on the bench the week of Dec 26-31 2011 (NAMM content)

[Rodent]

today is wire harness assembly day here in the shop

I've completed my 5th harness of the morning, and thought you might want to peek at the first lefty harness for the new model. this harness



will be loaded into this bass



in the next day or so. the harness features true lefty CTS 250K pots wired lefty, a 400v Sprague 'Orange Drop' .047uf cap, and also shielded coax wire from the volume to the jack (to minimize EMI potential) and as you can see, all of this is mounted into a beefy laser-cut stainless control plate that eliminates the weak point of a P-style pickguard (how many pickguards have you seen that are cracked at the jack? with this design, you'll be able to destroy the end of your cord long before you come close to damaging the control plate ) this plate has a brushed finish, but I'll use a mirror polished plate on most builds and make this available as a no cost option

all that remains is to install this into the bass and connect the pickup lead wires (the reason why the white lead on the volume pot is currently not soldered) and bridge ground

more to come later today and throughout the week

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

I spent much of the day soldering wiring harnesses for the NAMM basses, and once those were done I got to turn my focus on cutting pickguard templates on the CNC. the first one of these is completed and proofed with a mint/b/w pickguard for the CAR 4-string

here's a quick peek at how this is shaping up (sorry, I didn't cut the lefty pickguard yet)



and so you finally get to see the 2-piece pickguard in its installed location (the stainless control plate will be polished for this unit) ... any slight off position of the knobs is probably due to them simply being set on the control plate for visual reference

I'm very pleased with how well everything fits together - woo-hoo for CAD design and templates cut with a CNC. what I also am happy with is that the hand-cut body is so close to the CAD model ... and that the new control plate design covered the preliminary design's control cavity without any embarrassing gaps!

I'm curious to learn your thoughts on the 2-piece pickguard design, the overall pickguard design, and anything else on the bass design so far. I'm looking for candid thoughts, pro and con, for any aspect of the design. there's still a little time to make subtle changes in time for NAMM, and it's better to hear it now when I can make a change, than to repeatedly hear something on the NAMM floor when I can't do anything until I return home. drop me a private note if you'd prefer not to make your comment(s) public


I'll be giving this bass a first test session on Friday night

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

and here's how this looks in Vintage Blonde with a Tort pickguard



the stainless control plate on this one will be swapped to a polished finish when those come back from the shop. the Tort pickguard will really pop when its protective cover is removed after the final set-up is complete and the potential for gettin scratched eliminated


time to get cracking on the 5-string pickguard template

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

here's how that Seafoam Green dual pickup version looks with its new white Pearloid pickguard



that control plate will be swapped out for a polished one when the batch comes back from the polishing shop

all the best,

R

[fivebass52]

They're all looking great Rod! But what I really like is the natural grain/color of the necks. They really pop against the colors you've chosen for the bodies/headstocks... well done!

[bhunt1]

The control plate design is really nice, it fits with the design of the bass and is more functional than the pickguard going all the way down to the controls and possibly splitting by the input jack. Plus offering it in polished or brushed is a good idea imo; that could change the look of the bass depending on which colors you have. The colors you have so far look great too, they really pop.

[Basshappi]

I think the plates will look better bright instead of brushed as IMO they should match the rest of the hardware.
Looking great Rod!

Are you planning on taking any of you '55's to the show this year?

I have heard that some other company is working to bring a Darkstar type pup to market I saw a post on it somewhere, TB I think. Also Thunderbuckers are, from all accounts, excellent tonal replicas of the '60's T-bird pups and with their chrome covers would have a nice visual impact with your chrome controlplate design. These might be a good avenue to get back the design and tonal esthetic you were going for in you original VRB Darkstar design.

Just some thoughts for 2012.

Hope you had a great holiday and wishing you much success in the coming year!

Cheers!
B

[Rodent]

taking a short breather from the 12+ hour days this week getting everything ready to load into the van on Monday afternoon ... working the details on the new model is slowing me down a bit, but it's going to be worth it

here's a peek at the lefty 5-string with its pickguard and shiny new control plate. I need to get 5-strings sets tomorrow and then I can nut this one and give it a final set-up



I have this one loaded with my vintage split-P ... but I'm thinking of loadin it with something a bit more special for NAMM. I'll have to see how my schedule goes the next two days

back out to the shop. it may be a bit before I surface again

all the best,

R

[fivebass52]

- that came out nice!

