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Kiwi's Shuker Headless MIDI 6


Kiwi
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[quote name='eude' post='360728' date='Dec 22 2008, 09:53 AM']Don't suppose you clocked an all black Jazz Bass while you where there did you?...

Cheers,
Eude[/quote]
No I didn't mate, sorry. I only had 45mins there and couldn't really hang around. :)

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[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='360737' date='Dec 22 2008, 10:01 AM']No I didn't mate, sorry. I only had 45mins there and couldn't really hang around. :)[/quote]

No bother mate, just thought I'd ask.
I asked Jon for a finished photo, but it's getting delivered tomorrow morning, so no point bothering now.

Back on topic, your headless bass is making me GAS so damned hard for a headless 6er of my own, I think I might have to stop checking this thread till I can afford a deposit!...

Cheers,
Eude

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[quote name='eude' post='360740' date='Dec 22 2008, 10:05 AM']Back on topic, your headless bass is making me GAS so damned hard for a headless 6er of my own, I think I might have to stop checking this thread till I can afford a deposit!...

Cheers,
Eude[/quote]


*£&*&$£buy*$£*£(()" ^£^($headless($*")" "^$&$*Skuker^£($)$%*% "%)_$&£^"bass^£%"&$$



Someone say something?

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[quote name='dood' post='360743' date='Dec 22 2008, 10:10 AM']*£&*&$£buy*$£*£(()" ^£^($headless($*")" "^$&$*Skuker^£($)$%*% "%)_$&£^"bass^£%"&$$



Someone say something?[/quote]

Must.........
................Resist...............

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[quote name='Merton' post='360738' date='Dec 22 2008, 10:03 AM']Steve, what a gorgeous bass! Bet you're like a kid waiting for, er, Christmas :huh:[/quote]
Yeah! :) I have been for quite a while. The facing wood is filled with tiny pockets of resin which prevented the finish from drying. Jon said he's had to partially strip the bass three times because of the finish issues but he's going to get the finish "perfect" (his word). He ended up wiping the bass down with acetone to dissolve the resin and then filled in the pockets with superglue. Some of these 'pockets' are tiny, literally pin pricks! Then he put about three layers of barrier coat on top and refinished in some coats of poly. There are still some air bubbles in the finish that need sorting but its getting there. I saw how uneven the finish is after it goes on, there seems to be a hell of a lot of flatting that goes into the instrument to make the finish mirror smooth.

We did a gig in a chapel last night and I sat down with the Spector 6 and just jammed on some latin chordal+melody stuff after soundcheck so I could enjoy the acoustics. I hope to do a bit more of that with the Shuker bass in the future!

[quote name='eude' post='360740' date='Dec 22 2008, 10:05 AM']Back on topic, your headless bass is making me GAS so damned hard for a headless 6er of my own, I think I might have to stop checking this thread till I can afford a deposit!...[/quote]
Headless 6'ers make so much sense to me in terms of their design and ergonomics. The Shuker feels SO comfortable, it's almost too intimate. I hope it will sound ok! I suspect its going to be a little brighter than the Smiths but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

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[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='360767' date='Dec 22 2008, 10:41 AM']Absolutely lovely bass Steve, you have remarkable taste - can't wait to see this one finished :)[/quote]

Hey Homer! How's things? been a long while chap!

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[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='360767' date='Dec 22 2008, 10:41 AM']Absolutely lovely bass Steve, you have remarkable taste - can't wait to see this one finished :)[/quote]
Wow, thanks Al, I'm flattered! :huh: I never imagined the birdseye curly redwood might look so good when I bought it off Ebay 3 years ago. With the masking tape removed off the fingerboard, I imagine it might be a bit of a birdseye fest! :huh:

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[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='360785' date='Dec 22 2008, 10:58 AM']Hello mate - it has been a while hasn't it :) Trust you and the Doodle are doin' fine.[/quote]

Certainly has.. great to see you back! - Yup, me and the kid are doin' just fine!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Update: Spoke to Jon today. The finishing is complete, the hardware, pickups and preamps have been installed. He just needs to sort the backplates out and give the bass a set up. Reckons the bass might be ready to pickup in a couple of weeks...maybe.

