tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76568404855365933552024-03-13T08:33:45.173-07:00Bass Guitars and ChocolateThe little things that make (my) life worth living.Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-1123656952596304752022-11-03T21:19:00.004-07:002022-11-03T21:20:44.147-07:00<p><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #ffa400;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Voormann Jazz Bass 2022</span></span><br /></b></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiucXRERR567nYmqwrUZ44xK7WtOmaudqouY2t688iMFiJ7q_GBefGURIRxcA1Fcubr289kPeOHteZHJeKI3sTrriqrOPg2rQX7V4N2ewQ7yY1h5VNEuhs1azc0OO0PWkvegBQYOHKLBUq7DGTadnI-SU0-OzAI1P_NOiNQpaBWQRtowsoA7GeD4fV1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiucXRERR567nYmqwrUZ44xK7WtOmaudqouY2t688iMFiJ7q_GBefGURIRxcA1Fcubr289kPeOHteZHJeKI3sTrriqrOPg2rQX7V4N2ewQ7yY1h5VNEuhs1azc0OO0PWkvegBQYOHKLBUq7DGTadnI-SU0-OzAI1P_NOiNQpaBWQRtowsoA7GeD4fV1=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto"></span></p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Klaus Voormann’s hand painted Precision Bass was the inspiration for this Jazz Bass.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj21ChisBHcTUl6_0CbFi2wSHfltlvrKUmEUoHdZzLkw5pv_Ik5uzhcUasJlsYGQgdYhOdvOWeVUhJBW-XegBCfCHjmJeBq2NoKNB0iiFwD2FFWxqLMjYXdt8CP_QsqLSk64ZlrEuy_KOd0CFqbn32PnW8seJy9tcRNrhybpMPCA1WXLOvX20LeuPsz" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj21ChisBHcTUl6_0CbFi2wSHfltlvrKUmEUoHdZzLkw5pv_Ik5uzhcUasJlsYGQgdYhOdvOWeVUhJBW-XegBCfCHjmJeBq2NoKNB0iiFwD2FFWxqLMjYXdt8CP_QsqLSk64ZlrEuy_KOd0CFqbn32PnW8seJy9tcRNrhybpMPCA1WXLOvX20LeuPsz" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1057" data-original-width="744" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj21ChisBHcTUl6_0CbFi2wSHfltlvrKUmEUoHdZzLkw5pv_Ik5uzhcUasJlsYGQgdYhOdvOWeVUhJBW-XegBCfCHjmJeBq2NoKNB0iiFwD2FFWxqLMjYXdt8CP_QsqLSk64ZlrEuy_KOd0CFqbn32PnW8seJy9tcRNrhybpMPCA1WXLOvX20LeuPsz=w282-h400" width="282" /></a></div> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">The neck was a heavily worked over Chinese-made aftermarket jazz neck that, even after getting it to feel and look “like butter,” wasn’t quite the match with what was my BLUBOY Jazz (a heavily relic’d light blue bass that did find the right neck). The body was a blem alder badly-relic’d Seafoam/Surf green from <span><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv x1qq9wsj xo1l8bm" href="https://www.facebook.com/AllenEdenGuitars?__cft__[0]=AZUSkFTDYVicm5byusaty4ZlC4Y68I3R1uR1-3qx06soRhrhMEUg8jpTrbqhdyqDI5d71oxfNJ-1bv0L9OqJBxX0Zeh_D_Ltxhrteh7E7IgtjyDhqY3heKyQ13QSi1Fxhw5CV5jMXFWPkjDFZu4bMPYN&__tn__=-]K-R" role="link" tabindex="0"><span class="xt0psk2"><span>Allen Eden Guitars</span></span></a></span>. Their wood is always great, so I ordered the discounted body, slapped this neck on it with a set of Custom Shop Fender Jazz Bass pickups, and it actually sounded and played great. </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8_uzlMxqURzmH8pOVVabQZTqYA5deWKTi5-nx9yOUZnDsWjcrRbj96rhqxoj2NhYgZNqKvJV8Qntziu4luCM3fo67jZ54Kco_PA2bYRyd5QdvPM-fAslNRzjvop1WMSYnQpiJy6BWUbLx4dWFu1i3YJ1SDVz-USTd7GULjwmhYMhqk6I3qQX3dQAN" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8_uzlMxqURzmH8pOVVabQZTqYA5deWKTi5-nx9yOUZnDsWjcrRbj96rhqxoj2NhYgZNqKvJV8Qntziu4luCM3fo67jZ54Kco_PA2bYRyd5QdvPM-fAslNRzjvop1WMSYnQpiJy6BWUbLx4dWFu1i3YJ1SDVz-USTd7GULjwmhYMhqk6I3qQX3dQAN" width="180" /></a></div>But I just couldn’t live with the color, nor the bad scratch job inflicted on it to cheaply relic it. I still had an admiration for bassist/artist Klaus Voormann’s famous self-painted Precision Bass, and even built and painted a personalized version of a similar Precision last year, inspired by a Facebook post of someone else’s hand painted 60’s bass with King Crimson’s sun face - mine has The Mayor himself, HR PUFNSTUFF. </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigm7US9vP5Nv8VMuEOzNTnUcdD-0Dz90mpYV8_YlIannCLO2ieCnjcaEDkmaic1k0S3qdsseq0YNczGfYOyvfShT6UScvv6ZKmELqrPl_m9UC2W89qiSBjOw-MIYFx9jfKTgl_pHswCQiSmK5gFIK70byhlWsdt25T0jm4Yz3iAeZTbdK_jN4eY4du" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigm7US9vP5Nv8VMuEOzNTnUcdD-0Dz90mpYV8_YlIannCLO2ieCnjcaEDkmaic1k0S3qdsseq0YNczGfYOyvfShT6UScvv6ZKmELqrPl_m9UC2W89qiSBjOw-MIYFx9jfKTgl_pHswCQiSmK5gFIK70byhlWsdt25T0jm4Yz3iAeZTbdK_jN4eY4du=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">With another great playing and sounding bass that badly needed a reface, I decided to research Klaus’ design a bit more. On the entire internet I could only find 3 photos: a small B/W shot of him playing it, a good color one of him holding it (but with his right hand covering part of it), and a more contemporary photo with most of the painted design worn off from years of playing (I’m guessing he didn’t seal it). His was an Ash P, but whatevs. </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvovHB1iHKmtpB7vxpOQxtvubZdCUe5tgDt58a2uvhqXVsq_QOaqHoUsS4V8lkrwVfVSdZaFQploWXe9_Bf5Xs087N6ce4mJ_uABDyyTEKTP_sTYQyf04Mp1HdAfS6xyeWpFf-B52fYLcbaILMWIgFTOKPqOEaq86FTulIO6vrywKbqZnHgejW3fNT" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="448" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvovHB1iHKmtpB7vxpOQxtvubZdCUe5tgDt58a2uvhqXVsq_QOaqHoUsS4V8lkrwVfVSdZaFQploWXe9_Bf5Xs087N6ce4mJ_uABDyyTEKTP_sTYQyf04Mp1HdAfS6xyeWpFf-B52fYLcbaILMWIgFTOKPqOEaq86FTulIO6vrywKbqZnHgejW3fNT=w400-h268" width="400" /></a></div>My version, an Alder Jazz, copies his design as much as possible, with some adjustment for the different geometry and pickguard design, plus making up the mystery bits while maintaining his style. With a can of clear satin enamel over the acrylic design to hopefully help it not wear off (and I will admittedly never play this one bass as much nor as long as Klaus obviously played his) I now have a very pretty jazz bass with a very full and bright sound (with <span><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv x1qq9wsj xo1l8bm" href="https://www.facebook.com/LaBellaMusicStrings/?__cft__[0]=AZUSkFTDYVicm5byusaty4ZlC4Y68I3R1uR1-3qx06soRhrhMEUg8jpTrbqhdyqDI5d71oxfNJ-1bv0L9OqJBxX0Zeh_D_Ltxhrteh7E7IgtjyDhqY3heKyQ13QSi1Fxhw5CV5jMXFWPkjDFZu4bMPYN&__tn__=kK-R" role="link" tabindex="0"><span class="xt0psk2"><span>La Bella Strings</span></span></a></span> stainless roundwounds, although I’m sure Klaus used flats along with the foam under the strings at the bridge to cut the high end and give it more thump).<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgeEQDUjXnd1jK4MOEUfBd0hprP3J7IpyswFBNGn_I47m-APbGK5tjEOp0WXoNQC94vWUqAcR29oWAzpkrs5qVUbe-b9zh0m_8dAj1ip5oooW7Zf0VHbfOddk-uzw_8YJTeXIJUYso-6stJnWcQuQkTlqyLtZ21v2e48SYjHzEzltpDQ9kEoIzi0dAr" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgeEQDUjXnd1jK4MOEUfBd0hprP3J7IpyswFBNGn_I47m-APbGK5tjEOp0WXoNQC94vWUqAcR29oWAzpkrs5qVUbe-b9zh0m_8dAj1ip5oooW7Zf0VHbfOddk-uzw_8YJTeXIJUYso-6stJnWcQuQkTlqyLtZ21v2e48SYjHzEzltpDQ9kEoIzi0dAr=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div></div></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyEQigPXGRVfrUX48HGUpg2IVX5GxEmo7UY1z12pFQO5ruEW8yo5jAJcsyF2CS7-oDdwsVDncUwJDuoBtxN3rCORiiaJFopmIgySvGcrPMDHynBUQJTcpp1YqpMhU2HRbBILufciiQ9HC-6HYE_Wb_j2pmWSFhlAeq-ighNZMVw5JzuQ36ZEntRz7z" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyEQigPXGRVfrUX48HGUpg2IVX5GxEmo7UY1z12pFQO5ruEW8yo5jAJcsyF2CS7-oDdwsVDncUwJDuoBtxN3rCORiiaJFopmIgySvGcrPMDHynBUQJTcpp1YqpMhU2HRbBILufciiQ9HC-6HYE_Wb_j2pmWSFhlAeq-ighNZMVw5JzuQ36ZEntRz7z=w300-h400" width="300" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglCXg3JXdpakKaLRIX8kXIpYI8lp0G0gaEtc2A408q9iNaYyEhtmAh6zjuab_c3S3gN08RE31tzQ0ZaC1ekIyFda6LRgkazCGi0oWqdcRsjuqTaLu5cY32FwsUEnvrv2f8fAZqbAwAx-TY_EvU7IxCabjbQPT5aPrWIeZdjkwKxI30xP8je2SJcrKn" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglCXg3JXdpakKaLRIX8kXIpYI8lp0G0gaEtc2A408q9iNaYyEhtmAh6zjuab_c3S3gN08RE31tzQ0ZaC1ekIyFda6LRgkazCGi0oWqdcRsjuqTaLu5cY32FwsUEnvrv2f8fAZqbAwAx-TY_EvU7IxCabjbQPT5aPrWIeZdjkwKxI30xP8je2SJcrKn" width="180" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmDbTgyk-8WZE8Rm0fRWq0y-3jI_lynD4gsKJ0sq_7yOxEnRwBXWUjceZ4qv6km2_gm0tzM7EGr-D94NAY2lL1e_gM63sWDxjfVfg8Ofn8uQmf651evOeXw_b693iZrUZ_0rw--nynzYWWgSbDqrNh15DE9I55xPeE8mUlMqCFu5goUOtxmWz-T-5E" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmDbTgyk-8WZE8Rm0fRWq0y-3jI_lynD4gsKJ0sq_7yOxEnRwBXWUjceZ4qv6km2_gm0tzM7EGr-D94NAY2lL1e_gM63sWDxjfVfg8Ofn8uQmf651evOeXw_b693iZrUZ_0rw--nynzYWWgSbDqrNh15DE9I55xPeE8mUlMqCFu5goUOtxmWz-T-5E" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8Aa4o8uuwpps_3Afxbh9eF-PLIRbcmLCOt2-uo_lq0XyGB_No7JnO3MaDNPsVniWC_zivrtuf4ZgSiHGgpouh-sE-fz68QcT84FEGUyLyzn8_1JFQKZoAi4ibu3MbA5SJ2Uwu_1FcMnZRifgzyQhJPVAIo-Pyj5f5hVha4g1g9bDNxh34g8-4QWX1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8Aa4o8uuwpps_3Afxbh9eF-PLIRbcmLCOt2-uo_lq0XyGB_No7JnO3MaDNPsVniWC_zivrtuf4ZgSiHGgpouh-sE-fz68QcT84FEGUyLyzn8_1JFQKZoAi4ibu3MbA5SJ2Uwu_1FcMnZRifgzyQhJPVAIo-Pyj5f5hVha4g1g9bDNxh34g8-4QWX1" width="180" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzEa_iA-CU1TdLmt4UYCsHMuYIDLC6J3X44t9K5BGZZEoDkfnvH91Nd50u9Mspc3WYGj8J5wdNQHYGltDBwkwzgLmCZ8ukk1cHQHFG3nHPtYmKfXv0V6tc5yZP8AO0Unq8WBmrLioMPEfye-i0aYztm3LQNuBbGg32az8tYIobjIu4GkwNE_zLfXKN" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzEa_iA-CU1TdLmt4UYCsHMuYIDLC6J3X44t9K5BGZZEoDkfnvH91Nd50u9Mspc3WYGj8J5wdNQHYGltDBwkwzgLmCZ8ukk1cHQHFG3nHPtYmKfXv0V6tc5yZP8AO0Unq8WBmrLioMPEfye-i0aYztm3LQNuBbGg32az8tYIobjIu4GkwNE_zLfXKN" width="180" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4Me1n08P3-Vf_QXy63sq4M4LBZtWpvFDmqMtXJn0UXakirICBeioiu_mFRQTKYTvk4LG3Hb0qI_kyX6nyZYXZVNVD61mQi3m4GPIjTpEvjImaYmDMXNrmlmA7j1cdTKqc47FRq7cnn4xq7IOkQwSgj9HAXMSKgwfOBrgMLan0h6MPwuGET9h5hV-T" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4Me1n08P3-Vf_QXy63sq4M4LBZtWpvFDmqMtXJn0UXakirICBeioiu_mFRQTKYTvk4LG3Hb0qI_kyX6nyZYXZVNVD61mQi3m4GPIjTpEvjImaYmDMXNrmlmA7j1cdTKqc47FRq7cnn4xq7IOkQwSgj9HAXMSKgwfOBrgMLan0h6MPwuGET9h5hV-T" width="180" /></a></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwnjWmbaIwnjGRG0ysZOglOR3-BaikqbiUK5HCuInCvQaFM0Vk-ovwu3lRd0QxCNTN6DyaSlkM_l8JpWAi4soKssQXF_Sm8sSQatFYYQTKKQwTSmsmghsXZe906-eZdV83kpjpbClMYfpL1_WooXqkRu06PvIUqmLJ5ByD9PKx6Ev_ZRtLGmGtafOW" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwnjWmbaIwnjGRG0ysZOglOR3-BaikqbiUK5HCuInCvQaFM0Vk-ovwu3lRd0QxCNTN6DyaSlkM_l8JpWAi4soKssQXF_Sm8sSQatFYYQTKKQwTSmsmghsXZe906-eZdV83kpjpbClMYfpL1_WooXqkRu06PvIUqmLJ5ByD9PKx6Ev_ZRtLGmGtafOW" width="180" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Of course, since "finishing" this bass, I realize I have a photo that shows the back with the additional painting work, so I still might break out the paints for a touch up.<br /> </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2Ophs-MduVP4hC8F8FcFyKTl1z1jRkU186sNUjLlG6gQS5Lf_Q9pUU-b6IUDI14z8BaHMavlZiLP0zg5sKYZcga0AmuxUZOeuHJrr1y_dJZ1_REOrppcTucgy3-_QSPNlP2p9Pb8UpL8d5Vd19Q3jUoo0nl0C2NfvLq5J_9yrxqtA2qhA6jVoCHuw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="1300" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2Ophs-MduVP4hC8F8FcFyKTl1z1jRkU186sNUjLlG6gQS5Lf_Q9pUU-b6IUDI14z8BaHMavlZiLP0zg5sKYZcga0AmuxUZOeuHJrr1y_dJZ1_REOrppcTucgy3-_QSPNlP2p9Pb8UpL8d5Vd19Q3jUoo0nl0C2NfvLq5J_9yrxqtA2qhA6jVoCHuw=w640-h192" width="640" /></a></div><p></p>Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-65706760418113769462020-12-31T18:48:00.001-08:002020-12-31T18:48:05.674-08:002020 COVID BABIES<p><i>If you can't play with the ones you want, build the ones you're with.</i><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa fgxwclzu a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"></span></p><div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">[NOTE: I built a total of 9 finished basses in 2020, but have been posting over on Facebook much more than here. Here's a year-end summary of my personal bass projects - individual postings and videos on each of these builds can be found at https://www.facebook.com/johnpauljoelpelletier/ ]</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GGG4GI9UKDQ/X-6KhCwTW-I/AAAAAAAABFs/mIs5EXmtrOAGUne10zv3wMEVHX-mfAIbQCLcBGAsYHQ/COVIDbabies.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GGG4GI9UKDQ/X-6KhCwTW-I/AAAAAAAABFs/mIs5EXmtrOAGUne10zv3wMEVHX-mfAIbQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/COVIDbabies.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><i></i></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><i><br /></i></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><i><br /></i></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><i><br /></i></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br /><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa fgxwclzu a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Well, it's finally over (unfortunately not the pandemic, but most definitely the calendar year). If you're the clever, crafty muso type like myself, the inevitable result of being bored because you're not touring and performing is to end up involving yourself in many "projects." In my case (as one does), making more basses. In fairness, I actually unloaded 3 basses this year, but even I will admit that this probably does not quite balance out with the 9 basses I built for myself, but it kept me sane. So.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">I hesitated posting this year-end roundup because of the obvious humble-braginess of it (yes, spellcheck, I am claiming this as a real word). But let's face it, some of us didn't even survive the year, so I prefer to err on celebrating life and creativity in any form it takes.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">The first two basses on the left were admittedly completion of projects started in 2019, and as they were completed before mid-March 2020 it's a stretch to even call them COVID babies. But the virus actually did exist as of late 2019, and this whole year is kindof a blur at this point. My BLUBOY relic'd '61 Jazz, with flats and original Fender mutes under the bridge cover, absolutely nails that thuddy jazz bass sound heard in early-mid '60's rock recordings, until bassists worldwide decided they wanted more high end to cut through on stage and summarily removed them (think GREEN EYED LADY and the HAIR Broadway soundtrack). The natural '51 P Bass (minus the tortoise pickguard, which I love but remove when performing Zeppelin sets) nails John Paul Jones' live P Bass grunge sound on the proper songs (esp. IMMIGRANT SONG and BLACK DOG from live tapes in the early '70's). This original proto-Precision bass is the ONLY bass pictured that I actually got to perform live with this year, as all gigs were shut down by mid-March. Let's hope 2021 offers more live performance opportunities, because you never really know how a bass will actually sound until it's live on stage mixing with the other instruments and voices.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">The '67-style Jazz Bass with the blocked bound neck was officially a boredom project, where I swapped the neck from a Jaguar Bass I liked but never loved because the body is probably too lightweight to ever have the fullness I'm looking for. There are few (bass) things prettier to me than a "fully dressed" Jazz, as limiting as that may be sometimes (especially if you want to palm mute specific but not all notes in a song, which is impossible with the bridge cover), but the bass has a great, bright yet full Geddy tone.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Behind it, the only non-Fender pedigree bass and another "boredom project" - a "Fenderbird" assembled from a Korean Epiphone body had I upgraded with active EMG pickups many years ago, paired with a Korean Fender maple neck. I planned to sell this once completed, especially since I didn't think the lighter wood used to manufacture the body would be particularly full-sounding, and I had disliked the neck on 2 previous basses I used it on. But after hand-stripping, staining and sealing the body, fighting for a week or two with the 3-point bridge bolt holes (thank you Polyurethane adhesive) and cleaning up/sealing/fret dressing the neck - OH MY is this an excellent bass (so much so that I decided to sell another even more souped-up Thunderbird I built back in 2008 instead). The neck is super straight, the action super low, and I now have an outstanding Fenderbird for if/when I get a call to fill in as Entwistle in a Who tribute one day.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">The second Sunburst Jazz bass on the floor is my JPJ Tribute Jazz, built as close to original 1962 John Paul Jones jazz bass spec as possible. The first version of this has a bad neck, so I spent a bit more $$ on a Fender-licensed WD neck (this one with an Ebony fingerboard) put on a set of Thomastik Jazz Flats, and - I now refer to this bass as the finest bass I have ever made (also possibly as MOAB, aka Mother Of All Basses). I look forward to performing Zeppelin music (and anything else) around the world with this beast once that asshole Mr. COVID is dead and buried.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Between the two Sunburst Jazz basses is an experiment to use up a one-piece solid walnut Jaguar/Jazzmaster body blank I've been sitting on for years. It is now part of an outstanding Jazzmaster Bass, a Fender model that never actually existed in any form, but if it does (one day) they could do worse than this 30" scale neck and actual P90 guitar pickups with certain pole pieces removed, resulting in an incredibly bright and full sounding bass (I am available to consult with Fender on the Pelletier Squier Jazzmaster Bass if the opportunity presents itself). It's so comfortable to play, has highs and upper mids that cut like you wouldn't believe, but is still plenty bassy/boomy because of the heavier walnut body (with an incredibly straight neck and low action). I just replaced the tone pot from a B250 to an A500 (which now matches the volume pot), and it's ready to go (where, I don't know, but as long as I'm with it...).</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">The '72 style Telecaster Bass was another boredom project, as well as a good exercise in fretting (my first attempt in 40 years). The body was from a Fender Squier Tele Bass that has sat in my shop for 12-15 years. I had to fill some radical routing I has attempted back then, then match the top ash veneer grain and paint/stain/finish, and THEN fight for weeks with a crappy warped 3rd party neck, who's headstock I reshaped into the Tele shape it now sports. After essentially giving up on taking the twist out, I pulled all the frets, reshaped the fingerboard to straighten it, then re-fretted it with smaller frets. I even ordered another maple P Bass/Tele Bass neck to replace it, thinking it would end up being trash, but it actually ended up quite playable. The only reason to keep it on my arsenal is the Gibson-influenced OEM Fender Mudbucker pickup, which is so boomy and muddy that I added a series/parallel switch to the tone pot to tame it down a bit. It's quite something, actually.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Next to that on the end is Smiley Red, my relic'd Red over Sunburst project that has been on my mind for a few years now, but only got this far because my body supplier finally restocked their Alder Sunburst bodies. I tried re-purposing the neck originally mounted on the MOAB Bass after reshaping the headstock and painting it the matching metallic red, but the jury is still out on this one. With all top-grade parts including Hipshot Ultralites and KickAss bridge and EMG Geezer Butler passive pickups, this thing should be the Swiss Army Knife of basses, but the neck and frets are still not quite cooperating (with some buzzing in the first 5 or so frets that I just might not be able to eliminate, not matter how much fret filing I do). I've gotten demanding enough as a player and good enough as a luthier that close enough actually isn't, so another neck is currently on order.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">This leaves the PUFF-N-STUFF P Bass, a quick little project completed this month. Inspired by a Facebook Bass group photo of a 60+ year old natural Fender Jazz Bass with a hand-painted King Crimson logo, I made mine into a natural Precision Bass (because I really don't need ANOTHER Jazz bass - ever) with a logo from a Saturday morning kids show I loved - AS A KID. It's called Kitsch because it elevates bad or bland art and design. That's why it's cool now, because it was so bad then. And HR Puf-N-Stuff was both cool to my 9 year old brain and really bad to my 59 year old brain. And the bass feels and sounds great to play, too, so there's that.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Cool. </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">(There was a 10th project, a Deluxe Jazz with a modified 24 to 22-fret Korean Jazz neck that ended up a but twisted and un-useable as is, so the parts were cannibalized to use on Smiley Red, and perhaps I'll get back to it one day - when I'm bored).</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">2020 was also the year I needed a few more bass guitar soft cases (for obvious reasons), and I finally have an Ampeg tube bass head to mess around with at home (it's NEVER leaving the house as long as I can help it). Here's to 2021, the year I get to play ALL of these basses on a stage at a high volume with other musicians and witnesses, and (probably) only build a couple more. </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Have a Happy, stay safe, and WEAR A MASK.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">AND AS FOR CHOCOLATE: Beware of the COSTO packaging for the TRUFFETTES DU FRANCE chocolate truffles. This was/is an incredible bargain for these addictive and COVID weight gain-inducing chocolate mouth bombs, but BEWARE when you get home and open the box because there's not one, not two, but FOUR packages in there! I also discovered another great chocolate bar at Trader Joes: El Campano 78.5% dark w/sweet plantain (although I must admit the chocolate drawer has gotten a bit less used because 2020 was the year of serious baked goods, which resulted in 10 pounds of COVID weight).</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">😏🍫🎸<br /></div></div></span></div></div><p></p>Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-68077189643823717152020-10-24T00:43:00.001-07:002020-10-24T00:43:13.124-07:00<p><span data-offset-key="ek67v-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-size: large;">NEW PROJECT: FUNSTER JAZZMASTER BASS</span> </span></span></p><div data-contents="true"><div data-block="true" data-editor="2jj29" data-offset-key="5omo5-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="5omo5-0-0"><span data-offset-key="5omo5-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="2jj29" data-offset-key="1t4or-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1t4or-0-0"><span data-offset-key="1t4or-0-0"><span data-text="true"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0INPdHpvEec/X5PF9Ct13CI/AAAAAAAABB4/CnpfAfHNDYcoP8Ov-3i8tc7v5-6yJC6AgCLcBGAsYHQ/66front%2Bback.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1194" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0INPdHpvEec/X5PF9Ct13CI/AAAAAAAABB4/CnpfAfHNDYcoP8Ov-3i8tc7v5-6yJC6AgCLcBGAsYHQ/w298-h400/66front%2Bback.jpg" width="298" /></a></div></span></span><div data-contents="true"><span data-offset-key="122h2-0-0"><span data-text="true">A classic Fender Jazzmaster guitar is a very pretty thing, especially in my favorite dress: sunburst body, red tortoise pickguard, cream pickup covers, oversized headstock on an amber neck (ooh, baby, you had me at sunburst). Unfortunately for me I am a clumsy and irritable guitarist - there's just a few too many strings, and they are too close together. Fender never made a bass version of what was the predecessor to the Stratocaster, unless you count the Jazz Bass (which is certainly related in many ways). I've had a walnut a one-piece sorta Jaguar/Jazzmaster blank kicking around my shop for a few years now, purchased at a bargain from a tonewood supplier who cut the body shape out himself, and not in a particularly great way. I've been looking at it in my shop for quite a while, and have seen a couple of custom Jazzmaster basses online, but not quite as I envision. Since it's not a perfect match to replace my beautiful but a-bit-too-lightweight sunburst Squier Jaguar body that is still irking me (basswood=nolowendwood) I might as well make an attempt at my own version of a 30" shortscale Jazzmaster bass. </span></span><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="31rge" data-offset-key="ef5sf-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ef5sf-0-0"><span data-offset-key="ef5sf-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="31rge" data-offset-key="a3ke6-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="a3ke6-0-0"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ntf7z8j7QW0/X5PWoTdB8VI/AAAAAAAABDQ/OfX6jOcugaoLWoi_8EBzhu42fD7F7H5WACLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0264.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ntf7z8j7QW0/X5PWoTdB8VI/AAAAAAAABDQ/OfX6jOcugaoLWoi_8EBzhu42fD7F7H5WACLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0264.jpeg" width="180" /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UFmSioMx5ew/X5PWoJcdECI/AAAAAAAABDE/W-w7PsNwQtgux6xAz_DlpWUvUuNkgK7awCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0263.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UFmSioMx5ew/X5PWoJcdECI/AAAAAAAABDE/W-w7PsNwQtgux6xAz_DlpWUvUuNkgK7awCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0263.jpeg" width="180" /></a></div></div><span data-offset-key="a3ke6-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br />I've also have a set of Epiphone cream-covered P90's kicking around for quite a while (they came with one of the few electric guitars I own, a very nice Epi gold top Les Paul with upgraded Duncan mini-humbuckers replacing the stock P90's). These are pretty fat pickups with a lot of winding, and I'm curious to hear them on a bass, but I was also concerned about single-coil hum, so instead of finally using these I ordered a fairly cheap set that came with one wound in reverse polarity, so using them together would be hum-cancelling (my 2 pet peeves - noisy pickups and head-dive). Placement would all depend on the pickguard, so I tracked down a red tortoise P90 pickguard with as few extra holes as possible (I am stuck only with the two bridge bolt holes which will end up showing because this will require a different bridge, with a different scale than a standard guitar scale), along with cream knobs and a 3-position pickup switch.<br /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="31rge" data-offset-key="7iefq-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7iefq-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7iefq-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="31rge" data-offset-key="7hd7a-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7hd7a-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7hd7a-0-0"><span data-text="true">For the neck, I contacted a neck maker on eBay and ordered a 30" scale maple paddle-head (so I could cut the headstock shape I wanted). It took a few months to patiently acquire all the parts, but I guess now is the time to try to make this thing.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7hd7a-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7hd7a-0-0"><span data-text="true"> </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7hd7a-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7hd7a-0-0"><span data-text="true"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VypoUKrxFFA/X5PVSVFjxTI/AAAAAAAABCE/q5Tfwc_3MR00Zk4y9ZNpIxHUBjmxFDTvgCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0244.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VypoUKrxFFA/X5PVSVFjxTI/AAAAAAAABCE/q5Tfwc_3MR00Zk4y9ZNpIxHUBjmxFDTvgCLcBGAsYHQ/w300-h400/IMG_0244.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rEFt3Z-aX8A/X5PVTBagz_I/AAAAAAAABCI/G5FehgKjJDAaUIJ6QzPjucR607zSvZKkACLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0245.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rEFt3Z-aX8A/X5PVTBagz_I/AAAAAAAABCI/G5FehgKjJDAaUIJ6QzPjucR607zSvZKkACLcBGAsYHQ/w300-h400/IMG_0245.