Ouch.  Can’t have that going on for long now, can we.

Now I’d tried the Jaco trick on an old J bass about 15 years ago – and used a boat epoxy to coat the fingerboard  - but never really warmed up to the final texture or alteration to the instrument’s tone.  Although the process was reportedly supposed to brighten the tone up a bit, I probably blew something in my hack job back then as it ultimately sounded a wee bit muddier (particularly in the low range) than it had been before the coating. So I was incredibly nervous now thinking about blowing my beautiful 5-string neck with a bad coat job again. SF Guitarworks to the rescue!

After talking a while with Benjamin (the SFGW shop manager) and finding that a) the process should – if done correctly – brighten things up a bit instead of the opposite, and b) there were a lot of options for the coating.

I decided to go with a cyanoacrylate coating, which is hard as shit, but absolutely beautiful sounding- most certainly a bit more defined and crisp. My fingers are mostly on string not wood, so the tactile difference was less pronounced, and the fact that I would overshoot slides about 1/16th step more than I would have normally makes me think that the added ‘slipperiness’ did change how it felt ever so slightly under my fingers. But the bonus was the almost mirror finish that it added to the bass.

You can check out the final bench photos of the neck on the SF Guitarworks blog here, although they barely do the finish justice in JPEG format. (Major props to Aaron for the work, and Benjamin for suffering my endless questions).  Seriously- I can’t recommend cyanoacrylate enough as a fingerboard coating – it turned out beautifully. I’ll post a video of it when I get back off the road and can unpack a bit.

It’s clear that I’ll be working on some personal music but I have consciously avoided thinking about it beyond one overriding goal – to wade through the last decade worth of half finished (or less) ideas that I’ve written, and recorded to varying degrees. As I’ve been mostly playing on other people’s material or projects it’s been a pretty diverse decade, but I honestly couldn’t tell you much more about what’s in that pile ‘o ideas as it’s stuff I documented in quick momentary flurries of inspiration – and didn’t spend much time with overall. The idea was that I’d eventually come back to them and finish each and every one – though at this point that obviously never happened nor was it likely to unless I made a concerted effort to set aside some time and do something about it. I guess that’s what sabbaticals are for, eh?

The hope is that either I find enough gems in that pile to justify finishing out a demo, or horrify myself into writing something better. So I’m going to call it creative semi-block- I guess when you’re starting with a surplus of ideas it can’t exactly be a tabula rasa type of situation. But given I have little memory of or faith in those ideas at this point, it is a bit unsettling. Here’s hoping the combination kicks me in the ass the right way. Keep posted.

The interface is largely the same, but you can see the significant new sequencer UI down at the bottom:

Of note also within the above screenshot- the mighty new Thor ‘polysonic’ synth. If you thought things got a bit stale on the synth front after the Malstrom graintable synth way back in v2(?), then Thor is like a completely new class of synth. Completely configurable routing, step sync, OMFG it’s like a playground in there. It’s testament to the Propellerheads guys that even though I didn’t think I needed the upgrade, I was utterly floored with how much more usable and polished my old favorite soft synth/sequencer has become in it’s fourth incarnation.

Although I do most of my writing in Live, I damn near capped a whole song in Reason today without even plugging in a physical instrument. That’s pretty impressive. Considering I’ve got a Live upgrade coming soon, too… this is going to be a real fun holiday season.

So it’s not unexpected that when I saw the recent news about the new super-bundle Logic Studio I wasn’t immediately interested- until I read a bit more about what was in it, and had a chance to peek at it first-hand on a friend’s machine. It took about 30 minutes of hands-on to change my mind entirely. Consider me officially turned.

The Logic Pro 8 interface

First and foremost, the ReWire implementation is so slick it almost feels like it’s TOO easy to use. You can actually fire up a ReWire slave like Reason or Ableton Live directly from within Logic, and then choose from any of their instruments. For once, ReWire just works without thinking about it too much. Awesome.

The other thing that’s impressed me with Logic Pro 8 is that it really feels as if the UI has gotten a good once-over across the board, becoming far more intuitive and natural-feeling. The app as a whole is rock-solid and has not crashed on me once through my weaning-in period, which is a good sign (cause I can pile on the CPU/hard drive load like a monster). Oh, and it can bounce directly to MP3 – incredibly handy for taking working mixes with you quickly on an iPod/iPhone – something that took a bounce and then a conversion in Live.

