My Carl Thompson Thread.

[bassman462]

i love scrolls...i just dont like how some of them look so unbalanced and unpoportional(sp)

[GSR]

Sam it's all about the scroll!!!

They're all very balanced, bassman. Carl likes his basses 6.5 pounds, max. And the upper horn usually lines up with the 12th fret, which equals good balance.

Here's the letter I'm going to include in my downpayment to Carl. I think I seem a little starstruck, but that's alright.

Hey Carl!

My name is Andrew Marvin, I live in Newington, CT and go to school in Fairfield, CT. I recently spoke with you on the phone about the bass I’d like to order. I’ve been a huge fan of you and your instruments ever since I first heard about Les and everything you’ve done for him. I’m a huge Les fan as well. I’ve been hoping for a bass of yours for a long time now; I almost managed to get one on eBay, a beautiful model just like Les’ bass, finished on 11-3-76. It was perfect, body style, simple electronics and everything, but it ended up going for $5100! A bit more than what a college student like me is able to spend, let me tell you. Then just recently I made contact with Aaron and he was really helpful and gave me the courage to call you up myself and order one. “Tell him Aaron sent you,” he said. I know I’ll be more than glad I did.
I don’t know much of the technical stuff when it comes to building basses, so I’m going to put my trust in you for most of the instrument. I do have a couple of rough ideas and preferences though, if you don’t mind!

• 4-string fretted.
• 3D scroll! This is a must!
• Pickups – I think I want to go with a single active EMG, for more tonal possibilities.
• Electronics – Simpler is better! When we talked on the phone, we both expressed a liking for simple electronics. A volume and just one or two tone knobs would be great, maybe three knobs total.
• Neck – I like the 35” and 36” scales just because it keeps the strings nice and tight so they don’t flop around. If we can keep the strings like that with a smaller scale, that’d be great too. Fret markers are a minor thing of course, but I think I want to go with just two dots on the 12th fret. I’ve always wanted a set neck, but I know that would up the price a bit, so we’ll see…
• I’ve always wanted a tremolo too. This would be just for fun, and isn’t really an essential, but if one happens to work out, great!

These are all just rough ideas that I thought up before I called you. I’m sure a lot of them will change, I just wanted to let you know where my head is at right now. I certainly would love if you used your judgment on a lot of the bass though. You’re the artist, after all! As far as woods go, I love the look of the darker woods. Which ones we use I’ll leave up to you. My playing style has been influenced a lot by Les, Stanley, Victor Wooten, Stefan Lessard, Michael Manring, and Marcus Miller, if that helps you at all. I know the instrument is going to change a lot as we go, so whenever you have an opinion on something, definitely let me know! I’m up for anything, and I’m sure it’s going to be a great cooperative effort. I don’t want to bore you with an in depth description of the tone I’m looking for; I know that depends on the player! I won’t make you read for much longer, so thank you so much for accepting my order, and please keep doing what you do, we all appreciate your talent and experience! My contact information and down payment is enclosed.

Respectfully!

[i like tictacs]

where is the free ky jelly

[GSR]

i know, but the man is really good at what he does, which is make basses.

[i am sam2]

dude that is really cool. i just cant get over that. talking to him personally and stuff thats amazing. you better like that fucker!

[GSR]

dude that is really cool. i just cant get over that. talking to him personally and stuff thats amazing. you better like that fucker!

He was really cool on the phone. You can tell he's the master of his craft.

It's weird, because until today all i've done is read about people ordering and getting basses from carl and stuff. Now it feels weird that i've actually talked to him and stuff.

but it's awesome.

[GSR]

1 bid, went for $4500 on ebay today.

[i like tictacs]

Penis.

[GSR]

I don't like the body shape either..

[GSR]

Aaron: Have you ever used carbon fiber stiffing rods in a neck?
Carl: No, I didn't like it. I found the neck hard to adjust, The neck should be-You should be able to adjust the neck. I don't believe that business about things not being adjustable. You should-a piece of wood is going to move and it should move I think. And when it does it'd be nice to be able to take care of it. You know, these guys that make all these-I'm not going to mention any names, I don't want that to be in print-but I've seen a lot of those graphite, solid graphite necks and stuff that they don't put truss rods in. Guys come in here with them and they say, "Carl, can you get my action lower, you know, can you do that?" And I say, "Yeah I could if I could straighten out the neck but the neck has a shoot up there at the end and I can't take it out. So if I drop the strings you're going to be in trouble. There is nothing I can do, you know." "Well can't you straighten it out. It's not supposed to be warped." "Well it is." And they've made no provisions to take care of it. A lot of those graphite things are just-I guess you do get more sustain out of it and all that kind of stuff but they're heavy. And I put a couple of rods in a couple of necks. I thought I would try that just to see. And I didn't like the way my truss rod worked after that. It just couldn't-it didn't-when the neck moved a little bit I had to fight the rod. You shouldn't have to do that.

Aaron: So you don't use any reinforcement?
Carl: Not at all. Use good wood. That is part of the reason people just have all of the problems they have. They don't use the right product in the first place. It's like New York when they fill up the potholes. The reason they are out there filling the potholes all of the time is because they are putting paper mache or something in there. I don't know what they are putting in there. But they're not what they, you know, should be putting in there. That's why they've got to keep digging them up. Or maybe that's good because they keep people working. I don't know.

That's why they have so much trouble. People have trouble with necks because they don't do the right thing in the first place. I'm not saying mine are perfect because I have problems from time to time too. But not like I see on other things.

Aaron: What makes your truss rods so special?
Carl: My design. A truss rod itself is just a piece of stainless steel with 10-32 national fine thread on each side. At one end it's epoxied at the base of the neck down by the end where it goes into body. And a cold rolled steel slug. That's standard. I mean Gibson does that and I think-except not many people use stainless steel. Most people, I think, use cold rolled steel or what they call drill rod or something like that. I use stainless because it's hard, holds the thread better. If you're going take the time to go through all the trouble to put something in there like that you might as put-for real, you know. That's why I do it.

But it would be hard to explain in a few words how the truss rod works and why I put-My dad came up with the idea. The way I install it is what makes the difference. It's not so much the rod itself. The rod itself is just a rod. But it's the way you put it in the neck. They'd have to wait for my book for that. To get pictures and all because you'd have to see it. And it's hard to describe. You know, one end is lower than the other and a taper at the top. That's a lot of stuff to talk about. You'd have to see it.

[i like tictacs]

So he says graphite necks are heavy, then proceeds to use stainless steel trussrods?


Oooookay.

[sunglassesatnight]

So he says graphite necks are heavy, then proceeds to use stainless steel trussrods?


Oooookay.

From what I gather, Carl Thompson can do what he wants and GSR will still be on his dick.

[GSR]

So he says graphite necks are heavy, then proceeds to use stainless steel trussrods?


Oooookay.

From what I gather, Carl Thompson can do what he wants and GSR will still be on his dick.

Completely.

*shrug* i thought it was interesting.

[bassman462]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Carl-Thompson-Bass- ... dZViewItem

[GSR]

yep. 4 grand is a high starting bid, specially for a 4 string bolt on. looks great though. probably won't get any bids till the last day.