I've never really listened to Imelda May, that's really good, I shall invest in something by the look of it
Another upright, hardly class but I like the song
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
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I've never really listened to Imelda May, that's really good, I shall invest in something by the look of it
Another upright, hardly class but I like the song
Vinyl is still my preferred format, it has so much going for it when the recording and pressings are good. The hayday was the 70's and early 80's which suits me down to the ground. The quality of new pressings/recordings has got better recently too, some skills are coming back into the industry
Anyone who does play vinyl regularly I strongly recommend a record cleaning machine, it will get every little bit of crap out of those grooves and it will plays as quiet as any CD and with so much more information. I made mine out of an old vacuum motor, some bits of 19mm waste pipe and MDF a 12rpm motor, cosy about £15, value - priceless
We've spent some serious money on hifi but that cleaning machine was the single biggest upgrade bar nonExactly, it's where I first became aware of the bass guitar
The cleaner is a cool idea, how about posting a pic when you get a chance. I'm having a hard time visualizing how it works.Vinyl is still my preferred format, it has so much going for it when the recording and pressings are good. The hayday was the 70's and early 80's which suits me down to the ground. The quality of new pressings/recordings has got better recently too, some skills are coming back into the industry
Anyone who does play vinyl regularly I strongly recommend a record cleaning machine, it will get every little bit of crap out of those grooves and it will plays as quiet as any CD and with so much more information. I made mine out of an old vacuum motor, some bits of 19mm waste pipe and MDF a 12rpm motor, cosy about £15, value - priceless
It's upstairs at the moment and I can't get at it until my foot heals a little but basically it's like this in the video but with an electric motor to turn the record at 12rpm and my vacuum arm just pivots up and down to put it on the record
While I was looking for something I also found this which is an even simpler idea
The cleaning liquid I make myself out of 2/3s distilled (DI) water, 1/3 isopropyl alcohol and 1 or 2 drops of pure detergent per litre
While I was looking for something I also found this which is an even simpler idea
The cleaning liquid I make myself out of 2/3s distilled (DI) water, 1/3 isopropyl alcohol and 1 or 2 drops of pure detergent per litre
Imelda has some great tunes. She's very swing focused with lots of emphasis in the rhythm section (probably comes from her bass guitar background). I enjoy playing her bass lines, but I'd really need to play an upright to do some of her songs justice.
And who doesn't love the Stray Cats! Stray cat strut is a classic.
Something that occurred to me is if we have lost half a pound of weight by removing wood then we could add half a pound of lead strategically at the bottom back of the body to counteract neck dive more effectively than the standard bird
So maybe you can tell I'm bored senseless!
Hows about this for a starting point?
1, Through neck, plain quarter sawn Mahogany, possibly some Walnut stripes as per the Gibson but I'm not sure, maybe Beech or Maple might work better with a darkish finish?
2, Figured quarter sawn Mahogany wings vee jointed into the body
3, Rocklite Ebony fretboard, inlaid with something, blocks, dragons eyes or dragons? Will keep that open for now
4, Trussrod, I've been talking with @JJR58 about this and he suggests a spokewheel adjustment at the heel of the neck rather than a nut in the headstock. It cleans up the headstock and leaves more wood in that weak area.
5, Body shape: Rather than the usual flat body layout we have a heavily curved one, the back of the bass still has the same look but the back of the centre is hollowed out and the wings are angled back and hollowed along their length. The idea is that the body will be lighter as well as sit over the hip. The front of the body will have the centre slightly curved but the wings will be more so, curving backward into your body to give more comfort for your right arm. This then leaves quite a thin bass with a very sinuous neck blending into it
6, Bridge, maybe Hipshot's D type or maybe the Warwick 2 piece
7, Tuners, clover leaf Ultralites or Resolites
8, Pickups, Hmmm, I'm thinking Nordsrand dual coil soapbars or similar, everything I have heard about them seems fantastic, they do some preamps too that I'm going to look into
9, Finish, nitro obviously, colour, we'll see but at least one will have to be red
Lots of details to sort but how does that sound?
1. Good. I imagine a look like the Epiphone Pro IV, with the big stripes of walnut and maple visible. Something along that line anyway.
2. Good. Though I don’t really know what quartersawn is...???
3. Good. I’d be happy with no inlays not even dots. But your Dragon logo on 12 would be cool. IMO it should be your logo unless a purchaser specs something else. An elephant perhaps.
4. No opinion
5. Nah, standard to D-Bird that kind of range. Or a NR.
6. No opinion
7. Light ones yes, but I like the T’Bird style. I think Pbass for cloverleaf. But no biggie.
8. Passive for preference. Consider doing a 1 pickup T’Bird. VT with option to take Tone out of circuit either a toggle switch or that cap that switches out at full T. If 2 pickup, a toggle to take out one of the pups.
9. Red, and either a natural or a trans colour.
Yes, that one. I think @GBassNorth was the one talking about that.I am definitely not qualified to answer this! The BlueBastard was supposed to be my first pickup swappin' job. It ended up being a complete rewire! Folks told me to find a wiring diagram online (sounds simple enough... right?). Well... it took 5 different diagrams (and 5 different wiring jobs) before I found one that actually worked correctly! It was a frustrating and time consuming process for a noob like me!
