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New Moonshine Guitars custom bass!

#21
"How can we miss you if you don't go away"... ;););)

I'm back...

BigAlBass69 said:
sandals in a wood shop..and he still has all of his toes
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I truly love TalkBass... As @BassToGoGo was so kind to point out, I don't build basses with me feet. Blessed to have a couple of arms/hands (with all ten fingers Thankfully) that allow me to build the old fashion way.

Besides this wasn't a "work in the shop" day... I always wear proper footwear when I am using machinery.

Thank you for your concern.

pudge said:
View attachment 3099573 Your new shop footwear from now on.
View attachment 3099573
Click to expand...

Not a big fan of Crocs but if I had a pair of these that might change...

chadhargis said:
So...now I enter the doldrums. The long, long wait until the work begins. Rick has some work in front of me and I have to wait my turn. I just keep reminding myself that I'm selling three "off the rack" basses because I want something made for me. With that comes the inevitable wait. Deep breath...patience. Ahhh....dammit...I still want it now! LOL!

I feel like Veruca Salt...LOL! :hyper: I too am a bad egg.
View attachment 3107599
Click to expand...

@chadhargis is correct... I am working on several builds at the moment and am working hard to get caught up. I have recently added another set of hands (with proper footwear) to the shop and that is already making a huge difference.

I am excited and honored to have been asked to do this build with Chad; it will be uh... interesting (:eyebrow:) to have a customer in the shop during the build process... Actually I've known Chad for awhile now, he is a great guy and he knows exactly what he wants out of this bass. It will be a fun build.

I've never used any of John East's products in a build. He builds top shelf stuff. I have used Carey's pickups (I offer his products as an option in all my Moonshine Custom builds), anything that has Carey's name on it is made incredibly well and will sound killer.

This build is indicative of where I am going with my builds. When I started building in the late 80's I was into upper end, multi laminated boutique style instruments (such as this build) but they were almost impossible to sell (being new and unknown with little means to advertise/market) at a price that would even close to being profitable. I quickly learned that there was a lot more customers wanting more traditional looking instruments.

As of last year I started getting more requests for my custom work; I am currently working on several builds and only one of them is what I would consider a traditional style instrument. I recently hot rodded one of my bandsaws and now I can rip any wood up to 12 1/2" wide with no problem. That and a killer 24" Woodmaster thickness sander means that I am gearing up to cut a bunch of thin laminates/veneers.

I have a couple of hippy sandwich basses planned...



Moonshine :bassist:
 
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#22
moonshinegtrs said:
I am excited and honored to have been asked to do this build with Chad; it will be uh... interesting :)eyebrow:) to have a customer in the shop during the build process... Actually I've known Chad for awhile now, he is a great guy and he knows exactly what he wants out of this bass. It will be a fun build.
Click to expand...

It will be fun indeed! I have enjoyed woodworking since I was a kid helping my grandfather make picture frames. I love the smell, the feel, and the artistry of working with wood. I'm so dang excited!

I have seen Rick's work, and I know he's going to absolutely crush this build. Hearing him talk about working with Tobais, Curbow, Steinberger, and others....Rick is as gifted a luthier as any in the business and should be charging "Fodera money" (but please wait until after mine is paid for before increasing the price!). :)
 
#23
Not much new to report but I don't want to let the thread get stale.

Carey Nordstrand announced his new humcancelling Big Blades and had named them "Zen Blades". They are now listed on his website and available for purchase:

Zen Blade 5

They are dual coil pickups so I will have Rick wire them to a switch so I can change from series to parallel mode. I always liked that feature with my G&L L-2500.

On another note, I picked up a Reverend Mercalli 5 bass over the weekend. It's a passive sort of "P/MM" type configuration. What drew me to it was the feel of the neck. Hopefully we an use it as a guide on the new bass. The shape and finish are near perfect. Then there is the tone. Whatever magic they put in those big passive pickups is simply amazing. I'm not normally a fan of passive instruments...but this thing kills!

More to come...
 
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#28
moonshinegtrs said:
I just got in some really cool maple billets...

I'm also going this week to pick up some wenge...


Moonshine :bassist:
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Can I go?!? I will hold it and love it and call it my friend!

main-qimg-081251a12e220a0d6ebde5027b74e307-c.jpg
 
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#30
BigAlBass69 said:
sometimes sharp things fall on the ground due to gravity. Then barefeet get in the way
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My best friend is an art prof in Texas but also runs the shop, learnin' the kids how to stretch a canvas onto a hand built frame, use the plasma torch, the kiln, to sculpt glass (very difficult) and so on.

He did some major damage to his left foot a while back teaching how to pour bronze into a mold for sculpting.

There was a bit of...spillage of the molten bronze (!)
 
#31
Muddslide said:
My best friend is an art prof in Texas but also runs the shop, learnin' the kids how to stretch a canvas onto a hand built frame, use the plasma torch, the kiln, to sculpt glass (very difficult) and so on.

He did some major damage to his left foot a while back teaching how to pour bronze into a mold for sculpting.

There was a bit of...spillage of the molten bronze (!)
Click to expand...


Ouch!!! Damn!



Moonshine :bassist:
 
#33
Muddslide said:
We need to see pics of this build in progress!
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No worries... I have a feeling that @chadhargis has the in action pics covered...

It is going to be a really cool build; very indicative of where I am going with my custom builds.

Again, Thanks to Mr. Hargis for letting me build this.

Moonshine :bassist:
 
#34
moonshinegtrs said:
Again, Thanks to Mr. Hargis for letting me build this.

Moonshine :bassist:
Click to expand...

No...thank YOU Rick.

This is going to be fun! And yes, I'll take all the pics I can. I'm actually making a scrapbook of the build. This will be an heirloom that will get handed down to my daughter and hopefully kept in the family. It's never going to leave me, that's for sure.
 
#35
chadhargis said:
No...thank YOU Rick.

This is going to be fun! And yes, I'll take all the pics I can. I'm actually making a scrapbook of the build. This will be an heirloom that will get handed down to my daughter and hopefully kept in the family. It's never going to leave me, that's for sure.
Click to expand...


No pressure... :eyebrow:


Moonshine :bassist:
 
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#37
So as to not let this thread get too stale for all of those watching, I'm still waiting my turn in line. Buying a custom instrument is not like picking one out at Guitar Center and taking it home. It's a process.

There have been no new developments since my last post. Just waiting, dreaming, and a lot of selling of gear to fund the build.
 
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