love of Ampeg and other Scroll Basses

[saltymonkey]

Originally Posted by TRichardsbass

Oh, and I stupidly sold an SSB....

Me too, my only true case of seller's remorse. It's now JumboD's, #005. I've kicked myself a lot over that one. Luckily AMB-2 #006 will be mine then I'll start thinking about another SSB, maybe fretless. There was a white fretless SSB for sale last year that was haunting me for a while. Thanks for the pics and history Bruce.

[jumbodbassman]

That SSB is a sweetie. Sounds huge and plays great too. no little toy 30" feel at all.


Bruce I like the black alot. All my other scrolls are more standard red black burst so this one will have a more modern rock look.

[Bruce Johnson]

My SSB's are available any time, without too much of a wait. I just booked an order for SSB #010, a fretless one, from the owner of SSB #006, which is fretted. The white fretless one is #008, and it's now owned by the same guy who has #007. He loves them both and plays #007 as his main bass most of the time. But, he's going to be taking delivery of AMB-2 #002 in about a week. My customers are few, but they keep coming back for more!

The SSB works fine as a fretless. I played around with #008 for a while before it was sold, taking it to some sessions with my bluegrass/cowboy music band. I liked it and may eventually build a fretless one to keep for myself. We put medium gauge D'Addario Chromes on it.

Speaking of strings, AMB-2 #003 is the first fretless one, and the customer has asked for it with black tapewounds installed. I couldn't get D'Addarios in the right length (Super Long Scale), so I got a set of Rotosound RS88EL's. That should be interesting. I don't have much experience with tapewounds, and I don't really know what they will sound like on one of my basses. From what I'm told, the tapewounds are actually brighter than typical flatwounds. They may be an interesting alternative to the Chromes. If I like the Rotosounds, I may try to get D'Addarios or LaBellas.

By the way, I've been buying my strings from Jason at BassStringsOnline these days. He's right nearby me, and he even dropped off the tapewounds in person at my shop a few days ago. A sharp, knowledgeable guy, and he's got a good business going.

[nouroog]

Originally Posted by Bruce Johnson

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.

Great plan! I was hoping for something like that. You certainly already have a lot of scattered material with your website and all the detailed posts you write on this forum.
I don't see the fourth part as optionnal. I think most of the people interested in this book would want that part included.
I hope you can get a lot of pictures included without making it too expensive to print.
That's a book I'll buy for sure!

[bluesblaster]

put me down for a copy or two

[glennonbass]

Hi Bruce,

Any chance that you can post pix of my bass? Would love to see it, if at all possible, and not too much trouble.

[Bruce Johnson]

Hello Glenn;

Here's the neck and body of yours, #003. It's the first fretless AMB-2 I've built, officially called an AMUB-2 to stay with Ampeg's designations.

The neck is the same as the fretted AMB-2, except for around the nut area. The AMB-2 has a zero fret and the ebony fingerboard extends about 3/8" beyond the zero fret, to meet up with the aluminum nut.

On the fretless AMUB-2, the fingerboard stops right at the "zero" line, and there is a separate ebony "zero block" that fills the space between the fingerboard and the nut. The zero block is trimmed on a bevel and the edge is left about 0.010" higher than the surface of the fingerboard. It performs the same function as a zero fret, but it's made of ebony to ensure that the open notes have the same tone as the fingered notes. The zero block and nut aren't installed on #003's neck yet. They are fitted after painting, during final assembly.

As you can see, Glenn ordered #003 with the partial white lines option. They are made from 0.020" white styrene, glued into little hand sawn slots. With the white lines, the side marker dots go in the same positions as they would be on a fretted neck; that is, between the "frets". On an AMUB-2 with a plain ebony fingerboard, the side dots would go right at the fret positions, with a triple dot at the 12th.

#003's neck as shown is all done except for a bit of final sanding on the headstock, and gluing in the scroll insert pieces. I should be painting it in the next two days, along with the other three necks. The neck painting goes quicker than the bodies; only about 8 coats total.

The body is identical to the others. It's all painted and just needs final wet sanding and buffing out. Each body and neck is serial numbered and fitted together. I align the neck on the body with a long aluminum gauge and lock the two together with a pair of steel dowel pins, in addition to the four neck bolts. The neck can be removed whenever needed, but it will always come back into line when reinstalled.

[glennonbass]

Thanks Bruce! I'm getting very excited to get my hands on this bass. Looks beautiful. Appreciate you posting the pics so quickly. It will be cool to get the first fretless in this series. Hope to hear from you soon, regarding shipment. Take care.

[jumbodbassman]

all black or scary like 004?

[Bruce Johnson]

Of this batch, #002, #003 & #004 are all black/red Scary. Only #001 (mine!) is in the classic red/black sunburst. I made it that way, because it will be my demonstrator, which will get shown to many potential customers over the coming years. If I eventually make myself a fretless AMUB-2 to keep, I'll probably make it Scary.

