Took one and a half years to build. Finished today. 35 1/2 inch scale, Sadowsky pickups, ebony fb, alder body, 3 piece neck (maple/ purple heart)... A beauty. <img src="http://andydaventry.com/bass/kenan1.jpg"> <img src="http://andydaventry.com/bass/kenan2.jpg"> <img src="http://andydaventry.com/bass/kenan3.jpg">
Looks really nice, man! Updated looks with nice elements of some classic styling, I'd buy one. Nice work.
That is really nice looking work Andy! The body style suggests hints of a Warwick Thumb and a Fender to me...and I mean that in the best way possible. I also like the fact you weren't afraid to put a little wood on the head. So many new basses have these midget headstocks. Turkey will rock a little harder from now on.
Before I read this comment I was thinking TRB meets Stingray 5. However it IS original and I have been sitting with my head tilted trying to imagine what it would look like with someone playing it. I hope it plays as well as it looks and it gives you many years of pleasure. (I also hope that my family stop thinking I have gone mad, by looking at my PC sideways)
Hey... I should add some things. I designed the bass, but it was built by a guy called Kenan Turgut, who is an instrument builder and repairer here in Ankara. He doesn't play, so he misses some of the finer points (which is why I designed it!), and has a tendency to equate "good" with "solidly built", but is an excellent craftsman, and has a good structural knowledge of how guitars and basses are made. My woodworking is no way good enough to build a bass like this myself! The body shape is basically TRB...we cut the body from a template made from a TRB 5 string. But it kind of changed in the process..it got cross bred with a jazz bass template....the cutaways are a bit deeper (the neck is slightly more than two octaves...24 frets..by accident and mismeasurement. It was meant to be exactly two octaves!). It doesn't have an onboard preamp. I use a Sadowsky outboard, which warms the thing up nicely. Raw, it is slightly cold. But very clear and punchy. I had the nut cut slightly high (following an idea a year or so back from Bruce Lindfield) which gives the most incredibly low action without any buzz on the board. Which I don't really want, but, Bruce, your idea was right! The B is really tight. The neck is a bit tree trunk like, and I may shave it a bit. To make it rounder, not thinner. It is thicker than a P bass right now. But I will not do anything until I have really got to know what this bass can do. The body wood is from a Stewmac body blank. Bridge is a Schaller. Tuners are hipshot. I am really impressed with hipshot stuff, and I may replace the bridge with a hipshot Fender style. The onlything I would not do again is include carbon fibre reinforcing rods in the neck. An unreinforced neck would have given a looser sound. But it's all a learning experience. Thanks for your comments. TRB meets Fender is about right!
Andy, I am impressed! With a 35 1/2 inch scale that B string must destroy boulders! Good luck with it, Mike J.
Hi Andy. Good project, man. Well done. I just played a Sadowsky 5 the other day, and those pups are very imressive.
Sweet! Where can I order the Andy Daventry Signature Bass? Having a bass custom built to your specs, based on your design, just has to be the coolest!
Hey Andy, congratulations, that's a beauty. It looks "classic" but doesn't exactly mimic anything out there. And a 2 octave ebony FB is certainly my idea of a good time. Can't really tell from the pic--do you have standard string spacing (0.75 in or 19 mm) at the bridge, or is it slightly closer?