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Birdsong visit

#21
^ That's funny. I'm a hand surgeon by day, aspiring bassist by night. You can imagine what was going through my mind that day. :eek: I don't know which was more fearful, the prospect of putting a finger through the saw, or the equally disgusting idea of ruining my bass body. Thankfully "none of the above" happened. :hyper:
 
#23
jbossolo said:
"Mr", thanks. This bass will be a keeper, for sure. Glad you like it. Finish will be a light oil, I want the wood to be "raw", very natural. I think it will age well.

"Bassman", it does have a truss rod in there. Show some pics of the Curlee once you get it. Those are awesome axes.
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I'm not buying a new one, I have one from the mid-'70s, before they (as in, Denny Rauen, who became production manager but moved here in the early '80s to open a shop) fixed the problems with the truss rod for instruments made after that point. The truss rod nut doesn't stay in position and slides away from the curve of the back of the fretboard, removing the effects of the truss rod. It has a single DiMarzio pickup with a series/parallel switch and in series, the output is so hot that it overdrives any preamp.

The new model Randy is holding shows the upper horn with more space for the fretting hand than the old ones, like mine. I have big hands and it's a bit tight, especially with the strap button right there. I refinished mine and am debating what to do about the neck- the one I have could be repaired, but it would be prohibitively expensive. I could send my bass to Birdsong and have them make a new neck, but it would cost about $600. I'm also trying to figure out if I want to try making a new neck. I'm going to practice with my spoke shave and see if I can shape a piece of scrap Maple close to a desired profile. If I can do it well enough, I think I'll just do that- if it doesn't turn out, maybe I'll have them make one after I make my second million dollars (I gave up on the first one a long time ago). I think I would buy a HipShot bridge from them, though. They order them with string spacing that's specific to the Curlee basses, unlike the BadAss that's on mine and it's not a good fit. I'm also thinking of using the Hot Rod truss rod from HipShot.
 
#24
jbossolo said:
^ That's funny. I'm a hand surgeon by day, aspiring bassist by night. You can imagine what was going through my mind that day. :eek: I don't know which was more fearful, the prospect of putting a finger through the saw, or the equally disgusting idea of ruining my bass body. Thankfully "none of the above" happened. :hyper:
Click to expand...

In that case, you should have been here when I narfed my left index finger with my brand new tongue & groove bit on my router. It isn't bad, just created a small flap of skin but my first thought was "Oh, crap! What's this going to do to my guitar playing?". The flap was snipped off (no fat layer came with it) and I found a good way to put bandages on it (I was doing some renovation to my house and needed to get it done ASAP). I started playing less than a week later and avoided using that finger for another week and found that it didn't hurt a lot if I didn't press too hard. The Dr told me I could leave it uncovered overnight and that was the worst thing I did after the incident- it dried and caused scar tissue to form, rather than re-grow new skin like the areas that had already grown back.
 
#25
"S", glad you like man! Subscribe, as I'll keep this updated as much as I can.

"Bass", sorry to hear about your injury! Glad it wasn't anything more serious. Post some pics of the Curlee anyhow. I have a softspot for them.
 
#26
Here are two photos- I'll add more. As you can see, it was rode hard and put away wet before I got it.
 

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#34
Nope, but I'm giving them a lot of leeway. I'm not a pro, don't gig, just do this for fun. I also have 12 other bass guitars, so it's not like I need this one. Still, it's been "only" about seven months or so since I commisioned the build, so there's been some progress. In reality, the bass is probably less than a month from being completed. They've also been very busy lately, with a bunch of new things coming down the line.

At least the communication is always there. Whenever you call the shop Scott himself answers the phone, and in those rare instances when he doesn't, you'll get a call back from him right away. These guys are a class act all around.
 
#36
jbossolo said:
Nope, but I'm giving them a lot of leeway. I'm not a pro, don't gig, just do this for fun. I also have 12 other bass guitars, so it's not like I need this one. Still, it's been "only" about seven months or so since I commisioned the build, so there's been some progress. In reality, the bass is probably less than a month from being completed. They've also been very busy lately, with a bunch of new things coming down the line.

