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
See the business listing for this bass builder here It’s safe to say that this is one of the best “travel basses” we’ve ever seen! 🙂 Builder David Remy writes: This Bass was built for Griff H. he contacted me by email and wanted a bass that he can travel with. So the Birth of … 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
See Michael Pope’s business listing here This is a continuation of the interview from part 1. Is there a relationship between the MPP preamps and the new Trickfish Bullhead 1K? Yes. Richard Ruse, the owner of Trickfish and conceiver of the Bullhead 1K approached me sometime back about integrating the MPP-1 plus a few refinements … Read more
See Michael Pope’s business listing here Michael Pope is one of the rare breeds in the industry that is not only the designer of one of the best preamps you can buy, but also a great player as well. You’ve played with lots of pretty well known musicians since the mid ’90s… Chick Corea, David … Read more
For those of you out there who aren’t builders but rather modders (or just a player that likes to tinker with instruments,) one bass instrument that can be had for well south of 500 USD (and even into the sub-400s) is the Peavey Millennium Bass. While true that it is tough to beat Squier when … Read more
See the business listing for this bass builder here This week’s feature bass has a fingerboard with a contrasting wood species for the octave frets. Builder Ben Bartlett writes: I built this bass for someone who bought one of my last basses. It has an ebony fretboard with American holly on the 12th and 24th … Read more
The fret wire used here was nickel/silver. It was of the narrow/tall style like a banjo or Martin guitar. Height is .040 tall and .080 wide. Neck prep The fingerboard has been radiused and is flat at this point. All fret slots are deep enough to accept the tang of the fret wire chosen. The … Read more
Dear Prudence is a song recorded in August 1968 and released that same year in November. The late 1960s was a time of experimentation not only in music style but also in the way it was recorded. This song in particular has a bass track that sticks out in a good way. Slow, smooth and … Read more