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><br /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="31rge" data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-text="true">The biggest challenge is going to be the placement of the neck and neck pocket, which decides the routing of the neck pocket and pickups, location of the bridge, the proper geometry for the headstock and tuners, and (if necessary) shortening the neck and re-shaping the heel. Not sure how many frets will be in this thing, or even if the truss rod location inside the neck will allow me to shorten it from the 24 (?) frets there currently to as little as 20. </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-text="true"> </span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w5pfBa0WT8Y/X5PWRcJXhXI/AAAAAAAABCw/E_ClwoXk0pwagyNesvFF-5SRJ2Ng_PlbQCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0261.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w5pfBa0WT8Y/X5PWRcJXhXI/AAAAAAAABCw/E_ClwoXk0pwagyNesvFF-5SRJ2Ng_PlbQCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0261.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RuVMah0Z1BA/X5PVwWcHJUI/AAAAAAAABCY/qV-IcW14IvII-81y2fCqHk6N9oWV8xMfgCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0253.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="199" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RuVMah0Z1BA/X5PVwWcHJUI/AAAAAAAABCY/qV-IcW14IvII-81y2fCqHk6N9oWV8xMfgCLcBGAsYHQ/w265-h199/IMG_0253.jpeg" width="265" /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P5MA4a0Q7ss/X5PVwJf1ozI/AAAAAAAABCU/5hdUjA9dBqIsmICSe5DB0HbPgKcLgUXJwCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0251.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P5MA4a0Q7ss/X5PVwJf1ozI/AAAAAAAABCU/5hdUjA9dBqIsmICSe5DB0HbPgKcLgUXJwCLcBGAsYHQ/w150-h200/IMG_0251.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-text="true"> </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-text="true">The headstock also presents some challenges - I have some smaller tuners, and want to keep it around the same length as a Mustang Bass (which is a bit smaller than a standard Jazz or P Bass). The angle the pickups are drilled is important to keep the lines straight, and quite a bit of eyeballing was involved to get everything looking right (I guess... the math is way too hard, but I trust my eyeballs). So here we go...</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-text="true"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t6j8FiKatkM/X5PWZF09VKI/AAAAAAAABC8/qQ9D-4fe8qcsOW44zs1TYOUIYybgKk3KACLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0257.jpeg" width="180" /><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pMHyeuCLKWY/X5PWY_p9JOI/AAAAAAAABC4/nl4Hs4NedQoyHLKwWxpBve6tGqlGTVGOgCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0258.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pMHyeuCLKWY/X5PWY_p9JOI/AAAAAAAABC4/nl4Hs4NedQoyHLKwWxpBve6tGqlGTVGOgCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0258.jpeg" width="180" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t6j8FiKatkM/X5PWZF09VKI/AAAAAAAABC8/qQ9D-4fe8qcsOW44zs1TYOUIYybgKk3KACLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0257.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XwL-EhYCPSs/X5PXQPwUkqI/AAAAAAAABEM/33w5GAnQxocYfdN-3yyJNBaGFYEIP0uaQCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0373.jpeg" width="180" /><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pivQqx4uHPU/X5PWXiU3kqI/AAAAAAAABC0/tjTki3trSRUtBfVcvy9C64CH52dV1mFSwCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0255.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pivQqx4uHPU/X5PWXiU3kqI/AAAAAAAABC0/tjTki3trSRUtBfVcvy9C64CH52dV1mFSwCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0255.jpeg" width="180" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was able to shorten the neck itself (to a 20-fret version, in order to avoid too much neck imbalance). I got lucky in that the truss rod used by the builder did not extend as far as the 20th fret - I did a smaller cut first just in case I'd have to settle for 22 frets (or ruin the neck entirely). <br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6PE0feZL39g/X5PXXCcFqeI/AAAAAAAABEU/21brrqwREVsUwaVWs7pbPZ6VDsnt6cK-QCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0375.jpeg" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It looks like the remaining heel will still fit a standard Fender heel body route (although I will also check the squarer version before pulling the trigger, as routing is forever).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N1I_BD8Tl78/X5PXY7U4CvI/AAAAAAAABEY/AcEAYtaqzAUlKkQCQHsfv2SQhcei5xQJwCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0376.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N1I_BD8Tl78/X5PXY7U4CvI/AAAAAAAABEY/AcEAYtaqzAUlKkQCQHsfv2SQhcei5xQJwCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0376.jpeg" width="180" /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TWjEOmHjpgg/X5PXb_nVlXI/AAAAAAAABEg/cgL8pKU_gKcBG--Ov-8JHhcjoY2dnMQcgCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0380.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TWjEOmHjpgg/X5PXb_nVlXI/AAAAAAAABEg/cgL8pKU_gKcBG--Ov-8JHhcjoY2dnMQcgCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0380.jpeg" width="180" /></a></div></div></div> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The headstock is requiring quite a bit more work than anticipated, because of course it does. Having just recently done quite drastic surgery to three other Chinese Jazz Bass headstocks (these quite poorly cut at an angle that required serious reshaping and re-drilling), I've gotten pretty comfortable with this Frankensteining of the headstock, and it's slowly shaping up nicely. <br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4FwFOPDShbA/X5PXmpjTiqI/AAAAAAAABEs/N5jaBGFrU9Ejoys12rUuhoZoF_i0yX4mgCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0393.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4FwFOPDShbA/X5PXmpjTiqI/AAAAAAAABEs/N5jaBGFrU9Ejoys12rUuhoZoF_i0yX4mgCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0393.jpeg" width="180" /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-43uSGsDoRjs/X5PXkcxRmPI/AAAAAAAABEo/aY91j7LUFswLKt0CCgyVh53oFyp6iV4XgCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0385.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-43uSGsDoRjs/X5PXkcxRmPI/AAAAAAAABEo/aY91j7LUFswLKt0CCgyVh53oFyp6iV4XgCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0385.jpeg" width="180" /></a></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Next up will be finishing the headstock (probably with a layer of veneer on top to clean it up), then shaping the heel so I can get a final placement for the neck heel, pickups and electronics routing for the body.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MgY_m8AElRw/X5PXA5NAIOI/AAAAAAAABDw/Tndwn_7Z6F4xVIaQlRPwwNKB-X7FPjCswCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_0373.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /></a></div></div></div><br /> </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-text="true"> </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-offset-key="7iaka-0-0"><span data-text="true"><br /> </span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div>Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-77376246647513799042019-12-15T19:13:00.000-08:002019-12-15T19:16:45.449-08:00Blue Boy Pt 4<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DUsjOg_UIto/Xfbv6upwR3I/AAAAAAAAA-E/-4z7iDBmJdotHm0HYlS_rMu1ahbBLRyeACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/blueboywithbass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="443" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DUsjOg_UIto/Xfbv6upwR3I/AAAAAAAAA-E/-4z7iDBmJdotHm0HYlS_rMu1ahbBLRyeACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/blueboywithbass.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="270" /></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IQmcfNTq0dQ/Xfbv2A35JyI/AAAAAAAAA9o/gjl8xN1bZckF0QfToQU9Oa2C--AGUnAxwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/blueboy-assembled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IQmcfNTq0dQ/Xfbv2A35JyI/AAAAAAAAA9o/gjl8xN1bZckF0QfToQU9Oa2C--AGUnAxwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/blueboy-assembled.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IQmcfNTq0dQ/Xfbv2A35JyI/AAAAAAAAA9o/gjl8xN1bZckF0QfToQU9Oa2C--AGUnAxwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/blueboy-assembled.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Blue Boy now has a new, heavier ash body; time to assembled it with the "old" parts. First, the pickups and control plate are put in, including wiring all the grounds together. Once the plate and bridge pickup are screwed in, the pickguard is lined up and fitted with a couple of screws (none of the old holes lining up, of course) in order to then screw down the neck pickup. I've decided I don't care for the brown control knobs on this bass - just not traditional enough - so I've ordered a set of standard black ones to replace them.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PY_OurDXQeA/XfbxEvSr4vI/AAAAAAAAA-g/OlXFC9RLLgIadqNGded3RkJkVxg-4cFfACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/blueboy-controlplate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PY_OurDXQeA/XfbxEvSr4vI/AAAAAAAAA-g/OlXFC9RLLgIadqNGded3RkJkVxg-4cFfACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/blueboy-controlplate.jpg" width="300" /></a><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L6Rfe3ALC44/Xfbv35_lTBI/AAAAAAAAA-M/V5EXw9VoxSUiPZnLcAOaNbOd-KPWvJy1wCEwYBhgL/s400/blueboy-screwholes.jpg" width="300" /></div>
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Now that the pickups are in a row, I can check the exact alignment of the bridge and - wow, off by almost a half centimeter. I'll mark where I want it with tape, unscrew it and re-drill the holes.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-33RRHuQQhRI/Xfbv2PBpy8I/AAAAAAAAA-I/qe7lWfYBV9AomYAJ5YBXjpcuKGKEmNPtgCEwYBhgL/s1600/blueboy-bridgeoff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jmG09DqSRHg/Xfbv4Te4ZCI/AAAAAAAAA-U/vNIPy1cp-roXbTF3ng3oF-HMlXB7xoWAACEwYBhgL/s1600/blueboy-stringalignment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jmG09DqSRHg/Xfbv4Te4ZCI/AAAAAAAAA-U/vNIPy1cp-roXbTF3ng3oF-HMlXB7xoWAACEwYBhgL/s640/blueboy-stringalignment.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Now that that's cleaned up, I restring with the stainless La Bella strings, adjust the neck tension, string and pickup heights a bit, put the plates back on and let it sit overnight to settle (the strings and neck have to get used to each other).</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IQmcfNTq0dQ/Xfbv2A35JyI/AAAAAAAAA-U/ygg5MzARqRoovPTkndXA3q3RTQzjwl5tQCEwYBhgL/s1600/blueboy-assembled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IQmcfNTq0dQ/Xfbv2A35JyI/AAAAAAAAA-U/ygg5MzARqRoovPTkndXA3q3RTQzjwl5tQCEwYBhgL/s1600/blueboy-assembled.jpg" /></a></div>
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Here's my first reactions the next morning: <a href="https://youtu.be/QRq_I6wpl28">Blue Boy video 4</a></div>
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Conclusion - this body is fuller sounding on the low end, but still not as resonant with the neck as I would like. I also dislike the clangy-ness of the stainless strings on this neck, the frets are pretty noisy. I will try changing up the strings, first with flats, then maybe nickle half rounds or...</div>
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Of course, playing it on my full rig - with lots of volume - live with other musicians will be the real test. I'll avoid any additional major changes until I've had that opportunity. Who knows?</div>
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<br />Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-39418507838638378072019-12-13T17:45:00.006-08:002019-12-13T17:45:48.024-08:00Blue Boy (part 2+3)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bMsck-WSx9s/XfQ8JzPSBYI/AAAAAAAAA9c/AbJWDvGVWyEAle1TjntiCdPpCBLvYf7eACEwYBhgL/s1600/blueboy-removestrings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bMsck-WSx9s/XfQ8JzPSBYI/AAAAAAAAA9c/AbJWDvGVWyEAle1TjntiCdPpCBLvYf7eACEwYBhgL/s1600/blueboy-removestrings.jpg" /></a></div>
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Having introduced the victim, I am now slowly tweaking it in a probably futile attempt to not perform the radical surgery - replacing the body - that seems almost inevitable. First, I just changed the strings hoping a slightly heavier set would solve both the low tension and low end tone issues. Spoiler - it did not:<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/5vpaC0Tl4EE">Blue Boy (part 2 - changing strings)</a><br />
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Ok, now first let's make sure the neck and body are a good fit, and, even with the generic pickups and hardware that came with the ash body, if it is noticeably fuller in tone. It is:<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/L2GMfsHLl58">Blue Boy (part 3 - new body test)</a><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eGScKsZCupY/XfQ8HndufrI/AAAAAAAAA9U/CumnzvgGTxIQ0JoDDQ5QgbBKJKvo4G6zwCEwYBhgL/s1600/blueboy-noshielding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eGScKsZCupY/XfQ8HndufrI/AAAAAAAAA9U/CumnzvgGTxIQ0JoDDQ5QgbBKJKvo4G6zwCEwYBhgL/s400/blueboy-noshielding.jpg" width="300" /></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MfnSwz0lxqY/XfQ8HJDDfOI/AAAAAAAAA9I/N8eruQlU4cYYjizy9eMykkKLqHqmDE6NwCEwYBhgL/s1600/blueboy-ground.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MfnSwz0lxqY/XfQ8HJDDfOI/AAAAAAAAA9I/N8eruQlU4cYYjizy9eMykkKLqHqmDE6NwCEwYBhgL/s400/blueboy-ground.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Now comes the work. Although the hardware on the new body is OK, I want to switch it all out with the parts I prepped, aged and installed on the original body (including the EMG Geezer Butler passive pickups, which are very nice). One thing I did notice, besides total lack of shielding on the body (which I corrected with copper tape and ground wires to each pickup compartment, grounded to the main compartment wall) is that the pickup alignment for the bridge pickup is way off (tweaked to the left, so the strings aren't lining up with the rear pickup pole pieces, but OK with the neck pickup).<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lsw1QUfx-VE/XfQ8IYPHlhI/AAAAAAAAA9U/h2NgyE_ffn4-sn6cu-ZPUS0hivcsFMFOACEwYBhgL/s1600/blueboy-oldbridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lsw1QUfx-VE/XfQ8IYPHlhI/AAAAAAAAA9U/h2NgyE_ffn4-sn6cu-ZPUS0hivcsFMFOACEwYBhgL/s400/blueboy-oldbridge.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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In all honesty it will probably sound fine regardless, and I have the chrome plate to mount over the bridge and rear pickup anyway so it won't be visible, but can I correct it? Is the problem the pickup route, or the bridge placement? The joys of 3rd party parts...<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mx6F5b4r5Iw/XfQ8KVVGqYI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/A6m_aVuSnWsl_MGta5wS7cI13G7v7P0mQCEwYBhgL/s1600/blueboy-template.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mx6F5b4r5Iw/XfQ8KVVGqYI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/A6m_aVuSnWsl_MGta5wS7cI13G7v7P0mQCEwYBhgL/s400/blueboy-template.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Lining it up with a template I made from Fender PDFs, it seems the whole body is slightly skewed, but I think moving the bridge to the right a bit would split the difference. Here we go.<br />
Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-47167834100350733402019-12-13T12:27:00.003-08:002019-12-13T17:19:20.395-08:00Blue Boy (part 1)In an effort to clear the logjam of non-posting to this blog, I am trying out shooting video posts. First up: <a href="https://youtu.be/qiSS0ejppSM">Blue Boy (part 1)</a>.<br />
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Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-34154113035730843872017-03-16T20:26:00.000-07:002017-03-16T20:26:49.742-07:00New and Improved Ric (pt.1)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tJtH6J2Phg0/WMsuA9s9-JI/AAAAAAAAA30/KAiKOd5IfE8VoUd6OUPmgkvVF3EFAyPxgCK4B/s1600/neverbegeddy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tJtH6J2Phg0/WMsuA9s9-JI/AAAAAAAAA30/KAiKOd5IfE8VoUd6OUPmgkvVF3EFAyPxgCK4B/s1600/neverbegeddy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But it doesn't mean you can't try...</span></td></tr>
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We are all the accumulation of our influences, all digested and blended in unique ways, then expressed based on our limits/abilities. Growing up listening to bassists, the Big Three for me were Chris Squire, Geddy Lee and Paul McCartney. The bass they all had in common, and (except for Paul) the bass that defined their sound, was the Rickenbacker.<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gPr5BNKy06A/WMsuQpFHSvI/AAAAAAAAA38/6IZ2PkCu5es_sva1QbPx2FWGYZKvIX01QCK4B/s1600/geddy-chris-paul.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gPr5BNKy06A/WMsuQpFHSvI/AAAAAAAAA38/6IZ2PkCu5es_sva1QbPx2FWGYZKvIX01QCK4B/s640/geddy-chris-paul.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
I always went for that "Ric" sound - bright, cutting high mids suitable for melodic bass lines, even though I mostly played Jazz Bass-type basses (or, for a 20 year stretch, a Steinberger, a Geddy/Sting/Tony Levin-inspired choice). Throughout college and my 20's I played in a progressive rock/Rush tribute band, and Geddy and Chris's sound and approach to bass playing was all over my hands and musical choices. I have owned two actual Rickenbacker basses in my life; an early 80's 4003, and a late 70's model. The first played great and sounded like you would expect, but the neck was VERY chunky, and while I shedded on Yes bass parts I eventually realized that unless I wanted to form a Yes tribute, it would never get played (and I could not find THE drummer, so I sold it).<br />
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The second Ric, a beautiful brown model 4001 Autumnglow, required quite a bit of restoration to get it playable as well as presentable, and by that time, playing only Zeppelin, I again found no opportunity to use it live, so it too was sold (with a loss this time - these basses are not cheap, and having $1600+ just lying around like that turned out to be too much for me to bear). The build quality on the second one also left something to be desired, and it kinda soured me of the whole "wanting to be Geddy/Chris" thing, and besides: it was always about their playing and musical choices, not the instrument.<br />
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However...<br />
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I always admired some of the more organic design qualities of the original Rickenbacker basses. It has some very sexy curves, and the horn and headstock is unique to them (on both their original guitars and basses). One bass I built in 1980 (and still own today), besides being ludicrously constructed of oak, featured a somewhat reverse Ric-inspired body shape and fingerboard markers:<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LhohI7rfoQk/WMtTtaTBysI/AAAAAAAAA5c/80og0Jdg4_sNGd4pJIpHih0BAsCPM9CxQCK4B/s1600/pelletier80.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LhohI7rfoQk/WMtTtaTBysI/AAAAAAAAA5c/80og0Jdg4_sNGd4pJIpHih0BAsCPM9CxQCK4B/s400/pelletier80.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
Having had built and now owning and performing with about as many Fender-type bass variations as I can find useful (with a few less useful ones as well), my thoughts turned again to the Rickenbacker 4001 when I saw photos in 2015 of a sorta reissue model from Rickenbacker, the 4003ws:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s73gkuUq6e8/WMsy0_IdkhI/AAAAAAAAA4I/D18CcPa35tIl45FZc8QELh9hNEhqM_UjACK4B/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s73gkuUq6e8/WMsy0_IdkhI/AAAAAAAAA4I/D18CcPa35tIl45FZc8QELh9hNEhqM_UjACK4B/s640/4.jpg" width="640" /> </a><br />
What a beauty. First off, I am a sucker for walnut (see my Chocobass build postings). This model also featured no neck binding, which turned into an expensive nightmare with my last Ric, requiring extensive and expensive fretwork. I love the vintage touches, including no body binding and the understated 60's neck dots (instead of the later triangles introduced in the 70's). If only this thing wasn't $1800-$2300, I'd run out and grab one immediately.<br />
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Or, because it's what I love to do, I would build one myself.<br />
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Continuing with the dark chocolate theme of this site (and my Chocobass), in early 2016 I decided to slowly and deliberately assemble the parts to build my own chocolatey Ric. One of the unique elements of these basses is the neck-thru design. Unlike Fenders, and like some Gibsons (I have one actual Thunderbird bass with thru-neck construction), the neckwood extends all the way through the body instead of bolted to the body, with "wings" glued to each side to create the body. I have not built a neck-thru bass by hand in over 35 years, and the results were rather primitive, so I searched for a guitar maker online who could make a basic Ric blank, with the woods I requested, from which I would shape, install and complete. There are many knockoff builders out there (I suppose even I am one of them, although I am not a business, and build basses only for myself), and there have been many counterfit Ric basses built over the decades (with Rickenbacker notoriously protecting its design patents and trademarks, putting most of them out of business quickly, which I do not begrudge). The knockoff Rics currently avalable from Asia-based builders are not great, and most of their hardware was horrible. All I wanted was an unfinished walnut w/maple neck blank. I could take it from there, using actual Ric pickups (since that's the sound I wanted, anyway) and upgraded Hipshot hardware.<br />
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This, as with anything good, turned out to be much more difficult than expected.<br />
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I settled on a specific China-based builder (name witheld for reasons that will become apparent), and requested a price for these specifications:<br />
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<i>Ric 4001 body and headstock shape, 34" scale bass guitar<br />Maple neck and fingerboard with WALNUT dot markers (not black) I prefer 38mm nut width<br />Standard size frets (NOT JUMBO FRETS)<br />WALNUT body and headstock wings, no sanding/contouring of body edges<br />No sealer/stain/finish on the bass<br />No routing or tuner holes drilled (I will complete all of these things) unless you can GUARANTEE the routing would 100% fit stock Rickenbacker parts, not your parts</i><br />
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After taking a couple of months to find walnut (???), their quoted price with shipping from China was $299, which seemed a great deal (if it was done right). A month later, I receive this photo from them:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1snmlIzpzL8/WMtPcsuFSZI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/xqRXo7UxdlQdRw1e8T-AnIFlccjXe5Y1gCK4B/s1600/first%2Bfront.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1snmlIzpzL8/WMtPcsuFSZI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/xqRXo7UxdlQdRw1e8T-AnIFlccjXe5Y1gCK4B/s400/first%2Bfront.jpg" width="225" /> </a><br />
What's wrong with this photo? The fretboard markers are triangles, which would not do. I requested that they remake, otherwise no sale, which they did. They shipped the bass, and a little over two months after the original order I receive this:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--TKLa1zXEfQ/WMtR6qkzpFI/AAAAAAAAA5E/EQkEg2yzVrENs_lT5RyKBQdzxyOfgGQlgCK4B/s1600/2%2Bbody%2Bshots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--TKLa1zXEfQ/WMtR6qkzpFI/AAAAAAAAA5E/EQkEg2yzVrENs_lT5RyKBQdzxyOfgGQlgCK4B/s640/2%2Bbody%2Bshots.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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First glance says, yes, OK, I can work with this. They even did a better job of matching the direction of the grain from each side of the walnut body (probably a happy accident, but I'll take it). But when I inspected further, I discovered this:<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dj5gLCHmncc/WMtSJYDh42I/AAAAAAAAA5M/hZKfI64J9KocDO43GF6Kj4K99E_-rXAxACK4B/s1600/IMG_2370.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dj5gLCHmncc/WMtSJYDh42I/AAAAAAAAA5M/hZKfI64J9KocDO43GF6Kj4K99E_-rXAxACK4B/s640/IMG_2370.JPG" width="640" /> </a><br />
I immediatey sent this email:<br />
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<i>Received the bass body today. The body and neck look great, but I don't understand what your builders did with the headstock wings. The body on this bass is walnut, but they made the headstock wings with MAHOGANY. <br /><br />WHY would anyone do this? I requested walnut body AND headstock wings, as shown in the sample Rickenbacker photos. I had no way of telling which wood was used in the headstock based on the photos you sent, so I had to wait until it arrived. It's not like walnut wood was not available, as they could have used scraps from the body wood. <br /><br />We are going to need to come to an agreement on how to resolve this; remaking the bass again, or refunding a significant part of the payment so I can pay to have the headstock remade (including removing the current wood and cutting and attaching the correct walnut sides, all without ruining the bass).</i><br />
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NEXT: I fix the headstock, totally reshape the neck. <br />
<br />Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-4274358304598602242016-06-28T18:03:00.002-07:002019-12-04T19:29:06.373-08:00Chocobass is Delicious (the build and radical voicing)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ofAc4cvwRBk/VjkEgOy_yKI/AAAAAAAAAwY/adN8oMbVOuU/s1600/chocoisdelicious.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ofAc4cvwRBk/VjkEgOy_yKI/AAAAAAAAAwY/adN8oMbVOuU/s640/chocoisdelicious.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.joelp.com/images/chocobass_book.pdf">Download the CHOCOBASS book (PDF)</a><br />
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OK, this took way too long to post, but seven months after this build and almost endless adjustments at least I have clarity when it comes to the (very happy) ending of this story. All I have to do is review the photos in order to step back and remember it all.<br />
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When we left off LAST YEAR, Chocobass was ready for assembly. All of the parts certainly looked delicious, but you NEVER know how an
instrument will feel, play and sound until it's done. There's a certain
magic involved in this, regardless of skill level; the randomness of the Universe, where, like a
great band, the individual parts come together and - hopefully - combine
to make something greater and unexpected. Or at least something
playable.<br />
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No, playable isn't enough, I have plenty of those. Chocobass needs to be something SPECIAL.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-INmfmXmFzpI/V3L2hKeVdaI/AAAAAAAAAw4/jOua_OZmMDkhppZupcoNlOv7n_Rzaoz_QCK4B/s1600/IMG_7257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-INmfmXmFzpI/V3L2hKeVdaI/AAAAAAAAAw4/jOua_OZmMDkhppZupcoNlOv7n_Rzaoz_QCK4B/s640/IMG_7257.JPG" width="640" /></a>All of the routed areas are shielded with copper tape.<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KhUCLdf44NM/V3L2tTiqG1I/AAAAAAAAAxA/RSP_MiIJhW0etVisUQtJYC380kqScqziwCK4B/s1600/IMG_7262.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KhUCLdf44NM/V3L2tTiqG1I/AAAAAAAAAxA/RSP_MiIJhW0etVisUQtJYC380kqScqziwCK4B/s640/IMG_7262.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
Even the electronics were as vintage-style as possible, including a .1MFD 150VCD repro vintage-style "phone book" oil-in-paper capacitor. The electronics was so basic that this huge capacitor fits under the plate with no problem.<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lKIUL0waVYw/V3L3Dxpt1zI/AAAAAAAAAxI/1Iz6CCfhkik6BePUiwUA6X6ggVjYgGkEQCK4B/s1600/IMG_7263.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lKIUL0waVYw/V3L3Dxpt1zI/AAAAAAAAAxI/1Iz6CCfhkik6BePUiwUA6X6ggVjYgGkEQCK4B/s640/IMG_7263.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
