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What bass builds do you have planned ?
- Thread starter Dark Horse
- Start date
A few months ago I picked up an Allen Eden 32" neck with a rosewood board and pearl blocks, mainly because it was cheap. Standard Fender heel specs, 17mm tuner holes, pretty nice neck for the price.
Initially I thought I'd find a J or P body, move the bridge and make medium scale Jazz or Precision. Lately, I've been thinking about putting it on a Squier Jag H body (same scale length) from The Stratosphere, and replace the stock humbucker with a EMG Geezer P.
But yeah, I've got to do something with it.
Initially I thought I'd find a J or P body, move the bridge and make medium scale Jazz or Precision. Lately, I've been thinking about putting it on a Squier Jag H body (same scale length) from The Stratosphere, and replace the stock humbucker with a EMG Geezer P.
But yeah, I've got to do something with it.
Well...
Just one more bass. Honest! I swear.... Because the only 32" scale bass I own is pretty much a One Trick Pony, I decided to have Jake Serek build me another Sacramento bass (the one I have is 30" scale). The medium scale bass I have is a beautifully made Canadian one; a '93 Fury Anthem lined fretless. Feels and plays like a dream, but the thing was built to a) emulate an upright bass as closely as possible; and 2) to do it with tape wound strings. I put flats on it when I got it, and... I hope to Gawd I NEVER hear the noises it made, ever again - in this or any other lifetime... With a set of Roto TruBass 88 tapes? It's actually kind of creepy, how much it sounds like an upright... But, that's pretty much all it sounds like. So...
I'm having a 32" scale, lined fretless Sacramento made for me. We are currently discussing if it's possible to squeeze active electronics into the Sacramento's small, 1" thick body; and, if so - what kind. Won't break my heart if he can't reasonably do it; I'll just get a nice pre-amp pedal instead. But, we have about a year to decide for sure, so... we'll see. This one will make 31 basses in my herd, and... NO MORE!!
I fall short of building but love modifying and swapping parts - just wrapped this one up this week - new electronics and a Novak H-22 gold foil. That pickup is super powerful hot and sounds great with La Bellas. Had to shim the neck a bit to get the string clearance over the pickup and was not expecting the braided wire so I had some work to figure out the best way to keep it from shorting out in the control cavity and had to create an opening in the stock pickguard to feel the pickup wire and miss the tiny rivets on the bottom of the pickup si it would sit flat but all in all a great learning experience!
Well...
Just one more bass. Honest! I swear.... Because the only 32" scale bass I own is pretty much a One Trick Pony, I decided to have Jake Serek build me another Sacramento bass (the one I have is 30" scale). The medium scale bass I have is a beautifully made Canadian one; a '93 Fury Anthem lined fretless. Feels and plays like a dream, but the thing was built to a) emulate an upright bass as closely as possible; and 2) to do it with tape wound strings. I put flats on it when I got it, and... I hope to Gawd I NEVER hear the noises it made, ever again - in this or any other lifetime... With a set of Roto TruBass 88 tapes? It's actually kind of creepy, how much it sounds like an upright... But, that's pretty much all it sounds like. So...
I'm having a 32" scale, lined fretless Sacramento made for me. We are currently discussing if it's possible to squeeze active electronics into the Sacramento's small, 1" thick body; and, if so - what kind. Won't break my heart if he can't reasonably do it; I'll just get a nice pre-amp pedal instead. But, we have about a year to decide for sure, so... we'll see. This one will make 31 basses in my herd, and... NO MORE!!
I LOVE when basses "lean into" that upright sound. My old Dano gets a nice "halfway" sound, but I have plans to make a fretless with piezo and preamp, and using tapewounds.
On my second custom Bordwell build, same top as @LowWay but a very different build. Excited to see them get built together.
BassHappy
Supporting Member
Well, nothing is written in stone yet, but I am hoping to get another batch of 4-6 of my RockHill basses underway later this summer. Still doing a bit of R&D on the bridges and the electronics for the new batch. Plus life got in the way, as in - my band got back together
(www.happytheman.com) and I was nominated to be the chief assembler/Mixer/Mastering guy. Kind of a dream come true for me, and I would be lying if I said that it hasn't kept me intermittently very busy. I also managed to find the time to write a book and a software program.
Having a ball working away on my wife's new CD too, (www.leahwaybright.com) which is always a gas and a thrill because I get to do bass, drums, orchestration and percussion, in addition to producing, mixing and mastering.
But back to the basses: My friend Greg banging around on the RockHill tiger eye chamber bass:
And here I am mr. old guy with the black cherry burst chamber bass:
So here are the early Illustrator mock-ups of what could be the next four, but of course, subject to change. Playing around with the idea of the retro "fins" on the body and also made the new ones cutaway to it's easier to play in the upper registers, and yes, I do that.
The walnut on the bottom is from Leah's farm in Gettysburg and is over 100 years old. I have another billet from the same barn, which I haven't sliced open yet to see what goodies might be waiting there for me. Also experimenting with a new rosewood bridge design:
Thinking about sort of a Native American Southwestern feel on the first one above. The billet was thick enough that I have a top and a back with my conventional Honduras mahogany core. Also thinking of set necks on these, rather than bolt-ons.
I really, really enjoy the process of designing and building basses, and I really hope I can find the time to get back to it soon!
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I've got a fenderbird that I will probably start in a couple weeks that I'm pretty excited about.. modded a epi bird I had in high school but it was never perfect.. so this will be a tasteful recreation of a couple basses I've had and some ideas that have kicked around.. I'm really excited though! And I got a BEAUTIFUL one piece mahogany blank that is going to be awesome!! With a roasted maple neck!! I'm getting more stoked the more I think about it!!
I've got a few other projects in the works but I'm trying to keep it one at a time!
I've got a few other projects in the works but I'm trying to keep it one at a time!
Man, thanks for starting this thread!
I mainly want to try making a slab body out of construction wood, and popping in a prewired guard and a Peavey neck I have sitting around. I also have a spare badass bridge.
I mainly want to try making a slab body out of construction wood, and popping in a prewired guard and a Peavey neck I have sitting around. I also have a spare badass bridge.