View attachment 3090988
The blend pot is kinda like 2 stacked volume pots. There's a detent at the center of the sweep range. When you're on the detent, both pickups are on full. As you roll clockwise, the volume decreases on the bridge pup. As you roll counter-clockwise, the volume decreases on the neck pup.
I have never dreamt that!
Pups, them or SD customs or other TBs ???
That is cool. I wish they’d made rear routed Rippers. No pickguard.
I don't suppose many do. Strangely the closest I have found have been the SD QPs I have in my jazz. I only use it on a couple of songs but when I do you know about it, it has a really sinister tone that gets noticed
godofthunder59
Life is short, buy the bass.
- Feb 19, 2006
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Made for a short time. Pretty well done but heavy due to the maple body. P/J set up looks odd but it makes it easy to swap out pickups. I doubt I'd pay almost 600 for it.
If you're going to add weight, might I suggest a wireless transmitter? If you need more weight, add batteries for longer run-time.
That's me with my Casady. Our guitarist keeps saying it's the most aggressive sounding bass he's ever heard!
Let me explain that, I think it's very relevant in guitar making and the understanding of how stable they may be. If I can refer to @GBassNorth's picture (Thanks G) below.
Wood as we all know moves with changes in it's moisture content but it doesn't move equally in all directions. Along it's length it hardly moves at all, it's so insignificant we can forget it. Across the grain though it does move but again not equally, it tends to move most in the direction of the annular rings of the wood rather than across them. We all have seen a plank of wood with the end grain that resembles a semi circle and the plank has cupped badly, that's because the shrinkage was following those lines more than across them if that makes sense.
If we refer to G's photo we can see the outer wings have the annular rings orientated almost directly up and down, this is quarter sawn wood, it has been cut very almost radially from the tree. The major movement in this wood will be in it's thickness, so very small, yes it will move from side to side but not so much; that wood is very stable and is ideal for making things that need to be stable: guitars, furniture etc. The downside of quarter sawn wood is it is very plain, it tends to be just straight lines which is why luthiers use a capping timber. That you can now see has it's own problem in that it moves differently to the wood it is stuck to and can cause cupping or telegraphing at the outer edges or in the worst case scenario it can cause self destruction of the object although the chances are near zero if solid wood is used and the long grain is in the same direction. So what gives with G's expensive bass? well the makers are no idiots, they will have chosen a wood for the capping that moves less than the base wood so they even out more, also the capping isn't full width, only over the wings minimizing any movement differences. That isn't the case for every bass on the market that uses a capping wood but now you can make an extra informed judgement on their quality
See how bloody bored I am??!!
Let me explain that, I think it's very relevant in guitar making and the understanding of how stable they may be. If I can refer to @GBassNorth's picture (Thanks G) below.
Wood as we all know moves with changes in it's moisture content but it doesn't move equally in all directions. Along it's length it hardly moves at all, it's so insignificant we can forget it. Across the grain though it does move but again not equally, it tends to move most in the direction of the annular rings of the wood rather than across them. We all have seen a plank of wood with the end grain that resembles a semi circle and the plank has cupped badly, that's because the shrinkage was following those lines more than across them if that makes sense.
If we refer to G's photo we can see the outer wings have the annular rings orientated almost directly up and down, this is quarter sawn wood, it has been cut very almost radially from the tree. The major movement in this wood will be in it's thickness, so very small, yes it will move from side to side but not so much; that wood is very stable and is ideal for making things that need to be stable: guitars, furniture etc. The downside of quarter sawn wood is it is very plain, it tends to be just straight lines which is why luthiers use a capping timber. That you can now see has it's own problem in that it moves differently to the wood it is stuck to and can cause cupping or telegraphing at the outer edges or in the worst case scenario it can cause self destruction of the object although the chances are near zero if solid wood is used and the long grain is in the same direction. So what gives with G's expensive bass? well the makers are no idiots, they will have chosen a wood for the capping that moves less than the base wood so they even out more, also the capping isn't full width, only over the wings minimizing any movement differences. That isn't the case for every bass on the market that uses a capping wood but now you can make an extra informed judgement on their quality
View attachment 3092071
See how bloody bored I am??!!
Bored with intelligence?, Yeah, you need to get back in the shop.
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No that I bothered to type that pile of ..... SorryBored with intelligence?, Yeah you need to get in the shop.
P/J setup? Where?
That's the new 1 piece P and stealth J
You hit on the head..."so much more information"Vinyl is still my preferred format, it has so much going for it when the recording and pressings are good. The hayday was the 70's and early 80's which suits me down to the ground. The quality of new pressings/recordings has got better recently too, some skills are coming back into the industry
Anyone who does play vinyl regularly I strongly recommend a record cleaning machine, it will get every little bit of crap out of those grooves and it will plays as quiet as any CD and with so much more information. I made mine out of an old vacuum motor, some bits of 19mm waste pipe and MDF a 12rpm motor, cosy about £15, value - priceless