[Pickersditch]

Hi again Y'all.

I'm being a lazy git I'm afraid - this question has probably been aired already but I can't be arsed to read through 20 pages of posts.....

Has anybody tried good old double bass strings on an AEB?
Do they make it sound more like a double bass?

[faivy]

Video of Jerry Lee Lewis on the Johnny Cash Show with a devil bass!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQMjBrsu_mY

[Bruce Johnson]

Originally Posted by faivy

Video of Jerry Lee Lewis on the Johnny Cash Show with a devil bass!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQMjBrsu_mY

Hey, that's an interesting one I hadn't seen before! Does anyone know who that bassist is? We don't get a good look at the Devil Bass, but it looks like it's been painted light blue? You can hear it fairly well too.

[Bruce Johnson]

Originally Posted by Pickersditch

Hi again Y'all.

I'm being a lazy git I'm afraid - this question has probably been aired already but I can't be arsed to read through 20 pages of posts.....

Has anybody tried good old double bass strings on an AEB?
Do they make it sound more like a double bass?

Pickersditch;

Theoretically, any kind of strings will work with an AEB's mystery pickup. I've never tried any kind of gut or rope core strings on one myself. I suspect that actual double bass strings, the metal wrapped ones, would be a problem fitting on to an AEB. Thomastik Spirocores, like the Salsa guys use on Baby Basses might be a possibility. Or maybe some cello strings. You'd have to figure out some gauge that would have reasonable tension at the 34" scale length.

In general, putting on strings that are more rubbery (flexible) and plucking them hard, will make any bass sound more upright-like. Unfortunately, there just isn't much choice in strings to fit an AEB-1. A long time back, I had some custom Thomastik electric bass flatwounds that fit. I never tried them on an AEB-1, but they gave my AEB-2's a more rubbery sound. Kind of cool, but they were too sloppy feeling for my taste. So I settled on the stiffer flatwounds, LaBellas and D'Addarios to stock for the vintage Ampegs and my AEB-2's.

[jumbodbassman]

Originally Posted by glennonbass

Thanks Bruce! I'm getting very excited to get my hands on this bass. Looks beautiful. Appreciate you posting the pics so quickly. It will be cool to get the first fretless in this series. Hope to hear from you soon, regarding shipment. Take care.

Glenn great call on the partial lines. Since seeing it on a bass i have loved the concept. once i get AMB2 #004 i have a plan to send AEB-4 #0070 back for a new fretboard with that partial line.

couple of Bruce's beauties. #70 and SSB #005

[Bruce Johnson]

I suspect that I'll eventually end up converting most of the remaining Series IV AEB-2's into fretless AUB-2's. The Series IV model just works best as a fretless. I still love #060, although I haven't been playing it as much these days in my bands.

By the way, Nouroog is the proud new owner of AEB-2 #074, the Scary fretted one that I've posted pictures of previously. It's on its way to New York right now to meet up with a friend of his, who will then be transporting it back to Paris. Nouroog will be the only Series IV owner on the European continent! Congrats! You'll be the envy of all local bassists.

[nouroog]

Originally Posted by Bruce Johnson

I suspect that I'll eventually end up converting most of the remaining Series IV AEB-2's into fretless AUB-2's. The Series IV model just works best as a fretless. I still love #060, although I haven't been playing it as much these days in my bands.

By the way, Nouroog is the proud new owner of AEB-2 #074, the Scary fretted one that I've posted pictures of previously. It's on its way to New York right now to meet up with a friend of his, who will then be transporting it back to Paris. Nouroog will be the only Series IV owner on the European continent! Congrats! You'll be the envy of all local bassists.

Thank you very much, Bruce! I am thrilled more that I can say about being soon lucky enough to own and play #074, and very proud to be introducing the series IV to the old continent
My friend Laurent David, who is a very talented bass player, should be receiving the bass tomorrow in New York, hopefully playing it around on a few dates, showing it to the people from D'Addario, and bringing it to me by the 25th.
I'll be posting pictures as soon as I can, but all of you have already seen the bass some posts earlier, and you know it's a beauty, in its scary finish.
I know it'll catch eyes and ears at every concert, and make a perfect match with my vintage Ampeg amps.
I'm now savoring the wait, before enjoying the feel and sound.

[nouroog]

Hey, not much of interest, but I just saw it's been a year yesterday since jumbo opened this thread. Happy birthday, love-of-Ampeg-and-other-Scroll-Basses club

[jumbodbassman]

We are a small but clearly dedicated (crazy?) bunch aren't we. The rest don't know what they are missing...

[Bass 45]

Originally Posted by nouroog

Hey, not much of interest, but I just saw it's been a year yesterday since jumbo opened this thread. Happy birthday, love-of-Ampeg-and-other-Scroll-Basses club

And by no small coincidence I became an active member of TB three days later