|
NEWS
Happy New Year! Things are progressing slowly but they are progressing. The first thing is in my own mental outlook - I'm
getting more optimistic everyday. God's blessings to all of you that have been there for Brian and myself.
Progress has been made on the shop upgrades as well. A downpayment has initiated the construction of the custom CNC router.
I'm excited and I'll need every bit of that energy since there isn't a place to put it yet. Gotta get on that.
I must express my gratitude to my current clients that have been so kind as to suspend their own needs and desires to
allow me time to recover from my immediate grief. I can assure that each of you will be rewarded in a special way.
A couple of months ago, I mentioned that HCB will be taking a leap forward and it's now about time to start making the
additions. I have made a verbal agreement to purchase a custom built 48" x 60" CNC router table. Additionally, I
am going to retool the shop with a generous helping of production quality floor standing machines. In short, I'm gaining the
rare ability to quickly and precisely execute my screw-ups in multiple units. What an opportunity!
I'm not going into "production" and I'm not starting a mill for instruments. Rather, the CNC will be used just
like a small router in building proto's and custom pieces. Of course, I'll be able to repeat them infinitely but it's the
accuracy that I'm utilizing. I want to make a better instrument - not a million of them.
I'm also pursuing the possibility of making my own hardware or having it made to my design by a local machinist. I've
been searching for awhile and I've finally found a suitable candidate to mesh with myself in the crazy world of my creation
process. God help him.
Also be on the lookout for some outstanding, photo quality, color renderings of, as yet unbuilt, instruments that I'm
working on. I've got to thank Scott Beavers from Beav's Graphics for the good work. A lot of the big boys like Lull, Stambaugh,
and Benevente use him for his talents so I thought I would too. I've had inquiries about the violin bodied bass and it needs
to be seen in full color to get the effect.
LIFE
One of my favorite sayings is "Life is what happens while you're making other plans" I think it's attributable to
John Lennon but I'm not sure. I've recalled it when things have gotten bad and I don't have control. It's provided me with
a little bit of humorous comfort and it's always eased the tension when my friends and I are discussing the changes in "Life"
And now, "Life" has slipped into my plans and mucked them up beyond all belief once again. I don't mind telling
you that I'm a little bit up-to-here with "Life" and I wouldn't mind a long break from it's nosiness. I HAD plans,
and I would like to have plans for my future again but where do I go from this point with half of my being ripped from my
soul? When I married, I did it completely and without reservation for the consequences - just like I was taught to do. And
yes, our vows flatly stated that our commitment was to be "until death does us part" But it's not a fair trade -
is a mind full of memories all that's left as my consolation for this devotion? I'm not mad at God, after all, he was the
one that gave me strength through this ordeal. He's my saviour and I'm striving to love him like he has directed me. No,
I'm pissing mad at "Life" and it's inevitable rough spots and, eventually, it's conclusions. I want more control
of my future but I would settle for having outside influences granted a little less control. But in the end, it comes right
back around to me and how I choose to live. I'll pick myself back up and carry it on a little further. I can't help it really
- it's what I do.
Things will be changing pretty drastically over the next 12 months regarding me and my building. I will have some new
freedoms and I might as well take advantage of them. To begin, I'm convinced that I must increase my productivity while still
growing in skill and quality. I don't want to be a mill or anything but if I intend to create a name for myself, it would
help to have more examples of my work out there. No offense to the judgement of my current clients', but I'm not yet convinced
that I build quality instruments. Last week I was in a room with over 50 different high quality, boutique instruments and
I was easily able to assess my skills in comparison to some of the best in the biz. I have a long way to go.
I'll be moving my shop from the remote location on the property where it is now, to the double garage attached to the
house. My thinking here is that it will promote more work and also increase the safety factor. That will be a monumental task
- one I'm not looking forward to but it's got to be done. The move does give me the opportunity to lay out some new shop features
and I will have much more room. It's really hard to install fixtures like dust collection over the existing tools. It's much
better to lay down all of that before putting stuff in and around it.