Gorgeous when assembled - too bad the rounded bottom of the neck will require a pickguard to hide the square neck pocket route.<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n61RojUdHnw/V3L3TIrsmhI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/JO-6b5NOxm0v7VFM8bxWhkCj_UOoyqxSwCK4B/s1600/IMG_7264.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n61RojUdHnw/V3L3TIrsmhI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/JO-6b5NOxm0v7VFM8bxWhkCj_UOoyqxSwCK4B/s640/IMG_7264.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
The vintage-style plastic bridge saddles are also beautiful; too bad they will remain hidden under a bridge cover plate.<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vcs4poCEHPA/V3L4Vj-Nj3I/AAAAAAAAAxo/2Jbo8W27h6YrbFjTPfH2lDGYQD3yjUo_wCK4B/s1600/IMG_7273.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vcs4poCEHPA/V3L4Vj-Nj3I/AAAAAAAAAxo/2Jbo8W27h6YrbFjTPfH2lDGYQD3yjUo_wCK4B/s640/IMG_7273.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
I decided to reshape the Squier pickguard to fit Choco's contours as best as possible, which will ultimately be used as a template for a hand-made pickguard. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N_BOqcwSTH8/V3L8ArbtGEI/AAAAAAAAAx0/9xmg5pBXM88k_Gu_GHW6ipokfMCuOzYqwCK4B/s1600/IMG_7275.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N_BOqcwSTH8/V3L8ArbtGEI/AAAAAAAAAx0/9xmg5pBXM88k_Gu_GHW6ipokfMCuOzYqwCK4B/s640/IMG_7275.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-etJtTDpmqyQ/V3L8flAFWKI/AAAAAAAAAx8/0pNlzvUlNDEfa__Zvo0NNx8KFlRKTvo1gCK4B/s1600/IMG_7277.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-etJtTDpmqyQ/V3L8flAFWKI/AAAAAAAAAx8/0pNlzvUlNDEfa__Zvo0NNx8KFlRKTvo1gCK4B/s640/IMG_7277.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hsg_yhgmaZM/V3MXVtbvBpI/AAAAAAAAA10/q9gZHlwHdycbm4SRBNkdvunQwvJKnx__ACK4B/s1600/IMG_7279.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hsg_yhgmaZM/V3MXVtbvBpI/AAAAAAAAA10/q9gZHlwHdycbm4SRBNkdvunQwvJKnx__ACK4B/s640/IMG_7279.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<b>Yes, She's Pretty, But Can She Sing?</b></h2>
Upon completion of this bass, I took it for a spin on my next Zeppelin Live gig, careful to take all my guitar tools along with me in order to tweak as needed. My immediate reaction - what happened to the bottom? This thing is physically the heaviest bass I have ever played, but the E string just disappears, especially from G on down! This brought home one of the problems described earlier - the first P-Basses had a much more defined curve across the front of the fingerboard, so the custom single pickup I had ordered reflected this, with very high A and D pole pieces, which are NOT adjustable.<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tQ_scTkNyLU/V3L9GDwbyzI/AAAAAAAAAyI/5_lw_rcNWcgd4NkjoZpFTTvSA7stVv44ACK4B/s1600/IMG_7309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tQ_scTkNyLU/V3L9GDwbyzI/AAAAAAAAAyI/5_lw_rcNWcgd4NkjoZpFTTvSA7stVv44ACK4B/s640/IMG_7309.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
Well, with the help of Mr. Dremmel and some radical voicing, now they are...<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kiDmh4WUwPQ/V3L-AMrOw4I/AAAAAAAAAyw/hbGiEIfb3PMfl-IPUAK40S13GVOo3ws6wCK4B/s1600/IMG_7323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kiDmh4WUwPQ/V3L-AMrOw4I/AAAAAAAAAyw/hbGiEIfb3PMfl-IPUAK40S13GVOo3ws6wCK4B/s1600/IMG_7323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kiDmh4WUwPQ/V3L-AMrOw4I/AAAAAAAAAyw/hbGiEIfb3PMfl-IPUAK40S13GVOo3ws6wCK4B/s640/IMG_7323.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d_p3k8wAz3o/V3L91LClZZI/AAAAAAAAAyo/L3aWwNAv_78JQHfDkZifFzdUaxakd78bwCK4B/s1600/IMG_7324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d_p3k8wAz3o/V3L91LClZZI/AAAAAAAAAyo/L3aWwNAv_78JQHfDkZifFzdUaxakd78bwCK4B/s640/IMG_7324.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ocgKLLfGHZE/V3NCF1_O9EI/AAAAAAAAA2o/xzk1qZ3WIiATst4Xplu6dmEANfv6qXnrgCK4B/s1600/IMG_7316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ocgKLLfGHZE/V3NCF1_O9EI/AAAAAAAAA2o/xzk1qZ3WIiATst4Xplu6dmEANfv6qXnrgCK4B/s640/IMG_7316.JPG" width="640" /></a>I also found my thumb constantly fishing around for a comfortable place to sit while playing. All original Fender Basses had a "tug bar", which we now refer to as a "thumb rest", installed below the strings on the face of the body. This was NOT designed for the thumb - it was designed to rest the hand and/or fingers on, using the thumb to pluck (or tug) downwards on the strings (early electric bassists were trying to reproduce the sound of a thumpy acoustic bass). Only later in the 60's or 70's did bass players insist on these things above the pickups, so they could rest their thumbs on them and use their fingers to pull/pluck upwards on the strings. I sometimes find myself conflicted when building a vintage-style bass - the thumb rest looks correct below the pickups, but is thoroughly useless to me unless it's above. For Choco, I went for utility instead of correctness, and made a thumb rest from scratch using a walnut scrap from the body, taping it on until I found just the right distance and height for my playing style. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nPjZEPqswXI/V3MBITIDdBI/AAAAAAAAAzc/-Mdb1Xkhs80buzIu62zmlHFlPAuw6EskgCK4B/s1600/IMG_7308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nPjZEPqswXI/V3MBITIDdBI/AAAAAAAAAzc/-Mdb1Xkhs80buzIu62zmlHFlPAuw6EskgCK4B/s640/IMG_7308.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VsQLQtaodmM/V3MAvCV1sHI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/2v_gMv7p10AJGY95heCjdrNsDOYuXxbPQCK4B/s1600/IMG_7302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VsQLQtaodmM/V3MAvCV1sHI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/2v_gMv7p10AJGY95heCjdrNsDOYuXxbPQCK4B/s1600/IMG_7302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VsQLQtaodmM/V3MAvCV1sHI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/2v_gMv7p10AJGY95heCjdrNsDOYuXxbPQCK4B/s640/IMG_7302.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6sYvgKRrr24/V3MAhFk9GWI/AAAAAAAAAzI/kmlr3zdl99st0VWg5N04oZA2IiKkjtB3QCK4B/s1600/IMG_7304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6sYvgKRrr24/V3MAhFk9GWI/AAAAAAAAAzI/kmlr3zdl99st0VWg5N04oZA2IiKkjtB3QCK4B/s640/IMG_7304.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0a8tzlJ4m24/V3MAP5Bl0kI/AAAAAAAAAzA/lLS9bKoejdQQg7G-Vo16dl1MplVWuyp-QCK4B/s1600/IMG_7511.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0a8tzlJ4m24/V3MAP5Bl0kI/AAAAAAAAAzA/lLS9bKoejdQQg7G-Vo16dl1MplVWuyp-QCK4B/s640/IMG_7511.JPG" width="640" /> </a><br />
OK, so now it feels better, and the pole pieces are basically all the same height, pretty much matching the shallow curve of the neck. But the E string STILL seemed weak.<br />
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My next thought turned to the strings. Maybe I just had a bad E string, like a recent set of rather expensive Pyramids I installed on a Hofner club bass (which they happily and quickly replaced, solving the problem)? I contacted La Bella, and even sent them an audio file of the bass. They insisted it sounded fine to them, but I know what I felt onstage. This was the first time I had tried their Low Tension flats, and perhaps the E gauge was just too light to balance with the other strings. So at the next Zep gig I brought the bass, my tools, and a heavier E string from their Deep Talkin' flat set, and switched the E string during a set break so I could try them both on the same night, with all the same gear.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dzzGVPpTt4E/V3MY6sZrzKI/AAAAAAAAA2E/iWDsRyeqgiMTux-574S5rvWkV7DZ2aergCK4B/s640/IMG_7912.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="426" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was me (with an onstage friend) trying Choco with different low E
strings that night. I was smiling because I like dinosaurs, not because I
liked the bass - yet...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Conclusion? The heavier string was a bit louder, but the low end was still bad (actually unusable compared to the Jazz-style bass I also played that night). I was finally forced to accept that it was perhaps the pickup that was to blame - at least I tried everything else first.<br />
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This pickup, as had a few sets installed and written about here before, was hand made for me by a pickup builder in Santa Fe Springs, CA. I have loved his P and J pickups, so I asked him to build me a '51 single coil bass pickup, which he said he had never done before. I don't know if his first stab at this just didn't turn out great, of if the problem is the pickup design in general (remember, I never liked the other two Fender Japan reissue '51 P Basses I owned), but this was just not cutting it. I tried repeatedly to get in touch with Mark to see if he could remake it, or even try a split or stacked-coil version (which would also be noiseless), but since mid 2015 I have been unable to reach him. He has either moved, or changed his number and email address, or went out of biz, or...<br />
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Remember Sting's '54 P-Bass? I read up on it, and his guitar tech had installed a Seymour Duncan Custom Shop stacked-coil in it (which is not only quieter, but with more traditional P-Bass low end and tone). I spent sometime searching for an affordable stacked pickup option (unlike the SD Custom Shop pickup, I am VERY cheap), but luckily found a used Custom Shop SD for about $150 shipped. With all the time and $$ invested in Choco, I decided now was not the time to cheap out on the pickup, so I bit the bullet and went for it.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RZJ9DOrW_X8/V3MGTA4cLBI/AAAAAAAAAzw/Pvuw32KwJhAc_dc5l85sTDq7VWSlJpHnwCK4B/s1600/IMG_7942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RZJ9DOrW_X8/V3MGTA4cLBI/AAAAAAAAAzw/Pvuw32KwJhAc_dc5l85sTDq7VWSlJpHnwCK4B/s400/IMG_7942.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note that the SD Custom Shop pickup pole pieces are pretty consistently flat, not raised in the center like the vintage-style single coil. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Chhdlq-Dk10/V3MbXn9jRoI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/I3TN0Al9IMg-36xDxjvJAllnQk0n6NOuACK4B/s1600/IMG_7944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Chhdlq-Dk10/V3MbXn9jRoI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/I3TN0Al9IMg-36xDxjvJAllnQk0n6NOuACK4B/s640/IMG_7944.jpg" width="640" /></a>After installing this pickup and plugging in - BAM - everything sounded GREAT! La Bella, please accept my apologies, your Low Tension flats are as amazing as your other strings (it's very buttery and balanced), and this bass has so much low end now that, well, it almost has too much bottom. I was able to readjust the string heights to a playable level, and even drop the pickup back a hair so the bass is vintagy warm without distorting.<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MIHg5fM7Ah4/V3MHzIrap7I/AAAAAAAAAz8/zZ6_nPdkchskNNuaxHCbgoY-_2UTRyrPwCK4B/s1600/IMG_7954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MIHg5fM7Ah4/V3MHzIrap7I/AAAAAAAAAz8/zZ6_nPdkchskNNuaxHCbgoY-_2UTRyrPwCK4B/s640/IMG_7954.jpg" width="640" /><br />
Last but not least, I purchased some glossy black single ply pickguard material. Using the altered one, I cut a final and perfectly-fitted pickguard that hugged the bottom of the neck, closing up the unsightly gaps (not unlike cosmetic dentistry).<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C5whXmD1hio/V3MJ-oGQf1I/AAAAAAAAA0o/WcQe1ZCgBNcYPIsDIrXDNUWkPPMpHCuJACK4B/s1600/IMG_7945.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C5whXmD1hio/V3MJ-oGQf1I/AAAAAAAAA0o/WcQe1ZCgBNcYPIsDIrXDNUWkPPMpHCuJACK4B/s640/IMG_7945.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hv0Z98FwOYw/V3MIBrGHM5I/AAAAAAAAA0E/vezIbH7abkA4jPGErAyUX_fTLyfG0BwcwCK4B/s1600/IMG_7959.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hv0Z98FwOYw/V3MIBrGHM5I/AAAAAAAAA0E/vezIbH7abkA4jPGErAyUX_fTLyfG0BwcwCK4B/s640/IMG_7959.jpg" width="480" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k1RPotijsDA/V3MIMGAY9dI/AAAAAAAAA0M/x47zp3yrySIidq7ng5r87oqQztPIFIPDACK4B/s1600/IMG_7961.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k1RPotijsDA/V3MIMGAY9dI/AAAAAAAAA0M/x47zp3yrySIidq7ng5r87oqQztPIFIPDACK4B/s640/IMG_7961.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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And so, my build of what was originally a simplest/primitive bass guitar design is complete. Instead of simple, it was probably the longest and most complex build I have ever attempted, considering all of the fixes and tweaks required to finally dial it in. In the end, it is a true hybrid of the simplest and most advanced instrument materials and technology, with a heavy single piece wood body and oil finish complementing a state of the art modern pickup and graphite composite neck. It plays incredibly easy and smoothly, has very low tension, and has a huge full tone. The only drawback might be the weight, but it hasn't been a problem for me as I rarely use the same bass all night anyway, and when it comes to tone and mass - with basses - you usually get what you pay for (so to speak). I look forward to recording with this beast someday.<br />
<h2>
One More Thing: Just In Case...</h2>
Cases are very important to me (to protect and transport), and I really felt that Choco deserved a special home to live in. A local Craigslister had posted a few of these oddly-shaped fiberglass bass cases, and I offered to trade him what was my first acoustic guitar, given to me by my parents on my birthday when I has probably 15 or 16 years old, but with which I have absolutely no use for these last couple of decades (I have a wonderful Gibson J45 I purchased new sometime around 1998). I have tried selling it so that another young budding guitarist might play it, but could not even find someone to give it away to. Hopefully this case dealer (he had so many cases!) will sell it to someone looking to learn guitar, and I now have a fitting (and well-fitted) retro-looking but very protective case for Choco to reside and be transported in, when it's not sitting on a stand right next to my desk for easy and regular noodling. A lesson in patience and perseverance, and an instrument to cherish.<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--7FLqE3Udmw/V3MNmu2EK7I/AAAAAAAAA00/9bMfEXf6IRobrVQDAW7vqfKVgMviMqx2QCK4B/s1600/IMG_0473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zE0DEf5HQp0/V3MNnCdD58I/AAAAAAAAA08/QDapoMPj5lIeSxSjss6rVy8oKaw-CNfygCK4B/s1600/IMG_0471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zE0DEf5HQp0/V3MNnCdD58I/AAAAAAAAA08/QDapoMPj5lIeSxSjss6rVy8oKaw-CNfygCK4B/s640/IMG_0471.JPG" width="480" /></a><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--7FLqE3Udmw/V3MNmu2EK7I/AAAAAAAAA00/9bMfEXf6IRobrVQDAW7vqfKVgMviMqx2QCK4B/s640/IMG_0473.JPG" width="640" /><br />
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<b>More Salted Chocolate</b></h2>
We recently watched a bio pic of the writer/director Nora Ephron, which included her list of favorite things she will miss (written while she was slowly dying of cancer). Aside from the argument that, once dead, you are not actually capable of missing anything, my list must include salted dark chocolate. Although my sweet spot (pun intended) for great dark chocolate is in the 65-70% range, I got an online offer to try Godiva's web store, and ordered their 3-bar Dark Chocolate Lover's Tasting Set. The 72% was OK if slightly more bitter than I prefer, and the Dark with Almonds was OK as well, but the set also included a 50% with Sea Salt. <br />
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This chocolate bar is super smooth and surprisingly now one of my very favorites, and I say that knowing quite well that it's from a very mainstream, large corporate chocolatier (originally Belgian, but still made in Germany). As their flavors tend to be a bit darker than I expect, the 50% turns out to have the right amount of sweetness to go with the salt. This 3-pack sells on their site regularly for $13 plus shipping, but they periodically offer free shipping along with other deals. The first time I ordered this, it costs me about $2 total, and arrived in a ridiculously large box packed with ice. It occurred to me that maybe that's how they ship just your first order, in order to convince you to buy again, and although the next time I ordered this same 3-pack it came in a smaller box with no ice, all other orders since have been over-packed the same as my initial try-out.<br />
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As I only really love the 50% w/salt, I have emailed asking if they would consider ever putting that one on sale (as a 3 pack, or whatever). They said they would keep it in mind, but I'm not holding my breath. I occasionally reorder this sampler pack and put up with the other two bars in order to be able to enjoy this one, but just a few weeks ago I saw the 50% w/salt on sale at Walgreens for $2.50 each/4 for $10, so I'm sure it will grace my chocolate drawer again in the future.<br />
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Yes, I have a chocolate drawer. I shares the space with my forks and knives, but make no mistake - it's NOT a cutlery drawer. It's a CHOCOLATE drawer.Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-1845623653279938172016-06-28T15:06:00.000-07:002016-06-29T14:41:51.212-07:00Chocobass Pt. 1, Jaguar Bass V3.0, and Chocolate Crack(originally posted August 2015) It's been a while since I've posted anything new (disappointing both of my readers, I'm sure), but it's not because I have not been building/rebuilding/contemplating basses - and chocolate, of course. The Swiss Army Knife Jaguar bass I built in 2014 has morphed two times already; lacking real presence on the bottom end, I first replaced the active EMGs with a nice new set of passive P/J pickups courtesy Scott <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Wunschel at </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">EMG Pickups, but it still lacked something compared to some of my better basses. Next I replaced the custom Moses neck with a very nice (and reasonably priced @$120) bound vintage tint Japanese-made Jazz bass neck, a bit more in line cosmetically with Jaguar basses. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> Applying my Funster decal to the bound neck</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">At home on my little amp it still seemed to lack a strong E string, and I'm of the opinion it's because of the lightweight basswood Squier body. I went on eBay and found tonewood supplier Classic Tonewoods (and classictonewoods.com) who had listed a solid one piece Walnut guitar blank. It was just big enough for a Jaguar bass body, so I thought I would try it. He planed and cut the body shape for me, and it's a gorgeous piece of wood:</span></div>
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<b>Walnut on my mind</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">This brings me to the topic of Walnut (and, to me anyway, it's relation to chocolate). I grew up in a carpenter/builder's home, and would spend many hours in my dad's shop working with woods, occasionally ruining and/or losing his tools (I still have a couple to this day, but I've made it up to him by occasionally buying him a new ones). Other than Pine or other similar soft woods, the only hardwood I had regular access to was Oak (I can still remember the Oak paneling in the first home we lived in, which we moved out of when I was 4 or 5yrs old). I started working with smaller pieces of hardwoods by the time I got into wood shop in high school, where I made one of the first basses with a nice piece of Ash the shop teacher was squirreling away for his own uses (he was NOT happy). Three of my earliest home-made basses, one fretted and two fretless, were made all of Oak. I still have the fretted "Flinstone bass" and an unfinished fretless, but regret having sold off the other finished fretless decades ago.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Once in college and playing in my first real band (a Rush tribute with a generous helping of Zeppelin, The Police, etc), I acquired a very nice Fender Jazz neck (to this day the neck width and profile I am most at home playing), and made a body out of Walnut. As I remember the body shape was kind of a cross between an Explorer and a Rickenbacker, but no photos of it exist that I can find. I still remember the smell of the Walnut dust, and the dark brown color of walnut, stained and sealed, is to me the ultimate delicious brown (I built much of my current kitchen cabinetry and counters out of Walnut):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">It's also a rather heavy and dense wood, which is SUPPOSED to translate into more mass and deeper bass; one of my best and fullest sounding basses is the 13lb Precision featured in the header image with the chunk of chocolate. I'm trying to remember the tone of that college Walnut-bodied bass, but as it was early in my playing career I didn't have much to compare it to. All I can remember is that it played very easily, and I played this bass exclusively for 4-5 years, before taking out my first ever bank loan to purchase a Steinberger L2 bass (mentioned briefly in a past post, and to be featured in one in the near future). I still have the L2, but the Walnut bass with the Jazz neck must have been sold soon after, because I no longer have it. The Steinberger was essentially my only bass for the next almost 20 years, simply because there was no way to improve on it, which I realized the second I played my first one. Only until I joined a Who tribute in the mid-aughts did my full blown Bass Lust emerge, and I became interested in having and/or making many other more traditional (wooden) bass guitars.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">The extra weight and mass of Walnut, along with the beautiful dark brown color, makes the wood a very attractive alternative to the lightweight basswood Jaguar body, and might just solve the problem that still plagued this bass. But it also seemed to me that, along with the now available black Moses neck, an oil-finished Walnut body could make a very aesthetically pleasing P Bass, in the style of the original 1951-4 Fender Precision (now sometimes called a Telecaster Bass), but with a more organic contoured body like Fender started offering by the mid-1950's.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">An original 1953 Fender Precision bass, THE original electric bass guitar. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sting's beat-to-shit '53 Sunburst Precision Bass, all original except for </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">the bridge</span> and pickup, an updated split-coil Seymour Duncan model.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">I have owned two of the Japaneses Fender re-issue 51 Precision basses, and even with some pickup and bridge mods they were ultimately disappointing. The neck seems needlessly chunky, and to me the tone was never great, neither full nor bright enough, so both were traded/sold. But Sting has used one of these basses as his ONLY go to bass for more than 20 years, so there must be something to them (there certainly must be something about THAT one). Maybe this combo of a Jazz profile neck (even though it has a Tele-style headstock) and Walnut body, with the right pickup, would give me both a dark, warm tone and the visual equivalent of a nice dark chocolate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">I tracked down a Walnut P Bass body on eBay, but when it arrived I found too many problems with it, including being thinner than advertised, with edge routing too extreme for the pickguard, etc. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">While processing the return, I again checked with Tyler at Classic Tonewoods, and he had this beautiful 1-piece blank:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">I was informed by the shop I was going to use to route and drill the Walnut Jaguar body that they needed an uncut blank to put it on the CnC machine, so although I was SOL with the Jag, I could (hypothetically) get a precise, computer-controlled cut, routed and drilled Precision Bass body from this Walnut board. I called the grower and made the deal, and took delivery of this beautiful one piece Walnut blank.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Knowing that this project would move forward, I consulted the bible of early Precision basses for details on parts, builds and finishes, Detlef Schmidt's FENDER PRECISION BASSES 1951-1954:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This book is awesome bass porn! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Finding this book ruined me. After giving up on two of these basses (albeit reissues), I never thought I would care about this model again. But this book reignited my interest in the original electric bass, and although I will never be a high-dollar collector, of course I was bound to build one. The great thing about the book are the photos and descriptions of many of the earliest models, giving this copy monkey everything <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">he</span> needed to either duplicate, or if I chose, deviate from the original design. It also meant I would be able to better recognize the manufacturing errors and problems with all of the parts assembled for my build, making it a much longer and more tedious process than I could have anticipated, but theoretically and ultimately correct.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">In Part 2 we will see just how many problems, inconsistencies and mis-fitting parts there can be in one build, and the patience required to overcome these challenges. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Chocolate Crack</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Ok, it's a trite phrase, and since I've never actually done crack it's difficult to really compare, but I have heard the crack is "really wonderful"...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">On my most recent gig trip through Tokyo's Hamada Airport, I found this chocolate in a refrigerated case at Duty Free:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"></span>Oh Nama! This stuff is very similar in textured to very fine fudge, but much lighter and devoid of all that dairy. It's triple packed inside, comes with a sort of wooden serving knife, and is supplied with ice packs to keep it cold until you get it home. </div>
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Needless to say the first box barely made it home (I had eaten most of it during the 13 hour delay and 11 hour flight back to Los Angeles). But after trying the first piece at the airport, I purchased a second sealed box to open later. The texture is incredibly smooth, and the flavor is EVERYTHING I could possibly ask for from both chocolate and bass guitar tone. It's so rich that a couple of small pieces per sitting is more than sufficient - very dark chocolate, but extremely smooth and not at all bitter - and keeps for weeks in the refrigerator. We chocolate snobs would never consider putting good chocolate in the refrigerator, because it would ruin it (mostly by separating the oils from the solids), but whomever came up with this confection deserves a Nobel Prize in Chemistry (my apologies and congrats to actual Nobel Laureates). </div>
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Finding this while in the middle of my Walnut bass build, which I was already going to name Chocobass because of the dark brown finish I planned for the Walnut body, now presented a challenge. As careful as I am while building a bass, selecting the neck and body, accumulating complimentary parts, and patiently assembling the instrument, I never really know if the end result will actually be what I have hoped for until it's completed. I know Chocobass will look delicious, but could its tone also have the same deep, dark and rich (without bitterness) flavor as this amazing Japanese chocolate?</div>
