love of Ampeg and other Scroll Basses

[RobJ]

Originally Posted by Giorgetto

FYI:Two live in the studio videos from 1970, a '67 AMB-1 through an Ampeg amp. Sorry I don't have the link but you can find them on YouTube

YouTube- Steppenwolf Screaming Night Hog (GTK).
YouTube- Steppenwolf Snowblind Friend (GTK).
Also, You Tube Steppenwolf Midnight Special.

Hope that helps,

Giorgetto

My fav version of Steppenwolf. I downloaded those vids sometime ago, definitely a treat to watch and hear. I wish there was a video available of a tv special that was done back then. As I recall most if not all of "7" was performed, and of course the AMB-1 got a lot of air time.

[Bass 45]

I finally took a couple of snapshots of my latest additions.

Here is Bruce's #21 which I purchased from the estate of Howie Epstein.

[RobJ]

Beautiful!

[Bass 45]

and here is #12

[RobJ]

One of these days I'm joining the club....

I'm not much of a GAS guy but a Scroll is at the top of my very short list.

[Bass 45]

Originally Posted by RobJ

One of these days I'm joining the club....

I'm not much of a GAS guy but a Scroll is at the top of my very short list.

With any luck you will be able to stop at one

[RobJ]

Yeah well the Finance Minister needn't know about that risk.

[Bass 45]

I now own 3 of Bruce's early models (#'s 5, 12 & 21). All of them are made with different tonewoods (#5 is ash).

Even though I have them all together, I cannot comment on Bruce's findings on the varying tonal response from the different woods - as they currently all have different pickup systems in them (all as installed/constructed by Bruce).

All three of them do have there own character for sure and I can get great tone out of any of them through my B15R or my SVT-2 (or my B18N for that matter).

[RobJ]

Very nice collection. Congrats.

[Bass 45]

Thank you - I consider myself very lucky.

[Bruce Johnson]

Wow, those are nice pictures! The orangish light on the wood floor makes them look great. The only pictures I have of #012 and #021 were taken against a light colored background and they look much more bland. Those were my early days of learning how to finish basses, and they're not real pretty. It took me about 10 years to learn how to paint Scroll Basses, honestly.

The pickup systems on my Scroll Basses can be confusing, because I went through some changes and upgrades. Here's the basic chart:

Series I (Serial numbers #001-#023): These had the Rick Turner pickups and system. They initially had an active pre-amp (Rick's own design), piezos in the bridge, and Rick's own rectangular magnetic pickup. We only built six of the full active systems before removing them. All of the Series I models were converted into a passive system, using only the Turner magnetic pickup. About half of the Series I's eventually got upgraded to the Series II pickup configuration.

Series II (#024-#037): These have a single pickup, which uses Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder P-Bass coils mounted in a shaped ebony housing. They have a passive harness with Volume, Tone, and a 3-position rotary selector switch. The switch selects two different tone capacitor ranges and a direct bypass mode.

Series III (#038-#059): These have two pickups; two sets of Duncan Quarter Pounders in rectangular epoxy housings. There are Volume, Tone and Blend controls, plus three output jacks.

Series IV (#060-#075): This is where I started making my own unique pickups. These have the four-coil M-pickup in the body, and the special mechanical percussive pickup under the bridge.

Anyway, Bass 45's three shown above were all originally Series I models. #021 is still a Series I, with the Turner pickup and the passive harness. #005 and #012 were both converted to the Series II configuration, using the Duncan QP coils. #005 is the normal Series II pickup installation, with the QP coils mounted in the carved ebony housing.

#012, however, is a one-off; its conversion was done later than #005. I had given up on the carved ebony housings, due to problems with them cracking. So, I developed a technique for casting the QP coils in black epoxy with an ebony top cap, instead. More compact and reliable. One QP coil set became two black rectangular bars. The Series III models would get two of these sets/four bars. But the first experimental set of these, just one QP coil set, went into the conversion of #012.

To recap:
#021 is a Series I
#005 was a Series I, but was upgraded to a Series II
#012 was a Series I, but was upgraded to a Series II, using one set of Series III pickups

So, #012 and #005 have the same exact pickup system, but mounted in different housings. #021 will sound different. Its pickup has less output, less bottom end, and less dynamics.

Confused? So am I.

All three of these basses got replacement bodies. I told you about the experimental mahogany bodies on #012 and #021 above. There's more to that story. After building the first two prototypes, #001 and #002, with solid ash bodies, I decided to build #003, #004 & #005 with soft maple bodies. I guess I was thinking that I wanted to brighten them up, or something. It didn't work. They were too bright, lost some bottom end, and were too heavy.