In relation, ProTools has seemed to stagnate recently- getting little-to-no love and feeling largely like a port of the app I started using some 10-12 years ago. It feels like Digidesign has been lost in their new Avid home, and the app is just on cruise control enjoying it’s status as the reigning king of user base. Digital Performer is not much better, with MOTU’s energy and attention appearing to largely go towards their software instruments these days, and the DP 5.x interface being largely an OS X makeover with no real improvements or changes to the core app itself. Perhaps I was just ready for a fresh start- who knows. Either way, Logic has definitely learned from it’s history and really made a huge leap in usability and reliability. Live may still be my favorite songwriting app – and definitely my favorite performance app – but Logic is going to give it a run for it’s money now for the hardcore gigs.

The other apps in Logic Studio are, quite frankly, just interesting to have and not really essential. I already owned Soundtrack Pro from Final Cut Studio 2, and MainStage, their new ‘performance’ application, is hard-pressed to take on my proven Ableton Live + Reason + Novation REmoteSL 61 combo. The 3D graphics are swanky, but not anything I couldn’t live without. The loop libraries and JamPacks are quite welcome, and although the software instruments are nice, Reason still remains my software instrument swiss army knife of choice.

That being said, I still feel that even without the hefty discount I got on Logic Studio (a professional courtesy, for the record) it was worth every penny. I’m using it on my first real session this weekend, and haven’t looked forward to a session this much in a while. My fingers are crossed that the software gremlins don’t come out to bite me, though. Wouldn’t that be ironically predictable?

It’s no secret, Microsoft’s loudly-touted ‘iPod killer’ (aka the Zune) has been anything but. But in this case, they actually lost MTV, their banner partner on the Urge music network, due to the shady developer and business deals behind their rapidly-sinking Zune strategy – primarily Microsoft mothballing their PlaysForSure DRM strategy in favor of a Zune-only model and leaving PFS development partners stranded on a dead platform. Could the Zune actually be the catalyst of it’s own demise? That’s certainly the way it’s shaking out. In fact, this move among others seems to seal the fate of Microsoft’s music business ambitions across the board. I can’t imagine a developer or business partner who would want to get in bed with them again after this whole fiasco plays out.

And the same day Adobe announces H.264 video support in the Flash Player, no less- effectively cutting Silverlight off at the knees. See reference here- particularly the last sentence, in which MTV reaffirms their support for Flash Video (no doubt partially fueled by the parallel Zune fiasco). Here’s a slightly more harsh assessment on the Network World site.

Ouch. That’s gotta hurt bad in Redmond right now.

But now, they’ve gone and placed themselves strictly in asshat territory by deciding to finally go DRM-free with a ‘select’ group of their repertoire, and of course bypassing doing so on the iTunes Music Store (the #1 online music retailer), again, ostensibly out of spite for Jobs’ resistance to UMG’s intended ‘variable pricing’ for MP3s in favor of a flat rate across the board. Sure, a ‘variable pricing’ scheme for UMG lets them price-gouge consumers at will, but ignore that. What they’re doing is a disservice to their own artists- by ignoring the best venue and channel for their music in the DRM-free distribution models.

Edgar Bronfman Jr and Doug Morris- f@#k you and your merry band of thieves. My best wishes for a swift and agonizing demise to the UMG empire as a result of your mismanagement and idiocy. And of course, that you pull your collective heads out of said collective asses long enough to actually watch it coming. It’s been vicarous fun watching you scurry about trying to protect your paper empire for the last few years, but given your collossal stupidity over the last 12 months it’s high time for you to come down screaming in flames. I’ll bring marshmallows to roast and a long stick to poke you with.

This will cover measuring and notching the saddles, installing a Badass II bridge, and some ancillary work to tweak your bass back into playability after the surgery. Now some folks will swear that Badass II bridges work just fine without cutting notches (and if they’re cool with that, then I won’t argue), but at least for my instruments, I wholly disagree. You’ll hold a tuning better and get better tone with a notched saddle that can seat the string well on the bridge, and not allow slippage to dampen the string’s vibration and possibly reduce sustain and tone. That’s my $.02 on the subject. Take with your own grain of salt.