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Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-78328116138147523412015-10-18T18:29:00.001-07:002015-10-20T09:33:46.101-07:00Chocobass Pt. 2: Prepping the Parts (and drinking your pudding)<div>
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Choosing the right parts for the correct bass build is one thing; prepping and getting them to fit together should be easy, but is usually just the opposite. I suppose if I bought only Fender or Fender-authorized parts, then they would all fit perfectly, but even that is not true. Fender's specs for the same bass made in the US, Mexico, Japan or elsewhere in Asia can vary wildly, and after-market parts manufacturers can copy specs from any of these, or make up new ones, without even knowing the difference.<br />
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Something as simple as the correct bridge for this bass required parts from three different sources. The original 1951 P Bass bridge had Bakelite saddles, an early type of plastic very common in 1920s-1950s manufacturing. This material affects the sound of the bass, as well as the sustain, and was regularly replaced with metal saddle pieces as they aged, cracked or worn out (even Fender switched the bridge design within a few years to all-metal).<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">An original 51 P Bass bridge with old, worn-out Bakelite saddles. </span></div>
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But I have enough bright P Basses with long sustain and perfect intonation... The whole purpose of building this bass was to get something with a different visual and aural character, including an authentic vintage sound. I <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">started with an Asian-made bridge, a correct 2-saddle model, but with metal saddles. I then ordered off of eBay plastic saddles (not sure if they are actually Bakelite) hand-made to match the originals. After stamping the bridge with similar (if not perfect) markings based on vintage photos (FUNSTER instead of FENDER, and for the date 2015) I aged the metal along with the rest of the metal parts in muriatic acid fumes. </span><br />
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After a day, the finish surface of the parts is eaten away; cleaning them up with a brush and steel wool gets the gunk and rust off. New repro parts now look 60 years old, but still function as new, ready to install.<br />
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Of course, it's never that easy. The new saddles required different and larger adjustment screws and fatter springs, which I found amongst my spare parts. The final bridge looks quite old, but with new plastic saddles. Even though I also aged the correct bridge and pickup covers and may never see the bridge, the Art is in the details. </div>
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The Moses neck I am using was originally made to my specs for a different bass (my Swiss Army Knife Jaguar bass), which, on a whim, I ordered with a 51 P Bass headstock profile. It looked fine on the Jag, but it's perfect for this bass (and the Jazz Bass neck profile will be much more comfortable for me to play). But the shallower, more modern radius (the curve on the face of the neck) and the rounded butt-end of the neck (where it fits into the body) would create more problems with the fit, assembly and voicing of this bass.<br />
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Three attempts at replacing the gold Funster sticker with white ones ended in disaster, so I went back to my last gold one, still not perfect, but since I can no longer get a hold of the guy who printed them for me, it will do have to do. </div>
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Then the relic' vintage style Grover tuners needed to be installed in the neck head. These things are huge, and I would have never used them if the body wasn't so heavy. They were also a very tight fit in the back of the headstock, requiring some elongating of the holes and some aluminum tape inside the front ferrules for a tighter fit.<br />
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These graphite necks are also very difficult to screw into. It proved almost impossible to get any of them flush into the back of the tuners without snapping off the screw heads. Eventually, I figured out the proper length to cut them in order to hold the tuners with a flush fit. With wood, this is SO much easier...<br />
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<b>The Body</b></div>
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The only part of this bass that has to be built from scratch is the body. The whole point of this build was Walnut, and after receiving the one-piece Walnut Jaguar body mentioned in Pt. 1, my mind was made up. My first shot at this was purchasing an already-cut Walnut body from eBay. Unfortunately, they planed it a bit too thin, and tried using a router to contour the front and back, but used too large of a bit, and the edges were way too deeply rounded.<br />
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I returned it, and instead ordered the new, one-piece Walnut blank from the same tonewood who sold me the Jag bass body. <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">This time I needed the uncut rectangular piece In order to get it CnC'd. I have all the tools to cut and route it myself, but I didn't have all the correct templates. I also wanted perfect placement of the neck pocket, pickup and bridge that only a computer could provide. Unfortunately, there were still more variables that I had not considered. </span><br />
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After getting the bass body cut and routed, I realize that all of these basses were originally matched with a square-end neck. Even though I brought the Moses neck with me to confirm the neck pocket shape, there was still an unsightly gap between the bottom corners of the neckand the body. It was tight and usable, but it was not the perfect neck pocket fit I had hoped for, and dashed any chances I had of eliminating the need for a pickguard (which would now be needed to hide the gaps).<br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I expected the Squire pickguard I had to need some modification, but </span>bad end route also meant I'd have to cut a custom pickguard for a cleaner fit. At least I can get glossy black pickguard material to match the original - for some reason the Fender Japanese reissues and Squires come with a black matte pickguard.</div>
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The other detail I was not asked about before routing and drilling was the rear body string ferrels. All of these basses originally had the string-through the body type bridges, which could also effect the tone and resonance.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The back of an original 51 P Bass body. </span></div>
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The original Fender string ferrules were large 1/2" diameter cups, but all of the later reissues of this bass used smaller 3/8" ferrules. Of course, I was not asked which I was using, and when I got the body home I found they cut and drilled for the smaller ferrules, even though I wanted the larger ones (on further thought, perhaps the neck pocket also matches the reissues, but still not correct for my neck). I hesitated re-drilling them for a couple of weeks, afraid I would ruin it somehow, then finally mustered up the courage, fired up my drill press, and the results were fine.<br />
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I wanted to contour the body myself, to make it a bit rounder and organic than the 2nd generation P Basses (Fender only started offering a contoured body around 1953 after complaints from players). I figured that eliminating more wood than normal for this model would still not significantly affect the density and weight, since Walnut is already heavier and denser than either Ash or Alder, the original P Bass body woods. After confirming the neck fit, I used some files to create a slot for the truss rod adjustment hex wrench. Then the rough filing, power sanding and hand sanding commenced.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">A standard late 50s-style P Bass body served as a guide for the contouring. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The shaping process is more like sculpting, and brings back all of those sense memories of the flavor of Walnut dust in the nose and mouth. </span><br />
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For the finish, I wanted a beautiful dark chocolate brown. After reading about and watching many YouTube videos dealing with different Walnut finishing techniques, came upon a group of postings from rifle owners and refinishers about Walnut rifle butt refinishing. Thanks to American's well documented love affair with firearms, there are enough rifle rebuilding enthusiasts to warrant a pre-packaged kit for just staining and sealing Walnut.<br />
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This Birchwood-Casey Tru-Oil kit is all about using natural oils instead of either laquer or poly finishes, and I have heard a lot about how oil finishes allow more of the natural wood resonance of musical instruments. All of my basses have paint finishes, so this would be the first bass I have purchased or built with only stain and oil to seal the body (and the neck, being made of graphite composites, also has no clear top coat finish as well). It took quite a few coats of stain and oil, then fine and wet sanding, and finally three steps of buffing to get a finish that, although not flawless, was glossy with a gorgeous rich from brown color tone, with more than enough grain showing through.<br />
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Next up in Pt. 3: assembly. </div>
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<b>Drink your Pudding!</b></div>
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In my 2013 trip to Europe, I searched for drinking chocolates in various cities in Italy and France, as well as in Barcelona. Drinking chocolate, although usually warm to hot, is NOT the same thing hot chocolate as Americans know it. In Italy it can be like a thick pure chocolate shot; the motherland for this is the Cafe Rivorie in Florence, directly across from the museum that houses Michelangelo's David (I managed three mornings in a row there). In France, there is much more (too much?) milk in their drinking chocolate, but in Barcelona it's so thick that you can leave your churro upright in it without it falling (I had one in Venice and in London very similar). In a quick trip to NYC taken while still shaping Chocobass's body, I got in a couple more European-style drinking chocolates. The first, from the Jaques Torres Cholcolates in Rockefeller Center, was not too thick and very nice, but costs $9 (tried it once, that's enough thank you)! </div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The other I tried (on the same day no less) was at Eataly in the Flatiron district. The dark chocolatta from Cafe Lavazza was as thick as the ones I had in Barcelona. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">It needed to be eaten with a spoon. I ordered the large, but a little goes a long way, and my stomach regretted the decision a few hours later. Hopefully, when Eataly opens their Los Angeles location in 2016, Cafe Lavazza will be there as well. </span></div>
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And so will I. But I'll just order the regular. </div>
Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-88963411743715886562014-10-27T13:53:00.001-07:002014-10-28T00:04:16.878-07:00Japanese and Swiss Army Knife Basses (and Chocolate)<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><font color="#000000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-MzAl_ZSqzko/VE8_wpS0ACI/AAAAAAAAAjE/kkvBVikF1ZA/s640/blogger-image-1175466872.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-MzAl_ZSqzko/VE8_wpS0ACI/AAAAAAAAAjE/kkvBVikF1ZA/s640/blogger-image-1175466872.jpg"></a></font></div><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;">I'm returning from a brief trip and gig in Japan, the second in a month. Japan is beautiful and the food is wonderful, even for a vegetarian and - sometimes - bad vegan like me. The culture is very organized and efficient, and the level of pride in work and craftsmanship seems very high. It also has a very strange famous clown troupe, wearing very odd vertical heads, and I had to get a photo with them before a gig in Fassu:</div></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-gWg7YuUpq4U/VE6wxrR3UNI/AAAAAAAAAhM/aifNKd0wZQo/s640/blogger-image-1083103712.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-gWg7YuUpq4U/VE6wxrR3UNI/AAAAAAAAAhM/aifNKd0wZQo/s640/blogger-image-1083103712.jpg"></a></div><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Having built a number of new basses since the last entry, this bass, and the chocolate that follows, has a Japan connection (of sorts).</span><div><br></div><div>Back as far as the 1960s Japanese companies were knocking off many US and European guitars and basses, and I believe the first Fender Squiers were made in Japan. By the 90s "Crafted in Japan" Fenders were considered as good if not better made than US Fenders, and they also offered many models not made in the US (especially vintage-style reissues). Up until this year Fender has only manufactured Jaguar basses, a hybrid of a Jaguar guitar body, a Jazz bass neck and an array of different active/passive pickup combinations, in Asia, although they have just started marketing an American Series Jag bass. Besides the very high-quality Japanese switchable active/passive Jaguars, they also sell variations of Indonesian and Chinese-made Squier Jaguars, some passive, some active (which are actually pretty good sounding), and even some with short-scale necks and painted headstocks matching the body.</div><div><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">About 10 years ago I owned a black Japanese Fender Jaguar bass. I had a custom tortoise pickguard made to replace the stock white one, and with the Jazz neck profile found it very comfortable to play. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-YhW2k86mAC0/VE6wwgrMBmI/AAAAAAAAAhE/0w5y-vMsPG8/s640/blogger-image--465237384.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-YhW2k86mAC0/VE6wwgrMBmI/AAAAAAAAAhE/0w5y-vMsPG8/s640/blogger-image--465237384.jpg"></a></div><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After a handful of performances, however, I found it impossible to voice the inner and outer strings correctly, the inners (esp. the D) never as hot as the E and G, even with cheats to the bridge. I decided this was a design flaw with the pickups, and eventually sold it (although I probably should have just replaced the pickups, but whatever...). I always loved the body shape and thought it was a great looking bass, but really preferred a Sunburst body (which were much more rare), so a Jag bass has remained in the clutter that is the back of my mind.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Sometime in 2012 that brain clutter cleared a bit, and slowly I started acculumating parts to build my own Jaguar bass. I found a mint condition Squier Sunburst Jaguar body on EBay, acceptable even if it was Basswood (not Ash or Alder, which would have been a bit heavier and denser). I had ordered a couple Jazz necks from Eden, including a vintage-finish maple one I intended for this Jaguar. I liked the wider tonal choices available on the PJ-config Squiers, so instead of two Jazz pickups I ordered a hand wound, vintage-spec PJ set from Mark </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lariccia, </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">and for the head I ordered a set of Hipshot Chrome Clover Ultralight tuners with a D-drop and Hipshot chrome bridge with brass saddles. This looked like it was going to be a very nice instrument.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Then the first little challenge presented itself. A tortoise Squier Jaguar pickguard was turning out to be be difficult to find, </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">and having one custom made was impossible because everyone needed an existing pickguard to work from, something I didn't have. It eventually </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">took about 6 months to track down, all the while the body sat piled up on my shop bench. I then found it impossible to find a correct chrome electronics plate - it is a different shape from the standard Jazz bass plate. I purchased one from the same seller as the body, who thought it came from that Squier Jag, only to find it was a regular Jazz Bass plate. I then ordered another, and although that it was a better match, it still required that I modify the pickguard a bit for a correct fit. Meanwhile the body (with the pickguard) sat in a pile with others, waiting for months to track down the correct electronics plate:<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pll8VtAdR2s/VE8_3zrpUEI/AAAAAAAAAjs/JFMoXm9bLCY/s640/blogger-image-1932649580.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pll8VtAdR2s/VE8_3zrpUEI/AAAAAAAAAjs/JFMoXm9bLCY/s640/blogger-image-1932649580.jpg"></a></div></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">During this exercise in patience I ended up using the P bass set on another bass. Realizing I had both a set of EMG Precision pickups and a spare EMG Jazz pickup, I decided instead to make this Jaguar bass fully active, and added EMG bass/treble and midrange control preamps. Instead of a vintage passive set-up, this bass would now be a modern and versatile "Swiss army knife" bass with a range of pickup and tonal options.</span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Since the vintage look was no longer so important, I reconsidered the neck. Sitting around my shop for about 10 years was a Moses graphite upright bass fingerboard purchased directly from Steve Moser, intended for a custom electric upright I had hoped to build. Sometime around then I also purchased a Steinberger Electric Upright (which I slightly altered and refinished in black, freaking Ned Steinberger out a bit, another story for a future writeup here).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4-aHPWaWlcs/VE8_t91eCyI/AAAAAAAAAi0/l1QtOB7iyig/s640/blogger-image--1863371856.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4-aHPWaWlcs/VE8_t91eCyI/AAAAAAAAAi0/l1QtOB7iyig/s640/blogger-image--1863371856.jpg"></a></div></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This bass, as are all Steinberger basses, is far superior to anything I could make myself, so the homemade upright with the Moses fingerboard was never built. Sometime around 2011, after joining the Led Zeppelin tribute HEARTBREAKER (now ZEPPELIN LIVE), I instead made tentative plans to return the Moses fingerboard and have Steve make a custom neck for a proposed 8-string bass like the one </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">John Paul Jones </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">used to perform "Nobody's Fault" and "Achilles Last Stand" (it looks like an Alembic, but it was actually made by a former Alembic employee, and features very intricate fingerboard inlays). </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2Ko6Up4e7H0/VE8_zgnrhvI/AAAAAAAAAjU/dY2v0lsuHvA/s640/blogger-image-2125081929.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2Ko6Up4e7H0/VE8_zgnrhvI/AAAAAAAAAjU/dY2v0lsuHvA/s640/blogger-image-2125081929.jpg"></a></div></div><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After a year or so of knocking this idea around, I decided the asian-made Hagstrom 8-string bass I found was certainly good enough for the few times I would actually play it (the bridge needs to be upgraded and repositioned, yet another story...). So at NAMM 2014 I spoke with Steve again, this time about building a custom graphite neck with a Jazz Bass profile, white block markers (Jag basses feature 70s style blocks instead of dots), and a Tele Bass headstock (to lighten the neck a bit more and add uniqueness of this bass). It took a couple more months, but I knew this bass would FINALLY come together when I received an email with the subject line "</span>Ye ole' neck is already<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">" and this attached photo:</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dNe13kn9rUo/VE6wvRYtYmI/AAAAAAAAAg8/W8s3l-RnIFM/s640/blogger-image-564880799.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dNe13kn9rUo/VE6wvRYtYmI/AAAAAAAAAg8/W8s3l-RnIFM/s640/blogger-image-564880799.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><br></div></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">All parts in place, I carefully modded the pickguard so the the pickups and electronics fit in the factory routes and lined up with the neck pocket. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-B6NvyAP69PM/VE8_goZJRhI/AAAAAAAAAhk/eOuDlilhLA8/s640/blogger-image-740648675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-B6NvyAP69PM/VE8_goZJRhI/AAAAAAAAAhk/eOuDlilhLA8/s640/blogger-image-740648675.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The Moses neck had the truss rod adjustment at the butt end, not the head, so the body pocket and pickguard had to be modified so that, if neck adjustment were required, the neck and puckguard would not have to be removed:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g5NoUQ0J1po/VE8_lR9GBTI/AAAAAAAAAiE/CIGbOUHZqbI/s640/blogger-image--312249863.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g5NoUQ0J1po/VE8_lR9GBTI/AAAAAAAAAiE/CIGbOUHZqbI/s640/blogger-image--312249863.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LptrLDlhygk/VE8_e2xwfMI/AAAAAAAAAhc/ufbfrzjeGXg/s640/blogger-image--1468995876.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LptrLDlhygk/VE8_e2xwfMI/AAAAAAAAAhc/ufbfrzjeGXg/s640/blogger-image--1468995876.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-MGc_Vib8hcg/VE8_sjNAPzI/AAAAAAAAAis/B0RWROmeNRM/s640/blogger-image--669561148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-MGc_Vib8hcg/VE8_sjNAPzI/AAAAAAAAAis/B0RWROmeNRM/s640/blogger-image--669561148.jpg"></a></div></div>The Moses neck itself requires special taps installed for the neck bolts, where the neck attaches to the body. I was a bit paranoid about stripping the the graphite while installing the taps, and drilled and very carefully:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-eiEJb7TeUiQ/VE8_o0mLCdI/AAAAAAAAAiU/gPxcdV8Bgeg/s640/blogger-image--221906267.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-eiEJb7TeUiQ/VE8_o0mLCdI/AAAAAAAAAiU/gPxcdV8Bgeg/s640/blogger-image--221906267.jpg"></a></div></div><br></div>The factory side-mount jack was still mounted on the bass, and although it was not as solid as I liked, it had the required extra lead for turning in the active circuitry. The neck fit correctly in the pocket, and all body parts lined up. But this Zen exercise in patience was not quite over - I discovered that the holes drilled I the head were the wrong size for the Hipshop tuners. I contacted Hipshot and arranged for a swap, but this time with round Lollipop ends, a rather rare style used by Fender only briefly in the 60s. While awaiting delivery of the new tuners I applied the decal. Although all of the hardware is chrome, I chose gold to go with the sunburst finish on the body, a decision I still have mixed feelings about:</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-HzWymTnMrIM/VE8_6bGPvEI/AAAAAAAAAj8/ZegEmk-FyfQ/s640/blogger-image--920123338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-HzWymTnMrIM/VE8_6bGPvEI/AAAAAAAAAj8/ZegEmk-FyfQ/s640/blogger-image--920123338.jpg"></font></a></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-GcymixRkOvk/VE8_7nPnWxI/AAAAAAAAAkE/tPKUkRtXqqw/s640/blogger-image--1342621049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-GcymixRkOvk/VE8_7nPnWxI/AAAAAAAAAkE/tPKUkRtXqqw/s640/blogger-image--1342621049.jpg"></font></a></div></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The replacement tuners arrived two weeks later, and again were very carefully installed to avoid stripping the graphite material:</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-CaMrFORnxXw/VE8_i0OtfyI/AAAAAAAAAh0/E8_baOs9D-U/s640/blogger-image--1882005950.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-CaMrFORnxXw/VE8_i0OtfyI/AAAAAAAAAh0/E8_baOs9D-U/s640/blogger-image--1882005950.jpg"></a></div></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The final bass set up easily with some lighter gauge Rotosound roundwounds. Even the round string retainer proved a challenge - after assembling and setting the bass up, I brought it to a rehearsal to "open it up" and get a sense of the sound, with blue painters tape covering the rear battery and input jack holes. Upon opening the bag, I found that the string retainer had popped out because the wood screw holding it into the rather brittle grapite headstock had stripped and popped out, rendering the D and G strings unplayable. The next day I visited three hardware stores until a found a few choices of metal taps (similar to the ones holding the neck bolts, but much smaller). Again, you only get one shot at this, so I started with the smallest and eventually locked the tap in place using superglue:</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nDhyE1uPBUQ/VE8_qDH3MNI/AAAAAAAAAic/eOXb1Od06is/s640/blogger-image--573475042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nDhyE1uPBUQ/VE8_qDH3MNI/AAAAAAAAAic/eOXb1Od06is/s640/blogger-image--573475042.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A couple of rehearsals and gigs with this bass, and was sure it was a keeper. Some left over black pickguard pieces provided the material to make the rear access plates:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-48pWyRKqVBA/VE8_njZ4VqI/AAAAAAAAAiM/x4p4bijRbsw/s640/blogger-image-1807297406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-48pWyRKqVBA/VE8_njZ4VqI/AAAAAAAAAiM/x4p4bijRbsw/s640/blogger-image-1807297406.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LStXoyCtKQI/VE8_vJmgpyI/AAAAAAAAAi8/_HyU3RCVmIE/s640/blogger-image--1656480782.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LStXoyCtKQI/VE8_vJmgpyI/AAAAAAAAAi8/_HyU3RCVmIE/s640/blogger-image--1656480782.jpg"></a></div>Because of the nature of the graphite material, I dated the bass with punches into the battery cover instead of the back it the headstock:<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-YNL35ZYgHJc/VE8_5R_INtI/AAAAAAAAAj0/LQCN2Jo0WNM/s640/blogger-image--2096293604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-YNL35ZYgHJc/VE8_5R_INtI/AAAAAAAAAj0/LQCN2Jo0WNM/s640/blogger-image--2096293604.jpg"></a></div></div></div><br></div></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>CONCLUSION</b></span></div><div><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-MzAl_ZSqzko/VE8_wpS0ACI/AAAAAAAAAjE/kkvBVikF1ZA/s640/blogger-image-1175466872.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-MzAl_ZSqzko/VE8_wpS0ACI/AAAAAAAAAjE/kkvBVikF1ZA/s640/blogger-image-1175466872.jpg"></font></a></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-c5PfmJrC6Yg/VE8_rQ79GNI/AAAAAAAAAik/i3xdJwzp0vQ/s640/blogger-image--956421270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-c5PfmJrC6Yg/VE8_rQ79GNI/AAAAAAAAAik/i3xdJwzp0vQ/s640/blogger-image--956421270.