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Winter Build-Off 2023: Twin Tigers!!!

#421
Reedt2000 said:
Oooo, what's the zebra wood bass in the back?
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That's the bass that started it all, serial number 00000000001! My dad and I built it together right after I graduated college - it took us two years to finish the thing, I believe it was in early 2001. We had a fairly well-equipped workshop to do general woodworking, but when it came to instruments, we were rookies. We had to buy and learn how to use a bandsaw, drill press, router and a whole bunch of other stuff - all tested out during the construction a full-size pine prototype that I still have in the workshop. Once we felt confident enough, we got started on the real thing.

Interestingly that zebrawood bass from 23 years ago is the first of four iterations of the same basic body shape that I'm still using today, with refinements made to it over the years. Philosophically, the ergonomic characteristics (led by the extended upper bout to eliminate neck dive) have remained constant. And an amazing family heirloom! My dad still compares everything I've built since to that #1.
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#424
Reedt2000 said:
Very cool, I like the grain orientation. Current design is definitely a bit more refined, but that upper horn is pretty striking, it's gotta a Warwick fortress vibe.
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Funny you should mention that, a friend in college had a Warwick Fortress and it was one of the first non-Fender style instruments I remember playing. I dug the balance and ergonomics, but the vaguely...phallic(?) upper horn of most Warwicks always struck me as kind of odd. So I tried to adapt the one Warwick design I did like - the Dolphin - along with what a few other high-end builders of the era were doing (chiefly Mike Pedulla, Mike Tobias, Ken Smith) into a unique design. And now, the evolution is still reminiscent of those instruments while sharing characteristics with MTD, Alembic, Fodera and FBass. A greatest hits of my favorite builders.

The grain orientation was the magic moment on that bass...I remember it clearly. We made MDF cutout templates for the left and right body wings and had positioned them along the edge of the board, with the grain running in the typical vertical direction like you see on most every zebrawood instrument. The zebra slab was on the floor in my dad's office with the MDF on top of it - and while walking back into the room, one of us accidently knocked the template about 30 degrees from center, aligning perfectly with the sweep of the upper horn. We both looked at each other and knew that HAD to be the final layout!
 
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#428
Just in from THG, the flame maple pickups covers for the tiger bass are on the CNC right now…

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I'd love to be able to make these in-house but haven't found a way to do it safely without a CNC machine. I've made them the old way before, creating thin-walled boxes around pickups, but was never fully satisfied with the outcomes.
 
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#435
Lonnybass said:
Sounds like I'm going to be arranging a conference call for you with my wife! Cause that's a situation I am NOT going to win on my own! :)
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Me neither my man, me neither. :roflmao:

Before we switched to direct deposit here at work, I always rounded off my paycheck when depositing and kept the rest as "lunch money". I always rounded it off fairly close, so never like "I'll round this off to the nearest hundred" or anything stupid like that. A man has to know his limits. :roflmao: It usually equated to a spare $14 or so, depending on where I was along the pay increase scale and so on, never more than $20. After many months, I'd have enough saved up to buy a cheap used bass, that's how I got most of the basses I own, things like my Ibanez SR300, the LTD F104 and so on, both of which I paid $80 each for.
Then the company switched to direct deposit. And while it has it's merits, no more "lunch money". :meh:
 
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#436
TerribleTim68 said:
Me neither my man, me neither. :roflmao:

Before we switched to direct deposit here at work, I always rounded off my paycheck when depositing and kept the rest as "lunch money". I always rounded it off fairly close, so never like "I'll round this off to the nearest hundred" or anything stupid like that. A man has to know his limits. :roflmao: It usually equated to a spare $14 or so, depending on where I was along the pay increase scale and so on, never more than $20. After many months, I'd have enough saved up to buy a cheap used bass, that's how I got most of the basses I own, things like my Ibanez SR300, the LTD F104 and so on, both of which I paid $80 each for.
Then the company switched to direct deposit. And while it has it's merits, no more "lunch money". :meh:
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You guys are amateurs. Cash back when grocery shopping, baby. Much, much faster way to raise spending cash. :roflmao:
 
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#439
TerribleTim68 said:
But she's always standing right next to me when grocery shopping. :eek:
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See that's why you gotta work it into becoming a task that's only done 'on the way home from work'. It makes a long day longer, but then there's a cash reward. ;)

"Y'know, I was thinking, it's a waste of weekend time to spend it grocery shopping. I think I'll pop into <insert store name> on the way home from work on <insert day of week>'s and get it out of the way. We could make a list the night before and you could text me anything else you think I should pick up on the day. I'm happy to do this for the family honey; it will just mean more 'me time' for you." :D
 
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