textured wood grain for the stickers to adhere to! Just remembered I had some questions on your Skjold so I'll head there.

Excellent! Gotta love headless 6'ers!

That is pretty cool. What string gauges work best with the differing length: is a light-B best or a heavy G?

Honestly I'd prefer not, I think it'd be less fun if Alan became as big as Warwick. Perhaps the next Jens Ritter? If I win (or played) the Lottery, I'd like to see what Alan could make me for £50,000.

As far as I can tell that's correct, they seem to crop up under a variety of names: Mazetti, Wolf and a couple of others that I can't recall, but they're all around the same price to buy in the UK as the Antoniotsai when landed in the UK, so if you can get one in an auction (especially with the currently weak dollar), then you can get one with some fancy inlays. This has now moved on to another forum member who has the necessary skills to do it justice, but at some point I may yet get one of the Ritter rip-offs because they have a slimmer head, so wouldn't dive as much.

As for the maple board, it has been acrylicised which I think means it has been soaked in monomers (acrylic is the same stuff used for car headlights/plexiglas), then put under vacuum in a bag so they're driven into the pores of the wood and baked to polymerise them. This means that it's really hard so I can use round-wounds without chewing up the wood. As for how it sounds, I only got to play it acoustically as the electronics weren't fitted, but it certainly was resonant with lovely overtones. I'll bring it to the next bash so you're welcome to have a go if you can make it. Also with the flexability of the legendary ACG-East pre-amp, then the sounds are lushious ! ----------------------------------------------- And here is the finished instrument - I get my hands on it in 3 days ! All pics here: [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/Gallery/105/"]http://www.acguitars.co.uk/Gallery/105/[/url] Front! Back! The vanishing markers ! But you can see them here! She's beautiful!

Hi folks, Not a custom build as such, but a stock/prototype bass that Alan has been building that I decided to go for as the basic spec (woods, number of strings etc) was very close to what I wanted and the technical spec it is being built to is as good anything I would have specified, I was particularly impressed with the ACG/East preamp and Armstrong pick-up combination. Also the figured maple board with the pear markers is fantastic as the grain changes in contrast depending on the angle you look at the board, so from the front the lines almost blend into the figure, but from the player position they’re more obvious – a brilliant thing ! The difference from standard specs being the string spacing, a brass nut & brass bridge as I’m not too worried about weight saving (it is Christmas! ), and I’m a total brass nut convert after the difference one made to my warwick. Now just the agonizing wait for it to be finished in January Argh ! Specs: Body woods: Alder with a Santos Rosewood top and a 3 mm Tulipwood accent line. Neck: Flamed Sycamore and Mahogany 5 piece with a birdseye/fleck maple acrylic impregnated finger board with semi-tone markers in Pear wood. Matching Rosewood headplate. 2 carbon fibre rods. Black hardware: Hipshot Ultralite tuners, Hipshot Type A bridge (17mm spacing) Pickups: ACG FatBas custom wound humbuckers Aaron Armstrong. Electronics: ACG/John East filter-based pre-amp, details [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/newsarticle.php?ID=47"]here[/url]. The entire build thread is [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/galleryitem.php?ID=91"]here[/url]. And some pics, some are with the wood just sanded and some wetted with spirit to make the grain come up: Starting woods (wet) Mock up (wet) Hardware placement, it’s not a trick of the image, the pear lines do blend in from the front Body shaped, truss rod and carbon rods fitted You can see the lines really well from here Wood work complete (wet) Neck join (Wet), I love the flame! Nearly there (dry), just needs disassembly and finishing ! D.

First update for the new site: the body!

Well, thank you to both Alan and Sugden for sorting out a render! This is how it should look, the major things to note being that the tuners are well within the lines of the body and they have a rout under them so you can get your fingers in to tune, and the p'ups will be covered in the ramp too! ------------------------------------------------ Here is a general update, the neck blank made from quilt bubinga and Ebony: it'll have an oil finish, so will have a lovely feel to it! ----------------------------------------------- Small update, We've finally decided on how to cut the fingerboard (thank you to all who voted):

Hi Folks, Right, a new build diary here! I found that having 1 ACG isn't enough, so I'm getting a second built! This will be a 6-stringer to the 'Skelf Single-Cut' design with a set-neck, also being headless and having a ramp. This is the gist of the overall shape (without the ramp, and the neck-laminations should be seen between the fretboard and the neck p'up, and the tuners will be within the body outline, and there will be a scoop cut from under to be able to tune). I'm having a quilted Redwood front and back, a white-limba body core (with black contrast veneers), and bubinga/sycamore laminate neck and a flame/spalted maple finger board. The ramp will be cut from the same wood as the fingerboard. Of course I'll be having the ACG/East filter-pre. The scale length is yet to be decided, but it's mostly there. Redwood (body shapes are for illustration purposes only): Top: Back: As above, but wet: Top: Back: Body: white limba Neck laminations: Figured Bubunga: Flame sycamore: Fretboard (nice eh!) This is going to be great! Thanks, David. ----------------------------------------------------