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Fretless five competition: Mad scientist edition

#484
Big B. said:
Pretty basses are great but the proof is in the sound and playability. This is a quick demo video recorded on wed. The sound is from a high quality camera with a good condenser mic attached. The sound you hear is strictly the amp in the room with no direct line of any type. This was all recorded in one take, just making stuff up. There is one sample of the bridge pickup only, one of the neck pickup only and a sample with both pickups together. The video was recorded in an apartment where volume is limited so due to the closeness of the camera you can hear an inordinate amount of string noise that doesnt come through the amp. My amp is an Alembic F-1X preamp, a QSC plx 1202 power amp and and Epifani UL 310 series 2. The string are a nearly new set of D'addario XL roundwounds. Excuse me if I look extremely relaxed, these things tend to happen from time to time. :cool:

(Note my Mad Scientist hair.) :D

Brandon-YouTubesharing.mp4 video by phatdaddy791 - Photobucket

I hope to post some high quality sound clips soon but this was a great way to get a look at the bass in 3 dimensions and see how it sits on the player.

I would like to thank you guys for staying with me through this build. It's been a fun process to document things from beginning to end and no matter who ends up getting the votes we have a group of fantastic basses in the lineup. Time to shut down the experiment and lock down the lab but I shall return with more build threads in the future.
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Sounds great! Nice playing as well. :bassist:
 
#488
Munjibunga said:
Wow! That bass is fine in every way. The tone is as incredible as your woodwork. Great chops, too! It would be a sin to vote for something else.
Click to expand...

+100

The only thing I don't like about this bass is that I can't have it. ;) The build thread has been a blast to follow; I learned a lot, and was inspired to take a lot more design risks with my next build.

Great job, and masterful playing! :D
 
#489
Zombie thread update time. Due to our local tornado outbreak after the fretless five competition I have been stuck without regular internet access until just recently and I thought I would give a little update on the bass. Some folks expressed concern about the neck moving due to the curved laminates but after almost a year and no trussrod adjustsments it stills plays like a dream and absolutely sings. I've played at least 100 gigs on it and its become my number 1 player. I never got a chance after the competition to thank everyone for the kind words but know that it was greatly appreciated.

I've been busy in the meantime and intend to post some new threads soon. I have a fretless 5, a fretted 4 and a 6 string eub In the works. I am also waiting for info on the possibility of a new Mad Scientist commission. I also just finished an 8 string guitar if you gents would care to see about that as well. Though I haven't been posting I've been lurking in the shadows and I've seen some old and new faces doing some nice work and I look forward to joining back into the mix soon. Regards, B.
 
#491
Big B. said:
Lab Journal #42: It's alive! IT'S ALIVE!!!!
finally got to a computer long enough to post up my presentation. Here are a few pics I took to get a good view of the bass.

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015.jpg


Pretty basses are great but the proof is in the sound and playability. This is a quick demo video recorded on wed. The sound is from a high quality camera with a good condenser mic attached. The sound you hear is strictly the amp in the room with no direct line of any type. This was all recorded in one take, just making stuff up. There is one sample of the bridge pickup only, one of the neck pickup only and a sample with both pickups together. The video was recorded in an apartment where volume is limited so due to the closeness of the camera you can hear an inordinate amount of string noise that doesnt come through the amp. My amp is an Alembic F-1X preamp, a QSC plx 1202 power amp and and Epifani UL 310 series 2. The string are a nearly new set of D'addario XL roundwounds. Excuse me if I look extremely relaxed, these things tend to happen from time to time. :cool:

(Note my Mad Scientist hair.) :D

Brandon-YouTubesharing.mp4 video by phatdaddy791 - Photobucket

I hope to post some high quality sound clips soon but this was a great way to get a look at the bass in 3 dimensions and see how it sits on the player.

I would like to thank you guys for staying with me through this build. It's been a fun process to document things from beginning to end and no matter who ends up getting the votes we have a group of fantastic basses in the lineup. Time to shut down the experiment and lock down the lab but I shall return with more build threads in the future.
Click to expand...

That bass is absolutely gorgeus! My favorite fretless tone, no doubt!
 
#494
Howdy folks. A little update on this bass. When I was building the bass I was really inspired by satin hardware against the ziricote top but as the build progressed I was forced to use some black knobs temporarily and thought it just looked right. I actually think the satin looks great against the ziricote but perhaps to the point of distracting from it. I really want the top to be the focal point and the black lets the top shine through. Now that my 5 string scrap pile build is near completion I have two basses with interchangable hardware so I decided to move the satin chrome hardware to the fretted bass and put the new black hardware on this bass. I've just finished the installation and so far I think I made the right choice.

I'm curious, though, to see if you guys agree that the black hardware looks better. Here are pics with both sets of hardware and I'd love for you guys to chime in if you have an opinion. The picture with the black hardware was taken in much worse lighting but I think you can still get an good idea of what it looks like. I'll also about to start making some high quality recordings of each of my instruments and this one will be first. When I get it complete I will also post it here. As always, thanks for following along. :bassist:

Satin hardware:

IMAG0286_zpse8e48a1d.jpg
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IMAG0297_zps96c2154a.jpg
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Black hardware (and flourescent lighting :scowl:):

IMAG0361_zpsa6424237.jpg
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IMAG0360_zps6d1628ad.jpg
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