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hJqmpupv-HQ/VE8_hrDdzxI/AAAAAAAAAho/A1mVx0GrrOY/s640/blogger-image-286336772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hJqmpupv-HQ/VE8_hrDdzxI/AAAAAAAAAho/A1mVx0GrrOY/s640/blogger-image-286336772.jpg"></a></div></div><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This bass plays as good or better than any bass I own, with loose comfortable string tension reminding me of some of my active basses. Sometimes it is true that, if you use the best parts, and take your time so as not to mess them up, you will probably get a great instrument. The only "consumer-grade" parts used were a Squire body, pickguard and neck plate; the body, because it's basswood, is OK if a bit light but with a nice, albeit poly finish, and pickguard required modding. All other parts were US made and absolute pro quality. The body could have been slightly heavier for my taste, and graphite necks are heavier than you would think (as opposed to carbon fiber, I guess). Because of this there is a very slight but very liveable neck dive (even with Ultralites and the smaller headstock). As much as a heavier/denser body might have been nice, sonically the bottom end fullness is not a problem with this bass, thanks in part to the seperate bass tone control which allows me to dial in as much low as need gwhich turns out to be little or none). The active electronics are also super quiet, with very high output. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Besides the overall balance, my only complaint is, as my ear has grown accustomed to a warmer passive vintage tone, I wish the treble control on EMG electronics would allow me to dial down the brightness a bit more (I played with the little switches located on the preamp board, and it's as mellow as they allow). But for the right kind of music this bass is a monster, and I have had the pleasure of using it on enough gigs to validate my original feelings about it. My Funster Swiss Army Knife Jaguar Bass can sound like a modern Precision or a Jazz, or something in between, or something even bigger. It can be boomy or mid-squawky, and the neck is super slim and comfortable, speaking very clear in all positions. Perhaps a consultation with EMG may even help me figure out how to dial the treble down even more, allowing for more vintage tone as well. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Chocolate (from Paris via Japan)</b></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When searching for chocolate in Japan, think France. Apparently the Japanse do, and all of the chocolate I tried in Tokyo was deliberately copied/modelled after French pastry and chocolatiers. On my first trip I found this amazing chocolate pudding (or something like pudding) filled chocolate croissant at an airport French-style patisserie VENT ET LUNE:</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7mz1rkR3fs0/VE8_yLuyBZI/AAAAAAAAAjM/LdE2Rri1ncw/s640/blogger-image-991072078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7mz1rkR3fs0/VE8_yLuyBZI/AAAAAAAAAjM/LdE2Rri1ncw/s640/blogger-image-991072078.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); clear: both;">Sadly, on my return trip to Tokyo a month later I went through Narita, the OTHER Tokyo airport, and could not find this same Patisserie. I did, however, find a chocolatier in the Shuguri section of Tokyo with a very familiar name:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q8kPdNc6zew/VE8_05UonbI/AAAAAAAAAjc/l95ha00L38M/s640/blogger-image-1849610999.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q8kPdNc6zew/VE8_05UonbI/AAAAAAAAAjc/l95ha00L38M/s640/blogger-image-1849610999.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-2wRjly6xOeA/VE8_kI5QG6I/AAAAAAAAAh8/U-jjdAgVf6A/s640/blogger-image--1339369445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-2wRjly6xOeA/VE8_kI5QG6I/AAAAAAAAAh8/U-jjdAgVf6A/s640/blogger-image--1339369445.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The chocolates themselves were very expensive, so I only purchased a 2-pack box, and must report that although of obvious high quality and chocolate content, there were not amongst my favorites (especially the one with the name on it, which turned out to be coffee, not one I would have chosen deliberately). I also tried their chocolate covered old fashion donut, which could have been fresher, and can't compare to a Randy's chocolate old fashion. However, this</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> Pelletier will be happy to try some of their other chocolates if I ever run across Peltier Patisserier & Chocolatier again - in Tokyo, Paris or wherever.</span></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><div><br></div></div>Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-84673305883193425962014-04-27T17:13:00.001-07:002014-11-08T19:51:04.781-08:00Sparky Bass & PortlandiaOne of the things I love about building/making/creating is that, even if I have a goal for the project, I never really know how a project will come out until it's done. It's all the happy accidents that occour during creation, and the decisions made as they present themselves, that make the journeys so enjoyable for me (and the projects usually end up - suprisingly - different yet better than I could have imagined). My latest bass project is named Sparky after my grumpy old chihuahua Sparky...<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-u2uQj9urH4E/U12gITXFpXI/AAAAAAAAAc4/a2IH46-U4_U/s640/blogger-image--1464769100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-u2uQj9urH4E/U12gITXFpXI/AAAAAAAAAc4/a2IH46-U4_U/s640/blogger-image--1464769100.jpg"></a></div>...and a sparkly gold bass I saw at Guitar Center Hollywood back in 2013.<a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SGEDhZ1H4sI/U12dK8toLnI/AAAAAAAAAck/rHnZ_JHb89A/s640/blogger-image--211176672.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SGEDhZ1H4sI/U12dK8toLnI/AAAAAAAAAck/rHnZ_JHb89A/s640/blogger-image--211176672.jpg"></a></div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SGEDhZ1H4sI/U12dK8toLnI/AAAAAAAAAck/rHnZ_JHb89A/s640/blogger-image--211176672.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vN0OzOcRx4U/U12dMAoiC5I/AAAAAAAAAcs/L9vXAklCkXw/s640/blogger-image-698276472.jpg"></a><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; clear: both;">This Fender Custom Shop Early Relic '60s Jazz Bass stopped me in my tracks, with a body color I would have not previously thought of as attractive. But as I have gotten deeper and deeper into classic 50s and 60s bass guitar looks and finishes (and the whole 50s-60s era design in general) this bowling-ball sparkle gold paint stikes me now as thouroughly cool and classic, even if in a slighly ironic/kitchy way. It played OK, but the just under $3000 price tag was never is the cards or the bank account. I took some photos and filed it away in my head for future possibilities. A year earlier I purchased a gold-top Casady Bass, and a couple of months ago I also aquired a gorgeous gold-top Epiphone Les Paul guitar, so the finish was and remains on my radar.</div><div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; clear: both;">In my January 2014 blog entry I wrote about completing my first full-on attempt at relic'ing with the black P-Bass.<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> I took it on a couple of gigs, but like most lighter-weight P-Basses I have owned, the very bottom string tone seems to be missing something. Wood</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> can be such a crapshoot; the body wood has to have sufficient mass PLUS be resonant, and sometimes there even seems to be a magic combination of neck and body. I have also recently come to the conclusion that lighter bodies are OK for Jazz Basses (see my Pepito Jazz Bass), but the Precision tone screams of body mass, especially on the E string. As much as I worked on the black P-Bass and LOVED the look, I knew this body was not going to cut it for me. So I </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">watched eBay and found a seller with a black Ash Fender Squire P-Bass body with hardware and pickups that weighed 7lbs, which I bid on and won for under $60.</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">After spending some/time researching gold sparkle spray paint, I setted on cabs of Rust-oleum Gold Glitter paint at Home Depot. I figured it might cause some finish issues (it's actual gold glitter suspended in a paint base) but it COULD look awesome, so I sanded off as much of the black finish as I could.</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-09xNFSx7Dlo/U12hT6RQuBI/AAAAAAAAAdE/y4SNo-fzT-A/s640/blogger-image-920864680.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-09xNFSx7Dlo/U12hT6RQuBI/AAAAAAAAAdE/y4SNo-fzT-A/s640/blogger-image-920864680.jpg"></a></div><br></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nc8CBj0nd6E/U4jNllTu7JI/AAAAAAAAAdk/kvdMYv5KAjQ/s640/blogger-image-1383361501.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nc8CBj0nd6E/U4jNllTu7JI/AAAAAAAAAdk/kvdMYv5KAjQ/s640/blogger-image-1383361501.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once stripped and sanded, I primed and started applying the coats. For the first base coat I tried using up a can of metallic spray paint I had lying around for years, only to realize after starting to spray that it was silver, not gold. I would love to take credit for this genius way to have the silvery color showing thru certain sanded areas to look more "worn," which it now does, but it was just another in a series of happy accidents.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-aCFm1wjSiws/U4kmIoNtNzI/AAAAAAAAAgs/j2qn5LXklpM/s640/blogger-image-1309279611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-aCFm1wjSiws/U4kmIoNtNzI/AAAAAAAAAgs/j2qn5LXklpM/s640/blogger-image-1309279611.jpg"></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-WMPIoOtfcFU/U4kR53QPe4I/AAAAAAAAAec/kHSrfzvPbCE/s640/blogger-image--589609769.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-WMPIoOtfcFU/U4kR53QPe4I/AAAAAAAAAec/kHSrfzvPbCE/s640/blogger-image--589609769.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The gold glitter paint really isn't "paint" as much as a delivery vehicle for gold glitter in a clear base. It goes on rather thick, but looks phenomenal, just like my memory of muscle car finishes and classic bowling balls. I had no idea at the time how it would take to cracking/relic'ing or even sanding, but I guess we will find out. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Cg_eY2pGQck/U4kRzzHRb5I/AAAAAAAAAd8/AaOxOPaaZmU/s640/blogger-image-1668413190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Cg_eY2pGQck/U4kRzzHRb5I/AAAAAAAAAd8/AaOxOPaaZmU/s640/blogger-image-1668413190.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Attempts at cracking, using upside down compressed air to freeze the finish, were mostly <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">a disaster, although it might be because this finish takes forever to cure (a month later it was still getting pushed around a bit by hardware screwed into it, like golden fudge). </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-RWhWLD9Sv30/U4kSBl3dSjI/AAAAAAAAAfE/6KVmASzuPnE/s640/blogger-image-684030156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-RWhWLD9Sv30/U4kSBl3dSjI/AAAAAAAAAfE/6KVmASzuPnE/s640/blogger-image-684030156.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;">All I really succeeded in doing was create lots of bubbling in the finish, which I had to sand out and repaint. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-E5EoCs5XQ7k/U4kSFV3VxCI/AAAAAAAAAfc/L2utN1yhEPk/s640/blogger-image--145623818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-E5EoCs5XQ7k/U4kSFV3VxCI/AAAAAAAAAfc/L2utN1yhEPk/s640/blogger-image--145623818.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;">After four cans of glitter, I sanded the finish as smoothly as I could, with some deliberate - and some not so deliberate - sanding thru to reveal the silver undercoat. This will turn out to look great, especially on the top where arm wear is not uncommon.</div><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;">Next, after about a month of curing, I wet sanded and polished the finished to smooth it out as much as possible. I'm not looking for a flawless shiny new surface here, but given the materials I chose to work with that was going to be a bit tough anyway.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-KU2YGToWdJs/U4kR9-oxZbI/AAAAAAAAAe0/baYn8wDVP7c/s640/blogger-image-996239145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-KU2YGToWdJs/U4kR9-oxZbI/AAAAAAAAAe0/baYn8wDVP7c/s640/blogger-image-996239145.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;">Now back to the relic'd Black P-Bass. The neck, hardware and pickups were all great, so I had no choice but to cannibalize them all. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-YudUQ_nAC6c/U4kR7NPADyI/AAAAAAAAAek/UgL6gPsW3Ss/s640/blogger-image--269442049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-YudUQ_nAC6c/U4kR7NPADyI/AAAAAAAAAek/UgL6gPsW3Ss/s640/blogger-image--269442049.jpg"></a></div></div></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I decided to age the neck a bit more, including using more muriatic acid on the fingerboard to simulate wear of the finish under the strings where the fingers would fret most often, which I then cleaned and stained. While drying I added shielding to the body cavities, then transferred the electronics and hardware.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SBsKMznW_EU/U4kSC9niBiI/AAAAAAAAAfI/3plvQH7ULhA/s640/blogger-image-1006152413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SBsKMznW_EU/U4kSC9niBiI/AAAAAAAAAfI/3plvQH7ULhA/s640/blogger-image-1006152413.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-9vKp6KFsPDk/U4kRyfkTWqI/AAAAAAAAAd0/8OVJJyrxUys/s640/blogger-image-844430307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-9vKp6KFsPDk/U4kRyfkTWqI/AAAAAAAAAd0/8OVJJyrxUys/s640/blogger-image-844430307.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Lk0Stgnv-sM/U4kSD8oTJyI/AAAAAAAAAfU/GaoAqimZYLE/s640/blogger-image-1832358842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Lk0Stgnv-sM/U4kSD8oTJyI/AAAAAAAAAfU/GaoAqimZYLE/s640/blogger-image-1832358842.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><font color="#000000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1KC7V_AzGG0/U4kR8oodGeI/AAAAAAAAAes/2PmTcptC6aY/s640/blogger-image--1762659658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1KC7V_AzGG0/U4kR8oodGeI/AAAAAAAAAes/2PmTcptC6aY/s640/blogger-image--1762659658.jpg"></a></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I had nicely relic'd the gold aluminum pickguard on the black P-Bass, and had planned on using it on this one. But in my shop I found a very nice WD tortoise pickguard that was very similar in tone to the Custom Shop I saw at Guitar Center, and decided to try it instead. It gives it more of a 60s rather than 50s vibe - very Fred Flintstone.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-MV-dPl9HKCc/U4kR_xEMlKI/AAAAAAAAAe8/FN7DDHaS19Q/s640/blogger-image-160441850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-MV-dPl9HKCc/U4kR_xEMlKI/AAAAAAAAAe8/FN7DDHaS19Q/s640/blogger-image-160441850.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-aZr-9oZzNdA/U4kR1LbPTuI/AAAAAAAAAeE/ItMnmC0PErg/s640/blogger-image--405518660.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-aZr-9oZzNdA/U4kR1LbPTuI/AAAAAAAAAeE/ItMnmC0PErg/s640/blogger-image--405518660.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Finally together, it's certainly a looker!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ujI65mHZidE/U4kR2lfhciI/AAAAAAAAAeM/hmmwGGVtuGQ/s640/blogger-image--240594646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ujI65mHZidE/U4kR2lfhciI/AAAAAAAAAeM/hmmwGGVtuGQ/s640/blogger-image--240594646.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">One more tweak: Having burned in and stained the front if this maple fingerboard, I decided it should have a bit deeper color and another clear coat, so I (lazily) removed the strings, taped up the body and headstock, and sprayed it with a bit more amber and clear laquer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M3kNAq31GEo/U4kR333-grI/AAAAAAAAAeU/ORySIU6_WHY/s640/blogger-image-264024404.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M3kNAq31GEo/U4kR333-grI/AAAAAAAAAeU/ORySIU6_WHY/s640/blogger-image-264024404.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once dry, I redressed the frets, restrung, and the setup begins again...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-QGYm_cbRWRM/U4kX42EvUDI/AAAAAAAAAf8/TiHGwB3gp7g/s640/blogger-image--649967208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-QGYm_cbRWRM/U4kX42EvUDI/AAAAAAAAAf8/TiHGwB3gp7g/s640/blogger-image--649967208.jpg"></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I had to readjust the neck height (with shims) and truss rod a few times, then I swapped out the bridge for an older one I had that enabled slightly wider string spacing to line up better with the pickups. The neck, bridge and nut required quite a bit of messing with to get it playing well, but my initial instincts regarding body weight were correct, at least in this case. The heavier body mass did give the bass more presence on the E string. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cIC2b9LZCjM/U4kX9WWARSI/AAAAAAAAAgU/W0L6XmSMarg/s640/blogger-image-733436521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cIC2b9LZCjM/U4kX9WWARSI/AAAAAAAAAgU/W0L6XmSMarg/s640/blogger-image-733436521.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t4Z02CUn-8M/U4kX7bTE63I/AAAAAAAAAgM/Zjc0HLDiY8c/s640/blogger-image-172772791.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t4Z02CUn-8M/U4kX7bTE63I/AAAAAAAAAgM/Zjc0HLDiY8c/s640/blogger-image-172772791.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Zmnwcxvc-pU/U4kX6One4JI/AAAAAAAAAgE/sAzSlSnpbKA/s640/blogger-image--1735994881.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Zmnwcxvc-pU/U4kX6One4JI/AAAAAAAAAgE/sAzSlSnpbKA/s640/blogger-image--1735994881.jpg"></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So far I have had a chance to play it at one outside gig with LA Zeppelin, and liked the tone more than the feel. I actually found the 70s-era thumb rest location kind if annoying, which is funny because I used to have in that position on every bass I owned 30 years ago. I guess I just got used to resting my thumb on the edge of the pickguard, or ridge of the neck, or even on the edge of a pickup. The <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">taller thumb rest acted as a kind of a stop for my fingers when playing the E string, which felt constricting, so I removed it. I also think even heavier strings might make the strings feel a bit tighter (the looseness if the 45-105 Rotosounds on this bass is making string height and truss rid adjustments tricky), so I might try a set of even heavier roundwounds and see how the feel (I'm sure they will increase the bottom, esp. on the E, but will mess with the nut slots, string height, etc., so another setup is looming). I want a great passive roundwound P-Bass to go with the flatwound sunburst P seen in the header photo on this blog (an incredibly heavy and great feeling AND sounding bass), and this bass is ALMOST there (and was the best looking thing in this recent photo):</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mRN7lOFDl40/VF7jMfyD8mI/AAAAAAAAAkU/PgV7gjjXItM/s640/blogger-image--1177970158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mRN7lOFDl40/VF7jMfyD8mI/AAAAAAAAAkU/PgV7gjjXItM/s640/blogger-image--1177970158.jpg"></a></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Just like my doggie, Sparky the Bass looks a bit worn out, and can be grumpy and difficult, but hopefully (like my doggie) it's worth it.</span></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">PORTANDIA</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">On my birthday weekend in April I had a Journey gig near Portland, OR, a city I have not yet had the pleasure of visiting, unless you count watching Portlandia on TV. For a couple if years I have had an amazing example of "bread porn" on the shelves in my kitchen. It's called FLOUR, WATER, SALT, YEAST by Jen Forkish, the proprietor of Ken's Artisan Bakery in Portland, and I have always wanted to go there and bring back his 3 Kilo Boulle. His baked goods (and the pizza at his pizza place) are every bit as outstanding as advertised, and on our first two trips there I spotted the 3 Kilo Boulle in the racks, and was assured that they had them every day. If course, when we drove back thru Portland on the Sunday morning in order to purchase the boulle and carry it on to the plane, they were sold out! But I did get two 1.5 kilo boules instead, which probably fit better in the overhead bins.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i02QtgBGg6Q/U4kX3aW4AVI/AAAAAAAAAf0/My0ydQ-r5Fk/s640/blogger-image-326054062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i02QtgBGg6Q/U4kX3aW4AVI/AAAAAAAAAf0/My0ydQ-r5Fk/s640/blogger-image-326054062.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In wandering around Portland we also discovered an amazing chocolate shop call COCAO, with probably the finest cup of drinking chocolate I have ever had, including Florence. It was so rich, and so large, even I could not finish it in one sitting, and carried a third if it around for hours before happily finishing it off the next morning in the hotel.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gl90ZHJYsxs/U4kX-2han5I/AAAAAAAAAgc/niHWmB8Qa-E/s640/blogger-image--1416331739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gl90ZHJYsxs/U4kX-2han5I/AAAAAAAAAgc/niHWmB8Qa-E/s640/blogger-image--1416331739.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">One memorable and unanticipated chocolate stop in the Portland area was Tilamook Dairy. The wife wanted to check it out for the cheeses (which she did not care for), but I discovered a vegan's worst nightmare: an amazing ice cream called Chocolate Mudslide. I must warn you that this stuff is available at Ralphs and Pavillions in the LA area, and most likely many other places, and a few tubs have found their way into my freezer and mouth since then.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Pc5fO6zeBiY/U4kX2DONv8I/AAAAAAAAAfs/lvglGibYJKo/s640/blogger-image--2055636017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Pc5fO6zeBiY/U4kX2DONv8I/AAAAAAAAAfs/lvglGibYJKo/s640/blogger-image--2055636017.jpg"></a></div></div>BAD VEGAN! Bad, bad vegan!</div><br></div><br></div></div><br></div></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div></div>Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-66537325601052978632014-03-20T13:16:00.001-07:002014-03-26T18:36:56.133-07:00Miscellaneous ChocolatesTweaking old basses, but no new builds (yet); in the meantime, some new chocolates to report:<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s7qi_rnLuRY/UytMYMn1sUI/AAAAAAAAAb4/l92w9okk3oI/s640/blogger-image--639536315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s7qi_rnLuRY/UytMYMn1sUI/AAAAAAAAAb4/l92w9okk3oI/s640/blogger-image--639536315.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Although I am a committed dark chocolate fan, my taste tends to stop at around 80%, where it can start to get rather bitter (I still have a bit of a Tcho 100%, which is essentially inedible). To my surprise I have tried and really liked this Lindt 85%; it's pretty smooth and still just sweet enough. The dark flavor is very substantial, and discourages eating too many squares at a sitting (2 to 4 are quite sufficient).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I have just spent a few days in NYC, and tried to find some legit dark drinking chocolates, which are surprisingly easy to find throughout the city, albiet at a high price. The first one tried, also coming up #1 on Yelp and a couple other websites, was at Mariebelle Fine Chocolates on Broom St. They had a 65% and a 70%; I tried them both and opted for the 70% because it did not contain extra milk, although the ingredients lifted milk in the mix. It was pretty bitter and strong, and I had to add a packet of sugar to help get it down. The buzz did remained for a couple of hours, and I'll have multiple opportunities to adjust the mixture at home with the bag of mix I purchased ($7 for the large hot chocolate, $21 for the mix).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6yvUmttIE3I/UytQe3wqsHI/AAAAAAAAAcE/Ur8fLYOxMzM/s640/blogger-image-1094331666.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6yvUmttIE3I/UytQe3wqsHI/AAAAAAAAAcE/Ur8fLYOxMzM/s640/blogger-image-1094331666.jpg"></a></div><br></div>The next day, walking to the subway from The Met Museum, I stumbled upon Maidon du Chocolate. They also had two drinking chocolates, one darker than the other, and I again went with the darkest, which was also very strong, albiet slightly more palatable than the day before (at $9 for the cup). Neither were as thick as Florentine drinking chocolates, but slightly thicker than Berkely's Bittesweet Cafe.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-uhZhQjpuKLk/UzOArkveqRI/AAAAAAAAAcU/MwUAr_vbHu8/s640/blogger-image-1274977175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-uhZhQjpuKLk/UzOArkveqRI/AAAAAAAAAcU/MwUAr_vbHu8/s640/blogger-image-1274977175.jpg"></a></div>I also found a new chocolate bar, this Cidarella 65% dark with sea salt. A bit thinner than most bars (only 3oz), it turned out to be quite nice. I bit harder than others (but maybe also because it's COLD here) it had a nice dark flavor and a good amour of salt. I even got busted by a Metropolitan Museum of Art docent when I got caught breaking off a piece in a gallery, but what goes better than this while viewing art?</div><div><br></div><div>Both NYC drinking chocolates were very serious, adult drinks, but I admit I find West Coast chocolate and chocolate drinks to be not necessarily sweeter, but smoother and a bit more palatable. </div>Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-16042324088488409702014-01-13T19:18:00.000-08:002014-01-13T19:44:20.986-08:00More Relic'ing (aging) on my latest Funster P-BassHaving completed my most recent Funster bass guitar build (see previous post), I decided to push the relic'ing (cosmetic aging) of the instrument further, including all the hardware, the body and a bit to the neck. Because I have already sanded off the gloss on the body, as well as some of the paint all the way down to the wood, and gave the neck an aged, vintage nitro tint, I thought the hardward looked a bit too pretty. I searched online for ways to age the metal parts, and learned that a diluted hydrocloric acid, called Muriatic Acid, is available at any pool supply company. Simply (but CAREFULLY) pour some into the bottom of a plastic container (tupperware, etc), then place a cover with holes on the top. The metal parts sit ON the top (not in the acid), then sealed with a large plastic bag.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-seQnBFwSXeg/UtSyVQwDz6I/AAAAAAAAAZ8/-k_BawNLqfo/s640/blogger-image-1514885948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-seQnBFwSXeg/UtSyVQwDz6I/AAAAAAAAAZ8/-k_BawNLqfo/s640/blogger-image-1514885948.jpg"></a> </div><br>
Not wanting to totally disassemble a working bass after completing the setup, neck set and intonation, I took the semi-lazy way: I removed a few screws, the strap pins, string tree, the nut and washer for the input jack and the chrome volume knobs, and placed them in the bag on top of the acid bath with new chrome pickup and bridge plate covers (which will conceal the non-vintage bridge quite nicely), checking every few hours (I ended up leaving them for a full day).<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dZuqoWv8DTc/UtSyg3wZQ-I/AAAAAAAAAbU/3ppnlsKuotk/s640/blogger-image-1603094083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dZuqoWv8DTc/UtSyg3wZQ-I/AAAAAAAAAbU/3ppnlsKuotk/s640/blogger-image-1603094083.jpg"></a></div><br>
For the tuners, I left them on the head, removed the strings and wrapped the head in the bag over some acid. I knew this may corrode the finish on the head/neck a bit, but this would probably make it look older and a bit more worn when completed, so let's roll the dice!<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pe7wTmIkHiE/UtSyXe2a5KI/AAAAAAAAAaM/Vh5tMjrXJds/s640/blogger-image-1327689854.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pe7wTmIkHiE/UtSyXe2a5KI/AAAAAAAAAaM/Vh5tMjrXJds/s640/blogger-image-1327689854.jpg"></a> <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-aGGm1rFtPSI/UtSychKBDfI/AAAAAAAAAa0/V7Q4kYd4B9c/s640/blogger-image--717258172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-aGGm1rFtPSI/UtSychKBDfI/AAAAAAAAAa0/V7Q4kYd4B9c/s640/blogger-image--717258172.jpg"></a></div></div><br>