So, I set those three aside, and completed #006, #007, #008 & #009 with solid ash bodies, like #001 & #002. Those are the four that went to Ampeg, and were shown in the 1998 Classic Basses brochure. Then I rushed into construction of a batch of 12 Scroll Basses at once, #010-#022, with the intention that they were all going to go to Ampeg. Ampeg wanted them, as fast as I build them. They were all Series I's with solid ash bodies. The woodworking was all done when disaster struck. I subcontracted the painting to a friend of mine, and they got all screwed up. They were done in nitro lacquer, and the paint on many of them started peeling and discoloring.....A long story in itself. Only two of those ten were completed in the nitro lacquer finish and remain that way today, #013 and #019 (which I kept). The other necks all got stripped, and most of the other bodies were too far gone. It was less work to build new bodies than to strip and refinish the originals.

The whole deal with Ampeg slammed to a halt at that point. I had about a dozen halfway finished Scroll Basses and enormous painting problems. Since I had to replace the bodies on most of these instruments anyway, I decided to experiment with different woods and see what worked best for the sound I wanted these basses to have. #010 ended up with a Koa body, #012 got Honduras mahogany, #021 got Phillipine mahogany. They were chosen because the necks were in the cleanest condition, and would look best in a "natural" clear finish. The others got ash bodies with various types and amounts of internal chambering. The chambered ash bodies won out, clearly. Once I locked down the design, I continued on with #023 and beyond as what I now call the Series II models. I started painting them myself, with automotive polyurethane.

Eventually I finished up the leftovers of that dozen with new chambered ash bodies and new paint, and sold them off myself. Of the three maple-bodied ones, only #003 is still maple. It was sold, and the original owner still has it and loves it. I converted #004 and #005 to new ash bodies and the Series II pickups. The original owner of #010, the Koa bodied one, still has it last I knew.

That's the story of the alternate wood-bodied Scroll Basses.

I try to keep in touch with the owners of my Scroll Basses, although I've lost touch with a few of them. I still own #001, #002, #019, #025, #038, #048 & #060. I played a gig with #019 recently, and it's still a fun bass.

[nouroog]

Congrats Bass45! and thanks for the pictures, those three basses together make a really beautiful family reunion.
There's something so appealing to the shapes and lines of those instruments, that adds up when you put them side by side, with the various wood colors and grain. Well I guess I'm just a scroll head.
Bruce, I hope you find the time someday to make a portfolio showing every scroll bass you built, with the story for each one, like you did for some of them
http://www.xstrange.com/Gallery/AUB067.html
http://www.xstrange.com/Gallery/AEB068.html
http://www.xstrange.com/Gallery/AUB069.html

That would make a great book, something like "Scroll basses, the story within the wood".

[TRichardsbass]

Bruce are you going to be at NAMM? If so I would love to meet you in person. That way I can say I know the designer/inventor of the scroll bass (Dennis Kager) and the innovator of the Scroll Bass (you).

[TRichardsbass]

Oh, and I stupidly sold an SSB a decade ago....

[Bruce Johnson]

Originally Posted by TRichardsbass

Bruce are you going to be at NAMM? If so I would love to meet you in person. That way I can say I know the designer/inventor of the scroll bass (Dennis Kager) and the innovator of the Scroll Bass (you).

Hello Tom;

No, I don't exhibit at NAMM. No need for it. I only sell direct to customers, not to dealers.

But, you're welcome to come visit my shop in Burbank if you are in town. I'm not that far away. I'm always here; evenings, nights, and weekends.

[Bruce Johnson]

Originally Posted by nouroog

Congrats Bass45! and thanks for the pictures, those three basses together make a really beautiful family reunion.
There's something so appealing to the shapes and lines of those instruments, that adds up when you put them side by side, with the various wood colors and grain. Well I guess I'm just a scroll head.
Bruce, I hope you find the time someday to make a portfolio showing every scroll bass you built, with the story for each one, like you did for some of them
http://www.xstrange.com/Gallery/AUB067.html
http://www.xstrange.com/Gallery/AEB068.html
http://www.xstrange.com/Gallery/AUB069.html

That would make a great book, something like "Scroll basses, the story within the wood".

I've been planning to eventually write a book about Scroll Basses. I've been gathering material for years, and most of the writing that I do on forums and on my own web site are practice and test samples.

The way I've organized it in my mind right now, the book will be three parts:
The history of the Ampeg Scroll Basses.
The history of my Scroll Basses.
Building Scroll Basses: A step by step tour of how I build my Scroll Basses.
Optional fourth part: A step by step tour of how I restore an original Ampeg.

