My first Warmoth bass is a Gecko...

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BassManiac

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Hello ,

I am new on the forum. I am a French, bass player since many years, but coming back to serious practice/learn  since one year now after a long period of silence. I am also an  electronician but this is another story ...

A  friend advised me to look at Warmoth as i wanted to replace my tired bass guitars ( a Tune and a true relic Gibson Grabber with the mobile mic  )  and to  move to a  5 strings. Something  +/- diy too . He told me that i will not be deceived by Warmoth quality/price /services.  So i went to the site, i have found the Gecko and i couldn't remove it of my head for many monthes, the time it took me to spare the money to get one !

Early this week i have received the neck, and i must say my friend was right! I am really amazed by the  wood and work quality of the neck :icon_smile: Each time i touch it , i do not believe it !  It is a Wenge back with Pau Fero fingerboard,  stainless steel frettes and a black nut. It look super fast and very comfortable !

I have not yet received the body+ small parts  package but it is a Black Korina body... In fact i was very surprised  that the post office girl bring me only one package the other day...I have made the 'mistake '  to choose  the USPS shipping  to save a few $$$ :confused4: After an email to Warmoth they kindly confirmed me that the body package is on the way but will arrive at a different speed  :icon_scratch:  Now i pratice a hard game named ' patience ' !  Well, i hope the body  will arrive quite soon. It is hard to have a neck like this in hands but nothing to complete it ! I will post more pictures here when the second package will be delivered.

A big  thank you  to all  forum users, i have learned a lot by reading your posts  :icon_thumright:


Thanks,

Marc
 
Not a fan of the frets, but that's an incredible piece of Pau Ferro! I love the color!  :icon_thumright:

Was that a standard grade piece? I haven't seen a Pau Ferro board with that much figuring in a long time. It's even nicer than the unique choice gallery board on my Jazz bass.

How 'bout some shots of the backside? :blob7:
 
Nice wood!  It looks almost identical to a Gecko neck that I sold last year.  That's a beautiful fretboard.

And yes, Pau Ferro can have that much figuring.  Mine was just about like that one.  In fact it may have come from the same tree!
 
Was that a standard grade piece? I haven't seen a Pau Ferro board with that much figuring in a long time. It's even nicer than the unique choice gallery board on my Jazz bass.
Click to expand...

Yes a standard grade piece, no special order here. I have used the online neck builder . Unique choice is not available for Gecko neck fingerboards, at least on my browser.  May be it is because of the Gecko inlay ?  And to phone call in english for a special order is something perfectly unobvious to me , so i have send my order online the most simple way .

Here are pictures of the back side. :icon_smile: 
 
That's a lovely piece of wood, but I think this whole thing is a horrible idea. Once you've got a Gecko, you'll probably end up with ten of them like Tubby. Wouldn't that be awful, having to wake up each morning and decide, Hey, which Gecko am I going to play today? I couldn't risk it.
 
BassManiac said:
Yes a standard grade piece, no special order here.
Click to expand...

You got a damn fine standard grade piece then!

BassManiac said:
I have used the online neck builder . Unique choice is not available for Gecko neck fingerboards, at least on my browser.  May be it is because of the Gecko inlay ?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how the inlay would have anything to do with it?

AFAIK, it's an issue of size.
Most of the pieces in the gallery are only wide enough to make a guitar or four string bass board with.
 
to knucklehead G
Wouldn't that be awful, having to wake up each morning and decide, Hey, which Gecko am I going to play today?
Click to expand...

lol :)  I will live quite well with this kind of idea if i could afford them all ! Say a different one for each day of the week will be fine, plus one for exceptional events  :glasses9:
...but you are right , this bass have a evil addictive power, and it is even worse since i have received this neck  :evil4:  I am dreaming of another one, a fretless,  to finish to replace my two 4 strings. Anyway i think i will have to practice with the 5th string before to order the next one , and  to spare $$$ again (sic)  ...

to tubby twins
In fact it may have come from the same tree!
Click to expand...
may be it was a huge tree ?
 
Beautiful neck. I can't wait to see the body. Make sure you keep us updated during your project. I'd love to see the finished product.
 
My spontaneous reaction was "great pau ferro" - and clearly I'm not alone! Welcome and congrats on a lovely neck :icon_thumright:
 
baskruit said:
Personally I prefer the darker samples of PF but a great neck nonetheless.
Click to expand...

Meh, dark pieces usually look too much like Rosewood. The lighter pieces are so much better looking to me.
(But to be fair, I've always preferred lighter fingerboard woods to darker, regardless of wood.)
 
Thank you for your warm welcome  :eek:ccasion14:

The body was delivered today...
To open the package was a big time of emotion !  

It is a standard Black Korina body with no finish. Once again the result is far beyond my hopes !  Congrats  to the Warmoth team on all the line    :icon_thumright:


Here are some pictures taken under various lightings/angles ..


 
wow!!
the body in the last picture looks like it is a completely diffeent color than the first 3 pics

how will you finish it?
 
the body in the last picture looks like it is a completely diffeent color than the first 3 pics
Click to expand...

For the last picture i have used the flash and i was close of the body ... My digital camera is an old funky thing  :tard:
Other pictures are under daylight .Sorry for the blurred pixels ...

Tru oil or french polish, not yet decided . I think that it could be good to keep the body color quite clear. I am open to all suggestions .

Before you ask, the electronic will be a homemade design. It is a part of my day job to design electronics.  Check my website too...
And here are how pickups look like actualy . In the worst case if i am unsatisfied by my results i will purchase a commercial pickup set somewhere ...  
 
Tru Oil look great on BK, but seems like can be used as french polish:
http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=251.0
 
BassManiac said:
To open the package was a big time of emotion !  
It is a standard Black Korina body with no finish. Once again the result is far beyond my hopes !  Congrats  to the Warmoth team on all the line    :icon_thumright:
Click to expand...

I know that feeling all too well!  It is addictive.

That is a beautiful body, and it looks great with the neck.  Definitely keep us posted on this bass.  I'd be curious to see what you make for pickups.
 
About pickups they will be P2 shape to fit body holes ...I have enough 125 alnicos mgnets  and approx 18km  of 42agw wire . So i think i can wire at least 10  pickups  with 10 plots ... May be more if i do not put too much wire ... I plan to  try many diffrents wirings ( single , dual humbuckers )  compare and choose to keep only the best sounding ones...

At this time i have drawn 3 kind of magnets 'sockets' : two of them are Nordstrand  copies  with 10 and 20 magnets,  the last one look like a Jazz Bass pickup with an alignment of two plots per string. I will cut them into various materials  ( balsa wood, acrylic, some black plastics...)  with a cnc or a laser...  I must build the winding machine with the counter too !  Today i have collected  super thin sanding papers for the body finish, and prepeared a small  bottle of shellac for the first layer..

Well a lot of things to do, but it is a true pleasure do it  :icon_smile:
I will pleased keep you posted about this project , but on the 'work in progress'  category...

 
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