Disclaimer 1: These steps are for Badass II (2) and later bridges only, not the original Badass (often called Badass 1) bridge, which also in most all cases requires routing an inset for the bridge into the body of your instrument.  I won’t cover installation for the original Badass (1) as it should really be performed by a professional luthier, sorry.

Disclaimer 2: I take no responsibility for you f@#king up your instrument(s), and as this is getting written up after I’ve finished my own projects I can’t take pictures to accompany the steps, but here’s the painful details on how I installed Badasses on my basses – when I did the work myself.

Tools and Such:

• Set of small needle files (preferably including at least one triangular file)
• Fine point Sharpie (or similar felt-tip pen)
• Index card (for measurements and possibly neck shimming)
• Phillips-head screwdriver (for mounting the bridge)
• Ruler or tape measure (for string spacing)
• Emery board or fine sandpaper (for smoothing your notches)
• Small allen wrenches (for adjusting string height)
• Electric tuner (for setting intonation after the surgery)
• Masking tape (optional – for marking and protection)
• Power Drill and bits (optional – should you need to sink new bridge mounting screws)

Got it all? Cool. Let’s go.

Step One – Measurements and Planning

Take the ruler and measure the distance between strings at your current bridge. They should all be the same, but if not, make a note as such. Also measure the width between your E and G string at the saddle to get the total width (if the spacing’s correct, you can also just multiply the string spacing by 4 to get this).

At the same time, check the mounting bolts in the baseplate. If they’re 5 in line (most Fenders), you should be able to bolt the Badass directly into the same holes.

If not, or you suspect they may be wider/narrower than the Badass, you should probably note the midline of the current saddle’s positions before you yank the old bridge off. See how your current saddles are set to different positions – with the E string saddle usually further to the heel of your instrument than the A, progressing towards the neck as you move down to the G string? Eyeball the where the middle two saddles (A and D strings) are, and make a note on the body where this centerline is (the masking tape is handy for this, so you’re not marking the body directly). You may need to use this ‘mark’ to make sure your bridge is properly centered before mounting it.

Step Two – Measuring and Marking the Saddles

Badass II bridges don’t come with string notches cut into the saddles. You’ll need to measure, and then file these notches out next before placing the bridge on your instrument (or you could screw up the finish of either).

First, set all the saddles to a straight line in the middle of their respective grooves, then measure out the string spacing from your measurements by placing a small ‘dot’ on the saddle apex with your Sharpie/felt-tip pen. Start by centering the E and G strings by using the total string width number (calculated earlier) and your ruler. Line it up to where the ‘string area’ between the E and G are centered on your bridge as a whole. Then measure (using the string spacing measurement) from the E string to the A string, and from the G string to the D string saddles. If this is too much futzing for you, just make 4 marks on the edge of your index card spaced evenly at the string spacing measurement’s width, then use that to place the marks on the saddles. Make sure that the total string width is centered well on the bridge, as if not, your strings won’t be centered on your neck either (not good).

Cheapass solution: Just install the bridge, string it up and set the spacing where you want it to be, then take each string off one-by-one and file the saddles as you go. Prone to screwups, but I’ve done it this way too.

Step Three – Filing the Saddle Notches

This is the real fun part. Now that you’ve got your saddles marked, you want to use one edge of the triangular file to make a notch that’s no more than half the width of your string deep. Use your discretion here. You don’t need much of a notch to really get a good seat, but you do want to make sure that it’s deep enough to where the string won’t jump out if you lay into them hard with your right hand. No more than 1/16″ if possible (and that’s even for the burly E string), ideally 1/32″ or so. Make sure to hold the file in the same general position that the string will lay across the saddle so the notch will fit the string snugly (this helps sustain greatly). You also want the notch to be more of a triangle than a circle/round notch (which is why I suggest using an edge of the triangular file). This way you can change string gauges and not worry about a loose saddle fit. The string will just sit down at it’s perfect depth into the triangular cut. Much nicer.