[Basshappi]

Agreed, that looks awesome!

[AzWhoFan]

yes, agreed!
Nice to know too that Rod surfaces for daylight on occasion.

[Addison]

What's the reasoning behind the backwards G string tuner?

[Rodent]

What's the reasoning behind the backwards G string tuner?

by design I use a non-reversed tuner on the G-string for several reasons

- ergonomics: it is more ergonomic on the wrist to tune than a non-reversed tuner would be because you are turning towards your body at a natural bend vs. away from your body with a forced pinching of the wrist

- position: locating the tuner in this position was a piece in eliminating the deadspot semi-common on a 5-string G-string at the 5th/7th frets

- cost: all tuners are of the same orientation, eliminating the need to purchase 4 of one and 1 of the other


a local pro who's toured with many big names, has his Masters from Berklee, and is a 1st-call session player called this tuner out as an annoyance the very first time he played one on the M-Series 5's ... and a week later he was bragging to me about how great of an idea it was to have the tuner like it is, and how it's a poor design of many other companies to use a reversed tuner. he suffers from wrist issues and notes that this tuner orientation helps to keep the inflamation from being triggered during a session, allowing him to play pain-free longer than his (other famous boutique name brands here) basses did. he has since sold those basses and is playing my basses pretty much exclusively (it will be exclusive when I get his fretless completed)


the non-reversed tuner is most definitely a concious decision and not some kind of accident or oversight. I've played several basses with this configuration since 2009 and would have it no other way. some day the rest of the industry will catch on and follow suit

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

this one is now set-up and ready to roll (minus its string retainer on the headstock) ...



it sounds just like a P should with a fresh set of D-Addario nickels. the .130" B-string is monsterously tight and snarly, and is definitely going to give the subs a workout

two more basses to nut and set-up tonight, and then it's time to have some switching customization fun with a couple of the M-Series™ basses. it's going to be another l-o-n-g night tonight

all the best,

R

[Addison]

by design I use a non-reversed tuner on the G-string for several reasons

- ergonomics: it is more ergonomic on the wrist to tune than a non-reversed tuner would be because you are turning towards your body at a natural bend vs. away from your body with a forced pinching of the wrist

Interesting theory... doesn't make much sense to me, though.

Don't you have to turn the tuner in both directions to tune? When I tune, whether I'm sharp or flat at the beginning, I'll detune about a 1/4 step below the target note, and then tune up to it from there. So I'm turning my tuner in both directions pretty much every time I tune.

Just to get a better idea, I grabbed my 35" scale 4+1 Lull M5V to experiment... I actually had a much easier time manipulating the G string tuner than I did the D... or the A, for that matter. The D is a long reach. And since it's on top of the headstock, I have to arc my wrist in a way that can makewrist movement a little uncomfortable.

However, I find the G string to be pretty easy to manipulate... it's several inches closer to me and I can hold it in a "palms up" manner that gives me a little better wrist movement. I have no problem turning the tuner in either direction at all.

If all my basses were built that way, I might be able to get used to it eventually, but... I think it would drive me insane otherwise. It's hard enough for me to try and remember which way to turn the vintage kluson-style tuners on my '64 CS jazz bass, let alone having to remember to turn one tuner the opposite way.

- position: locating the tuner in this position was a piece in eliminating the deadspot semi-common on a 5-string G-string at the 5th/7th frets

I'll have to take your word on this... I've never had a 5-string with any deadspot issues that were bad enough to worry too much about, if any of them have had any at all.

[Rodent]

Don't you have to turn the tuner in both directions to tune?

sure - but tuning up is where you exert the most force on your wrist. in a conventional tuner arrangement, that highest force point is also the tightest pinch point on your tendons - and that is poor ergonomics. pulling towards your body and opening your wrist is better ergonomics that pushing away while wrenching your wrist at a pinch point. this is why the vintage reverse tuners are not ergo friendly out at the D/G strings on an in-line style 4-string


the beauty of many bass brands is that some offer features that speak to some players and not others, right?

if someone was set on having the tuner located to accommodate a reversed tuner key, it could be done as a customized option. keep in mind that to do so could potentially sacrifice being able to position the string retainer such that all strings have an even break angle across the nut/zero-fret



all the best,

R