My first custom ! ( KneeBee )

[Vorago]

So that's shorter than my J bass right?

 

[ChiliPepper]

yep

 

[smperry]

That really came out great. Congratulations!

Marshall

 

[Vorago]

yep

I'm curious about the tension of that B string.

Why did you you opt for a 33-30 configuration?

 

[Gregory Bruce Campbell]

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.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

*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]

ACTUALLY...

I played the body shape you posted LONG before warwick or anyone else used it....

I rebuilt an ibanez 6 string in 1993 / 1994 and traced a dime to put the violin cutaways

I brought the shape to BEE basses and asked fred to rework it BEE style in 2002.

i am NOT claiming that i invented it...

i was inspired by the adrian vandenberg peavey in the late 80s.

wish bass has had NO part in the inspiration on EITHER of the instruments you have pictured

thats like saying beringer gave Line 6 all their ideas...

SHEEESH

 

[Sound Chaser]

Am I completely freaking blind, or is there no nut in those pictures?

 

[James Hart]

Am I completely freaking blind, or is there no nut in those pictures?

no nut... it's a brilliant design IMO/E (not sure it's exclusive to Bee Basses).

the end of the board is notched to keep the strings lined up... they rest on the zero fret for setting height.

 

[emjazz]

no nut... it's a brilliant design IMO/E (not sure it's exclusive to Bee Basses).

the end of the board is notched to keep the strings lined up... they rest on the zero fret for setting height.

My only concern with this has always been that the fret, being what it is, would wear fairly quickly. I like the idea though.

 

[James Hart]

My only concern with this has always been that the fret, being what it is, would wear fairly quickly. I like the idea though.

quicker than bone or corian? I've never wore out a nut in my life (27 years playing... but never more than 5 to 8 year on each bass in the past). The space between the notches and zero fret don't allow for much more movement than string bending has on the typical nut slot.

 

[emjazz]

quicker than bone or corian? I've never wore out a nut in my life (27 years playing... but never more than 5 to 8 year on each bass in the past). The space between the notches and zero fret don't allow for much more movement than string bending has on the typical nut slot.

It depends...is he using standard frets? That's not the hardest metal in the world. In all the years you've owned a bass, have you ever had to have the frets dressed? I certainly have. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, and it's been done before by other luthiers (heck, Mike T is using zero frets now) but I've just always had that concern. It may be unwarrented. I'm just curious.

 

[James Hart]

In all the years you've owned a bass, have you ever had to have the frets dressed? I certainly have.

I hear ya... and took a while to warm up to the idea myself.

Yes I've had my frets/boards leveled and dressed a few times... but in those times, I can remember the nut being filed (invoice listed service from shop) in the post leveling / dressing set up at least twice. With Fred's set up, the entire neck is leveled as one.

The only instrument I ever replaced frets on was my Grandfathers 1961 Jazzmaster... and that was after he played it about 20 years and right after giving it to me (he played everything off the F chord fingering and destroyed the first 4 frets!).

FWIW: I almost exclusively use stainless rounds