I plan to completely write and publish it myself, not through some book company. I'll sell it directly through my web site, Amazon, and maybe Stew-Mac. It will be 100-200 pages, spiral bound, and priced under $20. That's the plan.

[jumbodbassman]

Originally Posted by Bass 45

I now own 3 of Bruce's early models (#'s 5, 12 & 21). All of them are made with different tonewoods (#5 is ash).

Even though I have them all together, I cannot comment on Bruce's findings on the varying tonal response from the different woods - as they currently all have different pickup systems in them (all as installed/constructed by Bruce).

All three of them do have there own character for sure and I can get great tone out of any of them through my B15R or my SVT-2 (or my B18N for that matter).

Bruce what is the 3 knobs for. do the earlier models have "mystery" pickup also. didn't think they did. eEDIT -- never mind....

PS - love the idea of the book. count me in...

[jumbodbassman]

Originally Posted by nouroog

Congrats Bass45! and thanks for the pictures, those three basses together make a really beautiful family reunion.
There's something so appealing to the shapes and lines of those instruments, that adds up when you put them side by side, with the various wood colors and grain. Well I guess I'm just a scroll head.
Bruce, I hope you find the time someday to make a portfolio showing every scroll bass you built, with the story for each one, like you did for some of them
http://www.xstrange.com/Gallery/AUB067.html
http://www.xstrange.com/Gallery/AEB068.html
http://www.xstrange.com/Gallery/AUB069.html

That would make a great book, something like "Scroll basses, the story within the wood".

Bruce no page for #070. I am somewhat partial to that one. :-)

[Bruce Johnson]

As promised, here are a couple of shots of AMB-2 #004, which is JumboD's, as it is (finally!) nearing completion.

Here is the body, fully painted and ready for the final wet sanding and buffing. It looks kind of bland here, with the masking cards covering up the red inside the F-holes. An aluminum masking plate is covering up the whole pickup and control cavity.

It's got 18 coats of paint total. It starts out with 8 coats of EM1000 base sealer, with dry sanding twice, to get it all sealed and leveled. Then the color coats, which are four coats of EM1000 with black pigment. That's topped with six coats of EM6000 clear, with dry sanding after three coats.

The paint system I use is Target's EM series water-based polyurethane lacquer. It's really nice stuff. It dries very clear and thin, and looks almost exactly like nitro lacquer. But without the solvents and fire hazard! It's much tougher than nitro lacquer, too. The overall result is a thin vintage-looking finish, not the thick candy-gloss polyester that is common on most modern production instruments.

[Bruce Johnson]

Here is AMB-2 #004's neck. I just finished the final smoothing of the back last night. All that's left is the final detail sanding of the headstock and gluing in the scroll inserts.

The neck is made from five pieces of hard maple. All were cut and stored here in my shop for about a year before using. The three strips of the main shank are all cut from the same board, and arranged so the the center strip is vertical grain. The two outer strips are rotated to opposing 45 degree angles. That's the most stable neck construction I know of. I've been doing that on my Scroll Basses for about 10 years, and have never had any neck stability problems. Only a few of my basses have ever required any truss rod adjustment after they've reached their new home climate. I remember that #068 needed a small adjustment, after being shipped from California to Michigan in the winter!

The maple blocks that make up the headstock are also cut from the same board, and bookmatched to be opposing grain.

You may notice the two round dots on the bottom sides of #004's headstock. For some reason, the center seam of #004's headstock block showed a tiny bit of separation at the bottom. I'm not sure if it was some wood movement or a problem with the fit. But, I wasn't going to take any chances. So, I put in two carbon fiber cross pins, similar to the way I reinforce vintage Ampegs during restoration. And I cleaned and refilled the seam, which is why it looks darker. It's been stable since then, and will be hidden under the black paint.

The fingerboard is Macassar ebony, from LMI, and the frets are stainless wire from Jescar.

The pearl dots are actually synthetic. I make them myself from material from MaseCraft. I cut them with a special core drill, pre-cast them in epoxy in molds, and then set them into the fingerboard. Genuine pearl dots are becoming a legal hassle under the current import/export laws, so most of us Luthiers are switching to the synthetic dots. I find that they are actually better looking. They are a more transparent mix, so the glittering swirls have more depth.

The truss rod is my own double acting, single rod design, cast in place in the neck. No air gaps, no tape to keep it from rattling, or any of that silliness.

The heel end has brass bars inset from the top, with 10-32 threads for the neck bolts.

The overall neck profile is thinner and more modern feeling than an original Ampeg neck. JumboD, it's nearly identical in dimensions to your SSB #005. On request, I can leave the neck thicker and rounder, for customers who specifically want the original shape and feel.