Bass Page

Well on a more informal note, here's my page devoted to bass. I currently have a Peavey international series Dynabass 5 string, an OLP MM4 which I'm currently modifying and I've a Spector on the way (It's just a cheaper model-Had I known more about them I might have saved for a more expensive model!). Ampwise I've a Peavey MKIII and a Hartke HA3500 and Cabwise I've a Peavey 410TX.
 
Peavey Bass
Here's the Peavey blurb from the peavey.co.uk site for you US guys:

Dynabass Bass Specifications Bolt-on maple neck with 24-fret rosewood fingerboard. Hardwood body with quilted maple top on the 5-string. Neck heel area shaped for easy access and playing comfort. 2 x VFL passive humbuckers with individual tone and volume control for each pickup. Heavy duty multi-adjustable bridge with string-through body.

I traded in an old Aria Pro II wood finish bass for the Peavey. While the Aria had a nice neck and was quite playable, the pickups were weak and prone to RFI. I didn't like the bass enough to justify buying new pickups and adding better shielding. I'll also confess here that there was a little brand jealousy about other basses. Most Aria's around here are still considered to be inferior instruments and just a beginners bass. They do have some excellent instruments- just not my old one!
 
 
OLP Bass
I bought the OLP MM4 before I traded in the Aria though (the pic is just for show-mine was black). For the money IR£300 (€380~$400 here- I know Musicians Friend is cheaper in the States) it's a great bass. It sounds good, plays well and with a little setup performed beautifully.
My only fault at the start was a slight buzz from the electrics. I put silver tape on the inside which solved this (you can see this in the pics below). However it did bring up the major gripe I have with the bass. The screws on the plate wouldn't bite, so the plate was lifting. I feared the body was made from MDF or something! After a while with this I decided I was bored with the black laquer finish so I decided to look into a new finish and find out about the body.
 
Modifications. Luckily I have a mate who's luthier that I used to do some electronics for. He had some bubinga (a pinky-brown wood) spare that was just enough for a new top for the OLP (among other woods-purple heart, ebony, loads of different maples (bird's eye, flames, quilted)- think of it he has some).
I got a crash course in sanding-everything is about sanding! I sanded off all the black laquer and we found that the body was made from Lime -not Ash as advertised, which is so soft that pushing your nail into leaves a mark. Next I sanded them bubinga to 6.5 mm thickness and then shaved the same off the body of bass. We then sanded the bubinga flat and shaved the edges so the sides joined up evenly. Then out came the glue and the clamps for an overnight sit.
With the glue set I the went to the bandsaw and cut off the excess wood to get as close to the original body shape on the bubinga. I did manage to nick the body in places D'OH! So back to sanding to remove the nicks and brings the two woods into similar shape. Now if you notice the OLP's top you'll see it isn't flat, it curves away gently as you go up the body. This meant there was a gap between the new top and the old top. So more sawing- by hand this time. To remove the rough edges from sawinf I rasped both woods until the were nearly the same shape and angle, then using a palm sander I shaped them in to a wave as in the top left of the image below.
The front still needed to be sanded because of trenches from the thicknessing machine.... So guess what came next?... Yep more sanding.
Here's a quick look with the body with all the bits just resting on it (just to give me an idea of how it might look finished). There's still loads of sanding to be done!
Here's a top view (with flash this time). After this I painted on a sanding sealer to give some life to the bass. It's a lot darker now than before and the colours come out beautifully. Even the grain in the lime looks good. Then it was back to more sanding and finally varnishing. I'm currently 3 coats on with between 2 and 4 more to go (and sanding too!). More on this later!
 
Spector Bass
Here's the pic that made me buy... More details when I get the Bass!!!!
 
Amps Just a quick Amp pic for now!