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Finished! A Bridge Too Far?


Andyjr1515
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I've spent a lot of time doing some of the 'fiddling about' jobs.

First off, the Dunlop straplocks are fitted:


By the way, the ebony at the body join has still got a bit of varnish on it - the milky look will disappear when I've done the finish tweaks.

How does it sit on the strap? Perfect :D
How does it sit on the lap? Perfect :D :D

The other thing I've done is added a trim pot to further attenuate the piezo signal. It's the blue one here:


I'm borrowing Chris Sharman and his proper rig tomorrow to do the final tweaks of the various gain settings :)

Through our band's medium PA, it already seems to have a significant amount of oooomph! :D

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ETA is the end of this week :D

It's been a long build, this one...

After the 'road test' and tweak on Chris S's gear tomorrow, I have: the final tidying up of the finish - generally where the finish is a touch too thick on the ebony and so makes it lighter; I'm on with the remake of the pickups cover - and the new one DOES line up; I need to adjust the nut a touch; re-polish the frets where they've got a bit of finish on them; sand a small area of the main cover flush; put some brass ferules that Mick wants at the bridge end. And then it's done!

Oh, by the way, this is how the controls area came out in the end:


And this has everything in place, all working and including the straplocks but still invisible from the front :) :

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[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1500306105' post='3336806']
[center] [/center]
[center][/center]
[/quote] hold up - he's got to do another month hand building a custom case for it first, including getting Adrian Newey to teach him how to mouldy carbon fibre...
... then he will post it to you

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[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1500330761' post='3337049']
hold up - he's got to do another month hand building a custom case for it first, including getting Adrian Newey to teach him how to mouldy carbon fibre...
... then he will post it to you
[/quote]
Two months....don't like to be rushed ;)

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A very successful test run / balance set up with Chris Sharman - many, many thanks to Chris, Jo and Matt for letting me disrupt your evening! :D

It was invaluable on many levels, but the main thing is that I have a decent starting point sound balance-wise for Mick to work with on his own rig. It was also nice to get such positive feedback!

Now the thing is, I also have video evidence which...unless Chris pays me a lot of money not to...you may get to see ;)

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[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1500453651' post='3337806']
Please post it, I really want to hear it!
[/quote]
Well, I haven't received a mountain of cash from Chris NOT to post this so - [url="https://youtu.be/940xdffwfYw"]a very brief sneak preview here[/url]

What we were able to do is work out how much gain to add onto the magnetic circuit to balance the piezo and then work out, by playing with the two tones, how to maximise the spread of tone from deep thumpy bass at one end to an acoustic treble edge at the other extreme, just by the roll of the one blend knob.

None of that, of course, is on the sample video above - with that clip it's just everything on neutral.

We also confirmed that it sits on the strap in a great position to play, and with the tuner block wrapping round - but an inch or so away from - the player's hip :)

Last few jobs to finish off: tidy up the hatches (done); flatten off the slight bump in the upper neck Chris could feel when he was playing it (done); drop the action height a tad; lower the nut a tad; fit Mick's fancy white strings; take the arty-farty photos :)

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So Andy and I have just been corresponding about what to call the Bass. I've been thinking about it, without success, for the past few days. Things like "Minimalist Bass" and "The Future Bass" have gone through my mind but I can't seem to find anything that fits.

[b]So here's a chance to be part of this build[/b], [i]well the naming ceremony anyway[/i]. [b]I may even donate a prize (say a new leather strap) to the name we choose.[/b]

[b]Entries in by the weekend please.[/b]

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Has 'The Curve' been done?

I think it might have been, but a quick google search hasn't turned anything up.

I also like 'The Lens' although that does risk people asking who 'Len' is and why you're playing his bass.

Other brainstorming ideas are 'The Aristotle', 'The Demosthenes', The Socrates' or 'The Zorba'.

Apologies for any inappropriate cultural stereotypes....

Edited by Cato
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[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1500499817' post='3338339']
Be good to hesr the difference between the two pickups
[/quote]
Thanks for the kind words, Ian :)

I took a few other clips - I think one where I tweeked from full piezo to full magnetic....I'll see if it came out enough on the recording.

The interesting thing, that Chris S will verify if he passes by, is that as I changed the gains for greater parity, the difference between the tone between them became less marked. Where we started, with the magnetics lower vol than piezo, the difference was like chalk and cheese. This gives Mick loads of options to create the sound that fully suits his rig.

I'll see if any of the other recordings are any good tomorrow :)

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[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1500497970' post='3338320']
So Andy and I have just been corresponding about what to call the Bass. I've been thinking about it, without success, for the past few days. Things like "Minimalist Bass" and "The Future Bass" have gone through my mind but I can't seem to find anything that fits.

[b]So here's a chance to be part of this build[/b], [i]well the naming ceremony anyway[/i]. [b]I may even donate a prize (say a new leather strap) to the name we choose.[/b]

[b]Entries in by the weekend please.[/b]
[/quote]

The Smoothie

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[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1500480430' post='3338147']
Well, I haven't received a mountain of cash from Chris NOT to post this so - [url="https://youtu.be/940xdffwfYw"]a very brief sneak preview here[/url]
[/quote]

Wow, sounds brilliant!

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1500504226' post='3338383']
You could call it The Swift. It's your signature anyway and it's very sleek and streamlined
[/quote]

I really like that, it does look very sleek and swift

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Minim model

Artemis model
(playing on Micks username on here with a Greek reference, and a hint that's making it is a work of skill)

Model M
- for minimalist, for mick and most of all following the minimal nature of the bass

Bassy McBassface
- cos I made a few good suggestions so thought I would be the first to get this in there!

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[quote name='BassApprentice' timestamp='1500538161' post='3338488']
I'm not sure if you actually have an interest in Greek culture or it's just a username :lol:

but I came across this word: Psilos which means bare/smooth/uncovered in ancient Greek. Thought it would be quite fitting for the nature of the design and finish.
[/quote]
Hmmmm....there's sophisticated :)

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[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1500538514' post='3338493']

Bassy McBassface
- cos I made a few good suggestions so thought I would be the first to get this in there!
[/quote]
...whereas that is not at all sophisticated - but did make me laugh ;)

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