While the head and parts were being attacked by acid gasses, I went at the body some more. I went through 3 cans of compressed air held upside down to super-cool the front (being careful to stay away from the electronics), and even though the finish was poly instead of nitro (which checks and cracks easily), I still heard some loud CRACKS creating some great crack lines here and there. I then took a plumber's torch to parts of it, and the finish started bubbling and creating a gold-like pattern which looks pretty cool. The body was looking like shit more and more, which is making it look better and better!<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z9Cqri00rTg/UtSyUX0JirI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/SsVoxS6LQb0/s640/blogger-image-1304401409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z9Cqri00rTg/UtSyUX0JirI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/SsVoxS6LQb0/s640/blogger-image-1304401409.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-yvpchwTNoUk/UtSyd3hd3II/AAAAAAAAAa8/F5CKaledACQ/s640/blogger-image-990485394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-yvpchwTNoUk/UtSyd3hd3II/AAAAAAAAAa8/F5CKaledACQ/s640/blogger-image-990485394.jpg"></a></div></div><br>
The metal parts aged very nicely; after soaking them in a bit of baking soda and water, I cleaned them up and re-installed.<br>
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The tuners also aged well (the shine was taken off, with some discoloration). I did not leave them in as long as the other metal parts, and cleaned and oiled them so the (rather poor but adequate) performance of the tuning machines would not be affected. As a nice bonus, the back of the head and neck were affected a bit, and looked a bit more worn.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xKNTKGxSadw/UtSyZeJQ9YI/AAAAAAAAAac/A2n-uZ9ugss/s640/blogger-image--717960075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xKNTKGxSadw/UtSyZeJQ9YI/AAAAAAAAAac/A2n-uZ9ugss/s640/blogger-image--717960075.jpg"></a></div></div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jA5QIPVfcj8/UtSye7Dx93I/AAAAAAAAAbE/1V8o0K-NyPY/s640/blogger-image-975522327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jA5QIPVfcj8/UtSye7Dx93I/AAAAAAAAAbE/1V8o0K-NyPY/s640/blogger-image-975522327.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once reassembled, I realized the new gold-anodized Fender pickguard looked too clean for this trashy bass, so I went online researching photos of actual old, scratched up anodized pickguards, and came up with one they looked great - not too messed up, just worn down a bit around most of the edges, with a few scratches where the input jack is located. I used fine sandpaper, a bit of steel wool, and for good measure a little acid to match the old pickguard (I masked with blue tape to not scratch the paint finish, not wanting to remove the pickguard itself for fear of messing up the setup):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0LhrDmAoM-M/UtSygMEVKBI/AAAAAAAAAbM/2UZKPes32u4/s640/blogger-image-555112330.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0LhrDmAoM-M/UtSygMEVKBI/AAAAAAAAAbM/2UZKPes32u4/s640/blogger-image-555112330.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cv1XbAPgPwg/UtSyWXJ9cEI/AAAAAAAAAaE/De9ZU-O4Rog/s640/blogger-image--2050926658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cv1XbAPgPwg/UtSyWXJ9cEI/AAAAAAAAAaE/De9ZU-O4Rog/s640/blogger-image--2050926658.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-yIMvtO5uq4w/UtSybB2FiEI/AAAAAAAAAas/U3P0NqkfiJQ/s640/blogger-image-652584556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-yIMvtO5uq4w/UtSybB2FiEI/AAAAAAAAAas/U3P0NqkfiJQ/s640/blogger-image-652584556.jpg"></a></div><br>
I'm very happy with my first Relic job on a bass; not sure if I will do it again, but I am considering doing a bit more to this headstock, and possibly the front of the neck (with more cold-induced <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">cracking and possible staining certain classic worn-in areas). I have also just aged a new neckplate and screws, and when I get a chance I will swap them out as well.</span></div><div>
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The bass will make it's live public debut this weekend. I am hoping it's full on the bottom, and balanced throughout, and will only be able to tell in a loud, live performance situation, so this bass gets broken in with Zeppelin Live (http://www.zeppelintribute.com)!</div>Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-28840181090283677332014-01-03T17:39:00.001-08:002014-01-05T16:40:25.182-08:00New Year, New Bass and New Painting<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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2014 starts with a finished bass build, along with a bass-related painting I have been wanting to complete for about 25 years.</div>
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<b>50's Retro Precision Funster Bass</b></div>
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Although my current Zeppelin gigs have forced my focus back to Jazz basses, I built and played a few Precisions (along with Thunderbirds, Danelectros, Epiphones and Fenderbirds with Precision necks) while spending more than 3 years portraying John Entwistle in a Who tribute. In recreating some of John's basses, I cheated all of them by installing active EMG pickups and electronics, even though his earlier basses were very stock with passive pickups. It guaranteed me clean, piano-like tone and clarity, but I never had the overwound lead-guiatr-like sound featured on LIVE AT LEEDS. My Funster Sunburst Precision (featured on my 5/1/13 post) resolved one issue I had with every Precision up until then, something I noticed even with all the fancy EQs and big bass rigs I used while playing Who music - a weak low E. With my 2013 Sunburst Precision, added density of a very heavy body gave me the bottom I was looking for. In 2010 I even ordered a custom blank ash slab Precision body, which matches John's Frankenbass featured on LEEDS, and finally finished painting it in 2013 (with a very thin Nitro finish), so the FrankenFunster with overwound piuckups will still happen. But I wanted a clean, twangy and slightly lighter passive Precision, with cosmetics to match the black Jazz I recently finished.</div>
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This bass was originally a Korean-made Fender Squire Precision, last used as a stand-in for John's Isle of Wight/skeleton suit bass (as seen above - John is in the inset). The bass itself looked right (looked Wight?), but the bass was not great, and the neck was pretty bad. The body, finished in thick poly, seemed like a legit ash body and a decent piece of wood, and it has sat for about 5 <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">years waiting for another build. I decided on a late 50's-style Precision look with a maple neck and gold-anodized pickguard, which also inspired the matching Jazz bass mentioned above (a model and cosmetic configutation which never actually existed in the 50's - the Jazz bass was introduced in 1960 - although I have seen something like it in more recent Fender catolouges). The Jazz ended up being completed first as I already had a complete body with good passive pickups, and I finished both AllParts necks at the same time. The paint on this body was not in keeping with my latest thin/nitro obsession, so I decided to "relic" it a bit to thin the finish as much as possible and take the plastic shine off the thing.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vLlGvIrxcRI/Usn7A1xz9LI/AAAAAAAAAZk/7KZuJCVF9II/s1600/IMG_0764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vLlGvIrxcRI/Usn7A1xz9LI/AAAAAAAAAZk/7KZuJCVF9II/s1600/IMG_0764.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I had another set of hand-wound vintage-style P-bass pickups I was saving for a Jaguar bass build, but have decided to go active EMG with that one (finish date TBD, but all parts present and accounted for). The gold anodized pickguard is from Fender, and the electronics all top-shelf Switchcraft with a Russian vintage 1.0 cap. The bridge is a Chinese-made model that breaks the vintage look and design rule for this bass a bit, but it has more mass for perhaps a bit more sustain (although I am starting to believe vintage bass tone might mean darker tone and LESS sustain, so I may switch it out later). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">As mentioned above, I hand-painted the AllParts maple neck with Guitar ReRanch Nitro amber and laquer, then used steel wool/for an older satin finish. These two basses are supposed to look a bit worn-in, which is good because I installed a used set of Asian-made (and "Fender Licensed") tuning gears which had ferrulles just a bit oversized for the pre-drilled holes, and while installing the lowest E tuner ferrul I cracked the wood through to the bottom of the head. Not perfect, but a bit of Super Glue filled the crack, and it works fine (even though the tuners sort of suck), so moving on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The part I was missing in my shop was the neck plate, so the eBay order slowed the neck install and setup a couple more weeks. On 2 January, neck plate in hand, the kitchen counter helped birth a new instrument:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Originally strung and setup with La Bella flats, I compared the final sound with my Sunburst Precision and realized I already had a great flatwound P-bass, so I switched to a new vintage set of La Bella roundwounds (how old were they? An included brochure about a bass lesson book boasted the included "cassette"). The neck re-adjusted well (my second x-style truss nut mounted at the bottom of the neck, and I am liking it), and I was able to set the action fairly low. Though not as hot as the Sunburst model (and with the same pickups - interesting...), it plays and sounds great, and the roundwounds give it nice feel and clarity, even with the tone turned down quite a bit (and the La Bellas are not quite as bright as my regular Rotosound roundwounds, which suits this bass). The A is pretty killer, although that could also be the result of the little 12" Hartke kickback amp I am using to test and voice. I have three high-volume Zeppelin gigs coming up this month with the big rig (2x18 and 4x10 cabs), and willl put this bass through its paces alongside my trusty Sunburst Jazz with La Bella flats, a Moses neck and Fender Deluxe pickups (the bass is full, fat and can do ANYTHING). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><b>A note about set-ups: </b>There is a certain amount of stress associated with the final set-up of a bass. There really is no way of knowing how well all the parts will work together, how well the bass will play and feel, and ultimately how it will sound. The best I can hope for is that I chose my parts well, and I guess there are few if any real ways to ruin a bass during the set-up; maybe I could break something, although all of these parts are replaceable (except for the the wood parts, having been living things, are truly each one of a kind, and the core of the uniqueness and "magic" that makes a one instrument great, another - at best - mearly playable). Other than the random bad piece of wood in the neck or body, I guess my trepidation is more laziness. The neck goes on, the strings go on, the neck comes off, a shim is put in and the process repeats sometimes for a couple of hours, adjusting intonation, bridge saddle height, pickup height, nut height... So many variables, but I guess that's where craft, experience and intuition matter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><b>Basses in the Arts (or, at least, in my art)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Back in 1985 I attended a Museum of Modern Art exhibit of Henri Rousseau's wonderful primitive paintings. I was already a great fan of his work, and had utilized some of his visual vocabulary and style as a painter in High School and beyond. This was probably not even the first time I saw THE SLEEPING GYPSY in person (it is part of their permanent collection), but the show moved me greatly. By that time I had long since abandoned building my own basses, having purchased my Steinberger L2 in 1983. I thought then, and I still think now, that this was and is the perfect bass guitar - lightweight, perfectly balanced, clear of tone, and a thing of design beauty (and this bass is ALSO in the permanent collection at MOMA). The L2 would be my main and at times ONLY bass for about 20 years (give or take a couple other Steinbergers, fretless basses, electric uuprights and my hybrid Mexi Jazz with the Moses neck and passive Dimarzio Quarter Pounders, all secondary at the most). Once I first played an L2, I realized I could never build a better bass, so I took out a loan, sold my walnut-body Jazz and bought a Steinberger. It was only when I started submersing myself in classic rock Tributes that I started buying and/or assembling wood-body basses, for the correct look and tone, but NEVER because I thought there was a better bass out there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">As a Clever Monkey I love the idea of copying things I enjoy, and I left the '85 exhibit with the idea of adapting THE SLEEPING GYPSY for a possible album cover of my music, which would swap out the gypsy and the Oud with myself and my Steinberger. Time passed, and I used a different painting of myself with an instrument and animal for my CHAMBER POP album (featuring my cat Gumby, who died hours before I finished the painting). Note, however, that my Steinberger bass also appears in that painting, leaning against the wall to the far right:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I had also come to love Irish Wolfhounds, and the idea of this image with my large doggie instead of the lion continued festering in the back of my mind. For a few years, commuting to gigs over the mountains between Los Angeles and Simi Valley, CA, I even thought I could stage a photo of this tribute to Rousseau with this landscape, myself and my dog. Time marches on, my doggie Scruffy dies at age 8 in 2003 (giant breeds like wolfhounds live an average 6-8 years because of their size), and a month later I aquire his grand-nephew, 9 month old Orson.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The poster from the 1985 Rousseau exhibit always hangs in my bedroom, and it feartures THE SLEEPING GYPSY, so (needless to say) I was reminded of the painting idea daily. In November 2013, on my return flight from some Middle East gigs, I turn my phone on after 16 hours of digital darkness to read, in a series of frantic emails and texts, the alarming story of Orson's crash (I think it may have been a mini stroke) and my wife's heroic actions to deal with getting a 130 pound dog to a series of animal doctors and hospitals. By the time I got home, with bills of over $2000, I still could not be told why his front legs would not straighten up and allow Orson, now almost 11 years old and already fairly lame in his rear legs, to get himself up and walk without two adult men assisting (and an Irish Wolfhound that cannot walk is essentially a dead Irish Wollfhound). Somehow, over the next couple of days, he regained the use of his front legs (and I know that my being home with him had something to do with it), so I resolved that I had to finish that painting with Orson as a tribute to my love for him, and his for me, and to ultimately get a photo of the two of us togeter in front of the painting WHILE HE WAS STILL ALIVE.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I am posting much more detail on this painting at my website, http://www.joelp.com, and may even produce a film about the project in order to explore further the topics of love between humans and animals (and love in general) and my obsession with tributes (in art, music, architecture, etc). But I did finish the painting about a month and a half later:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">And here's that photo I wanted:</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tmDXp-2QN0I/Usn4C0aaoCI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/1z9zyTaA_1o/s1600/o&j+w+painting2+bw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tmDXp-2QN0I/Usn4C0aaoCI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/1z9zyTaA_1o/s1600/o&j+w+painting2+bw.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">As of this writing (3 January 2014) Orson has recovered 100%, and is doing remarkably well after his 11th birthday! In an indifferent universe I count myself truly lucky that he is still with us. It's nice to have the painting hanging on the wall, but it will never beat having Orson with me anywhere at all, alive and all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><b>A Note About That Steinberger Bass</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">When I finally started the original sketch on canvas for this painting in November 2013 I depicted a Sunburst Jazz, my go-to bass for the last couple of years. I have been playing classic rock almost exclusively since 2007, and my Steinberger L2 has seen almost no dust or sunlight for quite a while. But I decided that, since my original concept for the painting included the Steinberger, the painting would remain a tribute not only to the painter Henri Rousseau, and my two Wolfhounds Scruffy and Orson, but to the bass that has been such an important part of my adult music life (and to the genius of Ned Steinberger, to whom I will present a framed print at NAMM later this month - hope he likes it).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The holidays are certainly not lacking in dessert choices, and my drawer is currently well-stocked with my favorite dark chocolates, but this season Trader Joes offered a particularly good Belgian dark. I'm not sure of the %, but it has a complex dark flavor and a substantial texture that is not as creamy as some, but not stiff or chalky either. It's not too sweet, and is also a great deal, being fatter than standard bars, but only $1.99. It will be shame when it becomes unavailable, which is expected anytime due to the holiday-themed packaging. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">(with thanks to the winter weather, which delayed both of my flights heading to a weekend gig in Texas, allowing me just enough time to write and edit this article).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-14055351475946071192013-10-10T13:49:00.001-07:002013-10-15T07:58:21.998-07:00Balance, Neck Dive and Playability (and chocolatability)<div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I have finally gotten around to some maintenance on a couple of factory-made basses that had great potential, but for me were all but unplayable because of what I consider bad design - unbalaced neck dive. If you need to hold up the neck WHILE you are playing, it makes it that much harder to move your fingering hand around and actually PLAY the thing. I try to remember that goal is to play music, not notes, but unless you have a super wide, frictiony strap and/or you plan on sitting down the whole time, and it's a chore just to make the notes, then how do you make music with an unbalanced bass guitar? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><b>The first offender was a beautiful, almost new US-made Gibson Reissue SG/EB-style bass:</b></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8v0sW1t2bj0/UlcS2nxp7KI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/n2sLihgShvI/s640/blogger-image--845576430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8v0sW1t2bj0/UlcS2nxp7KI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/n2sLihgShvI/s640/blogger-image--845576430.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I got this bass in trade for a CIJ '51 Fender Precision/Tele bass (I've owned two of them, and even when I upgraded the little pickup I never liked the sound or feel). I had a shot at two different Cream cover gigs, and saw this short-scale mohagany beauty listed for sale or trade on Craigs. Besides being the real thing (not an Epiphone) with my favorite finish for this model (a chocolatey Walnut stain), it had been seriously upgraded: a pair of nice Dimarzio humbucker pickups, a solid HipShot replacement bridge (a great heavy block of aluminum replacing the notoriously bad 3-point Gibson bridge), and black vintage-style Gibson tuners (I know they were also not stock; look at the photos below). Black metal knobs completed the darker look.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-J1DbI_IqXpc/UlcSzk99boI/AAAAAAAAAT4/LW1KtJ0tJiM/s640/blogger-image--988429009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-J1DbI_IqXpc/UlcSzk99boI/AAAAAAAAAT4/LW1KtJ0tJiM/s640/blogger-image--988429009.jpg"></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The only two problems: roundwound strings (not a problem for every player, but for this bass?) and a pretty severe neck dive. SInce I don't know for sure what tuners were stock, I can't be 100% sure the original hardware made the bass more balanced, but I seriously doubt it (knowing that this bridge is heavier than the original Gibson, and the stock tuners were probably about the same, only maybe chrome). Neither Cream gig came thru, so the bass went in a nice new Mono Vertigo guitar bag (it fits!) with a used but minty set of Pyramid Gold flats I took off an Epi Beatle bass I sold (without my set of $70 holy grail short scale strings, thank you very much). I then started researching tuning machine weights.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Note: </i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i> I just played an open mic gig where a bassist showed up with a vintage 60's Gibson EB bass, and although he would not let me touch it, he says they all have terrible neck dive, so this IS an original design problem</i>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Although I love HipShot tuners, Gotoh made a set of black ones that were actually lighter. I had to track down a US dealer and wait almost 2 months for them to be shipped from Japan; even though I prefer traditional clover-stryle tuners, esp. on classic models like this one, these pretty much matched what was on there already - from the front, anyway:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vXZS4wUCG-U/UlcS3woyozI/AAAAAAAAAUY/KxEzBcth2kY/s640/blogger-image--597712556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vXZS4wUCG-U/UlcS3woyozI/AAAAAAAAAUY/KxEzBcth2kY/s640/blogger-image--597712556.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The stock Gibson tuners (they say Gibson, but they were not original because...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-yLAA0GTI6BI/UlcSwIUU4wI/AAAAAAAAATo/9MIg7C3aMKk/s640/blogger-image-924810476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-yLAA0GTI6BI/UlcSwIUU4wI/AAAAAAAAATo/9MIg7C3aMKk/s640/blogger-image-924810476.jpg"></a></div></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Look at the extra screw holes:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1n6EJ-3wFMQ/UlcSxEfjW4I/AAAAAAAAATw/C-o3taaKTKY/s640/blogger-image--1387447085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1n6EJ-3wFMQ/UlcSxEfjW4I/AAAAAAAAATw/C-o3taaKTKY/s640/blogger-image--1387447085.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As you can see from the photo above, the Gotohs are much smaller and not at all vintage/stock looking from the back, but playability trumps 100% correctness here. As it turned out, they were not even the correct size tuners; these were for 3/8" holes, but this bass had 1/2" holes. But with patience and a bit of luck, they fit well - I left the original tuner ferrules in the front, and these slipped right in there with a decent fit, thus avoiding a potential nightmare trying to get the current glued-in (no idea why!) ferrules out without damaging the wood (with the added accidental benefit that they probably weigh even less than the 1/2" versions). I admit I am less sure about the whole "1 screw" thing - it just does't seem as snug and secure, but Gotoh has been making these for a while, so I guess they know what they are doing.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sa3K_25iynM/UlcS43PI9zI/AAAAAAAAAUg/Lua9ZFhXoCg/s640/blogger-image-1345144262.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sa3K_25iynM/UlcS43PI9zI/AAAAAAAAAUg/Lua9ZFhXoCg/s640/blogger-image-1345144262.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MlVZHVmb4uE/UlcSuU7bvvI/AAAAAAAAATY/sm5PG_Fp-7A/s640/blogger-image-373437684.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MlVZHVmb4uE/UlcSuU7bvvI/AAAAAAAAATY/sm5PG_Fp-7A/s640/blogger-image-373437684.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">After lining them up properly, I strung it up and - AMAZING. Now it's pretty balanced (though not as much as a Fender Preceision, but WAY lighter). It plays and sounds great, and I hope I get a chance to use it on gigs and recordings in the future.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SxIruQlmRCw/UlcS0zgEUpI/AAAAAAAAAUA/w51U5A6RXqM/s640/blogger-image--1148477576.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SxIruQlmRCw/UlcS0zgEUpI/AAAAAAAAAUA/w51U5A6RXqM/s640/blogger-image--1148477576.jpg"></a></div><br></div><b>The next neck-dive nightmare was this beautiful gold top Epiphone Jack Casady Bass:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vPweAuAWQnc/UlcSvWfgpyI/AAAAAAAAATg/gzg3ORoUpZU/s640/blogger-image-1070339745.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vPweAuAWQnc/UlcSvWfgpyI/AAAAAAAAATg/gzg3ORoUpZU/s640/blogger-image-1070339745.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I had one of these a number of years ago, a black model that I had upgraded with a custom active pickup made for me by Rob Turner at EMG (with help from Jim Rosenberg at Epiphone, who sent him two empty Casady Bass pickup housings). That bass sounded great (active electronics with seperate bass and treble controls, but it is horribly balanced, something Jack Casady does not seem to mind, as every video I have seen of him playing this bass is with him sitting down. As I am not yet that old, and my gigs require me to stand anyway, I found it a chore to wrestle this long-scale neck - even with my long arms - and eventually stopped using it while playting Who music in favor or a short scale Danelectro Longhorn, which got a very similar sound with La Bella flats (one of the things in this photo is very pretty, and it's not me):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wMfBmBQ0_sg/Ulg9tS7xg6I/AAAAAAAAAVA/teL-JIrhRV4/s640/blogger-image--2090007850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wMfBmBQ0_sg/Ulg9tS7xg6I/AAAAAAAAAVA/teL-JIrhRV4/s640/blogger-image--2090007850.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Even in the photo above I am putting weigh from my right picking arm on the top front end to stabilize it, but that just makes the head further out of reach. I eventually sold the black Casady bass, but kept my eyes open for a gold model at a good price. By the time I finally found one, cleaned it up and strung it with La Bella flats, and actually liked the sound of the original passive pickup, something I very much hated on my black model (funny how ears change over time). But the neck dive thing was still a deal breaker for live use, so I put aside a new set of HipShot Ultralites and waited for the time and focus to deal with this beast. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-zHFxJzMYNks/UlcmzsWe3zI/AAAAAAAAAUw/McYszI2RBiw/s640/blogger-image--1342837273.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-zHFxJzMYNks/UlcmzsWe3zI/AAAAAAAAAUw/McYszI2RBiw/s640/blogger-image--1342837273.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k2fQ4aBnslc/UlhMPXfRpRI/AAAAAAAAAVY/e3Slw0FgSSQ/s640/blogger-image-1742911839.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k2fQ4aBnslc/UlhMPXfRpRI/AAAAAAAAAVY/e3Slw0FgSSQ/s640/blogger-image-1742911839.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Again, the original open back chrome tuners are much larger on the backside, plus this being a 2x2 configuration, I had to reverse two of the tuners, which took some time a 4 different hex wrenches to find one that fit well enough to unscrew the nut (I thought I almost stripped a couple of them). Like the Gotohs, these tuners were single-screw types, but Hipshot threads the ferrule, so they lock in nice and snug, lending a more solid feel:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-jHMOtbSezjc/UlhMg2IACHI/AAAAAAAAAWY/MB0yVWmD06c/s640/blogger-image--192072416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-jHMOtbSezjc/UlhMg2IACHI/AAAAAAAAAWY/MB0yVWmD06c/s640/blogger-image--192072416.