Some tips for this sections. First, I strongly recommend removing the saddles one by one and securing them in a vice for this step to file the cleanest groove possible. If you don’t have a vice, do your best to secure the saddle while you file. If you absolutely have to file them on the bridge, you may want to put a few strips of masking tape over the rear ‘nameplate’ section of the bridge to protect it. If you see the tape getting mussed, lay another one down. Protect that bridge’s finish! You can also bolt the bridge temporarily into a board/2×4/etc to keep it stable, and then remove it once the notches are set. Take your time here and do a good, clean job. Once the notches are set, use the emery board (or the sandpaper, folded over) to polish the notch and remove any burrs or nicks that could dig into your string and cause premature breakage (but don’t over-do it).

Step Four – Installing the Bridge

This should be the easiest part of the process. If you’ve got a Fender bass and the bolt holes line up as expected, just screw the sucker on.

If the stock mounting holes don’t align with the Badass, you’ll need to line up the bridge and sink new holes. Ugh. Should this be the case (and you don’t want to punt and go to a luthier), first- set the bridge saddles to the midline of their grooves, and then loosely set the bridge on your bass and line the saddles up along the string line with the mark you’ve made on your bass in step one. This assures that you’ve given enough room to adjust your individual strings forward/backwards for intonation. Next, make sure that your bridge is aligned with your neck. You can usually eyeball this easily from the old bolt holes your old bridge left behind. Now your bridge should be sitting where it needs to be. Make marks in each of the mounting holes, and use the power drill and a bit just a bit narrower than the mounting bolts to predrill the holes. This makes sure you don’t strip out your bolt heads trying to screw ‘em into bare wood, and have an easier time of it. If you can use a drill press, awesome. If not, keep that drill at a perfect right angle from the body so the bolts go straight down. Put the bridge back in place, bolt it on. Tough part’s done! Now it’s all restringing and tuning.

Step Five – Setting the bass back up

You can roughly set the saddles in their grooves to match their positions on your old bridge to get close to square one (this does help quite a bit with intonation). String it up and then use the Allen wrench on the two height adjustment screws in the saddle to try and get the action on your neck back to where it was before. You’ll either succeed or fail here. If you succeed and the action all up and down the neck is looking (and feeling) good, skip the next paragraph (seriously).

Failure with setting your action means that you’re unable to get the string height low enough and the action’s too high. You can usually always raise the saddles enough to compensate for too-low action, but you can only lower the saddles so far to compensate for high action until they’re sitting on the bridge directly and unable to lower any further. If you’re reading this paragraph, then that’s probably the case. My condolences. But this is solvable.

Take a deep breath, then remove your strings, unbolt your neck and detach it from the body, and cut a small piece of the index card roughly an inch wide and as long as your neck is wide. Place it in the neck cavity closest to the pickups/bridge and then replace your neck (this is called shimming- and will adjust the tilt of your neck to bring the action down. Replace the neck and then string it up and set the action. If it’s still too high, repeat the process and add another layer of index card inside the neck cavity to shim the angle a bit more. You’ll eventually get the action down enough to set all the saddle heights correctly. Overcompensate with the shim a bit to give a little extra wiggle room, if necessary. Patience, grasshopper. This can be the most nerve-wracking (and tedious) part of the process, but hopefully not necessary.

Purists who are snorting at this last step as I’m using heathen index cards instead of hand-shaved mahogany or such to shim necks… can officially kiss my ass. I learned the business card/index card tip from Gary Willis when I was at Musician’s Institute back in 1989 (and it’s saved my bacon more times than I can count in the 18 years since), so take up your beef with him.

Next up is setting the intonation. You need an electronic tuner for this, of course. Tune the string to pitch, then hold down the string at the 12th fret and see if it goes sharp or flat. If it’s sharp, you need to move the saddle further from the neck. If it’s flat at the 12th fret, you need to move the saddle closer to the neck. Once you’ve got each string to where the open string and 12th fret tones are both in tune, your string is pretty much in tune. You can then test it by playing notes above the 12th fret, and noting if they go sharp or flat. Follow the same process to adjust, but keep checking the open/12th fret too and make sure you’re moving all closer to intonation. Rinse and repeat with each string.

Now play the f@#ker!

