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My first custom ! ( KneeBee )

I am the only person who thinks that "looks wise"* Bee Basses appear to be the only maker inspired by Steve Wishnevski's designs? Not that its necessarily a bad thing, you gotta take your inspiration where you see it.

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*I know in the quality department, its like comparing a SX to a Sadowsky, but I can't get past the visual inspiration I see between the two.

[Gets ready to duck and cover]
 
there in lies the answer. Fred had a style in mind (his Worker Bee is the perfect shape IMO :p )... and his vision is carried throughout his line.

Yes, I agree, and I see a Wishnevsky influence in that style, but not in the quality, which is obviously far superior to Wishnevsy (hence the Wishnevsky on steriods comment!) :)

Incidently, the Worker Bee shape doesnt appear to have a lower horn which is condusive to sitting well on the leg when sitting down. Is that intentional? How is it in practice? Is it easy to rest in on the leg when playing if you are not strapping to you at normal strap height?
 
Yes, I agree, and I see a Wishnevsky influence in that style, but not in the quality, which is obviously far superior to Wishnevsy (hence the Wishnevsky on steriods comment!) :)

I understand where you are coming from but Fred's been at it 26+ years.... I've known of Bee long before Wish ever surfaced. The 2 models you posted are post Wish, but I know for a fact the GBC model is a Bee adapted into an 80's Hair metal / Shred guitar shape.



Incidently, the Worker Bee shape doesnt appear to have a lower horn which is condusive to sitting well on the leg when sitting down. Is that intentional? How is it in practice? Is it easy to rest in on the leg when playing if you are not strapping to you at normal strap height?


Well... how often do you see bassists performing while sitting?

I've always (well since the late 80s) tried to make sure that my strapped and seated bass positions are the same. On that note, I never practice without the strap. I have had it on my knee as have a couple others and it's not too bad actually. I am new to the Bee family so I've no clue if it was intentional, but it works ascetically and functionally for me.
 
Well... how often do you see bassists performing while sitting?

I've always (well since the late 80s) tried to make sure that my strapped and seated bass positions are the same. On that note, I never practice without the strap. I have had it on my knee as have a couple others and it's not too bad actually. I am new to the Bee family so I've no clue if it was intentional, but it works ascetically and functionally for me.

See them performing? Not alot because they are usually in orchestra pits, and I can't see them, but bassist do often perform, practice and record sitting down which is why I asked. I completely agree that I try to practice with the bass strapped to me, that said, many times when I try out an instrument its done sitting down with the bass on my knee.

By intentional I meant is it intentionally designed to give a certain position on the leg / knee when sitting down (ie ergonomically designed) and its just not clear from the pics. I note that the Bee basses site makes reference to ergonomic design.
 
bassist do often perform, practice and record sitting down which is why I asked.

true... I was thinking Rock and Jazz concerts (sorry to reply with such a narrow scope).



By intentional I meant is it intentionally designed to give a certain position on the leg / knee when sitting down (ie ergonomically designed) and its just not clear from the pics. I note that the Bee basses site makes reference to ergonomic design.

Balanced and Rounded I *think*.... no I see no benefit to the short lower horn for the seated player. It does sit well in a classical guitarist kinda position... but these questions are best answered by Fred himself.

The "Knee Bee" was the answer to a "balanced and comfortable while sitting" bass. I prefer the Worker's looks, but a 4 string Knee Bee might be in my future (as may be a bolt neck ThunderBee which I kinda have on order but on hold)
 
that is going to be amazing!!! i'm soo diggin that maple top cant wait to see it finished i was thinkin' about gettin a bee right now it's
nordstrand
bee
mtd
low end
if nordstrand cant do some of the things i want then i'm sure bee can from what ive seen from them simply kick ars
 
I am the only person who thinks that "looks wise"* Bee Basses appear to be the only maker inspired by Steve Wishnevski's designs? Not that its necessarily a bad thing, you gotta take your inspiration where you see it.

:rolleyes: i saw fred's single cut long before i ever saw anything similar hacked out by wish, and that's what paul used as the basis for his instrument, but then again, i have yet to see anything even remotely similar between anything wish has made and the first bass in your "comparitive study".

as for the other one, that's a body style designed by the player it was built for, based if i am not mistaken on some guitars that paul gilbert used to play with racer x in the mid 80's. if you have an issue with it for whatever reason, you might want to take it up with him - gregory bruce campbell. that's his sig bass, and a pretty good seller i hear.

