I have been playing the bass since 1977 and mostly play jazz these days. I also
play guitar, drums, and arrange/produce music. I have played in the US, Singapore,
UK and NZ.
I build basses not because it was difficult to get what I wanted in the old days or
these days, but because I enjoy building or making things. I built my first mixing
board in 1981, and have been dabbling with various circuits for stomp boxes, OB electronics
for basses & guitars, and amps. I have built amps but have usually found something
commercially better. I have used for years my own tube preamp for guitar until the
Marshall JMP1 came out I retired it.
My main bass is a headless with a spalted maple top and alembic pickups, the neck is
Carbon-Graphite. I looked into making my own graphite necks and maybe one day I might.
Sounds cleaner now I have the Alembic AXY pickups instead of the Alembic Fatboys. (I
am planning a fretless version of this and have the body made, and will make a laminate
neck for the fretless, the Fatboys are better for a fretless bass I think)??My next
most used bass is a Fly copy I made. The neck is maple not graphite. I like this for
fingerstyle and am going to start another one like it but fretless. The single Alembic
J pickup is great, and I use a preamp of my own design.
The most versatile one in the studio is my Telecaster bass. ??This all started as my
first bass was a Hofner violin, but it was a version with the active circuit (3 POSITION
BASS BOOST)...I took that out and built several different preamps for that bass. I
still have it though now it is fretless and it has a piezo pickup. I'd like to set
up a lefty only Luther service maybe from next summer. I don't see the point of building
RH instruments and there are enough custom luthiers who would make a RH instrument.
I might start to commercialise my 3 way cab designs as well. The cab I use is a 3-way
design, which after many designs has stabilised into something I am happy with. I am
presently experimenting with 2 X 12 and 1 X 15 bandpass sub woofer designs under these
3 way cabs (working at sub 150Hz) and the results are very good.
I used to own and run a fully commercial recording studio and produced TV music, Bands
and all that but now I have a full time career in something else, so music has reverted
to a commercial hobby. ??Anyway, if any one wants to chat about lefty bass or get a
copy of the cab design (jpeg), or other cab and bass designs??
email me at :
ovid@rdqa.com
AI Clarus, GKMBX112, Dayton tweeter - total weight 17.5 pounds maximum |