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So, if I was going to build a bass


Northfield

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5 minutes ago, Studio Custom said:

king-4-coco-side.jpg

 

Have two of these (fretted and fretless) and love them. 

I have tried a Status bass and liked it a lot.  Every note felt alive on that graphite neck.  If Mike goes that route, or even graphite rods inside the neck, it will make a great bass.  The players can debate the sound of graphite versus maple and the rest, but those graphite necks made me an immediate fan on the two instruments with them that I have tried. 

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Micro Bass

 

I saw a band with a bass player who used one of these about two months ago.  It took me 2 songs to figure out who the bass player was.  He was playing the acoustic version and it looked like a ukulele.

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Single cut basses don't seem popular much unless you take into account the newer designs with the upper bout stretched to the 14th or 15th fret; therefore, I think a version of the DC Custom Cobra (perhaps offset waist) with the upper horn ending around the 12th fret like a Jazz bass would be attractive to many players.  Scale up the six-on-a-side headstock design to bass size and that could be very sweet visually.  5 string with reverse headstock anyone?  Clean strong passive pickups that mate well to an optional, bypassable preamp and a classic bridge option or a modern one.

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^^^

Yeah - i could be wrong, but i would think single cuts would not balance well, unless the body is *very* heavy, or the scale is *very* short.  Neither are something i'd care for. 

I got to hang out with someone who built custom basses - he overextended the upper cutaway about 4 inches past where he designed it.  He mounts the pups, bridge, and machine heads (not screwed in), finds the center of gravity, and lops the remainder off.  Takes the hardware back off to continue shaping the body.  I will say, it was very balanced when he's done.

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On 4/30/2018 at 7:15 PM, cmatthes said:

I could probably fill a few pages with ideas, but Mike's stuff comes out great.

My thought is that if looking for something different/unique, I'd say:

1. If a 34" scale solidbody, there aren't many out there with "REAL" T-Bird pickups.  If Josh or somebody (besides Mike Lull?) would knock out those pickups to get that '63-'64 Thunderbird thang, maybe with a 2TEK bridge...I'll send my deposit in now.  ;)

2. There aren't that many great semihollow/hollow/centerblock basses out there worth a damn.  Maybe something along the lines of the current spruce top/mahogany back SC/DCs and a medium (32") scale with Duncan Bass PhatCats (or something similar?)...

Two totally different ideas, but something that just isn't your everyday P or J derivative.

Disclaimer: as a bassist, I am a ripping guitarist. 

I like all of the above ideas. A DC, Newport-ish body with Thunderbird pickups. Medium scale? I like the feel of med-scale basses, but real bassists seem to prefer long scales  

I really like the p/us in the Gibson SG bass.  That big sucker in the neck is stupidly thunderous. The mini-hum in the bridge sounds great combined together. Maybe add an active, parametric EQ?

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1 hour ago, Funky Chicken said:

This thread is improving rapidly now.

LOL! Yes, I'm sure Mike is gleaning a wealth of information from this!

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On 5/2/2018 at 9:37 AM, Funky Chicken said:

Music Man Sterling (very early example with bridge mutes, neck dated 7/8/93, bought used for $600 in a pissing rainstorm at a rest stop on the Merritt Parkway), still have it

That's professional-grade craigs list action!

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3 hours ago, Funky Chicken said:

Actually, this transaction was pre-CL/maybe even pre-internet. I think I found it in one of those “for sale” weekly papers.

God I miss those.  We had the "Pennysaver" here in Central Florida (still around, but no music classified).  The only black 1960 Les Paul Sunburst was found three streets over from my house.   My attorney buddy Jim Dulfer was gentle about it.

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