Marc's "Simple" Bass

[bassman10096]

Wow Marc.  These folks continue to exceed anybody's expectations, don't they?  Glad this bass is getting to be what you dreamed of (better?)!!  I can't wait to see what this looks like in the flesh.  Sounds VERY cool!
 
Bill

[David Houck]

Very interesting idea; can't wait to see it!

[marcm]

here's a look at the working sketches for the new top  

 

 

[mica]

Hey Marc,
 
There was another little funny idea Mike had while laying out the electronics.  
 

 
This is looking up from the bottom, with the Mahogany spines sort of gently carved. He's still finishing up the control layout, will post as soon as it's available.  

[mica]

Mike was taken by the look of the blackened out area on the second drawing. At first he did the sketch with a normal 3/4 roundover on the top and the back, but he liked the sharp look of the shape with a very small, maybe 1/4 roundover on the top only. You can see this in the sketch. Anyway, some more food for thought until the layot is ready.

[palembic]

For one or another reason the bridge looks to me as a tiny red spot with a white cross in a rectangular square reading Suspension bridge.
IOW: I can't see a picture!!!!
 
 
PTBO

[marcm]

hi mica
 
i think the 'suspension bridge' is incredibly cool.  let's do it!  i like the 'sharp' 1/4-roundover look too
 
so, with mike's idea, would there be no half-elbow contour?
 
paul, i'm emailing you the 'suspension bridge' image right now
 
 
marc

[mica]

Yeah, we'd have to get rid of the gentle elbow shaping to keep the crisp look. We'll keep the tummy contour on the back though. I'm pretty sure his example has some vertical exaggeration to make the point.
 
I'll let Mike know when he arrives that his idea will be reality. He was so excited about the sharp shape and the top carving, I know it will make his day that you'll be going for it.

[marcm]

hi mica
 
as captain picard used to say, make it so!
 
please thank mike for his brilliant idea.  the pinstripe ridge will also serve as a place to rest my wrist or the heel of my hand, a nice amenity for a flatpick player like myself
 
i'm thinking that with the new shaping we might be better off with a single mahogany pinstripe rather than the mahogany-ebony-mahogany triplet that we discussed.  what do you think?
 
 
best regards
 
 
marc

[palembic]

Brother and Sisters,
 
after some E-mailing back and forward between me and Brother Marc the-not-so-simple-one-anymore he asked me to launch this idea.
Maybe it would be great to make the upgoing slope of the hangbridge (sorry ...I still see that red dot with the white cross ...thanks for sending me the picture directly Marc) in such a way that it can be used as longitudinal thumbrest. So the slope a little steeper???
 
Paul the bad one

[marcm]

now that mica and i have locked up the specification, here's a list of the features
 
custom 4-string
32-scale
mahogany neck
ebony neck laminates, center laminate thicker
blue side LEDs with toggle switch
mahogany body, 3/4-roundover, tummy contour
three-piece ebony top with mahogany pinstripes at joints, 1/4-roundover
mike's 'suspension-bridge' top contour, small scallop contour above each control knob
EvH baby-bass shape, scaled to small-standard size
fatboy pickups, no script
20th anniversary electronics with master volume, 3-position Q switches, sidemounted jack
'linear' control layout, with p/u selector on lower horn
knobs by roger @ thg
2R continuous-wood truss rod cover, pickup to touch
black recessed straplocks
black hipshot ultralite HB6Y tuners
blackened brass hardware, black screws where possible
blackened logo, no script
heavy bridge block
'big bird' tailpiece, recessed into body
concealed-hardware curved-rail bridge
continuous-wood backplates, nearest-neighbor
crown peghead, ebony veneers
ebony fingerboard, 1.75 x 2.25, low-profile mandolin frets
OM inlay at 12th fret, black tahitian m.o.p., blue LED for dot at top
tai-ji inlay, black & white m.o.p., on pickup-selector backplate
string with thomastik jf324  43-56-70-100
hardshell case
 
i guess it turned out to be a 'not-so-simple' bass, as paul suggested a while back
 
but it is all that my fancy paints as fair
 
 
marc
 
(Message edited by marcm on April 18, 2004)

[palembic]

Ommygood!
I'm falling in love ...again.
Why am I torturing myself so much by visiting this club. Now I'm already blast away BEFORE the thing is even made.
***sigh***  
 
PTBO

[marcm]

hi mica
 
here's a blatant example of idea theft:  inspired by the supercool omega cut on valentino's peghead, i wonder if it would be possible for my peghead to have a mini-baby's-butt carving at the top?  do you think that it would look good, or is this an idea that should be forgotten?
 
also, please let me know if you got my voicemail about the roger and the knobs
 
 
best regards
 
 
marc

[mica]

Hi Marc,
 
I can save the wood for Roger, but since we're using black Ebony, I'm not sure it's critical to get a match.  
 
Mike's still hammering out the controls. First hurdle was the special stereo jack, but we've got that licked. I think I'll be posting a layout a little later on today.  
 
I'm not excited about the peghead change, but I'll rough something out and see if it's my prejudice about the Crown peghead shape being perfect on this bass.

[mica]

Got some progress on these controls. What a beast! Here's the general idea, reinforcing the linear aspects of the design:

 My dad suggested placing them close enough to the "rails" that we'd carve a small scallop around each knob, nothing super obvious, but one of those things you notice later and say, "whoa!" The only problem so far, is I'm finding it difficult to put the master volume anywhere.  Some ideas for the functions:

 This one puts the volume controls in one group and the filter controls in another.  

 Here we've grouped the functions by pickup. I'm not sure which way will make more sense to you, so you'll have to tell me.  

 One idea for the master volume on the lower horn, and moving the pickup selector to the other side of the rail.   Don't worry about the backplate, that will be adjusted. If you like the pickup selector or master volume on the lower horn we'd add a small circular backplate for the access to it. I was thinking about putting the original inlay on the switch backplate. A white and black mother of pearl yin yang just for you on the back.    We're waiting for the sample of the long frame jack in stereo version. The jack in your bass will actually be a bit larger.