Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Please put your pickup/wiring discussions in the Electronics section; and put discussions about repair issues, including "disappearing" errors in new instruments, in the Repairs section.
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

Hi all first time on the new forum hope this works. This is my seventh bass a 5 string with a myrtle front and back. I used ebony for the fret board and simplified the inlay.
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

Front view
Attachments
Gbass 1730.jpg
Jim Bonnell
Posts: 232
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:32 pm
Location: Tampa Bay area Fl.

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Jim Bonnell »

Great job Paul. Anymore pictures. I'm working on my first bass along with several other projects. I can't seem to keep it at one at time.
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

Thanks Jim I'm trying to add photos but it wont let me, I will keep trying.
User avatar
Jim McConkey
Posts: 1061
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 4:00 pm
Location: Way north of Baltimore, MD

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Jim McConkey »

There is a temporary Forum-wide problem preventing anyone from uploading images. Please be patient. It should be fixed soon.
MIMForum Staff - Way North of Baltimore
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

The back view both the front and the back are myrtle.
Attachments
Gbass 1732.jpg
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

A close up of the head stock which is faced with chechen.
Attachments
Gbass 1749.jpg
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

And a closer view of the inlay which was done in honduran rosewood, baked maple and balayoung.
Attachments
Gbass 1747.jpg
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

Here's a different view showing the fiber optic lights for the fret markers. I thought this was a bit showy but after playing on a dark stage they're really handy.
Attachments
Gbass 1763.jpg
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

I started using shielding paint instead of the copper shielding. Its application was easy and looks good and east to touch up if necessary.
Attachments
Gbass 1738.jpg
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

I also switched bridges to a KSM bridge the sound is a lot cleaner. After comparing this bass to an alembic the sounds of the two where almost identical tonally with my bass being a little more powerful (louder).
Attachments
Gbass 1744.jpg
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

This picture shows the neck through construction. The neck woods are zebra wood, chechen, baked maple and strips of ebony veneer in between for a total of 9 layers. Also the center of the wings is mahogany.
Attachments
Gbass 1740.jpg
Last edited by Paul Gransee on Thu Apr 19, 2012 12:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

The fretboard is ebony lined with maple and chechen, this was my first time doing that. I really like the subtle effect it offers and proved to be fairly easy. I do have to change the point by the G string and round that off a bit as it catches your finger when slapping, whoops.
Attachments
Gbass 1750.jpg
Last edited by Paul Gransee on Thu Apr 19, 2012 11:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jim Bonnell
Posts: 232
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:32 pm
Location: Tampa Bay area Fl.

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Jim Bonnell »

Excellent work. I'm feeling inspired. Is that a brass nut and if so why do you prefer brass?
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

Thanks Jim yes it is a brass nut I make them myself, it is adjustable (height wise) and I think it brightens the tone a bit. I also used a brass plate inlaid into the back for the string thru, I also think this helps in the sustain. When I play this bass the only effect I use is a volume pedal to cut it off at the end of a song. (it will ring a note forever)
Last edited by Paul Gransee on Thu Apr 19, 2012 11:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

A close look of the back side of the head stock which I covered with the same ebony veneer in the neck laminations.
Attachments
Gbass 1736.jpg
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

I rotated the front view and hopefully a little better view of the whole front. I also want to thank Jim for letting me know that the picture problem was not me (as I assumed LOL). A couple of other things the pickups are EMG's, tuners are sperzal and I inlaid the strap locks for a cleaner look. In the future I hope to get a sound clip of this bass as this thing sounds better than it looks. The first time I played it my band mates where amazed that a different bass could be so unique in its sound. I also had to adjust the volume and gain to about half of what my other bass is played at.
Attachments
Gbass 1730.jpg
User avatar
Dan Hehnke
Posts: 166
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2012 12:22 am
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Dan Hehnke »

Nice I love it! Myrtle is awesome stuff too. How does the raising and lowering of the nut work? I'm a fan of aluminum nuts on some of my (non-bass) guitars, wonder how brass would sound on those....could be fun to try.
User avatar
david frassetto
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2012 2:55 pm
Location: Milwaukee WI

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by david frassetto »

Great job! I love the way the knots and the string retainer on the back look like a face<G>. The inlay on the neck is well executed and looks great. Nice touch.
Lap steel fanatic
Paul Gransee
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:30 pm

Re: Paul Gransee's 7th Bass

Post by Paul Gransee »

Dan i use 2 set screws from above to adjust the height. the center screw is adjusted from the under side.
Attachments
top view.jpg
top view.jpg (6.39 KiB) Viewed 20083 times
Post Reply

Return to “Solid-Body and Chambered or Semi-Solid Electric Guitars and Bass Guitars”