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  • 3 weeks later...

[quote name='peted' post='405283' date='Feb 10 2009, 12:50 PM']Has this bass surfaced yet? Can't wait to see some photos of the finished product, some sound clips would be great too.[/quote]
Jon sent me an email last night asking me for opinions on the control layout. There's something like 4 switches (three for MIDI control, one for the piezo) and 5 or 6 knobs. Some of what he had sketched wasn't clear so I'm waiting for him to come back to me before I make a decision. Its the last thing that needs doing, apparently.

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Well as you know, I'm a big fan of controls that follow the edge of the body... so how's this?
[attachment=20039:kiwi6.jpg]
The cyrillic characters are supposed to be switches... they're the closest things I could find in Word... ;)

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[quote name='Rich' post='405365' date='Feb 10 2009, 02:19 PM']Well as you know, I'm a big fan of controls that follow the edge of the body... so how's this?
[attachment=20039:kiwi6.jpg]
The cyrillic characters are supposed to be switches... they're the closest things I could find in Word... ;)[/quote]
Thats not too far off one of Jon's suggestions too. But I sent him this tonight:

[attachment=20073:Shuker_b...controls.jpg]

I was going for something logical (believe it or not). There's also a MIDI volume control that might be useful too. I anticipate many of my patches will be normal bass under another instrument pitched an octave higher. BTW, "acoustic" refers to the piezo and the acoustic volume can be pulled for bright/dark voicings.

[attachment=20081:alternat...l_layout.jpg]

EDIT: I've done another that includes the MIDI volume but combines the LED on/off with the master volume.

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From a personal perspective I'm not at all keen on basses which have too many controls on them. I suppose that having quite a few controls is unavoidable which you've got magnetic, piezo, and midi pickups in a single bass. My vote would go for trying to consolidate or 'hide' as many of them as possible. I'm sure it'll still be a cracking bass, i'll just have to ignore the abundance of knobs ;)

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[quote name='Rich' post='405365' date='Feb 10 2009, 02:19 PM']Well as you know, I'm a big fan of controls that follow the edge of the body... so how's this?
[attachment=20039:kiwi6.jpg]
The cyrillic characters are supposed to be switches... they're the closest things I could find in Word... ;)[/quote]


I'm with Rich, I also love the controls following the curve of the bass. I like having the switches away from the playing deck.. Simply because I always hit them by mistake. It was bad enough having a pan control next to the volume for me!!! 'Doodle' and new baby Doodle (sorry, 'Sally' I believe, eh Rich lol) follow the same design. Steve, I like your second idea and your logical approach makes sense.

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Fair points guys, I'd prefer a simply layout as well. I guess the thing I'm a little conscious of is not being able to remember whether the piezo volume is third or fourth knob along and stuff like that.

Ideally what I wanted was a layout based on the design principles of the Yammie TRB and Fodera layouts where difference control knob sizes are used to imply function.
[list]For example:
[*]Large control knobs - master volume (+LED) and pan
[*]Small control knobs - eq
[*]Isolated cluster near MIDI socket - MIDI switches and volume
[*]Isolated cluster near bridge - piezo volume+voicing and on/off switch
[/list]
Unfortunately the bass isn't big enough to provide all the space necessary to make these clusters distinct. But I could use three control knob sizes, with an extra small control knob for the piezo and MIDI volume.

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[quote name='Stylon Pilson' post='406017' date='Feb 11 2009, 09:42 AM']Maybe you could get a little groove routed into the top that could form a boundary round the clusters of related controls. If it was only a fraction of a millimetre deep, it wouldn't be visible from the front, but from the player's perspective it would be just right.[/quote]
That would be like relying on signage to help people get around a shopping mall rather than using logical organisation of shops, don't you think? ;)

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