Wademeister

Well not quite right I guess. Maybe straighten the top hook to match the bottom. Pretty close, hah.

Hey, I researched the Hiscock book last night and found that there is another book with a simliar title but a different author. Went and checked it out but ended up not buying that one. I did an online search of all Border's bookstores in my area, but none of the dozen or so I checked had it in stock. I also called Barnes and Noble and they checked all the local stores with the same result. Just go ahead and order this book if you want it, it seems to not be popular enough for the big stores to keep on their shelves.

Very cool xafier, I especially like the finish you have there. Very dynamic! I would suggest a small change on the body shape though. I would round off the top horn outside into one nice sweeping curve. I think that would enhance the already good looks of your guitar, and you will thank me later if you sit to play much. I can tell you from my mockinbird experience that the top corner will hit you in the ribs. At the very least, you'lll want to put a nice back contour on that corner. I'm thinking something more like the Guild X-79 shape on the outside of the top hook, and just angle the inside down a tiny bit to maintain the nice taper you have.

Perfect! Thanks StonesCreed. just to make use of the new pic hosting... Here's a better pic of the 'bird And one of the back, why not?

As for scale length influencing tone, this is an interesting read. Novax Guitars techinical info And as for spruce bodies, aren't the higher model Parker Fly guitars made from spruce? I tried one one time and really liked it. Not sure how it wood have sounded ( I hadda do it) on my amp at home, but it sure was great in the store.

Thanks Johnson and Jehle, I'll run out to see if Barnes and Noble has that book right now! If not I suppose Amazon.com? Or is there a better source you may know of for that one? I was checking out the black mesquite today and was surprised at just how hard that stuff is. About the same as the hardrock maple but looks a lot nicer. I think laminated with the maple it will make a great combination for tone and appearance. Hey, you know balsa is a hardwood right? Next question. Simple one though. What's your favorite free pic hosting site? I tried the free Yahoo! one and hated that. I'm going to need to get something decent. I maight even have to *GULP* pay for it.

Thanks Xafier, Do you have any pics of your project posted? I'd like to see more first timers too. Good luck with it, I look forward to see what you have goig on. And for good measure, let me say...HELP! edit-well duhuhuh...let me also say nice to meet you guys!

Thanks Greg, Looks like nobody has any answers around here. Huh. Ok well I guess I'll pioneer this one then. I'll post progress pics and findings as I go if anyone is interested. When is this board most active, weekdays or weekends? Have I just come in at a slow time? Still very much open to suggestions, tips or words of wisdom.

Hey basey, If you wouldn't mind, could you take that bass out on a live show and post what it sounds like with the band and house sound and all? Thanks dude! Seriously though, that was very cool of you to put up all those recordings, I really appreciate that. I may have to reconsider which direction I'm going to head yet again. I somewhat agree with some of the negatives I had heard about the lightwave sound, but it's not as harsh as I had expected. The piezo does highlight the finger noise quite a lot though as I had read, and is more like what I was expecting to hear. I'm with Jivin on the styling. I don't care for the attached horn look, but that's the latest thing and is very popular among high end basses. Yours definately appears to be high end too, wonderful construction and finish on her. I hope to do mine nearly as well as that.

Hey BlackHawk2025, I wouldn't suggest it really. If you don't have a milling machine handy you are looking at a whole lot of sweat going into your nicely rusting hardware. But then you can get it plated when you're done, if you've done a wonderful job and want to preserve it. The plating will cost more than a new bridge though. Not trying to discourage you in the least, but I wouldn't tackle that project myself and I run a full machine shop. Some things just aren't very practical. If you have a super slick design and are burning to build it, try to get a piece of brass instead. It will be about a fourth as much work as the steel one and it won't rust on you.

Have you played that bass yet? How do you like the lightwaves? I read up a ton and pretty mcu decided I didn't want them for my project because they don't sound like what I'm used to hearing. Most of the articles were pretty old though, so the system may have improved. And as far as $400.00 is concerned, sounds like a good deal when you consider buying a nice bridge, pair of nice pickups and a decent preamp for the same or more anyway. None of them looks as nice as the lightwave IMO. Nice job on your bass Mr Basey!

Searching around I just discovered your place here. Looks very nice. I've been reading through the tutorials and stuff and will search for specific things so please don't think I'm being lazy, I just have a lot of ground to cover. I'm planning a fretless 5 string project and have most of my stuff rounded up. Still haven't decided on the body shape or woods, but I'll come up with something soon. Maybe I'll shoot some ideas by you guys to get some opinions later. So I'm planning out this bass.. I got some very nice stuff from Thelumberlady or Yumahardwoods, whatever her business is actually called. Anyway, I'm happy with what I got although my choices may not have been the best. So some input would be great if you don't mind. I bought one board each of hardrock maple and black mesquite that are both 1-7/8 x 4 x 40 for laminating the neck, and one 3/8 x 3-1/2 x 30 lignum vitae for the fingerboard. Well the mesquite I thought was a great idea because it's supposed to be very stable, but it doesn't ring a whole lot when I hold it up and knock on it. It's not dead, but it has a much lower pitch than the maple and doesn't ring out as loud or clear. Also, the lignum will hardly ring at all. It may be that it's the thinness and length of the piece, but I'm concerned that the stuff may just be a dampening material despite its hardness. So maybe that's why I haven't seen a lot of lignum fingerboards? I just don't know. It's relatively easy to find info about why stuff is done the way it is, not so easy to find why not! So first question I have is: have I got a bad combination of woods? I know each guitar is going to have it's own character, and I like that aspect of building, but I don't want its character to be dead or confused either. Next question I have is about books. What construction book might be most interesting to a neckthru fretless 5 string bass builder wannabe? (Me and Rugman, lol) I have some idea of what's going on, and I have the trussrod and tuners already from LMII. I also have an Ibanez EDB 690 bass that will be my pickup and electronics donor. Whoops, next question. Doh. Ok the donor bass is a 4 string and I'm going to build a 5. Ibanez' website shows different pickups for the 4 and 5 string models, but I can't find the difference. The outside of the pickup measures the same on both my Ibanez 4 string and 5 strings. I even took some steel filings and sealed them in a plastic bag and layed on the pickup to check the polepieces under the cover. They're both blade shaped and measure the same length! I don't understand why Ibanez would bother using different pickups unless there is a frequency sensitivity difference or something? Even if that's the case, wouldn't a more treble oriented pickup be well suited for a fretless 5 string with flatwounds? So much for simple introductions, haha! Here are some pics of my existing basses and the one guitar I built. The guitar is from a Carvin neck and electronics, Kahler trem, hardrock maple body and quilted mahogany veneer. I built it in 1981-1984 I think. Had the carved body rolling around the trunk of my car for a few months while I was saving up for that neck. Crazy high school kids, I tell ya. My bass stuff and some more text from Guitar.com My heavy duty mockingird