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once installed they look stock from the front:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VmzaKzghpFY/UlhMdi3f8qI/AAAAAAAAAWI/YsvlPsU-a78/s640/blogger-image-1861242356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VmzaKzghpFY/UlhMdi3f8qI/AAAAAAAAAWI/YsvlPsU-a78/s640/blogger-image-1861242356.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">With the flats back on, the bass was still way too top heavy. It does not help that the body has no contours so as to lean back a bit horizontally, which I rely on to see the front neck while playing. But it's also a hollow body with a full-scale 34" neck, which means the body is light and the neck is long, throwing the balance way off. My next trick was to install a stainless steel bar, designed by an eBay seller, which is intended to correct some of the problems with the famously horrible Gibson/Epiphone 3-point bass bridge (see above). This bar was designed to move the windings on regular bass strings away fron the bridge saddles, as well as add some mass for increased sustain. A side benefit is that it adds some weight to the body, making it a bit easier to balance long Thunderbird necks, and I installed one of these years ago on a seriously upgraded Epiphone Thunderbird bass (which I intend to cannibalize to make a custom passive T-bird as well as another active Fenderbird sometime in the future):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XHwFvBV3nEw/UlhMRQ0ireI/AAAAAAAAAVk/zVSeM0MlaGg/s640/blogger-image--2107879914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XHwFvBV3nEw/UlhMRQ0ireI/AAAAAAAAAVk/zVSeM0MlaGg/s640/blogger-image--2107879914.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So off it comes, and on it goes:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-NeEzb8TduvA/UlhMfdX8jKI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/b8anpA5ou-E/s640/blogger-image--538080818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-NeEzb8TduvA/UlhMfdX8jKI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/b8anpA5ou-E/s640/blogger-image--538080818.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So now I've replaced the tuners and added some weight to the bridge, and... balance still sucks. My last (well, there are probably more options, but I am hoping this it the last) is to move the strap button located at the back of the neck pocket. I searched quite a few online forum posts on this issue, hoping not to inflict unnecessary holes on this thing, and read about a number of options (as well as comments along the lines of "get a wider strap and don't be such a pussy"). The obvious first try for me was to move the button to the end in the horn, which would seem to alter the balance center a bit, but also relies on the fairly thin laminated maple side on the horn, without additional bracing to keep from easily stripping out the screw or even damaging the bass. But a few posters said they did this (and some even moved the one at the bottom if the bass up and off-center a but, which I might try as well). Though this did not totally eliminate the balance problem, it made a big difference, and it also helped the horizontal pitch back towards me a bit, which is a huge improvement (Thunderbirds have the same issue, because Gibson put the strap button on the same place, since the most common T-bird has no upper horn to mount a strap to; they even had to decrease the length of the head over decades because of the horrible balance problem). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8ZqT5LIr5Gw/UlhMUAbBbaI/AAAAAAAAAV4/9hQrPGjQOpo/s640/blogger-image--990123649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8ZqT5LIr5Gw/UlhMUAbBbaI/AAAAAAAAAV4/9hQrPGjQOpo/s640/blogger-image--990123649.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We're 90% there, a huge improvement! But when I have many basses that are 100% there balance-wise, it's still hard to justify playing this thing. For reference I pulled out my gorgeous German-made almost new 500/1 Beatle bass. Since the tones if these two hollow body basses are similar, I wanted to remind myself what the balance and playability was on Paul's classic bass.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-pdzioMZMShY/UlhMM1vux1I/AAAAAAAAAVQ/CmnsakJSeBk/s640/blogger-image-1260666351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-pdzioMZMShY/UlhMM1vux1I/AAAAAAAAAVQ/CmnsakJSeBk/s640/blogger-image-1260666351.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">What I found is that a modern reissue 500/1 Beatle bass is not much better, balance-wise. It actually had a somewhat fatter tone and surprisingly good intonation, but with a bit less sustain (perhaps due to the stainless bar on the Epiphone bridge), and a thunkier, deader sound that is THE sound of the Beatle bass.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Note: You rarely see anyone performing with the Hofner 500/1 model, not just because you have to be smaller/skinnier for it to look right, but mostly because you have to be Paul McCartney for it to look right. McCartney playing the Hofner, the only lefty bass he could find in Hamburg at the time (and, even according to him, not a great bass) </i><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">was a boon for Hofner, not because many people perform with it, but I would think because lots of people buy one to look at it. Even Paul's current side bassist/guitarist does not dare pick up a 500/1 on stage - he plays this Epiphone, because it sounds fairly authentic but looks very (safely) different.</i></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So I went back to the Epiphone, and it indeed feels pretty balanced and much more playable. I even tried one more behind-the-neck pocket position, just slightly higher than the original spot, and it returned to horrible. Other potential future improvements to try to cover the other 10% could include adding some weight inside the bottom of the body, or back of the body (metal plate or bearings in epoxy, perhaps), moving the bottom strap button up a few inches (something I have seen one or two people suggest on forums, but I hesitate putting any more holes in this thing), and even cheating the neck strap button up the neck a bit (but that then potentially gets in the way of the back of the fretting hand, and screwing into the truss rod channel can't be very good). Or just buy a wider strap and stop being a pussy....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wHVeHNyA9_8/UlhMQgIoZAI/AAAAAAAAAVg/oYuPS_1hMvI/s640/blogger-image-247516377.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wHVeHNyA9_8/UlhMQgIoZAI/AAAAAAAAAVg/oYuPS_1hMvI/s640/blogger-image-247516377.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">To be continued?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>And now for the Chocolate...</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-LJzvATLGRbw/UlhMVKw8ZZI/AAAAAAAAAWA/r4DEJioKx1I/s640/blogger-image-2107943591.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-LJzvATLGRbw/UlhMVKw8ZZI/AAAAAAAAAWA/r4DEJioKx1I/s640/blogger-image-2107943591.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Not that the Gibson SG bass isn't choclatey enough, while working on these basses I listened to Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto (yum) and snacked on some Ghiradelli Intense Dark with sea salt and ground almonds. Like an extra fancy Crunch bar, the chocolate is surprisingly good (so it is UNLIKE a Nestle's Crunch bar in the best way) even if the salt is lacking. In October 2013 I found myself performing 4 weekends in a row in the Sacramento area, and each time stopped at the Ghiradelli factory outlet off the 5, where you can get any 5 bars for $10 ( and a decent but overly dairy-reliant drinking chocolate). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-eyDvJLaSX0E/UlhMS9Ls_JI/AAAAAAAAAVw/eFNvn49C9-A/s640/blogger-image--1046835856.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-eyDvJLaSX0E/UlhMS9Ls_JI/AAAAAAAAAVw/eFNvn49C9-A/s640/blogger-image--1046835856.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This 72% Intense Dark bar is actually pretty amazing, and despite it's more mainstream lineage (now, anyway - Ghiradelli is a big outfit out here in California) this bar holds it's own against my two top favorite darks, including Poco Dolce and Valrhona.</div><br></div><br></div></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div>Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-22738340750829386962013-06-14T08:45:00.001-07:002013-06-14T08:46:59.014-07:00About Randy's Donuts, and how I missed National Donut Day because every day is...<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tFB8neCqUSU/Ubs4ib-gBBI/AAAAAAAAASc/8t3jOCH_Fdo/s1600/randys.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tFB8neCqUSU/Ubs4ib-gBBI/AAAAAAAAASc/8t3jOCH_Fdo/s640/randys.png" width="480" /></a></div>
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What can I say about Randy's Donuts? Besides the fact that they spell donuts correctly (i.e., efficiently), they are the finest donuts I have ever had (very similar to Donut Dip, the local donut chain - with 2 locations! - where I grew up in Western Massachusetts). Whenever I travel I continue to TRY to find better, but even the $4 donuts at The Donut Factory on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, although very good, are not superior to the texture and flavor of a Randy's raised chocolate covered. These donuts appeal to my palette, my cheapness (donuts should never cost more than $1), and they are bigger than a space ship (well, at least the one on the roof).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qpa8Tj8-R7w/Ubs524jBSVI/AAAAAAAAASs/OTWmF32ONoE/s1600/randy-shuttle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qpa8Tj8-R7w/Ubs524jBSVI/AAAAAAAAASs/OTWmF32ONoE/s400/randy-shuttle.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I missed this event; Toyota bought them out and closed the place for the day.</td></tr>
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I missed National Donut day this June 1st, but every day is National Donut Day if I want it to be. Every time I fly out of LAX I drive thru Randy's a get a raised chocolate and glazed twist, or sometimes just one or two chocolate raised. Even when I am topping out at my max allowable weight of 180, I'll get one and not eat for most of the day, they are that satisfying (otherwise abstaining from sweets and/or bread until I get back down to 170-175). <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UJ7AEUmikmw/UbrD3WmH5uI/AAAAAAAAAR0/94TwnKvwnow/s1600/IMG_0369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UJ7AEUmikmw/UbrD3WmH5uI/AAAAAAAAAR0/94TwnKvwnow/s320/IMG_0369.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clearly (if not in focus) the best donut in the world.</td></tr>
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I have tried a few of the other remaining "giant donut on the roof" establishments in the LA area (there are 3 or 4 others) and they don't come even close to Randy's (although there is still The Donut Hole in LA Puente with TWO huge donuts that you actually drive thru, and I am looking forward to trying those as well, and being disappointed). I understand there are some fine establishments in Seattle, Portland, a couple cities in Texas, and a few more - MANY more - throughout the USA, and as long as my weight and blood sugar levels remain at acceptable levels, I can try at least one, right?<br />
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Last week I was staying in San Jose for a couple of Zeppelin gigs, and discovered an amazing cup of drinking chocolate at Dolce Bella Cafe. Very much in the tradition of the thick Italian drinking chocolate from Florence, Italy's Rivoire Cafe, although a bit sweeter and much smaller (more like a cappuccino in size). Their $1 chocolate chip cookie went very well with it - small and crunchier like a euro-cookie (instead of the cookie dough on steroids popular with us Americans), it hit the spot and was truly a surprising to find - but then again this is the SF Bay Area, home of great chocolatiers (and made with local Guitard chocolate)!Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-48104346780962144242013-05-19T13:54:00.001-07:002013-05-19T14:14:21.589-07:00New Jazz Bass builds, New chocolate, New tonesAfter accumulating misc jazz bass parts over the last few years, I have apparently reached some sort of critical mass, and completed two new basses in as many days. <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mfXGJ4YDUl0/UZk7p1eU_fI/AAAAAAAAAPs/Kabu-aEvTzk/s640/blogger-image-1360159196.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mfXGJ4YDUl0/UZk7p1eU_fI/AAAAAAAAAPs/Kabu-aEvTzk/s640/blogger-image-1360159196.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>I stated out by cannibalizing my first Funster jazz bass, made up of parts I have had on various basses over the last 6-7 years. This particular black with tortoise bass, in this configuration for probably 3 years, started off with what has been my favorite neck of all my basses, a very thin and lightweight Jazz-style neck that I had spray finished (very badly) with poly and a Fender Precision decal, and installed on a Precision body. It always looked horrible up close, but felt so good to play that I never messed with it. In the meantime, I had always had issues with a black Mexi Jazz Bass body I played for years, feeling it lacked bottom end (for 15 years it was matched with a wonderful Moses graphite neck, which is now on my workhorse active Deluxe Jazz bass). I tracked down a mint black Allparts body, a set of Dimarzio Quarter Pounder 3's (very hot and overwound for a grittier tone) and a decent passive Varitone setup. The result was a a fantastic Jazz bass with a super comfortable neck, low action, and lots of bright round wound growl, but very full thanks to he Varitone settings). It has been my main backup bass for my Zep gigs (when I can take a backup), and I always pull it out for a few tunes in the set, especially Black Dog and The Ocean.<div><br></div><div>I have loved this neck so much that I decided to use it to build THE killer totally vintage stock-style passive '62 Sunburst bass with the classic fat warm tone. But the brighter 70's tone is a great one for the arsenal, and I have digging the look of some if the gold anodized pickguard models from the late 50's-early 60's (both Jazz and Precision styles). The two Allparts necks I just finished in vintage, slightly relic'd satin amber nitro will be used to make a matched pair of black/gold anodized/maple Jazz and Precision basses, starting with this Jazz.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Ou92vtca0PM/UZk77edGlHI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/pB_9RCWQ3Qo/s640/blogger-image-1467002018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Ou92vtca0PM/UZk77edGlHI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/pB_9RCWQ3Qo/s640/blogger-image-1467002018.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A very nice stainless fret guard to clean frets without ruling the neck finish.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-c1aEYk0LNF0/UZk79N_AD5I/AAAAAAAAARM/DRPFoZgbOV4/s640/blogger-image-1664647032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-c1aEYk0LNF0/UZk79N_AD5I/AAAAAAAAARM/DRPFoZgbOV4/s640/blogger-image-1664647032.jpg"></a></div>The bridge required some fitting, including some copper tape strips to bring the height up.</div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PP6tXaHM82E/UZk7_bPIdeI/AAAAAAAAARk/9sXIWU0tzOg/s640/blogger-image-1947086743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PP6tXaHM82E/UZk7_bPIdeI/AAAAAAAAARk/9sXIWU0tzOg/s640/blogger-image-1947086743.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>This first build was pretty straight forward and quick, just add Hipshot tuners on the new neck and a brass nut I had kicking around for at least three decades. The work was in installing and setting the neck properly, my first old-style slotted truss rod nut located at the bottom of the neck. I thought I might need to route out a bit in the body for the truss nut adjuster, but when I took off the old tortoise pickguard I found, to my surprise, that it already had this route (so the paint would not be ruined).</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-hEWqCs9g6tk/UZk776cU2eI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/7l5opCEDDas/s640/blogger-image--1631346536.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-hEWqCs9g6tk/UZk776cU2eI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/7l5opCEDDas/s640/blogger-image--1631346536.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>The results: A very straight neck, although a little chunkier than my favorite Jazz necks. Allparts neck and body, licensed pickups and tuners, except for the Chinese pickguard it's almost completely Fender-legal (except for the decal, of course)! The neck is also a bit heavier with the vintage-style Hipshot tuners, and I really hate neck dive, so I might try a heavier bridge to balance it better. I still get that great overwound growl, but probably the lowest action of any bass I have owned. Played thru my single 12" bass amp, the tone is very full with tone if presence and bottom, and I look forward to opening it up on the big rig with bands in June. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-NZJy2juh9EA/UZk7rKK3P3I/AAAAAAAAAP0/0ND2uUjtCYI/s640/blogger-image--1333414992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-NZJy2juh9EA/UZk7rKK3P3I/AAAAAAAAAP0/0ND2uUjtCYI/s640/blogger-image--1333414992.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-PJkuAVZBwoM/UZk7vJ5fnPI/AAAAAAAAAQk/2YBM-PDNJuw/s640/blogger-image--711571457.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-PJkuAVZBwoM/UZk7vJ5fnPI/AAAAAAAAAQk/2YBM-PDNJuw/s640/blogger-image--711571457.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The Sunburst Jazz has been an obsession for a while now. Ever since I got deep into the classic rock band scene, and especially since playing in Zeppelin tributes, JPJ's Sunburst Jazz was the model for the hybrid Deluxe Jazz I built and use on all Zep gigs (not to mention Noel Redding's bass, another famous example of this model). The bass has Fender Deluxe active electronics, which gives me complete tone control regardless of the amps I get stuck using (when not my own gear), and I am still looking for that killer warm vintage classic tone. As with all builds, it's all about materials - I don't MAKE basses, I ASSEMBLE them - so like great cuisine it's mostly about the ingredients. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-sFlpUqmtl9s/UZk7tk5hKBI/AAAAAAAAAQU/coKfY5vp7dU/s640/blogger-image--759384249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-sFlpUqmtl9s/UZk7tk5hKBI/AAAAAAAAAQU/coKfY5vp7dU/s640/blogger-image--759384249.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I know I had a great neck (and, to my surprise, upon removing it I found it was a Mighty Mite, which changes my opinion of them quite a bit), but it had a horrible (self inflicted) finish, especially on the fingerboard and frets. Having he neck off gave me the opportunity to make amends, and after considerable sanding and steel wooling there was still enough finish to leave as satin (instead of reshooting in gloss). I has tinted the headstock and applied the Funster decal a couple of years ago, and although the amber is pretty bright, it matches the body well (a nice Alder nitro-finished body I found on eBay - it's stamped W.W., not sure who that is).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fMpl-Zx9tyc/UZk7rnUu_QI/AAAAAAAAAP8/-hAhUDqrtMg/s640/blogger-image-902490298.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fMpl-Zx9tyc/UZk7rnUu_QI/AAAAAAAAAP8/-hAhUDqrtMg/s640/blogger-image-902490298.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8xhxnGZJi2c/UZk78lvwQ2I/AAAAAAAAARE/8xvfRMV_lIo/s640/blogger-image--1131877920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8xhxnGZJi2c/UZk78lvwQ2I/AAAAAAAAARE/8xvfRMV_lIo/s640/blogger-image--1131877920.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-5fSiQ8krL2M/UZk7s8OrLuI/AAAAAAAAAQM/yWN37QY1agI/s640/blogger-image-2010867219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-5fSiQ8krL2M/UZk7s8OrLuI/AAAAAAAAAQM/yWN37QY1agI/s640/blogger-image-2010867219.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I have some noise issues with my active Jazz, so on this one I shielded all of the cavities with copper tape, and ran some extra ground wires to each section. For pickups I had another set of hand-made, vintage spec scatter-wound pickups from the same guy who made the set in my Funster vintage Precision. The pots and plate I got complete on eBay for under $20 (the good CTS stuff), and I replaced the capacitor with a Russian oil-in-paper .047 I found on eBay for under $2 (I bought a few different ones, and plan in soldering some clips to my precision so I cam do a complete capacitor test to once and for all resolve the capacitor tone debate, watch for video soon). The bridge is a Hipshot, but not a high-mass model; the vintage basses all had thin metal bridges, and I want authentic round tone, not hours of bright sustain.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LGjV2BgngcY/UZk7-vnAS5I/AAAAAAAAARc/7KGG3PMyyZw/s640/blogger-image-451892031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LGjV2BgngcY/UZk7-vnAS5I/AAAAAAAAARc/7KGG3PMyyZw/s640/blogger-image-451892031.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-En0sqmBEzGw/UZk79h8QkXI/AAAAAAAAARU/Nbz24ecD_nE/s640/blogger-image-1233274638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-En0sqmBEzGw/UZk79h8QkXI/AAAAAAAAARU/Nbz24ecD_nE/s640/blogger-image-1233274638.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The results: wowzers! Fuller with more bottom than I expected, but very warm (even with Rotosound roundwounds), and with an already proven neck, I am very pleased! The weight is good, and there is no beck dive, so it's very comfortable. It turns out the set of black plastic knobs I had we're for split-shaft pots, so I had to order better ones with screws and brass fittings, so it's not 100% complete cosmetically, but after neck setup and intonating I am very happy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cNhlz5Sng_I/UZk7sJtdhnI/AAAAAAAAAQE/N0rQqGyUAZY/s640/blogger-image--1513552064.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cNhlz5Sng_I/UZk7sJtdhnI/AAAAAAAAAQE/N0rQqGyUAZY/s640/blogger-image--1513552064.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I have now added three great Jazz basses in the last couple if months to my arsenal (including the white Pepito bass) and will drag all three to my Zep gigs in June to put them through their paces. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w_C9znQSoI8/UZk76q4HuNI/AAAAAAAAAQs/fjT7G-0-fjc/s640/blogger-image-71879103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w_C9znQSoI8/UZk76q4HuNI/AAAAAAAAAQs/fjT7G-0-fjc/s640/blogger-image-71879103.jpg"></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">CHOCOLATE: At a recent wholesale food importer sale I attended, I found a bar of Valrhona 70% dark. I have not tried this brand or this particular bar before, and it's quite impressive. Not too sweet, but he chocolate is super rich and creamy, melting nicely on the tongue. I have been going thru it slowly to enjoy it, and rate it up there with Poco Dolce's Olive Oil and Sea Salt and Le Belge 72% as my all-around favorites (so far). Each great, like my three new basses, but each with a unique feel and tone.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-RzzKply6pNM/UZk7uIlf5rI/AAAAAAAAAQc/OXp6bffZCtY/s640/blogger-image-43513964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-RzzKply6pNM/UZk7uIlf5rI/AAAAAAAAAQc/OXp6bffZCtY/s640/blogger-image-43513964.jpg"></a></div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br></div></div><br></div><br></div><div><br></div>Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-48060400643195569362013-05-13T13:38:00.001-07:002013-05-17T00:58:12.896-07:00Cookies and NecksAnother new artisanal pizza place opened in Hollywood last week. Although I am not sure why I would pay $14 for the same cheeseless Margarita pizza I get for $6 at 800 degrees in Westwood (ok, because I'm not in Westwood), they have an awesome fresh bakery and coffee counter at the entrance with some amazing cookies. I have tried two (so far):<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-sR-LmXvMSxQ/UZFPN_EX4UI/AAAAAAAAAPc/rXwqrPZaJ70/s640/blogger-image-227379312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-sR-LmXvMSxQ/UZFPN_EX4UI/AAAAAAAAAPc/rXwqrPZaJ70/s640/blogger-image-227379312.jpg"></a></div>They call this one a Flourless double chocolate cookie, but in reality it is a large round brownie. It's about an inch thick (!), but I was disappointed that it was, in fact, just a big brownie. Brownies are fine, but Flourless chocolate cake is much denser with way more intense chocolate. </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1CZ_9X5scrU/UZFKQVxtdLI/AAAAAAAAAO4/9i4MEWN4BWc/s640/blogger-image--1951529715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1CZ_9X5scrU/UZFKQVxtdLI/AAAAAAAAAO4/9i4MEWN4BWc/s640/blogger-image--1951529715.jpg"></a></div>This one, however, is quite nice: a dark chocolate with sea salt cookie. It's big, filling (breakfast AND lunch), and the salt was nice and not overpowering. I will be back again soon. They also had a cookie with bacon on top, and as much as the idea disgusts me, I am aware that others may have the same reaction to this salted one. But they would be wrong.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-sUApIvRo_Zc/UZFPNOA42-I/AAAAAAAAAPU/jivCPMQxJ0Y/s640/blogger-image--537734153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-sUApIvRo_Zc/UZFPNOA42-I/AAAAAAAAAPU/jivCPMQxJ0Y/s640/blogger-image--537734153.jpg"></a></div>The same day we found a spice dealer at the Hollywood Farmers Market with a few chocolate-infused teas. I got some of this one, with orange. We'll see...</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2Gb_5U9Uz4o/UZFPMTZHefI/AAAAAAAAAPM/PLO_-A-KqgY/s640/blogger-image--472105665.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2Gb_5U9Uz4o/UZFPMTZHefI/AAAAAAAAAPM/PLO_-A-KqgY/s640/blogger-image--472105665.jpg"></a></div></div><div><br></div><div>BASSES: The two Allparts necks (on the left) have their satin nitro finishes and decals, and I am now ready assemble and re-assemble a couple of long-anticipated Jazz basses: a black '70's style with a gold anodized pickguard and tinted maple neck, and a true vintage '63 sunburst with custom scatterwound pickups and my favorite skinny rosewood neck.</div>Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-32987507068606590802013-05-06T23:08:00.002-07:002019-01-22T11:35:51.073-08:00Pepito Funster Bass<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Right after midnight on February 11th, 2013 my 19 year old white kitty Pepito died on my chest, a remarkable experience (for both of us, I am sure), and the culmination of the longest continuous relationship of my life. As it happens I had been accumulating parts for an off-white Jazz-style bass featuring an extremely light-weight (under 3lbs) body, the lightest neck I had (a Mighty Mite), and Hipshot Ultra Lite tuners. Built around the same time as the 10lbs+ Precision-style bass I wrote about in April 2013, this one was going to be an experiment in the opposite direction - the lightest traditional-style bass guitar I could build (the idea being that Precisions need more mass for that bottom end, whereas Jazz basses can be lighter because their tone tends to emphasize the mids). Pepito the cat was always on the small side, and when he died he actually weighed about 4lbs; the next day, in honor of him, I assembled what I call the Pepito Funster bass.<br />
