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Aluminum Neck Club
- Thread starter oZZma
- Start date
New control scheme : Q filter on top, Tone knob on bottom, Two way pickup switch
Bill Lawrence bass Q filter. I tried wiring it up according to what people were saying here, but it didn’t work out completely as I thought?
If you go toward the bottom of the page you’ll find a post talking about using different cap & resistor values to change the effect. I tried using a 22K resistor and a .04 uF cap, but didn’t expect it to still sound so dramatic I guess? In any case it works and there’s a big range of tones that can be had, but I can’t turn it on completely or it gets the AM radio effect I was hoping to avoid. I don’t want to get back into it and fcuk around more, so it’s officially done and now I’m learning how to achieve a wide variety of sounds from it.
Already I can tell that the Q filter is cool, it’s acting like a passive bass/midrange cut vs the standard treble roll off tone, which I also have access to
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Group shot— gonna put the Aluminati’s Warmoth loaded body up for sale tomorrow. Hit me up if you’re interested.. pairs well with a metal neck for sure!
I just picked up a Travis Bean Designs TB2000 short scale bass. I love this thing! It’s tiny, just a hair over 39” from end to end, barely bigger than a guitar. This happens to be a prototype, serial number 00, modeled after Bill Wyman’s 70s TB short scales. This one was made in 2019. I’ve owned a few different short scale basses in recent years and this one is definitely my favorite. It’s the most lively sounding and ergonomically it feels the best. The body is exactly like the full scale TB2000, all the shortening was done at the neck. For a little one, it’s heavy at 11.5lbs.
Bill with his vintage Bean, the one this is modeled after.
Bill with his vintage Bean, the one this is modeled after.
Gorgeous bass!
How are you liking the tension with the shorter scale on an aluminum neck? Any noticeable differences compared to other traditional shorties you've played? I've got full aluminum short scale neck in the works that I've finally decided to invest in as I much prefer to play short scale nowadays.
I’d say the tension feels about the same as other short scales. I’ve got a Gretsch short scale now too, tension feels the same.
Congrats, I love that bass. I saw it the first time it was for sale and then again a few weeks ago when you must've bought it. I didn't have the coin either time to make an offer. As far as I know TB Designs only made one other one in Padauk with a clear gloss finish (SN 01). I did contact them to see if they'd make another. They said yes. It would take about a year and be $5395 plus shipping. I wanted another white one to match the history of the original and I like white basses. As of yet I haven't placed an order. I also wanted it to be a little sister to this one.
Yours looks killer!
Oh wow, luckily I didn’t have to pay near that much, it was 4k and basically brand new except the tiniest ding on its side at the waist. I think it must have even had its factory strings on because they were a bit uneven sounding, a fresh set made a huge difference. I had an EGC Series 1, aluminum neck with a wood body 34” that I sold to swing this. I thought for sure that was a keeper, but this was too special (and reasonably priced) to pass up. I’m with you on the white, it looks great. I love black ones too, I just don’t love all the fingerprints they show, lol. EGC/TBD makes some fantastic instruments, wait times can get a little crazy though. I was super stoked when this one popped up again.
I have a Baguley that I slapped on a moded up Fender Blacktop Pbass w/Lace Alumitone Humbuckers (set to do a coil tap). The neck feels great and def projects more so when just plucking around without an amp. Overall pretty happy with the look and feel. Now it does obviously add to some neck dive due to weight.
NOTE: I purchased the Dave Ellefson "recoil" sig strap by Gruv Wear since I wanted a nice padded and 3" wide strap. Great looking strap and comfortable but it didn't seem to hold up well to the 12.5lbs of bass it was attached to. I got a replacement super easy and decided to mod the old one (they didn't ask for it back) with some snap/rivet buttons to hold in place. That seems to have done the job nicely.
NOTE: I purchased the Dave Ellefson "recoil" sig strap by Gruv Wear since I wanted a nice padded and 3" wide strap. Great looking strap and comfortable but it didn't seem to hold up well to the 12.5lbs of bass it was attached to. I got a replacement super easy and decided to mod the old one (they didn't ask for it back) with some snap/rivet buttons to hold in place. That seems to have done the job nicely.
Nice! Gotta see some pics! Also, is your Baguley build 12.5 lbs? Or is that some other bass? My RGI bolt-on P comes in a lil under 10 lbs.
Wow, that looks just like the one Bill was holding on the cover of Guitar Player (late 70s sometime IIRC)...
** edit: just scrolled up to see the pic there
Is anyone making 5 string aluminum necks? I know Baguley will only do full custom 5 strings but don't see anyone else making 5ers.
Not sure if 5 string necks are a standard option anywhere, at the moment.
You could maybe hit up James @ Aluminati Guitars, he seems pretty open and eager to doing custom jobs (he’s making me a 3D printed carbon fiber Ripper body for my Aluminati neck!)
Not sure what the turnaround time would be for setting up the programming for a 5 string neck but honestly IMO having their carbon fiber board on one would make it super light! Also they’re the lightest AL necks on the market, I really dig my 4 string Andromeda!
Robot Graves also posted on IG, a while back, a custom 5 string aluminum bass neck that he was working on that was part of a project with Equilibrium Guitars. IIRC
