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Rhiannon and Galadriel

#81
Hopkins said:
Rondo, wants a pretty classic design that is hard to go wrong with. I was talking more about an off the wall body design that a customer may cook up. I've been there on an early build, it was an upside down Jazz shape that the customer was extremely excited about. After playing it for a while he was asking me to build him another body for it. Even letting a customer use your mule to test pickup placement isn't a guarantee. They may choose an extreme bridge or neck position that they love in their bedroom, but hate in a band mix. Part of being the builder is letting them know what works well and what doesn't work so well. You just have to be careful I guess, one bad design, customer inspired or otherwise can devalue your brand.

I'm sure you point out anything that is an obvious design mistake, I was just pointing out that its a pretty fine line that is easy to fall to one side or the other. Giving a customer too much input, or not giving them enough are both not ideal situations to be in. I personally will take their ideas and come up with a 2D CAD drawing and finalize it before any sawdust is made. I would prefer to use one of my proven designs though, and let the customer choose the electronics and finish.
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I can totally see your point, and I agree that balance is a key element. At the same time I expect I know what most builders would have told me if I asked them to use piano tuners instead of a regular headless system... ;)
 
#82
michaelwayneharwood said:
I can totally see your point, and I agree that balance is a key element. At the same time I expect I now what most builders would have told me if I asked them to use piano tuners instead of a regular headless system... ;)
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I am not totally apposed to experimenting, as long as it is agreed before hand that there are no guarantees, and there is a good chance there won't be a name on the headstock. But then again, I am a more traditional/vintage/hotrod style builder. Your build style lends itself more to different, outside the box ideas than mine does.
 
#83
Hopkins said:
I am not totally apposed to experimenting, as long as it is agreed before hand that there are no guarantees, and there is a good chance there won't be a name on the headstock. But then again, I am a more traditional/vintage/hotrod style builder. Your build style lends itself more to different, outside the box ideas.
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Bear in mind that I am not intending to criticize you or any other builder in any of my statements. I have a large amount of respect for you and other builders, and your expertise and results are impressive.
 
#84
michaelwayneharwood said:
Bear in mind that I am not intending to criticize you or any other builder in any of my statements. I have a large amount of respect for you and other builders, and your expertise and results are impressive.
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I didn't feel any criticism in your post at all, just a civil discussion about different ways we choose to skin the same feline ;)

I hope I didn't come off as being critical either, because it was not meant that way.
 
#85
Hopkins said:
I didn't feel any criticism in your post at all, just a civil discussion about different ways we choose to skin the same feline ;)

I hope I didn't come off as being critical either, because it was not meant that way.
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I did not take offense at all. As you mentioned I have a tendency to experiment and find great pleasure in "out of the box" builds. Some work out well, some don't. ;)
 
#86
Joy of all joy I have myself a nice oak neck blank I glued up a while back that has been begging to be used in a build. It's a seven piece neck with six quartersawn strips and a flatsawn back. My preferred neck profile is a 3/4" round over on the sides that leaves a flat section along the length of the back of the neck. The flatsawn section should provide a lovely look and feel.

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#87
Interesting discussion... I feel compelled to chime in as I have a strong interest in this build. :)
When pushing the envelope it is possible to go too far. An Historic example would be the Tucker automobile. So, when doing something like a headless design, or a modern pick up some design elements need to tie the bass in to earlier basses IMHO.
The Tele body has been used in Country, Blues, Rock and just about every sub-genre of those styles. I would feel comfortable playing Rhiannon in any of thes genres. I could not see myself taking a Moses Jump bass to a Country gig, or a Steiny etc.I have nothing against those basses but they are a bridge too far (for me) considering the design goals I set in the begining. Many luthiers I talked to have become interested in building only their trademark bass, nothing wrong with that but i might as well just buy an off the rack bass if I can't get some choice in the design.
When I commisioned Michael to build this bass I was adamant about 3 things, had to be headless, had to have a Lace Almatone p'up, and had to have the Tele body. If anyone has questions about any of these criteria feel free to ask. I am really stoked about how the bass is developing.
Rondo
 
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#88
I love the smell of oak being worked! The truss rod channel has been routed, and this will be a heel adjusted design to avoid complications with the Hipshot headpiece. I am really enjoying working with the AllParts rods as I can use a standard 1/4" bit for the channel, and a 5/16" bit for the truss rod nut for a perfect fit. I am going for a bolt on to see how it works for this design, though the plan for Rhiannon is a set neck.

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#91
The center strip is out of clamps, and has been shaped to fit the contours of the body. An ferric acetate solution was applied to test whether I want to use it to "weather" the pine as well. Ferric acetate turns pine grey and old looking, and that fits well for this prototype.

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#92
So...I've been messing around with the Sonum and moving the p'up around. playing through a 15watt Peavey practice amp with 8" speaker. As expected, moving the p'up toward the nut gets into some mud real quick on the 'B' string. no problems with the other strings though. What wasn't expected was that moving the p'up toward the bridge has not resulted in what I refer to as the 'duck fart' tone. I'm still playing around and since I'll be home this weekend I'll have a chance to plug into my 370 head and 215 cab. So far, I have not found a compelling reason to move away from the MM p'up location.
Rondo
 
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#94
rondodunbar said:
Looking very cool, Michael.
Rondo
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Thanks! Here's a quick sanity check with the ABM tuners and a soapbar. The tuners are going to need to be recessed a bit for decent access to the knobs, but this is the case for headless designs in general unless the tuning knobs extend past the body. I like the ABM tuners - they seem to be solidly made and look nice.

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#96
A 7 1/4" radius block is going to be needed to shape the maple fingerboards, so I am making one old school style. I have been wanting to make one of these for a while now, and this is the perfect excuse. The tea is a reasonably decent Pu'er, but I wish I could have found some of my favorite Camel's Breath in the local grocer. Ah well. Suffer the little builders.

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#97
Hey everyone,
So, I've had the Sonum for several days now and have used it with a Peavey practice amp and my Acoustic rig. With the Peavey the "B" gets muddy very fast closer to the nut than the MM sweet spot, with the Acoustic it takes longer but I still get into mud fairly soon. Going toward the bridge the tone gets somewhat brighter but never gets "honky" or "quacky" with either rig. I believe this is due to the pickup design but I am no sound engineer, I'm just going off the sound. After living with it for a week, I still think the MM sweet spot [30.25" from the nut on a 34" scale?] is the best location for the p'up. In every test you'd like to discover something new, or astounding but having what you thought you knew confirmed is very valuable too. Using the Sonum to test p'up locations has confirmed for me that the MM sweet spot works with the Alumatone, which was my hunch. It has also confirmed that I will not need a 250kohm resistor. The p'up sounds awesome wired straight to the jack. I was able to get really good tone with minor EQ adjustments on the 370 head [not so much on the Peavey].
So...onward! :D
Rondo
 
#98
Today the oak fingerboard destined for the prototype was planed down to 3/8", and the truss rod was secured into it's slot with some silicone nastiness. I must admit that I despise silicone caulk in general, but the insurance against rod rattle is more important than my feelings on the matter. ;)

Once my clamps are freed from another glue up the fingerboard will be attached.

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#100
Having gotten almost nothing done this weekend from my list of bass building tasks I am pleased to report that at least I have started working on some of the jigs I need to move forward. This is a 40" long open box I will be using with the radius sanding block I am in the process of finalizing.

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