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Warmoth Gecko Fretless Under Construction
- Thread starter JOME77
- Start date
Joe,
Those look great! Man I think you've found your 2nd career!!
What was the hardest part about putting them together? Was the nut already cut for you or did you have to do that yourself? How much "tweaking" did you have to do in the set up?
Could you build me one too???!!
Those look great! Man I think you've found your 2nd career!!
What was the hardest part about putting them together? Was the nut already cut for you or did you have to do that yourself? How much "tweaking" did you have to do in the set up?
Could you build me one too???!!
Basso Gruvitas said:Joe,
Those look great! Man I think you've found your 2nd career!!
What was the hardest part about putting them together? Was the nut already cut for you or did you have to do that yourself? How much "tweaking" did you have to do in the set up?
Could you build me one too???!!
Thanks John! Actually, installing the neck was the hardest part. Because of finish build up, I had to open up the body neck slot (didn't want to take a chance on chipping the quilt top) and that's always slow and tedious (don't want to remove too much). I did cut the nut but I've probably cut over 1,000 nuts over the last 20+ years so that was no problem. I purchased a block of black corian from Warmoth. It worked out very nice. I've never really enjoy drilling the control holes in the body. I've never had a problem but the possibility of the top splintering is always in the back of my mind! As for the setup, prior to finishing the neck I had to level the fingerboard to remove high spots (I could feel the inlaid fret lines). I also had to remove the neck once during the setup to install a thin shim to get the action down to where I wanted it but other than that the setup went very well. Intonation setup great! The bass really plays in tune well.
The bass sounds amazingly similar to my former Roscoe fretless. I'm sure that I can thank the Bart pups and pre for that! I wish that I could have gotten the diamondwood fingerboard from Warmoth but after 20 coats of polymerized tung oil the ebony FB feels like glass and should be significantly more durable than normal ebony.
You need to keep us posted. I am curious myself about the Gecko's. I was just on the site and am looking very hard at another Warmoth. I am curious how the neck joint feels and works out. It looks like the accessibility would be great.
Great looking bass! We always have a hard time getting figure to show on unfinished bodies in the showcase... do you remember which one it was (the item number)? I probably have a "before" picture of the body lying around here somewhere, and I can post it for comparison, if you like.
And yes, we've been meaning to do a 4-string Gecko for a long time now... just a matter of getting around to the tooling and not having any other projects in the way!
And yes, we've been meaning to do a 4-string Gecko for a long time now... just a matter of getting around to the tooling and not having any other projects in the way!
Great news! Any chance of offering different head stock options to the Gecko line?bwbass said:Great looking bass! We always have a hard time getting figure to show on unfinished bodies in the showcase... do you remember which one it was (the item number)? I probably have a "before" picture of the body lying around here somewhere, and I can post it for comparison, if you like.
And yes, we've been meaning to do a 4-string Gecko for a long time now... just a matter of getting around to the tooling and not having any other projects in the way!
What's truelly annoying is that they won't make a lefty Gecko at all. A lefty gecko would be a great option for us southpaws that don't have the time or $ for boutiquenes. If they did lefties I'd already have 2. Fretted and fretless 5's. ps. that duo is pretty!
bwbass said:
Brian,
The body item number was GB583. I purchased it thinking it was an average or slightly below quilt top. I was amazed at how nice the quilt came out after the first coat of sealer. The quilt laminate on the headstock is equaly as nice!
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Thanks! Here's your "before and after" pictures. Nice job on the finish/assembly!
Thanks! Here's your "before and after" pictures. Nice job on the finish/assembly!
stop with the excuses and get it done already. stop jerking us around for marketing reasons (you do realize that's why right?)bwbass said:Great looking bass! We always have a hard time getting figure to show on unfinished bodies in the showcase... do you remember which one it was (the item number)? I probably have a "before" picture of the body lying around here somewhere, and I can post it for comparison, if you like.
And yes, we've been meaning to do a 4-string Gecko for a long time now... just a matter of getting around to the tooling and not having any other projects in the way!
Nino-Brown said:WOW!!!! That looks beautiful.
I'd like a 4 string Gecko, though.
Yea, me too!!! I'd also like to be able to get a double-neck body, but they said they wouldn't do it...
I don't think it's appropriate to hijack this respectable thread to argue our business philosophy, so I won't.NovusOrdo said:
Suffice to say, this is not the reason. NovusOrdo, you have a PM.
bwbass out.
Brian,
I got the new corian CNC fabricated nut that you setup on my wenge/bubinga/wenge fretted neck for my walnut Gecko. Great job on the design! The slots were cut very evenly the action at the 1st fret required very little tweaking! Super deal for $15.00! I hand cut the nut on the fretless since I wanted the black corian. It's a shame that you can't get the black corian in the required length/size to cut it with the CNC machine.
I got the new corian CNC fabricated nut that you setup on my wenge/bubinga/wenge fretted neck for my walnut Gecko. Great job on the design! The slots were cut very evenly the action at the 1st fret required very little tweaking! Super deal for $15.00! I hand cut the nut on the fretless since I wanted the black corian. It's a shame that you can't get the black corian in the required length/size to cut it with the CNC machine.
i almost bought a gecko not too long ago.
but i really didn't feel like making the switch to 5 strings for it. i'm a jazz bassist who really doesn't have a need for a low B. sometimes i think about getting a 5 string and just stringing it with a high C, but i still wouldn't use it enough to justify sacrificing string spacing and neck shape/width.
maybe i'll get one if they ever make a 4.
but i really didn't feel like making the switch to 5 strings for it. i'm a jazz bassist who really doesn't have a need for a low B. sometimes i think about getting a 5 string and just stringing it with a high C, but i still wouldn't use it enough to justify sacrificing string spacing and neck shape/width.
maybe i'll get one if they ever make a 4.
Actually, it's that the black pigment makes the corian harder to machine. We found this out the first time I tried to cut a black one... it snapped the bit clean off. I could cut black corian if we slowed the machine way down, but then we'd probably have to charge more for it and it wouldn't be such a deal anymore.JOME77 said:Brian,
I got the new corian CNC fabricated nut that you setup on my wenge/bubinga/wenge fretted neck for my walnut Gecko. Great job on the design! The slots were cut very evenly the action at the 1st fret required very little tweaking! Super deal for $15.00! I hand cut the nut on the fretless since I wanted the black corian. It's a shame that you can't get the black corian in the required length/size to cut it with the CNC machine.
Thanks for the compliment, though! These nuts are my great unsung success story... 99% of the people who get them just expected they'd be perfect out of the box anyways and don't think they're anything special. That's great, but if you've cut one yourself before and you stop and think about the fact that we knock these things out accurately all day long on a machine, without even watching it, it's pretty cool.
