Extension by Robbie McIntosh...

BGreaney · #1 04-13-2006, 04:15 PM

So, I'm in search of some pics of an extension by Robbie McIntosh. My teacher has an extension done by him on his Panormo and as he describes it, "It has little leather fret thingies on each of the notes." I think it has a gate on the D and E, but I'm curious about the "leather fret thingies." If my conception of the design is right, does pushing the string against leather as opposed to the ebony have a substantial effect on the sound?

nicklloyd · #2 04-13-2006, 04:54 PM

Most levers I've come across have leather or similar material between the string and the lever. Robbie's work is top notch, btw.

BGreaney · #3 04-13-2006, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicklloyd

Most levers I've come across have leather or similar material between the string and the lever. Robbie's work is top notch, btw.

Yea that's what I have now, but my understanding is that the leather piece is retrofitted into or on top of the ebony, or it's somehow incorporated into the construction of it so that if you play a D w/ out the lever down, your finger would be pressing down on the leather rather than ebony... Do I have the wrong image in my head?

dragonetti11 · #4 04-13-2006, 05:25 PM

I have heard of that...but I have only heard of that on an E flipper.....I wonder how that would sound though...as compared to fingering on the ebony

Jeff Bollbach · #5 04-13-2006, 06:30 PM

Brian-
I talked to Robbie yesterday about that among other things and it is simpler than I thought. It is just a very thin strip of leather glued to the board in order to facilitate the 'feeling" of the intonation. Shouldn't affect the tone although I would worry about it buzzing at low action. Easy to do, and undo.

nicklloyd · #6 04-13-2006, 07:15 PM

oh... I'm seeing it now...

effect on sound? Eb, D, Db, C, B... I'm sure an elephant would notice the difference.

BGreaney · #7 04-13-2006, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Bollbach

Brian-
I talked to Robbie yesterday about that among other things and it is simpler than I thought. It is just a very thin strip of leather glued to the board in order to facilitate the 'feeling" of the intonation. Shouldn't affect the tone although I would worry about it buzzing at low action. Easy to do, and undo.

Ah, gotcha. Well, I don't know if you noticed, but my extension already sounds like a dying cricket, yet for some reason it just won't die already and stop making noise, so, I feel like anything done to it could possibly be an improvement. It's strange...I felt some sort of satisfaction knowing that the source of all my bass problems have originated on one shop, and I was comfortable with that. I'm not used to the idea of my bass working the way it's supposed to. Damn you Jeff and your ability to make my problems go away!

p.s.- I see you've met another one of my friends

dragonetti11 · #8 04-13-2006, 07:56 PM

what i meant was i wonder how fingering down onto a piece of leather would affect the sound....perhaps ....maybe it would be slightly muted? (as opposed to closing the string against the ebony

Jeff Bollbach · #9 04-13-2006, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BGreaney

Ah, gotcha. Well, I don't know if you noticed, but my extension already sounds like a dying cricket, yet for some reason it just won't die already and stop making noise, so, I feel like anything done to it could possibly be an improvement. It's strange...I felt some sort of satisfaction knowing that the source of all my bass problems have originated on one shop, and I was comfortable with that. I'm not used to the idea of my bass working the way it's supposed to. Damn you Jeff and your ability to make my problems go away!

p.s.- I see you've met another one of my friends

Yeah, thanks for the reference Brian. He's bringing in a Martin bass-looking forward to that, I like those basses.

EFischer1 · #10 04-13-2006, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Bollbach

Yeah, thanks for the reference Brian. He's bringing in a Martin bass-looking forward to that, I like those basses.

I hear that they have great tailpieces also.

They sure do have a monster low end.

peasandhoney · #11 04-14-2006, 04:09 PM

Peter Mach also puts leather frets on the board of his extentions, I installed one on a clients bass about 5 months ago. He loves it and the leather hasnt buzzed. Only thing I didnt like was that it came with a finish on it, I would have liked to have had it match the bass better...