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I had never owned a 62'style Jazz with concentric pots, so I thought I would go that route with this bass (John Entwistle claimed the concentric pots provided a better tone, but I can see why Fender went back to one tone control - who needs separate tone controls for both pickups?). This bass weighs in under 6lbs (!!!), and is very well balanced thanks to the Ultra Lite tuners. I normally hate the metal bridge and pickup covers because they limit the range of dynamics I can get by either playing the strings in different spots, or muting the bridge a bit with the side of my palm when required, but I wanted to go totally showroom stock on this one. The color combinations are so classic, and although I used one of Hipshot's more modern bridges, it would be covered by the bridge plate (even though the extra shape on the bottom of the bridge made it difficult to fit the bridge cover properly). The pickups are a new set of Fender Custom Shop Vintage 60's, the underside of the Fender tortoise pickguard and all of the pickup and electronics cavities are very carefully shielded with copper tape, and the strings are LaBella flat wounds; every possible vintage-style part was used to get that vintage passive tone.<br />
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I first chance I had to play it on a live and loud was an outdoor Zeppelin gig, and oh my, it certainly sounded huge and full! I actually had to hold back a bit; compared to my normal Jazz-hybrid bass that I use for Zep (with Fender Deluxe active pickups and electronics) this thing sounded WAY bigger. I have to say I was pretty blown away - I did not expect the fullness with such a light body (it's not Ash or Alder, I think it's Paulina or some other Pine-like wood). What I did notice, however, was something weird in the E string, which I confirmed at my next two Zep gigs - except for the open string, there was some weird doubling going on, and the intonation on the E way way off, with each higher note more out of tune (songs that stayed in first position were great, songs higher up - like Dazed and Confused - sounded very dazed and very confused).<br />
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I just assumed there was problem with the neck, and planned on replacing it with a better one I have used for years on another Jazz bass. But as I thought about it more, I decided to try a few other tweeks before I gave up on the neck:<br />
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The main problem as I saw it was the bridge - I think I installed it just a bit too close to the nut on the body, and it made intonation difficult, especially on the E string. I took this opportunity to change out the bridge with a standard Fender-style with tapped saddles, thus allowing the bridge cover plate to fit more properly. I moved the whole bridge back another 3/8" so intonating should improve (and that weird stuff on the E, probably caused by choking it off too close to the bottom of the bridge, would HOPEFULLY be taken care of as well). <br />
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The other issue could be the nut - it was a brass which I love, but the neck required a flat bottom, and this brass nut was rounded, so the fit was never going to be solid. I replaced it with a plastic one - if this solves the tuning issues, I'll order a better brass one with a flat bottom to install later.<br />
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I strung it back up and - problem gone! After another 60 minutes of intonating, adjusting string heights, tightening the truss rod for a straighter neck, and filing the nut slots down quite a bit more, Pepito now has fantastically low action, great intonation, and is smooth and buzz-free up and down the neck. Plus, the bridge cover plate now fits properly!<br />
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I am very much looking forward to playing this thing through my big rig with a band, and believe it will not disappoint. But the proof will be in the playing - how it feels in my hands, how it sounds on the stage, and comments after the gig from the soundman (who will be able to tell me how balanced it was, and whether or not it needed any additional EQing, etc.). I am happy that I could correct it with the original neck, which I had already date-stamped 2/11/2013, and hope to be performing with Pepito in my arms for many years to come.<br />
<br />Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-16165494294175618942013-05-05T19:42:00.003-07:002013-05-06T08:13:23.394-07:00TextureMy recent 6 days in the San Francisco area, besides being kind to my chocolate-loving palette, was also very good for my wardrobe. There are MANY Goodwill Thrift Stores (and misc other thrift shops) in the Bay Area, and I decided to use my downtime during the days to get to as many of them as possible, scouring the men's racks for vintage suits and maybe a decent summer shirt. I started the trip in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but came home looking like this:<br />
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OK, not the best photo, but my $30 wardrobe included a cotton Kenneth Cole grey with red flower-pattern summer short sleeve shirt (there seemed to be a bit of a summer heatwave that week), a pair of vegan men's dress shoes (I think from Target originally), and an AWESOME lightweight black wool dress jacket with quite a nice lining and a Macy's tag originally listing the price as $495 (it had a pulled thread in the sleeve, and they dropped the price 3 times before they (or someone else) dumped it off to Goodwill, who sold it to me for $10.95). The missing link in this outfit was the slacks; although I have a few pair of black wool dress slacks, I could not really think of one that I knew would match the jacket, and I wanted something lightweight NOW to go with the jacket for the remainder of the trip. The problem was very similar to my search for basses and chocolate - searching for just the right color and texture, in this case to pass for a matched suit.<br />
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I first tried the Macy's in San Francisco - I figured that if they sold the jacket, they might have the slacks (or at least know more about the origins of the jacket, which had a MADE IN HONDURAS label, but nothing else). The salesman in the Men's department said that it was in fact a very nice jacket, but it must have been 2-3 years old (therefore whomever bought it at the final markdown price of $149 may have sat on it in the closet, then gave it to Goodwill). Without a designer tag, there was no way to know who made the jacket, and the chances of finding slacks of a similar color and texture were small to non-existent. I was willing to pay $100 or more for matching slacks, but it seems they would be unavailable at any price.<br />
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So I walked down the street to the nearest Goodwill in Downtown San Francisco, 5 blocks away, browsed to slacks rack lining up every pair to the jacket I wore to the store, and found a pair of slacks exactly my size that were REALLY close:<br />
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Even from the photo (jacket on left, slacks on right) they don't look like a very good match, but in person in sunlight or artificial light they look super close. Plus the slacks are polyester (who would have thought it), which means I can just wash them myself, and they are comfy and lightweight. This story seems even uninteresting to me at this point, but as another exercise in my pursuit of the perfect tone/flavor/texture/etc., it continues building my chops at recognizing such things, and improving my ability to get it right (even if it requires obsessing over it).<br />
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NOTE: I was so busy and focused on finding the perfect slack that I didn't even notice that someone had decided to use the dressing room at the Goodwill as a urinal, and I placed my jacket and the slacks on the bench, only to find they were VERY wet. Henceforth the suit will be known as the Piss Suit...<br />
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CHOCOLATE: Some other chocolate experiences in the last few days:<br />
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Chocolate fortune cookie from the San Francisco Fortune Cookie Company; super fresh, not too sweet, great added hint of sesame seeds, fantastically crisp. A good-sized bag costs $4.75, they make them right there in their tiny Chinatown alley shop.</div>
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Really good flourless chocolate cake from Fabulous Cafe in Hollywood (a decent local Italian restaurant where we had our wedding reception). I had been looking forward to this cake for my birthday in late April; ended up out of town, but went back there a couple of night ago for a small meal and the cake, which seems to have changed. It used to be denser, but it was still delicious, and no flour means more chocolate!<br />
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Trader Joes dark chocolate covered Butterscotch Salted Caramels: better than I expected, but a bit too sweet (because of the caramel, which I can do without). Seen here in a vintage Michelin Bibendum porcelain ashtray, where he invites you to enjoy his salty balls! Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-80598504659430257682013-05-02T09:02:00.000-07:002013-05-02T09:16:30.039-07:00Tone<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I started this blog without a conscious connection between Bass Guitars and Chocolate, except for the fact that I loved them both, and thought about them with equal amounts of intellect and emotion (or, as composer Alban Berg refers to it, "the ecstasy of logic"). I think of this process as the Muse (or spark of idea, or whatever) starting the process, not always understood at first, that gets the brain working out solutions that eventually (hopefully) come to some conclusion, in my case a finished "work" (song/painting/house/bass/etc). I have reliably found in my exploration of aesthetic obsession that if I simply trust the direction my interests take, they eventually make sense.<br />
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Tone is chocolate.<br />
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I tried out this explanation of tone/flavor to two different people yesterday. To a fellow bassist and owner of Annex Studios in San Lorenzo, CA, I described the tone of the Precision bass I had recently built (see April 2013 post) as rich and full with a bit of bite without distortion, but that I was interested in swapping out the capacitor with some Russian oil-in-paper caps to find a hint more creaminess. To Kathy Wiley, the chocolatier at poco dolce in the Dogpatch section of San Francisco, all I had to say was that the tone is currently like her bittersweet chocolate TILE topped with grey sea salt, but I wanted more of the Olive Oil with sea salt texture.<br />
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This is redundant. When I told each person about my tone/chocolate connection, they too seemed to understand. Words are only representations of ideas in our heads, and are not equipped to express every feeling we have. But when it comes to tone, chocolate can.<br />
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I am also still unable to get the flavor of the Steinway Hamburg Model D that I played in San Jose four days ago out of my head. I was killing time walking Santana Row (just like The Grove in Los Angeles, but with a Tesla showroom), and noticed a local piano shop across the street. My piano search of a few years ago (resulting in the Baldwin in my living room, also coincidentally enough from San Francisco) educated my piano palette, and this Steinway was exquisite, with a definite EURO vs. US Steinway tone. Just like sense memory of a food you tasted as a child, I was immediately taken back to recordings of Walter Gieseking playing Beethoven, as heard by me from scratchy LPs on headphones at the Springfield, MA main library in the mid-1970's (OK, these were probably recorded on Bechsteins, but the tone was very similar).<br />
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San Francisco certainly seems like the epicenter of tone these days; I also had a chocolate drink from ChocolateLab around the corner from poco dolce (not bad, slightly more pleasant that the one from Bittersweet Cafe, possibly in the 60% solids range instead of the 70's). I even drove by Guittard's factory in Burlingame - like many Yelp reviews have noted, it's just like the fabled Wonka plant, in that the air is full of chocolate, but it's locked down like a fortress and they won't let you in.<br />
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I also made an obligatory stop at Tartine Bakery for their amazing euro-style chocolate cookie (flat and crispy, not like US-style half-baked cookie dough variety). I am usually there later in the day, and this time they still had a mound of fresh croissants, the subject of another obsession my wife and I share. It did not disappoint - amazingly crisp on the outside, moist and rather substantial on the inside (a bit heavy, actually, better for sharing, must bring the wife next time). It rates second only to Maison Giraud in Pacific Palisades; either rival any in Paris, and both would compliment the drinking chocolates I have had in the last couple of days (too bad Maison Giraud makes only a weak, dairy-laden hot chocolate).<br />
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<br />Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-22839991919143089232013-05-01T00:24:00.002-07:002013-05-01T10:00:34.171-07:00Liquid chocolate nirvana, and thoughts on Igor<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2QRCKciH1ws/UYC8-iL0l5I/AAAAAAAAAJI/HEPtZrMgZ70/s1600/IMG_0131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2QRCKciH1ws/UYC8-iL0l5I/AAAAAAAAAJI/HEPtZrMgZ70/s320/IMG_0131.JPG" width="240" /></a>Stopped in at my favorite Oakland, CA chocolatier, Bittersweet Cafe (<a href="http://bittersweetcafe.com/">bittersweetcafe.com</a>).<br />
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As described in an earlier post, they make a chocolate drink, NOT to be confused with a "hot chocolate", consisting of two things - semisweet dark chocolate and very hot water. It is quite awesome, and usually requires a cup or two of water to accompany it. Words can only approximate what a pure chocolate drink does to the tongue and then to the brain, but I am starting to see a connection (in my mind, anyway) between the flavors and experience of consuming chocolate, and the sound or TONE I am continually searching for in a bass guitar (or any instrument, including for me the feel as well as sound of a fine grand piano). This drink was a real palette-opener for me, and has influenced my now regular search for better and better chocolates - drinks and solids.<br />
Another cafe down the street makes a decent and sweeter "hot chocolate" I can order with soy milk instead of dairy, and although it is pleasant enough, it does not come close to the intense experience of this bittersweet drink. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is best consumed with a couple of cups of water to clear the tongue.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Admiring the film it leaves on the inside of the cup as I happily walk back to the car.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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While there I was disappointed to learn that they have not restocked what is probably the most outstanding chocolate I have ever experienced: a dark chocolate, olive oil and sea salt bar from Poco Dolce, a San Francisco chocolatier. I have one more full day in the area, so I will check out the local Berkeley Whole Foods to see if they carry it; if not, I may have to drive into San Francisco to get it (and write about it, more tomorrow...).<br />
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More thrift shopping today, with a couple more awesome classic album covers to admire:<br />
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These next two album covers feature classic Mad Men-era cover photographs with more great illustration work on the backsides:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watch that foot, buddy...</td></tr>
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STRAVINSKY, THE BIOPIC: I did actually buy an LP today as well, a classic Columbia "Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky," this one of his revised Firebird. I think it's the full ballet, and probably prepared/rehearsed by Robert Craft, Stravinsky's assistant on all of his Columbia recordings, the guy I would like to play in the movie about Stravinsky, starring Dustin Hoffman (my fantasy, anyway). I have owned this recording in multiple album and CD form since high school, but the cover sleeve is the very cool original version with costume drawings from the original Ballet Russe production. The vinyl itself was mint, so the $1.99 spent makes an excellent and not ostentatious addition to my modest LP collection.<br />
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Stravinsky was a seminal discovery for me as a teen, and influences the way I think about music, composition and orchestration to this day. Besides the classic ballets (including the opening to The Rite that I use as my ringtone) I love his Violin Concerto, one of the happiest sounding pieces of music I know (a description that would probably disturb him immensely), as well as the Piano Sonata, Symphony of Psalms and others from his middle, neo-classical period.<br />
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While still in music school in the early 1980's, it occurred to me that Stravinsky discarded tonal music in the 1950's to become the successor to Schoenberg (instead of Beethoven/Bach). It is my theory that, upon hearing Perot Lunaire in an early performance, Stravinsky (a highly intelligent and competitive man) was quite shaken (this part is documented fact), or more accurately pissed off that Schoenberg had bettered him in advancing modern, atonal music. He seemed to spend the next few decades tinkering with alternate styles of composing until Schoenberg's death, after which he declared himself a serialist and never again composed anything pleasant to the ear. Here he could once again the most famous and important living composer; as long as Schoenberg was around, Stravinsky would have always been at best the world's second best serial/atonal composer, something Igor could not - in my opinion - stand for.<br />
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None of this changes my love for his music (except for the before-mentioned late period), but this theory informs the way I think about egotism and careerism in the Arts. I honestly believe I am a better person (if not Artist) having had only minimal professional success early in my creative career (or late in it, for that matter). I'd like to think it kept me from becoming a COMPLETE asshole.Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-86131351424945179442013-04-30T00:34:00.001-07:002013-05-01T01:05:18.987-07:00Goodwill huntingI like thrift stores, specifically Goodwill Thrift Stores, and there are many in California, especially (I have learned today) in the SF Bay area. I was staying in San Jose between a gig and a set of reversals this week, and decided to drive up to San Francisco by way of the El Camino Real Route 82. To my delight, there seemed to be Goodwill Stores every couple of miles (I hit four of them today). Besides a $400 Macy's black lightweight wool 4-button blazer and a decent grey cotton dress shirt (all for $16), I spotted some cool album covers worth sharing.<br />
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The first two are just great design - I do miss LPs with the 12x12 display or art (or at least the possibility for art). I have decided not to buy these things, as they just pile up, I'll probably never actually play them, and recently I have been trying to donate more to Goodwill than I actually buy from there. Here's a 50's Jazz and Classical album with great 50's-era artwork:<br />
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And then here's a 60's album so awful in every way I could not resist sharing -UP WITH PEOPLE!<br />
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The coverquotes for the responsible white men of the time are just terrific; I left out the John Wayne one to zoom in on Pat Boone and Want Disney (and on the front cover, so parents would feel good about buying this for their kids):</div>
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Gee Walt, I didn't see credits for songs about segregation, oppression of women and the Vietnam War on the album, but maybe I just missed them...</div>
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BASSES: Here's a couple photos of two Allparts necks (one Jazz, one Precision) that I am looking forward to installing. I tinted them with Stewart-MacDonald tinted Nitro Lacquer, but ran out before I could make a second pass, so these are curing while a new can is in the mail. As you can see from the last photo, bass bodies are piling up, so I feel a few birthings coming very soon. More to follow...</div>
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CHOCOLATE: Shared some decent dark chocolate bars after dinner last night; one was a 65% with almonds and sea salt, the other a 71% that was a bit harsher but very smooth/creamy. Don't remember the make, I should have snapped photos of the packages, still getting used to sharing this stuff. Today I found a Paris Baguette bakery (a Korean chain that has a number of Los Angeles outlets), and enjoyed the chocolate croissant as I drove from thrift shop to thrift shop (they also make a bitchen' high-gluten donut and Belgian-style waffle).</div>
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As I am in Berkeley for the next couple of nights, I will be visiting and photographing my FAVORITE chocolate shop, The Bittersweet Cafe, and will post and comment more about that tomorrow.</div>
Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656840485536593355.post-42731014628614914052013-04-25T10:58:00.001-07:002013-05-01T01:05:48.613-07:00Funster classic sunburst Precision bass<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Building basses is a crapshoot, like any work of art. I never know how they will turn out until they are done. I get better at the craft of assembling basses, mostly because as I get older I have gotten more patient; I am willing to spend months thinking about the build and accumulating just the right parts, then take my time assembling. If money was no object (a hilarious phrase, since money is ALWAYS an object), I could probably accumulate the parts much faster, although the idea that spending more guarantees better quality is not always true (only sometimes, like with Allparts necks). But whether or not the body resonates properly, the neck plays well (the one thing I still don't trust doing myself is fretwork, so I am at the mercy of whomever built and finished the neck before I receive it), and the two play nice together is only something I will discover once the bass is assembled.<br />
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In wanting to build a classic 57-early 60's passive precision-style bass, I wanted to experiment with body weight. It seems to me Jazz-style basses don't need as much body mass to get that mid-rangey tone, but the Precisions I have built in the past, although sometimes playing great, always seem to be missing something at the very bottom. I still have an unfinished, custom-made slab-style Precision body waiting to paint in the shop, to go for John Entwistle's famous Frankenbass with the non-contoured slab body and overwound pickups. That bass is still to be made, and all of the parts are ready, once I build up the courage and find the time to paint it (cans of Guitar ReRanch nitro are standing at the ready). But I found a dealer on eBay with a VERY heavy, pre-finished 2-tone sunburst Precision body (I think it's a Mighty Mite - like their bodies, but have not had luck with their necks). Even though it's a poly finish, the weight intrigued me, and the finish enticed me, so I ordered the body. I also ordered a set of custom scatter-wound pickups (totally vintage spec) from Mark Lariccia, a pickup maker in the Los Angeles area (his eBay user name is mcm_guitarworks). This is the first set I tried from him, as well as the first bass set he has ever made, so that was a total shot in the dark, but I got a good impression from his other listings and email communication.<br />
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I scavenged a maple neck from an older sunburst Precision I built and played regularly with a Who tribute band (and plan on trying that body with a maple fretless neck I have in the ready to recreate John Paul Jones' fretless Precision). I remember that although the bass lacked some bottom, it had a great-playing vintage finish Eden neck (a Chinese neck supplier I have had good results with) and top-shelf Hipshot tuners with a D-tuner on the E string, so very versitile. The fret ends were never finished well (I filed them after I assembled the bass), but it always felt great at all positions. All I had to do was apply a newer FUNSTER JOEL BASS decal, with lots of clear coats on the headstock. A nice heavy bridge with brass saddles, a brass nut, a tortoise pickguard and a 1mil orange cap with 500k pots finished the parts list (along with a new set of La Bella flats, my favorite flatwounds), and here you go:<br />
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It's certainly a beauty, and I already knew it would play well from previous use of the neck. It is certainly the heaviest Fender-style bass I have played, coming in at over 10lbs (I think my custom Fenderbird may be slightly heavier - I'll feature that one soon)! Mark's pickups did not disappoint: they are full and warm, and I have gotten great compliments from sound engineers who ran the bass direct at live gigs with no need for addition EQing (I now have 2 more sets of Mark's pickups waiting for use in a Jaguar bass and a passive sunburst Jazz bass build). But the extra weight (with a very wide strap, thank you very much) seemed to do the trick - this thing has amazing bottom end, so much so that I spent a few gigs going back and forth with pickup height adjustments to find the right balance (I actually backed them off a bit more than normal to keep a real clean tone). The dynamics are wonderful - I can play light, then really pull a louder and slightly edgier tone out of it, while still maintaining a clean sound up and down the neck.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't exactly remember where I got the bridge, but it's a high-mass monster with gorgeous brass saddles, something like a Wilkinson, but most probably Chinese-made (aka Wilkinson, etc). Everyone seems to want high-mass and string-thru bridges for more sustain these days, but if I am going for a vintage tone, they all had the lighter, thinner bridges and LESS sustain, so I split the difference here.</td></tr>
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I am becoming more and more of a passive fan in my old age, after decades of active EMGs, but it probably has just as much to do with the classic rock music I have been leaning towards these days aa much as a newer appreciation for flat tone (and flatwounds) without bass and treble tone controls. A truly great bass for classic 60s-70s stuff (I've used it for Eagles and Zeppelin so far) - this one scores a win, and I look forward to using it for years to come (I'll just try to carry it in a single bass bag, thank you very much).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Funster JOEL BASS logo decal is something I designed and had made just for my basses; no one ever figures out it does not say Fender unless I make a big deal out of it (which I TRY not to do, sometimes succeeding).</td></tr>
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NOTE: I build these basses for myself, not for resale (generally), but I love sharing build ideas with other makers and players.<br />
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<br />Joel Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229770357215535980noreply@blogger.com0