Seattle, WA area

[SkuttleFunk]

I remember those curly cables ... pulled over my Sunn Concert head and a 215 cab at practice one afternoon in the early 80's

reasonably decent sounding rig with the '75 Jet-glo 4001 Ric I was playing at the time. Sounded better with the '76 Autumn-glo Ric I got just before replacing the Sunn with a Yamaha combo (sounded good in the practice room, farted in a live setting) which was quickly replaced with one of the first D-180 + 215 RoadReady units to leave the Mesa shop.

some gear you miss, and other served its purpose and you move on. was really reminiscing about the Rics a couple years back, and then played a friends '74 4001 ... within about 30 seconds I lost all of my yearnings. great bass, set up perfectly, had the classic Ric growl ... just not where I am as a player these days

I played the Mesa rig for years, thru an unending number of different basses, and across many state lines. My ears miss the Mesa rig, but my back thanks me for trading out rack gear in the early 90's. these days I travel light with a bass and a Raven Labs MBD-1, only carry a amp/cab to a gig if I suspect the backline isn't provided

 

[SkuttleFunk]

more fretboard goodness in the works, in this case 4 sets of Pearloid blocks freshly cut on the CNC and headed for a batch of 5-string necks. one set gets installed in a roasted Pau Ferro fretboard, two sets into flatsawn Maple, and one set is still TBD

 

[Cagey]

Nice! Is it just me, or are those kinda thick?

 

[bagman67]

Seems to me you start with a lot of material so when you radius the fingerboards you don't run out of inlay when you get down to the right curve.  Just a guess - I'm sure Skuttlefunk knows what he's doing way better than I do.

 

[Cagey]

I considered that, but those pieces look like the result of a well-executed vanilla fudge recipe that's just been cut up for service at Christmas. But, it is as you say - I'm sure Skuttlefunk knows what he's doing way better than I do.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

they are indeed thicker than what you would be working with when using a natural shell material, but .188" thick isn't necessarily a bad thing when you consider the workflow:

- CNC the somewhat material into tight dimensional pieces; the extra thickness ensures all of the chip out is in the portion that will be sanded off in a later step

- CNC the inlay cavities into the fretboard, ensuring a fit within a few thou of an inch

- epoxy the inlays into the fretboard

- after curing, level the inlays (pre-radiused fretboard) or radius the fretboard (flat fretboard)

- detail sand the fretboard to ensure all scratches are cleared from the inlay prior to installing frets


it took me a bit of trial/error to come up with the right mill at the right feed/speed/depth/direction/ and cut pattern so that chip out was minimized. it also took several test pieces to determine what cavity size works best in which fretboard woods. great thing when utilizing a CNC is that a .022"D end mill can be used to detail the fretboard cavity, leaving very little hand work when squaring up the corners


since I will be offering blocks on 4/5/6/7-string bass necks, I need to utilize something other than natural shell to accommodate even a relatively flat 20"R on the 6/7-string necks and avoid risking sanding thru the inlay material on the sides.

a second benefit is that I'll have no CITES issues for instruments shipped internationally

 

[SkuttleFunk]

I considered that, but those pieces look like the result of a well-executed vanilla fudge recipe that's just been cut up for service at Christmas. But, it is as you say - I'm sure Skuttlefunk knows what he's doing way better than I do.

the image is of the top side that will be sanded away. critical is that the bottom side and at least .09" of thickness be chip out free, as this is roughly what remains after all of the construction steps are completed

there's also a good amount of machining debris stuck to the tape holding the sheet stock in place. I'll post an image of the cleaned up blocks when I get the chance

 

[SkuttleFunk]

should also make note that by cutting my own inlays, I not have the ability to utilize non-standard sizes. this is definitely a plus for wider 5/6/7-string bass necks where that standard J4 sized blocks look terribly lost at sea on a larger fretboard

I use a similar workflow approach when working with wood (both 'stabilized' and natural, depending on wood selection) inlays

 

[SkuttleFunk]

test fitting the Pearloid inlay blocks in a maple/Maple 5-string neck

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Hey bro, I just saw the video that one of my co-workers (Paul) did for you.
Looks great, just wanted to give you a shout out!

 

[SkuttleFunk]

Hey bro, I just saw the video that one of my co-workers (Paul) did for you.
Looks great, just wanted to give you a shout out!

Thanks! All of the guys in the video are artist endorsers who were eager to show off their creepy side

Here's a link to the video that should be viewable even without a FB account:
https://www.facebook.com/HoneyBadgerPickups/videos/766546383489562/

For anybody attending NAMM this year, I'll be manning the Regenerate booth in our new Hall D (upstairs) location. Stop by and say hi, and share some of your favorite pickup lines

 

[SkuttleFunk]

created a nice audio utilizing a brand new Affinity PJ 4-string

- record utilizing the stock pickups

- swap out for a set of Honey Badger PJ modern wind set, then record again utilizing the identical signal chain


you can hear it for yourself here: https://soundcloud.com/honeybadgerpickups/honey-badger-replacement-pickups


similar to the PJsplit set here, but with a single-coil J: http://honeybadgerpickups.com/pj-split-coil-set

should be available on the website within the next couple of days

 

[SkuttleFunk]

... and just like that, Winter NAMM 2016 is a memory celebrating months of hard work that bore fruit in an incredible number of new opportunities. if even 15% of the handshakes solidify into reality, 2016 is going to be an incredibly busy year for both the bass and pickup brands

 

[SkuttleFunk]

bass pickups continue to fly out the door to individuals, other builders, and now even online retailers

 

[DangerousR6]

Nice... :headbang:

 

[SkuttleFunk]

wooden covers for soapbar style bass pickups is what's been in the works of late, as well as bringing a new dual-coil pickup design into production.

QS Wenge covers for Bart P2 sized 5-string, and BM covers for a Delano SBC-7. Bart BC 4-string and P4 6-string covers are next to be cut. EMG 35/40/45 sizes for 4/5/6-string will follow a little later this summer.

 

[Outerspace]

Outstanding finish. Are you still in business