Nothing's written in stone yet, don't fret.
The body shape, p'up type and positioning and the scale length are being revised depending on what fretboard I can find.
Amazed to see such negative feedback on an instrument that someone like Stu Hamm endorses- he's a very competent and experienced musician. Never played one meself tho.

Quote :

Also, it doesn't look like you've got a pickup under the 36th fret harmonic. Every bass needs a pickup there!

Not sure where you get this from, it's an urban myth - as soon as you put your finger on a fret, the harmonic nodes of the string will shift anyway, if you position the p'up to hit an open string harmonic then you're more likely to end up getting a booming tone when the open string is struck.

Well I suppose it's a myth, depends on how you look at it. My S/S/S strat has the neck pickup right where the 24th fret would be, so my harmonics do have a stronger ring to them, plus I find it gives a better tone when playing slide (not sliding frets, playing with a slide on your finger)

Don't know a whole lot about the world of bass, but seeing as its the same notes, just an octave down, a pickup under the 36th fret harmonic would probably give similar results...
~Bryan~

Maybe you're right, Al, but my favourite-sounding basses (G&Ls, Stingrays, my Thumb) all have coils right under the 36th fret harmonic. Maybe it's nothing to do with the harmonic - the old Fenders don't seem to be built around it.

Still looking for a suitable fretless five. Still no joy.

BTW: Seems they're building a Stu Hamm bass with a grown-up scale length these days, so maybe that's not so appalling, but I played the original 32" one about ten years ago and it was really nasty. Felt slack and sloppy and weedy like a banjo or something.

New project under way neck-thru body 4-string in maple and walnut.
http://projectguitar.ibforums. ... hp?showtopic=33143&hl=
There is some simply stunning craftsmanship on this forum, I'm always embarrassed to post here but they're generally a very friendly and helpful bunch.

^If your interested, I'll be starting a 'budget build' based on a Les Paul that I will probably photo-log and make a 'tutorial' out of. So far I want some decent mahogany, and some AAA (possible AAAA if I can get any cheap) maple for a thick cap. Add a Mahogany neck (I like it better then maple for weight and sustain, darker tone too) MAYBE some custom inlays, if I feel I want to get creative, not too sure about pickups but they will have coil tapping, and maybe a built in EQ in the circuit.
~Bryan~

Dead interested to see how you get on. Carving a maple top to the LP curves is a tricky business. You're right about the mahogany neck - maple on a Les Paul would be all wrong, it needs to be rich, dark and warm. I'm a big fan of the PRS McCarty wiring for a dual HB guitar, works really well to give 6 versatile tones using a push-pull tone pot to coil tap. Then you just have a 3 way pup switch, master tone and master volume. Very user-friendly in the heat of a gig.
Good luck sourcing your wood - that's one of the toughest parts of the job here in the UK, trying to get good pieces at a reasonable price.

Gettin wood generally isn't an issue in Canada

I'm interested to see how that turns out too. I wish I could understand of word of your post, though, Al. haha

Haha feel free to ask questions about the lingo As for the electronics, I'm thinking of coil tapping, then running them through SEPERATE volume/tone pots, that way I can be chugging allong with the bridge, and have a LOUD neck pickup ready to flip to and jazz-out

Sourcing wood is actually hard around Ontario, easiest way to go is online, but cost more. It took me nearly a month of searching before I found the wood for my Strat
~Bryan~

Doing anything in Ontario is a pain in the rectum. I wish I lived out west

Here's the core laminates glued, levelled and planed, with the neck/head/body profile marked on ready for bandsawing (only I don't have a bandsaw )

Quote from MAGGOT :

Doing anything in Ontario is a pain in the rectum. I wish I lived out west

Yes, but then you'd haffto deal with the horror of...

VANCOUVER DRIVERS!

:o

Looks good though Al, just need to have at 'er with a bandsaw!

Here's some pics of the start of my new neck-thru bass build.
34" scale, 4-string 24-fret with a core of maple and walnut. Wenge fretboard from Simo, wings of the body yet to be decided, but I'll probably end up with walnut. The body shape will be a slightly scaled-down Warmoth Gecko style.
Electrics will be jazz bass or similar pickups using the P-J blend wiring with a simple 3 knobs for master vol, master tone and blend pot from neck to bridge pup.

That's coming together quickly. Nervous at all?

If I had more money I'd commission you to make one for me. It looks like I might be playing bass with my band for quite some time - we can't seem to find a bassist anywhere

Anyone want to build me one of these?

I bet the action's pretty lousy in fretless mode, but who cares - it's too cool for school!

Got the wood for the body wings. They had a 30% off sale on american mahogany plus a couple of planks of Zebrano, so this shows them sandiched together and the rough shape cut out.

The Zebrano will be danish-oil finished - this brings a nice golden lustre to the wood and really brings out the grain.

Body/wings and neck all joined together now. Sanding and shaping continues. Small recess routed for bridge. Another 1/4 cm taken off the neck thickness, body/neck join tidied up.

Wow sure looking good I believe you still owe me a jam session
~Bryan~

Erm, yes. Gone a bit crazy here recently. Debut gig went down a storm, now recruited into a second band - think Green Day/Ramones/Nirvana stuff (also on bass) and have 4 bookings for the next 5 weeks.

Nice one. Bass is looking tidy, Al. I like stripes.

I accidentally bought a 6-string fretless on eBay for £79, to out-do my mate who bought a fretless 5 for £89. I am quietly confident of having the rubbishest bass.

OMG, 6 string fretless?! How many fingers do you posess?
How about this one? http://www.basses-lkah.com/basse-41-remige-r-02607.html

It was cheaper than any four-string I could see! I used to own a six a few years ago, it was nice to have the extra lateral range but I didn't miss it much when I went back to a four. I think the extra strings will be more useful on a fretless though.

I remember the days when having six strings marked you out as a total knob, but you need more for that these days.

Some more shots with the bridge and strap buttons in place. Still have to rout for the pickups of course...

Seriously handsome :up:

Nicely done. Was the fret work a total nightmare?

Why two strap buttons at the back BTW?