In reply to 16vCorey :
I'm glad you posted that here, now we can all keep lookout for a beat-up reissue parts bass for you!
In reply to 16vCorey :
I'm glad you posted that here, now we can all keep lookout for a beat-up reissue parts bass for you!
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
I had a lengthy discussion about hide glue with my other luthier friend who I built the blue bass with. Granted that was almost 30-years ago, so don't remember the details, but hide glue also has its own drawbacks to consider too. It seems like it's advantages may outweigh the drawbacks for an acoustic, but I'm not so sure about an electric.
In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :
Awesome score & congrats on getting your old bass back! I can't see enough of the headstock - what is it?
Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
I had a lengthy discussion about hide glue with my other luthier friend who I built the blue bass with. Granted that was almost 30-years ago, so don't remember the details, but hide glue also has its own drawbacks to consider too. It seems like it's advantages may outweigh the drawbacks for an acoustic, but I'm not so sure about an electric.
My 2 cents...the choice of best adhesive is a combination of factoring in materials used, type of instrument, intention of the instrument and scale of production.
Hot Hide glue is crystaline when done correctly and comes apart with applied heat. They can be fussy to work with. Epoxies are great with oily woods. They are a bear to separate after curing. Cyanoacrylates (super glue) are great with bone/plastic to wood joints. Good old elmers (alphatic resin) is a great general purpose glue for relatively open grained woods.
To me, material choices and the accuracy of the parts fitting together is the big win with transfer of vibration/tone.
At the same time, You don't want to use a 5 minute epoxy that doesn't soak in and never gets hard because it would absorb vibration.
If you make the instrument well, you won't need much glue and it will be worked into the grain of each mating piece so the contact is wood to wood....so as long as the adhesive cures hard and tonal, your ears are happy.
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
It's a Cort B4. I bought it used in 2009iirc, never checked production dates. Nothing too special by most counts, but it's got all the good hardware (hip shot tuners, badass bridge, bartolini electrics w/ active 3-band) and the open grain body and rosewood/maple/rosewood neck give it a very earthy tone. It'll likely be a few months before the deal happens and I can post some more detailed shots. It's been burned pretty extensively.
In reply to jh36 :
Thanks for confirming one of my suspicions. There was some initial confusion about the body - I knew I wanted alder, but just presumed it would be a typical 2-piece construction with neck-through. Unfortunately his local wood supplier didn't have any big pieces, so he cut it into strips to glue into a larger slab. Once I realized it, we ordered a blank from Luthier's Mercantile(I think).
In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :
Awesome! I never used to pay much attention to Cort until they released their Jeff Berlin signature bass several years ago. Then I realized they actually make some really nice instruments.
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
They build a bunch of stuff for Ibanez and Squier and others. By most counts though it's not a great company as far as the labor force is concerned, so I can't I'm good conscience recommend anyone buy from them. But I bought mine before I heard any of that, and it's been a part of my musical journey for so long that I'm more than a little attached.
Picked up a Crate GX130c for the princely sum of $30 yesterday.
The shop said it was fading in and out and just wanted it gone. It might be a loose solder joint too put cleaning the effects loop jacks made it work fine for awhile last night.
These are somewhat sought after for death metal tones and really it sounds pretty brutalz. I have another Crate stereo amp so Im not sure it'll stay forever but a hell of a win for $30
I think we've finally figured out the body shape for the bass build.
Pete, that's gonna be awesome. Moar pics!
An old friend came home today.
I was in a bit of a nautical kick when I started burning. First was the compass, then the Caribbean (to scale, from a period map I found online) then I had a friend doodle the birds and ship and I transferred it on. It's not complete in my mind, but I'm in no rush.
The pre-amp is a bit iffy. Not sure if I want a replacement or an upgrade, but for now it plays just fine without the eq.
This is one for the long haul. It's not leaving again.
* edit for a pic of action from 2012 or so.
I got to play my grandfather's vintage Fender Stratocaster that he bought new and watch him play it.
In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :
That's badass!
In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :
That's so cool! What year is it?
FYI I just got an email that Sweetwater is hiring. I don't have any details, but pre-pandemic I know they wanted their employees to relocate to the Fort Wayne, IN area & the few people I've kinda known who worked there seemed to not think it sucked.
So Neil is back to working on my old blue bass. This is the one that's perpetually had too much back-bow since I & another friend completed it around 1997.
He ended up having to saw & chisel the original ebony fretboard off in chunks, which wasn't really surprising. What was surprising is how tweaked the original single-action non-compression truss rod was. Keep in mind, due to the chronic back-bow I'd only kept the truss rod just snug enough to prevent rattling for the last 24 years.
I'd suspected the problem was either the ebony fretboard being too thick(it was almost 3/8") or the maple we used for the neck being too green. Through some sleuthing he determined I was sort of correct. In the 2nd pic you can see that without the fretboard or any tension on the neck it has a bit of back-bow. It had been planed flat when we built it, so it's definitely moved over the years.
I suspected the thickness of the ebony, combined with the different expansion/contraction rates of it vs. the maple was the other problem - and it might have been - but what he figured out is the thickness of the ebony actually placed the truss rod more toward the back of the neck relatively, but it should have been centered between the top of the fretboard & back of the neck.
He's going to remedy that with some spacers before he reassembles it.
Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :
That's so cool! What year is it?
Gramps said that this one is an 80 something Japanese build. His original Stratocaster was a 1958 that he bought from the Ventures when they switched brands. He sold that one in the 90's.
Got a fuzz pedal. Pre-owned but looks totally new, including box and papers. (Yes, lots of dog hair in my setup, too.)
What are people using for matching power tubes on here? I used a set of Sovtek 6l6s for YEARS and they were perfect. My matched Mesas just crapped out after 8 months of light duty. I'm tempted to get Sovteks again unless there is a better solution people are using these days.
In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :
In a pinch I've had decent luck with JJs, Ruby's have been good to me too. I don't know what I had in my old Fender bass head, 300w from 4 tubes somehow. I rode that thing hard for over 2 years and never needed tubes.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
I've heard great things about that pedal.
barefootskater (Shaun) said:In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :
In a pinch I've had decent luck with JJs, Ruby's have been good to me too. I don't know what I had in my old Fender bass head, 300w from 4 tubes somehow. I rode that thing hard for over 2 years and never needed tubes.
I just swung in GC and grabbed a set of Groove Tubes on sale for $20 something. If they are terrible, I swear I'm looking for Sovteks again. Sounded the same or better than my expensive Mesas and lasted 5 times as long.
Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to David S. Wallens :
I've heard great things about that pedal.
Some people love it but I was one of the guys that didn't. Has a million tones, but I didn't like any of them.
Earthbound Supercollider is the best fuzz I've ever played though, grab one if you can find it. I own about 2 dozen others and probably sold about the same
Ok, we're looking for input - does the headstock direction look better in the top pic or bottom one?
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
Bottom
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