Thank you, thank you and all the little people.

[hushnel]

Thanks Brian for bringing my web site to a few more builders. As I mentioned in my “Project Page” building an instrument has been one of the most rewarding efforts of my life. I know that there exists a balance between skill and luck but I have no clue in which proportions can be attributed to the creation of the “Cuban Project”.

I have been fore warned in another forum to not bite off more than I can chew in the next few projects and that is great advice. It seems a natural course to push the bounds of your skill and luck and in many ways I am guilty of this in my next “Ash Project” bass that is on the table now.

Since the first bass I’ve contracted a few jobs with a local music shop and taken the inlay class at MIMF.com (Musical Instrument Makers Forum), a great site that I highly recommend, maybe a little too formal but a great site never the less. This has emboldened me to attempt more in my next project.

My bass building progress will go something like this, if I can stick to my plan.

1. First Bass, carved, routed and finished the body, install neck, all hardware and set up.

2. Second Bass, carve and rout semi hollow body with a carved curly maple top and finish (cherry burst), make and shape neck, make bridge installed with DYI under saddle transducer and make pre-amp/buffer. I want the clean lines of a post traditional type bass with out the distraction of surface mounted pickups. I hope to have designed a logo for this bass and utilize the MOP inlay techniques I learned from the MIMF.

3. Third Bass, much like the one above but incorporating bent sides, center block from neck to tail with carved top and back, a true semi-acoustic.

4. Fourth, I will divert from my path a wee bit here and build a Martin scale flat top acoustic guitar incorporating techniques that I haven’t yet developed in the above projects and working with mahogany sides and back.

By this time I hope to have acquired the skill, tools and technique necessary to start the project that I am aiming for and that is to build archtop bass guitars. I have been disappointed in all the offerings of acoustic basses from major manufactures with the exception of the older Guild ABGs and have come to the understanding that the acoustical properties of the moving top and back of an archtop are superior to the mundane volumes and frequencies of the jumbo or dreadnought style acoustic guitar body used for bass by so many of the modern manufactures.

Anyhow that is the plan.

I know that your site is geared to the building of guitars not bass guitars and I want to thank you for encouraging me to become involved. Both instruments incorporate many if not all of the same skills, tools and techniques and while there are many more guitar players than bass players the low end is here to stay.

The inlay class

[Brian]

No problem Bro...........

One of my all time favorite players, which I have not only had the pleasure of meeting in person but also the pleasure of seeing him play several times just happends to be Chris Squire. That man can walk circles around many a guitar player with his own talents on bass.

Beside's that the differences between building a bass and a guitar are not to many when it get's right down to it!