Egmond Rambler & Typhoon bass projects

[Beej]

Just look at all those old farts!

 

[13ghosts]

Very nice collection!

 

[daveman50]

Spent about 1/2 hr addressing the various location fret buzzing on the Typhoon yesterday. Plays sweet now - so I spent some quality time today playing it through nice amps. Definitely has a distinctive hollow-body tone going on. The neck is sorta baseball-bat but really comfortable to play. I'm lucky to be open to playing many different neck profiles even though I do have favorites. Of the many basses I've worked on/have owned/own - there was never one I 'couldn't' play. I hear of those who 'can't play' this or that neck (profile) and just feel fortunate. Allows me to experience a wide variety of basses! I do have big hands which is initially why I was drawn to playing a bass rather than a guitar... (true story!)

I agree about the neck profiles. I actually prefer to switch things up regularly, both as to neck profile and scale length (and playing double bass, too!). It works for me. The only necks I don't tend to like are the skinny ones (such as the Jazz Bass). I have fairly large hands and a neck with a narrow nut is tiring and can lead to cramping.

 

[JIO]

Just look at all those old farts!

Hah! The Bass IV (center) is only about 20yrs old!

 

[JIO]

Very nice collection!

Thanks - players all!

 

[JIO]

I agree about the neck profiles. I actually prefer to switch things up regularly, both as to neck profile and scale length (and playing double bass, too!). It works for me. The only necks I don't tend to like are the skinny ones (such as the Jazz Bass). I have fairly large hands and a neck with a narrow nut is tiring and can lead to cramping.

I played double bass at one point in my life but don't currently own/play one. I had carpal-tunnel surgery recently after I fractured my left wrist, so I don't think I could play one today anyway. Many of my basses have Jazz bass width nuts but I also like my '66 P which has a wide nut.

Young Geo another lifetime ago...

 

[JIO]

Back to the Egmond Rambler... time has passed and my luthier Dan Ransom once again, er... mis-calculated his completion estimate "...oh, it should be done in a couple weeks..." - nothing new and no rush. I told him I'd do the position dots so I picked it up last week and did it within an hour. They are big and pearly - possibly a hair large as the last two frets (23-24) will slightly overlap... oh well.., Wabi Sabi ...I like them.

Now we'll see how long it takes Dan to complete it... (I'll be finishing it) Speaking of which, Dan tipped me off to a satin wipe-on Poly called Emmets - The Good Stuff. Very nice look & feel. I'll be ordering some.

Emmet’s “Good Stuff” Wood Finish | Bally Block Co

And since the pic of my three amigo's (above) - I cut a parchment pearl pg for the Bass IV - the Egmond Typhoon inspired me to do it. Much better...

 

[Indiedog]

Back to the Egmond Rambler... time has passed and my luthier Dan Ransom once again, er... mis-calculated his completion estimate "...oh, it should be done in a couple weeks..." - nothing new and no rush. I told him I'd do the position dots so I picked it up last week and did it within an hour. They are big and pearly - possibly a hair large as the last two frets (23-24) will slightly overlap... oh well.., Wabi Sabi ...I like them.

Now we'll see how long it takes Dan to complete it... (I'll be finishing it) Speaking of which, Dan tipped me off to a satin wipe-on Poly called Emmets - The Good Stuff. Very nice look & feel. I'll be ordering some.

Emmet’s “Good Stuff” Wood Finish | Bally Block Co

View attachment 5435204 View attachment 5435205
And since the pic of my three amigo's (above) - I cut a parchment pearl pg for the Bass IV - the Egmond Typhoon inspired me to do it. Much better...
View attachment 5435219

Looks wonderful!!!! Great job on the PG

I always love seeing perfect fret grooves.

 

[JIO]

Looks wonderful!!!! Great job on the PG

I always love seeing perfect fret grooves.

Thanks Steve! Dan is the man... even if it takes forever! The way I look at it, he's made quite a number of necks for my custom builds and so we have a professional relationship. He knows his stuff, he's close to where I live and he's a nice guy. I only 'pressure' him with commissioned work but for me personally, whenever it's done - it's done. He's told me stories about difficult clients and I have no reason to be one of them. As an independent craftsman myself - I empathize with him and give him sufficient 'slack'.