The last thing in my plans is something I won't discuss yet but it is going to be a major leap for HCB and will help immensely
in attaining the building goals I've set for myself. It's something that Deb and I had talked about a lot before her death
and she was totally supported the idea. When that change takes place, I will be offering some items for sale to help support
this site (and me!) Keep checking back for updates.
I would like to thank the Atlanta area brotherhood of bassists, especially my friends Dave Siff, Jason Schumacher, and
John Turner for all of their support during this awful time. You guys are the greatest. I also would like to thank the community
at TalkBass.com for the massive wave of prayer and good wishes. We felt it folks, and it was a very powerful force.
I'll just close with my plea that each of you tell the loved ones in your life what they mean to you. It doesn't take
long, but there's no time to waste.
BUILDING PHILOSOPHY
Subject to change in case of rapture, economic depression, holocaust, and/or personal mental health.
For years, from the time I was about 8 years old to now when I'm in my late 40's, I've loved cars. While I was partial to
the competition scene, I loved them all - street rods, antiques, concept cars, you name it. When I got old enough and had
the means to accomplish it, I even built and drove 2 of my own racecars in asphalt stock car competition. Though I'm well
out of that "phase" now, I'm still a gearhead at heart and probably always will be.
So what does a love for cars have to do with building bass guitars? Plenty if you choose to approach them that way. I
think of basses like I do cars - as both a tool and as mechanical art. They truly are beautiful objects. And like any car
guy, I look to get the best performance out of them by any means possible. When the small block Chevrolet engine was introduced,
it became the platform for millions of stroked out power plants used in fast cars everywhere. For me, that's the same as the
venerable Fender P's and J's - they're platforms around which can be built, sturdy, great playing instruments. Nobody can
argue the place in history these two basses hold and it's with reverence to the breed that I approach their alteration. My
own designs have been strongly grounded in more traditional styles and, that's the tie I keep with my love for these shapes.
When one is designing a car for competition, the first rule of fabrication is make it light! Light cars are accelerate
quicker , handle better, and are easier on the driver. Well, I build light. When I built HCB #003, the walnut/ash Jazz bass
as a personal instrument, I wanted to make something that set it aside from the rest I'd seen. I also wanted to alter my path
from my first bass, a 12 lb. slab of maple that has tone for days - about the same time your shoulder loosens up! The chambered
idea came from this. Now,of course, it's nothing new and there are guy's that take the chambered thing to incredible degrees
of sophistication but I just wanted to shed some weight from the walnut body. I didn't do much research and just used my
design background to make some logical decisions about the shape and methods to accomplish the task. It's an evolving process
that continues even now.
I love to incorporate non-traditional materials in my instruments. I don't claim they have never been used, it's just
that you're more likely to see them used other places than musical instruments. Right now, I'm into phenolic and Corian® but
I use many other natural materials, engineered polymers, and metals. My imagination provides me with the look and I use it
again to wrangle with the materials. Details also fascinate me and I enjoy tucking them into spare corners of a design. It
makes the instrument a more personal object and the use of simple materials adds to this.
When I start a build, I have an "outline" in my mind of the instrument I want to create. Usually this only covers
the body woods and general construction. As I begin to get into the project, things usually change as begin to see how the
various ideas are working together - or not. I'll make small additions, alterations, and deletions until the finished product
is what I'm looking for. The bass I start usually isn't the bass I finish - but that's a good thing because those alterations
are driven by additional contemplation and reaction to things I learn about my client's during the build. In the end, I think
this makes a better fitting instrument for the player.
That about covers where I'm coming from except to say if I wasn't doing what I'm doing now, one of the things I would
probably be is a teacher. Yep, those that can do and those that can't teach! I've been told that I'm good at the teaching
part so here's to hoping that something I'm doing here will be of help in your own exploration of bass building.
|
