I had a couple SX basses. Had to dress the frets to make it playable, definitely not without its faults...not bad for $110 or less, though. Hardly a shining example of what CNC can do, though.
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Only the world's best CNC machines!
- Thread starter warrplayer
- Start date
I will likely never be able to afford A 100% luthier built bass. Hand carved neck... body cut with a hand powered coping save... neck pocket and pickup hole cut by hand with mortis chisels...hand forged fret wire...I couldn't STAND the thought that my luthier used off the rack fret wire. I would also prefer it if he/she grew the tree that supplied the wood for my bass. What about hand made magnets? THAT'S the key to my tone. And if my guy can't make his own tuning machines I guess I will have to settle for violin pegs.
I like a good neck and a comfortable body with good tone. I don't care how it gets there.
I like a good neck and a comfortable body with good tone. I don't care how it gets there.
Yeah, we went on a Tuesday-Wednesday to avoid crowds the best we could. There were only about 20-25 people standing around it and eventually i had my turn in front. I don't know what they do now but at the time it was just like all the other pictures on the wall except that it had a plexiglass box around it and if I recall a rope barrier a couple of feet out so nobody could crowd it. You could almost walk right up to it.
Flash wasn't allowed but pics were OK. I wouldn't even bother though nowadays, you are taking the same picture that 70,000 other people have posted on the internet.
I had the genius idea to be the guy pushing the Tower of Pisa over, when my pics came back from the Photomat, lost in the sea of tourists holding it up, I spotted a couple of other people pushing it over as well. Lame.
Next trip I am only taking pics of people I meet. The rest I can see on the internet.
Yeah, it's kind of a shame how photography has become nothing more than a cheap commodity and is pretty fleeting, these days.
Here is my version of pushing on something.
Photograph Copyright © Jeffrey P. Scott 1995 All Rights Reserved
No CNC machines or any other kind of computer was used in the making of the original photograph. 
any Bass worth it's weight will be rough cut in a CNC and hand finished the rest of the way, so who cares if it's a .01" or .001" accurate.
Do you want your neck pocket with +-.010?
How about the pocket cut with a .010 angle instead of dead straight?
that's what hand finish work is for... you'll see here an example of Spector USA in Woodstock using CNC (low tech) to rough cut, but it IS hand finished in every way.
Skip to 1:50 or so to hear how they do it
The CNC cut the neck pocket. He wasn't sanding the pocket or neck. The CNC already machined that and the bridge perfectly. He was just doing the pretty work by hand.
whatever makes you happy man... that's what makes the world a neat place, we all have something there for us.
You'd have to take a tour of the factory, or watch all 4 parts, as to what is hand finished and what is taken directly off the CNC. In the end, as with the video's I posted above from China and the USA... there IS a lot of hand finishing that goes into guitar making today... maybe when 3D printers start to make basses that will be gone, but as it stands.. the hands and their skill of who assembles and finishes your bass DO matter.
I agree that to get a great finish like a Spector has it takes a lot of hand work to get the fancy wood they use to pop the way it does.
But, you are confusing paint prep with what makes a Spector or Warwick a truly precision instrument. that comes from consistent fitment.
Very disillusioned. I thought Fenders were hand whittled from a single tree planted and nurtured by mute pygmy craftsmen who go on a vision quest before choosing the wood they are going to cut.
I was so wrong on this.
I think that may just be in the Custom Shop these days.
But, here is a photo from the Fender archives. Leo's original CNC machine...
I agree. I find CNC bodies while some may fit well Others require massaging by luthiers. I love CNC it is a fantastic tool but some people worship it like a god. It is simply a tool to be used and abused.
