Number one on the left, number two on the right. All I have is Birdsong!
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Just for fun... if your #1 is a Birdsong, what's your #2? If your #2 is a Birdsong, what's your #1?
I don't play out, mostly play on my own and jam with a guitar-playing friend once a week. So my needs are whatever I feel like playing
These days, likely 90% of the time I play a 2010 Birdsong Skyrider. Love it! My #2 is a Fender Road Worn Flea signature. I know, I know very different instruments. But the Flea signature is so different from the Skyrider that is a pleasure to play that 10% of the time that I'm away from the Skyrider.
What's your #1 and #2?
My #1 is my newest Birdsong ("Reno"). Mesquite w/walnut stripes Fusion body, Cbass pickup.
My #2 (#1 2015-2020) is "Rusty", my fretless mesquite Fusion Body/Delano pickup and a rosewood fingerboard.
My #3 is "Richard the Test Bass", the Birdsong R&D bass that Scott used for testing new ideas in the early days. Poplar Cortobass body, routes for four different pickups, but only the Lace neck pickup installed. Wires exposed, note to me in Sharpie on the back. Plays great, sounds great, looks like...an attention getter. I judge people based on their reaction to Richard - if they don't "get him", then I dismiss their opinions.
(Richard was #2 overall and #1 when I needed a fretted bass from October 2014-September 2020)
#4 and #5 are my first two Birdsongs. The Fusion Prototype (F06-001P) and a walnut/ebony/purpleheart fretless (fusion body, cortobass pickups, no tone knob) that was my #1 from early 2007 until early 2015. That fretless would be #3 if not for the need for fingerboard care. I played the hell out of that thing for 8 years and now it buzzes pretty noticeably on some important notes.
"Richard" was named LONG before I came into possession of him. I asked Scott to name Rusty and Reno. He went with the "R" theme, but there were other factors in the choices.
I love this Richard already! Now I realize that we also need pictures.
My #1 is my newest Birdsong ("Reno"). Mesquite w/walnut stripes Fusion body, Cbass pickup.
My #2 (#1 2015-2020) is "Rusty", my fretless mesquite Fusion Body/Delano pickup and a rosewood fingerboard.
My #3 is "Richard the Test Bass", the Birdsong R&D bass that Scott used for testing new ideas in the early days. Poplar Cortobass body, routes for four different pickups, but only the Lace neck pickup installed. Wires exposed, note to me in Sharpie on the back. Plays great, sounds great, looks like...an attention getter. I judge people based on their reaction to Richard - if they don't "get him", then I dismiss their opinions.
(Richard was #2 overall and #1 when I needed a fretted bass from October 2014-September 2020)
#4 and #5 are my first two Birdsongs. The Fusion Prototype (F06-001P) and a walnut/ebony/purpleheart fretless (fusion body, cortobass pickups, no tone knob) that was my #1 from early 2007 until early 2015. That fretless would be #3 if not for the need for fingerboard care. I played the hell out of that thing for 8 years and now it buzzes pretty noticeably on some important notes.
"Richard" was named LONG before I came into possession of him. I asked Scott to name Rusty and Reno. He went with the "R" theme, but there were other factors in the choices.
Here are pics of the Cortofusion Prototype (before Scott changed the name to just "Fusion") and 7C-077x (the walnut/purpleheart/ebony fretless). The fusion pic is from the first week I owned it (August 2006), and the fretless pic is from when I flew out to Texas to pick up the bass and meet Scott and Jamie in person (Spring 2007).
"Rusty" and "Reno" (#2 and #1 respectively)
The fusion prototype fights me sonically - for some reason, I have a much easier time sounding right/playing right for "other people's stuff" with Richard. The fusion proto was perfect for what I was doing when I got it but less so as time went on.
The 1-knob fretless was the product of "8 years of living with the first two basses and figuring out what was really important to me." Give me one pickup/one knob - if I want a different sound, I have to play different.
By the time I hit 2019, "other people's stuff" was happening more often. That's when the cbass config became the logical step. Scott insisted on including the tone knob. He was 100% correct.
The 1-knob fretless was the product of "8 years of living with the first two basses and figuring out what was really important to me." Give me one pickup/one knob - if I want a different sound, I have to play different.
By the time I hit 2019, "other people's stuff" was happening more often. That's when the cbass config became the logical step. Scott insisted on including the tone knob. He was 100% correct.
If you're not really using the fusion proto, please call me
There are days when I might take you up on that. Without it, none of the rest of the basses would have happened, so there is that factor - and it also has my name on a brass plate fastened to the back. It's the first one I'd let go of, but that doesn't mean I will.
What's with the "mystery wood"? I love Bloodwood, looking forward to seeing this one come together.
This is my six string Bliss, Scott says it's the next one to be cut out, can't wait to see it!
These stripes are crazy. Love it.
What's with the "mystery wood"? I love Bloodwood, looking forward to seeing this one come together.
This is my six string Bliss, Scott says it's the next one to be cut out, can't wait to see it!
View attachment 4192451
When we were talking about what I wanted, I basically told Scott I THOUGHT I knew what wood I wanted for my Cortobass, till he told me his idea for walnut, sycamore, and ebony. So this time, I said I really don't know, but I do like purpleheart and bloodwood, so there ya go. He said he had some "cool roasted wood" he had had for years but never had a project for it. I said if he thought it looked cool, I was in. He told me some things he would do with it with blood wood and I was sold. I asked him what kinda wood it was, he said not sure, but it is on the light side weight-wise... (I suspect he may figure out what it is when he starts working on it). Aside from the # of pickups and stuff, I am trying not to get in the way. I feel like I am commissioning a piece of art... I would not tell Michelangelo how to paint a picture for me...
What's with the "mystery wood"? I love Bloodwood, looking forward to seeing this one come together.
This is my six string Bliss, Scott says it's the next one to be cut out, can't wait to see it!
View attachment 4192451
That's exactly how I approach most of my builds....I tell him basics, but usually let him do his thing. It always works out better that way, he always kills it.
String question...
I generally use La Bella 760F-MUS on my Birdsong. This set is 43-104. Lately I have been curious about tapewounds and would like to try a set.
Sticking with La Bella, the medium scale length set that would be useful for string thru-body is the 760N-M 60-115 set.
Any ideas if this 60-115 set would require the stock Birdsong nut to be re-cut? Thanks.
I generally use La Bella 760F-MUS on my Birdsong. This set is 43-104. Lately I have been curious about tapewounds and would like to try a set.
Sticking with La Bella, the medium scale length set that would be useful for string thru-body is the 760N-M 60-115 set.
Any ideas if this 60-115 set would require the stock Birdsong nut to be re-cut? Thanks.
I use 50-110 all the time on most of my Birdsongs and have no issues, I would think you could probably get away with these.
What's everyone playing their Birdsong through?
I have a Mesa Subway D-800 and a Barefaced Super Compact (1x12).
Not using the SC too much out of respect to neighbors in my apartment building, but I run a drum machine pedal through the Mesa and throw some headphones on and man does that Birdsong sound good!
I have a Mesa Subway D-800 and a Barefaced Super Compact (1x12).
Not using the SC too much out of respect to neighbors in my apartment building, but I run a drum machine pedal through the Mesa and throw some headphones on and man does that Birdsong sound good!
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