 

[Indiedog]

Thanks Steve! Dan is the man... even if it takes forever! The way I look at it, he's made quite a number of necks for my custom builds and so we have a professional relationship. He knows his stuff, he's close to where I live and he's a nice guy. I only 'pressure' him with commissioned work but for me personally, whenever it's done - it's done. He's told me stories about difficult clients and I have no reason to be one of them. As an independent craftsman myself - I empathize with him and give him sufficient 'slack'.

View attachment 5438304

That is the way to be a good human. Life is too short to grind someone that does fine work.

 

[JIO]

Got the call today from Dan - the eagle neck has landed! I'll pick it up tomorrow. A new record for time between order and completion... the Egmond Rambler is back on the front burner!

 

[JIO]

I am the Egmond... coo-coo-cah-choo!

Had to re-look at the source pic to confirm I installed the fb position dots in the correct places. They were - both Egmonds are 24 fret but have markers in different places below the 12th fret.
This one; 15, 17, 20 & 24. The Typhoon, 15, 17 & 19 (no 24) They are very different necks with the Typhoon being 2" at the heal and the Rambler 2-1/4" The Typhoon has 1.5" at the nut and the Rambler is
1-5/8". The fb radius on the Typhoon seems a bit more rounded than the Rambler - note to self.., buy some fb radius guides.

First things first - recommended by Dan. It's a wipe-on gel, overnight dry, emory cloth sand, repeat times 4. Once that's done there are a number of things to do and then on to body finishing.

 

[JIO]

Four coats/applications, 24hrs between each coat - neck finishing done. Looks great - feels nice! On to the body -

 

[JIO]

Fun! Kept forgetting my camera doing the textured craquelure finish so no pics of it in progress. The bass was originally the orange colour but it also came in a new-leaf/lime-green. My green is more vibrant, the pictured one could look different in person. It's only the second bass I ever finished in green - I dig it, especially for a short-scale thumper! The green Rambler pictured has a white pg and an earlier hs design, more Fender-esqu. Otherwise the same. The exact same body was used for basses and guitars as you can clearly see in this line-up.

You can kinda see the texture - it's subtle but there. I'll shoot another coat and then dust on silver metallic 'glitter' spray like I did on the Typhoon. Then after a few days of sunny warm outside curing, I'll shoot satin nitro clear.

modern art...

 

[adje]

The original green really was as dull as it looks in the picture with the threesome. Imagine my surprise.

 

[JIO]

The original green really was as dull as it looks in the picture with the threesome. Imagine my surprise.

So you've seen one in the flesh? I could have matched that colour as the Montana paint has a very extensive line of colours, (it sells in art-stores) but I figured 'Kawasaki green' would be more fun! Especially on a bass called the Rambler!

 

[adje]

So you've seen one in the flesh? I could have matched that colour as the Montana paint has a very extensive line of colours, (it sells in art-stores) but I figured 'Kawasaki green' would be more fun! Especially on a bass called the Rambler!

Yep, exactly the same as the one in green with the Fenderesque peghead. The "Egmond" lettering was again exactly the same as on the Voxesque peghead. A 10yo will pick up those details only to share them 45 years later, how weird is that.

 

[JIO]

Yep, exactly the same as the one in green with the Fenderesque peghead. The "Egmond" lettering was again exactly the same as on the Voxesque peghead. A 10yo will pick up those details only to share them 45 years later, how weird is that.

That's a cool back-story. Are you in Europe? Egmonds couldn't have been common in the US then. From what I've learned it was an entry-level instrument, similar to Japanese Tesco's etc.

 

[JIO]

 

[adje]

That's a cool back-story. Are you in Europe? Egmonds couldn't have been common in the US then. From what I've learned it was an entry-level instrument, similar to Japanese Tesco's etc.

I grew up in Tilburg, which is not far from Best where Egmond was based, which is actually near Eindhoven. Egmond was certainly budget-friendly, but fairly decent playing from what I remember, at least it didn't hinder you like some of the Japanese imports of the time would - I remember a particularly vile Kinor-branded Teisco-style bass that felt like it was made of floppy cardboard - whereas other Japanese imports could be pretty amazing actually.
Moving on in time, the first Alembic I played (in a Tilburg guitar shop, around 1986) had a neck not dissimilar to the Egmond actually - kind of pencil-shaped, 24 fret, short-scale, narrow spacing with barely any taper. The similarities ended there, and quite abruptly.