New idea for a Brooks hybrid

[Basvarken]

The Custom Shop Flying V bass that we discussed over at the Gibson corner got me thinking.
How would I do it, if I would build one?

I don't do carbon copies. So I wanted to think of some hybrid.
Let's make a Flying V mixed with a Thunderbird.

So I came up with this idea:



Short scale (30")
Neck through. Nine ply neck
Korina / Limba wings
Sixties Repro Thunderbird humbuckers (EY)

I posted it on Facebook. Asked Jay or Nay.
And one guy commented: "if you make it a long scale, I'd like to order one".

Making it long scale (34") turns out to be a bit of a challenge.
The bridge can't move much further to the back of the body. The bass would be 130cm long and neck dive would be quite certain. Even with Hipshot Ultralite tuners.
John Gallagher singer/bass player of Raven chimed in. He showed me pics of his bass. That one has a body with the V much shallower, allowing the bridge to sit further back.




I'm not really convinced by the looks of that body. But it did put me on a new track:



I'd make that extra part of the body black to match with the ebony faceplate of the headstock.
It sort of echoes the brass tailpiece of the 50s flying V guitar.
And I'd make that part of the body about 4 mm lower, so the original outline of the body is still most eye-catching.


The guy who commented has now asked me to build it for him.
Let's go!

[BTL]

Looks great, congrats!

[Rob]

We need pictures when you build it!

[Grog]

Looks great! I kinda dig the idea of the shorty over the full scale......

[Dave W]

That's the best solution I've seen for a long scale V.

[doombass]

Fantastic! Very clever using a recessed black extension.

[slinkp]

That looks really lovely.
Would moving the strap button closer to the bridge help with neck dive any?
If necessary you could experiment with putting weights in the lower part of the V???

[morrow]

I wonder about using flats on a string through body .

[Basvarken]

That looks really lovely.
Would moving the strap button closer to the bridge help with neck dive any?
If necessary you could experiment with putting weights in the lower part of the V???

I'd have to experiment with the location of the strap button once the bass is ready.
Yeah I did think about putting some extra weight in one of the wings.

I'm still working on the final design. I may want to make the body slightly larger in order to be able to move the front strap button a bit further towards the middle of the bass.

[Alanko]

John Gallagher singer/bass player of Raven chimed in. He showed me pics of his bass. That one has a body with the V much shallower, allowing the bridge to sit further back.

Not a band I'd ever heard of, but I've been listening to Raven all evening so thanks for mentioning them!

I read an interview with John and apparently his bass was assembled from a kit. By the looks of it, something like this:

[Basvarken]

Yes, he built it from a kit. So I guess it's one of those that you found.


Raven have been around for quite a while. I think they first started in 1974. But they had their heyday in the early 1980s. In 1983 they did a tour as headliner with Metallica as their support act.
My favorite album of theirs is All For One.
I like the fact that they don't take themselves too seriously (unlike many other bands in the genre)

John is quite an accomplished bass player

[Highlander]

Good grief... completely forgot about them... saw them as support... maybe as a headliner in a small club...  think I even delved into vinyl, though nothing more than a 45...

[Basvarken]

They released a new album recently.

[Granny Gremlin]

Cool idea.  Finally a TBird pup right up at the neck ;P

[Basvarken]

Haha, it's in the exact same position as a Thunderbird. But there's some extra frets which makes it look closer