*I know in the quality department, its like comparing a SX to a Sadowsky, but I can't get past the visual inspiration I see between the two.

[Gets ready to duck and cover]

what are you looking at? i don't see anything -remotely- similar between these wish examples and the bee basses. shoot, you might as well compare em to any other non-jbass style instrument. wish is obviously trying to copy a zon hyperbass on the first one and a les paul/beatle bass on the second one. beyond both having strings, there's very little in common :rolleyes:

if you are just trying to stir crap up you're in for a surprise. i will not allow that in basses. it's bad enough to do it in OT or the lobby, but that don't fly upstairs.

you take a known "craptastic" builder, and draw a non-obvious (and arguably manufactured) parallel to a quality builder in a thread whose topic is that quality builder. that's as close to trolling as you can get without getting it on your shoe. might want to adjust your heading.
 
:rolleyes: i saw fred's single cut long before i ever saw anything similar hacked out by wish, and that's what paul used as the basis for his instrument, but then again, i have yet to see anything even remotely similar between anything wish has made and the first bass in your "comparitive study".

as for the other one, that's a body style designed by the player it was built for, based if i am not mistaken on some guitars that paul gilbert used to play with racer x in the mid 80's. if you have an issue with it for whatever reason, you might want to take it up with him - gregory bruce campbell. that's his sig bass, and a pretty good seller i hear.



what are you looking at? i don't see anything -remotely- similar between these wish examples and the bee basses. shoot, you might as well compare em to any other non-jbass style instrument. wish is obviously trying to copy a zon hyperbass on the first one and a les paul/beatle bass on the second one. beyond both having strings, there's very little in common :rolleyes:

if you are just trying to stir crap up you're in for a surprise. i will not allow that in basses. it's bad enough to do it in OT or the lobby, but that don't fly upstairs.

you take a known "craptastic" builder, and draw a non-obvious (and arguably manufactured) parallel to a quality builder in a thread whose topic is that quality builder. that's as close to trolling as you can get without getting it on your shoe. might want to adjust your heading.
1. I see design cues in the bee basses that remind me of the Wish bass design asthetic (multiple wood choices which clash with each other aesthetically / unusual angles for horns and lower bouts etc)

2. I saw Wish basses long before I ever saw those Bee bass designs, its completely possible that Bee basses were in production long before Wish basses, but I wasn't aware of it.

3. You are purporting to tell me what *I* see as a possible design inspiration - between one bass and another in terms of clashing wood choices and angles.

James and I managed to have a civil convesation about the issue without the apparent level of aggression and contempt you are displaying. Now, you don't have to agree with my views, but looking at the pictures and what *my* opinion is, I don't think its far fetched a view to take given I did not know which bass came first. As I said, its nothing to do with quality, its design inspiration and I see design cues which are similiar between the two.

But, here's something for you to think about before you leap to conclusions. If Wishnevsky basses had the same build quality as Sadowsky basses, would they still be, as you subjectively say, "craptastic"? Or, would they be very high quality basess with an unsuual design aesthetic? In my view its the latter not the former. Which is why I compared the apparent quality of Bee basses to a Sadowsky. Perhaps you missed that?

As for whether you think me views are genuine or not, you can think what you like, but I can assure you they are. I find it to be very disrespectful to be questioning whether or not I would genuinely hold a view that I have clearly explained already in the thread in sufficient detail. If it wasn't a genuine view, why would I waste my time posting it? Particularly when I quite like the Wishbass design asthetic - its the build quality that lets him down.
 
as for the other one, that's a body style designed by the player it was built for, based if i am not mistaken on some guitars that paul gilbert used to play with racer x in the mid 80's. if you have an issue with it for whatever reason, you might want to take it up with him - gregory bruce campbell. that's his sig bass, and a pretty good seller i hear.

Thanks God you could remember that. I was racking my brains to figure out which 80's guitar it was copying. :D To make it authentically a Paul Gilbert guitar, it would need to be road flare red or nuclear yellow with black f-holes! :D

Please allow me to go into the niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight! :bassist:


As for the comparison of Bee to Wish, I kinda see that there are a few comparisons, although Bee's design is intentional and not a result of slipping while cutting the wood. The frets are also angled intentionally on a Bee. :p