g.

I'm gonna have to photocop this neck when the strings are off. When I shoot it from any angle right now, I get too much mirroring - multiple images of the strings' reflections.

I just moved this from another thread: Hey, I had forgotten to reply here and talking to Willie on the phone last night the subject of epoxy came up and it reminded me. A lot of people think "a glassier sound" when they see a coated 'board, but I think that's only one possibility. The thing is with fretless, that the way you press in and use your stopping fingers determines really how wide a range of tones and envelopes you can achieve. And the feel of that beneath the fingers also has some subtle influence on the way you think of it AS you play, I suppose. Anyway, the rwange of sounds is a little more sustained perhaps, when considering not only the fundamental, but the overtones. It's just a little more lively. Though realize that I come from ebony which I think is superior for a bare 'board. I like the somewhat expanded - or shifted anyway - range of tones available, don't feel I've lost anything and have gained in an area I consider useful. So when my war horse of a Carvin needs a 'board leveling (could be any day now - its got gazillion of hours and a fair amount of roundwound use), I'll have my friendly local luthier (actually have found a few but this guy is great) use the same epoxy, which I think is a fantastic product because of its flexibility. I've seen epoxy on other necks, with split marks and chips, along the edges and from truss rod or expansion/shrinkage changes, so the flexibility this stuff has I think is a real asset.

A lot of working stiffs are in the same boat. Single moms too. I'd like to think I came into a smidgeon of maturity when I realized that "artists" aren't any different as a breed as many other people who have had dreams and goals and sometimes come into hard contact with the walls of cold reality. Rocket, just be assured you are not the only one currently "weighing your employment options" and thinkin' dark thought 'bout The Man ; } Keep the chin up!

I saw two pieces of highly-figured mahogany last night, freshly sawn from a tree in Brazil. Incredible! But the cost was $800. They are going into an acoustic guitar. Shame. Much of their thickness will become wood dust.

'Course, I didn't bother to get the photos last night. Maybe that's part of the Thor price* ; }... I s'pose I should take some and get a new scanner - or get a digital camera. But my bass has a few other things to happen yet... * I can almost hear your freakin' when you discover that your ABG looks BETTER than the photos : }

I came in cheaper, even with it being a Six, and with the cost of my hoity-toity, made-with-pure-wood-resins epoxy, and maple strips for the lines. I just got through tastelessly playing on the low B and the high C strings. Wow, this B is killin' - now I'm thinking bad thoughts like low F#. My V-Bass will give my upward register extension anyway...

We finally connected today. Got my baby back. The maple lines look good as they should; the nut is nicer; the 6 luscious layers of epoxy make what was once just another piece of rosewood (a wood which I've always been pretty blah about visually) look very much more dramatic in grain and color contrasts - and the glossy sheen is like the Thor pics of Rosewood jobs. Topnotch! Now the important stuff: sounds like it sustains forever, is very sensitive to nuance, plays with very low action and seems destined to last almost forever. Much thicker - and thicker looking - than what you'd find on a polycoated Pedulla. I'll brag about how it looks and sounds more. After I look at it and play it more : }}}}

I was supposed to pick it up a couple days ago but something came up. I'm waiting to hear back from him, hopefully soon today...

Same as above, Wraub. I'm assuming it's a coat every so often, and until I get impatient, I'm not bugging Casey or driving way way out there. The reports were very good on the first coat. The snowing and freeze/thaw/freeze is too extreme to want to run around much outside the more traveled areas and see the beauty getting deeper. I'll update when I can : }

Extremely slow cure times due to the holidays ; } Seriously though: it does cure slow, and as a result perhaps, this Rot Doctor stuff self-levels incredibly smoothly and glossy, and it should end up being very nice. Now I wish I would have black-stained the rosewood first, but ... ; }

Good point on the mojo. I was thinking I might not mind another mojo for awhile, but actually the current mojo is pretty damn mojo. The balance is also pretty amazing considering it's a dual truss rod 6 string. No neck dive even on a silk shirt, I suspect. Since I never played this bass at gigs because of them doshgarn frets I never got around to putting two strap buttons on the bottom like I did with my other one. Not only did the upper bout one get the neck pointing a little upward but the lower bout one provides strain relief for the output cable. The two together let it sit on the carpet without a stand and not tip over when leaned against something. Though I almost always use a stand ; }

Ben, That body thing is still non-decided. Casey was mulling it over too. But if I wanted to extend the horn it would solve the problem of a visible joint where the extension joined the area where we would cut across the existing horn. Perfect grain matching, haha! I didn't want to fool around with either of my basses because I'm more than satisfied with their tone, sustain, and playability. In the case of the Ibanez I think it's largely due to the quality of the neck, so I don't mind the idea of a new top on the body. But I do mind the idea of all the work depending on my patience ; } Tom, The top could actually go either way, with recessed bridge and less pickup showing. There would be no need to lift the neck higher in the pocket. But it would make for a heavier bass. The method I originally envisoned was to take 1/8" off the existing top, and Caey is weighing whether that, or making a new body would be more cost effective. I am wondering if/when Casey Kent will think he needs a website. He seems to get work : }

Awriighty. Drove even further out into the country than I live and met my luthier f2f for the first time, and saw his shop and some of his projects, repairs in progress, some wood samples, tools and forms, finished work, and photos of instruments he had built. Had one hella nice acoustic guitar that was just about to be sold for $2800, beautiful woods, purfling, inlay, all clean in detail and execution. A cool hollow body electric body sitting partially built too, somewhat reminiscient of an f-hole Tellie but with a flowing hole on each bout. Very nice flow, could imagine a nice guitar built around it with absolutely no stretch of the mind's eye. So I felt in good hands. Then we opened my bass case, talked about the defretting and the lines, the markers, etc - and producing a test strip to get a handle on working the epoxy to best advantage. Talked about capping the Ibanez body with various figured and semi-figured woods, what contour I wanted up near the "arm rest", and possibly extending the horn. The bass alrady balances pretty well but I wouldn't mind having it sit at closer to a 45 degree angle when totally unsupported with strap on a slick shirt. As we discussed how that could be done, it became clearer (I think I already knew this) that perhaps it would be easier to build a new body entirely, and cap that. So I'm going to research shapes, and electronics layout so I can have my current magnetics, the Graph Tech piezos, and the Graph Tech Ghost preamp and 13-pin Roland stuff all sitting in good placement while the test strip and then the neck job gets accomplished. A good time, and a fair amount to think about : }

Soon, off I go to my new luthier friend with two one-pint containers of what will blend to a fine wood-resin-based epoxy, and my soon-to-be-former-Ibanez, to discuss and get to work. That's right! - UPS showed last night {poor guys are running very long workdays - thanks Santa, you equal opportunity employer ; } ... the good are here complete with copious intructions, tips, specs, and guarantees (great company, RotDoctor!). I'm mildy excited. : | ... and bass is mildly low ; }

It's only getting worse, Willy. After looking at Jimmy Haslip's green 6-string MTD in an old Bass Frontiers magazine {nice deep avacodo shade - got to make me some mex food! ; } ... well, I started looking at spalt tops. Yum again: texture and detail galore! Now: if I could only grow all those extra Hindu appendages Jimi was sportin' - I'd be playing purp AND green simultaneously. Bold as love, baybeeeeeeee! ; } Great lyrics there : }