G'day from Wollongong, NSW!
I've been playing bass since, well, 45 years ago! My first bass was an Aria solid-body violin bass which, alas, was stolen from its storage room a few years later, never to be seen again. Practically all my musical life has been spent playing church worship music. I spent quite a while playing an Ibanez Musician, until I acquired an Ashton 5 string AB-1505 nearly 20 years ago. 5 strings is all I've played since. Then in 2014 I got a Godin A5 Ultra SA & got it defretted (by a luthier), as I was more comfortable for my first fretless to be lined. It's about all I've played the last 8 years! Except for the Aria, I still own the rest of the crew :-)
My unexpected journey began last week, Easter Monday 18/4, when my brother Vic rocked up with a Pit Bull HB-4 kit under his arm. My lockdown 60th last Aug was necessarily uneventful, until my 3 older brothers conspired to get me this HB-4 (#136), reputedly as a long overdue replacement for my long gone first axe! Happy Birthday indeed!!
Needless to say, I've not planned this build nor had much of a chance to get my head around what it all entails. Expecting a long, slow ride as I explore the possibilities and build up a picture of what might lie ahead.
Thanks for joining in & hopefully for all the guidance I'll be needing along the way!
Cheers, Peter.
PS. A previous build project was a fEARful 15/6/1-tube (with True 3-way crossover) that I completed back in 2016.
PPS. I've stumbled upon a likely name for this unexpected build - stay tuned for The Hobbit build thread.
PPPS. A few ideas that have been thrashing around in my mind (no particular order):
- Would love to do some sort of sunburst finish on the flame maple top
- Standard bridge came with the kit I received. Is there a piezo bridge option available?
- (query re- scale length removed - obviously neck dictates the answer, 30" it is!)
- I've read that adding a 5th string to a hollow-body violin bass of the HB-4 style will place undue stress on the body due to added tension. Even so, for the HB-4 is there a 5-string tailpiece option (thinking Steinberger Narrow-5 style, at least as regards width)? And obviously space for a 5th machine head also presents a problem, but I think it can be done.
- Is it possible to obtain a piece of flame maple veneer (min 165x85mm would suffice) in the same thickness as the body veneer? It could be glued to the head for matching the body sunburst.
Just exploring possibilities for this unexpected journey that landed on my doorstep
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Originally Posted by dave.king1