At least the communication is always there. Whenever you call the shop Scott himself answers the phone, and in those rare instances when he doesn't, you'll get a call back from him right away. These guys are a class act all around.
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One thing about wood, especially thicker, dimensioned lumber- it needs to "season" after any major milling operation removes a significant amount of material. Shaping a neck definitely falls under this and if material is removed form one side, it should be clamped onto something that's known to be flat (or, whatever desired shape) before the next operation or the finish is applied. That way, changes in the weather won't wreak havoc on it. If a plastic film is being applied, it's less of a problem, but even that allows a small amount of moisture to migrate in or out.
 
#37
Immigrant said:
I'll be watching the Curlee fix unfold. Mine has the same issue; movement in the TR channel and twisty neck. It's currently on hold because I can't decide if I care or not.

Good luck with yours.
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Unfortunately for me, I'm one of those people who likes to make some things better than when I got them and consider the cost "part of the experience". I'll try to repair mine first- I have a piece of phosphor bronze that I have shaped into the block that the truss rod passes through, and the nut uses to tighten the rod. The original could slide in the groove, seen in the photo of the back of the neck. Mine won't slide but the trick is to avoid jamming it into position- that could create a pressure point and the rod could break under tension. If that doesn't work, I may remove the skunk stripe and install a whole new truss rod system, like the Hot Shot, by Hip Shot. Part of the other problem is that the fretboard is part of the neck blank and it's very thick at the end. If the force is too great, it could break the wood. I'd like to be able to play it again, though. It's a great little bass.
 
#38
OP- Sorry for the hijack.

The skunk stripe on mine was loose in spots. One repair shop i took it to initially did a fret dress and made it playable- for a while. The action raised again and when i tightened the TR a little, it made a popping noise. I thought I'd broken it, but didn't. I glued the loose spot on the stripe and still the TR had room to move inside. My next step is where you have gone. Total dis-assembly.

There is another TBer that I've had correspondence with who has the same model Curlee I have only with a butcher block blond body. When we compared neck specs (at nut, at joint, etc) none of the measurements matched. So, no swapping necks with another Curlee without some trimming or adding. Pffft.

I nearly bought a bass like yours from a popular auction site, but saw it had a twisty neck also. I still don't know if I care enough to continue fixing it.

BTW, the Hipshot bridges are available unplated for the retro look. I put one one mine.
 
#39
Immigrant said:
OP- Sorry for the hijack.

The skunk stripe on mine was loose in spots. One repair shop i took it to initially did a fret dress and made it playable- for a while. The action raised again and when i tightened the TR a little, it made a popping noise. I thought I'd broken it, but didn't. I glued the loose spot on the stripe and still the TR had room to move inside. My next step is where you have gone. Total dis-assembly.

There is another TBer that I've had correspondence with who has the same model Curlee I have only with a butcher block blond body. When we compared neck specs (at nut, at joint, etc) none of the measurements matched. So, no swapping necks with another Curlee without some trimming or adding. Pffft.

I nearly bought a bass like yours from a popular auction site, but saw it had a twisty neck also. I still don't know if I care enough to continue fixing it.

BTW, the Hipshot bridges are available unplated for the retro look. I put one one mine.
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Yours is a lot newer than mine. The original bridges were made at the factory and was pretty crude compared with your HipShot.

What strings do you use?
 
#40
Maybe newer, but not by much. Another TBer estimated it to be about a 77-79, and included an ad showing it to be a Liberty II with active electronics. Mine's been gutted and is passive but super-hot. Early Dimarzios (sp). It had a Badass I on it when I got it. And a guitar string.

One of the reasons I went with the Hipshot is because you can string it thru if you want and use regular scale strings. I haven't drilled for that yet, so it's strung "traditionally" with D'Addario EXL-160M medium scale. The winding on the E barely reaches the nut, but they work.

When I bought it, I wasn't sure if I wanted to completely restore it to original or just make it playable. It's all up in the air now because I really don't want to put $600 into it for a new neck. I've considered finding a fretless neck-thru blank with a paddle headstock and fretting it accordingly, but they're hard to find. Carvin sells a fretted blank, but I LOVE 32" scale.
 

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