Articles about the Bass Guitar Community, demos of bands and new products, shopping and info, upgrades and replacements for you bass guitar hardware.
Out on the Tiles by Led Zeppelin is not an easy song on the bass. The difficulty comes from the fact that the original recording is, in all honesty, a bit sloppy with its timing. This is the original studio track: …so when a 12-year-old kid is able to cover this song, that’s actually a … Read more
In part 2 with our neck pocket template fabrication, we’re now performing a rough cut and removing the surrounding material with a bandsaw. The photos below shows how it’s done: Next up, the bottom hardboard piece has its excess middle portion removed flush to the edges of where the glued pieces on top meet: Above … Read more
Pretty darned good, as you’ll hear from the video below. A quick 101 on flatwound strings Tight Flats, unless specifically stated otherwise, have tighter tension at pitch compared to roundwound. An example of a flat that isn’t tight is the La Bella Low Tension string. However, some would argue a flat that isn’t tight doesn’t … Read more
Fabricating a template is arguably the most difficult part of the process, as the template must be correct the first time. If not correct, the neck will never fit correctly in the pocket. Tip: Make your template out of 1/4-inch hardboard. The advantage is that this is a “voidless” material. For example, plywood is inconsistent … Read more
To start off, we’re not saying that the future of bass guitar building is going to be 3D-printed. Not at all. 3D printing is still a relatively young technology, and to the best of our knowledge, all 3D printed guitars still use wooden necks (including the one shown here) simply because it’s still the most … Read more
A brand often described as a “modern bass” (as the presenter will state in the video below,) the Spector NS-4 has a body that’s smaller and a shape designed to be comfortable. The pickups loaded in are EMG 35DC, touted as having ultra-low-noise (which they do.) But in the end, do you feel it’s worth … Read more
The video below explains nicely the main differences between an early-1960s 500/1 and the changes that were made for the 1964 model year. In ’64, the neck went from fat to thin, neck binding was added, headstock logo changed and control panel size changed, among other things. Here’s the video explaining the details: Vintage collectors … Read more
From Vigier comes this 24-fret skinny-necked beauty, the Excess II. Vigier states that the finish is a varnish that “dries for 5 weeks minimum,” uses Schaller custom machine heads, uses a quick release bridge, and has active electronics that feature a hum-canceling circuit, among other things. Cool or not? You decide. Check out the video … Read more
Note up front: Carving a neck is largely about feel rather than process; this is not something that can be described as a 1-2-3 method, nor would we even attempt to. Neck carving is a fundamental reason why luthiery schools exist, and is best learned in that style of environment. However, we will do our … Read more
At this point, the frets have been installed, but the fret ends are sticking out from either side of the neck and need to be dressed appropriately. The tool needed to start dressing frets is known as a fret cutter; this tool is generally available online, but not so much in hardware stores as it … Read more