Postscript

Note that many other third party bridges say they let you just ‘bolt them on and play’, but the intonation/string spacing/action issues will still apply whenever you switch a bridge, so Badass detractors that say other bridges are ‘easy to install’ aren’t being fair. Sure, you have to notch a Badass bridge’s saddles (and I consider that a benefit, as you get a notch specifically for your bass without extra screws/adjustment machinery that adds complexity and unnecessary crap to your bridge), but all of the other steps (action/shimming, intonation, etc) apply to aftermarket bridges, too. If you’re still squeamish in proceeding yourself – particularly if you’re not handy with tools to begin with, I’d strongly recommend just finding a good luthier or guitar repair shop in your town and have them install it for you. It may cost you $50-$100 USD for the job (roughly an hour of bench time, setup may be extra), but the peace of mind may be worth it. I’ve had professionals install bridges for me (usually when having other major repairs/renovations done), as well as got my own hands dirty and notched/installed my own Badasses, and always been happy. Make the right call for your sanity and confidence level, of course.

Hope that was helpful, or at least of interest. Reading it back, it sure does seem a lot more involved than it really is in practice. But either way, once you hit that low E (or B) and hear the increased low end and sustain the Badass provides, you’ll be glad you put one on. For real.

My trustworthy and dependable Fat Strat, now sporting Seymour Duncan pickups (2x Classic Stacks in the neck/middle position, 1x Jeff Beck model humbucker in the bridge), a blocked tremolo bridge (never use the damn things anyway), regutted and reworked internal electronics, Sperzel locking tuners, and a pearloid white pickguard to match the rest of my collection.

I cannot believe how amazing this sounds now with the trem bridge blocked and locked (extra sustain now that it’s not floating), and in particular, the JB bridge pickup, which is smooth as silk whether clean or punched. For a guitar I got as an afterthought to have a songwriting buddy, this has turned into a A-lister, no doubt about it.

The Fender restoration rush of 2007 is now over. Time to crank it up and let these f@#kers sing.

My Jazz V 5-string, apres-modifications. 2 Bartolini pickups w/preamp added (controls are – top to bottom – master volume, pickup blend, concentric bass/treble EQ, midrange scoop), a Badass V bridge – something no bass should be without – and a complete reworking of the neck.

Between the Badass adding a metric ton of definition/sustain and the Bartolinis giving it a much rounder and warmer tone overall, this bass just became a LOT more versatile in tone. In particular, the new bridge lets the B-string speak with incredible clarity and definition now, whereas before I had to really choke down to the bridge with my right hand to get a tight note out of it. No muddiness in the low register whatsoever now- it’s almost painfully punchy and tight. Sincere thanks to Noah for breaking down and letting me buy this f@#ker from him in the first place.

First iTunes itself started automatically downloading album cover art, and then I discovered the wonders of Quicksilver and it’s wonderful iTunes triggers. Sure, you always did both for me, but it was increasingly obvious that software was growing around us. And past our limitations. Heck, I tried to look forward to your big makeover and relaunch, but with all those ‘limited feature’ betas and no real facts as to what that makeover was going to entail, I couldn’t get on board. I wish I could have been more unconditionally supportive of your quest for personal growth- and for that I truly apologize. But I honestly wasn’t sure where we were headed.

To be fair- you really put your best foot forward with our relationship. I was ecstatic when you started to support Last.fm scrobbling – even though I couldn’t tag/love/suggest my songs on Last.fm through your sexy interface, getting my recent tracks updated was enough to keep me around for a while. God knows that horrid Last.fm application kept trying to flirt with me incessantly, but we both know it could never be what you were to me and my iTunes library.

But were I to choose exactly what was the final straw for me, it would have to be our conflicting real estate interests. It’s always a shame when such a rich relationship breaks down over property, isn’t it? But you just expected too much of my menubar for buttons I was rapidly growing out of. At the end, your faithful hotkeys were the primary way we interacted, and with Quicksilver’s triggers handy and capable of shouldering the load, I had to do some long and hard soul-searching as to whether or not we were still right for one another. And given that Last.fm integration was the only need that Quicksilver couldn’t cover, I decided to leave you in favor of Quicksilver and Audioscrobbler alone, and re-embrace the social features of Last.fm that you never really seemed interested in implementing.

I’ll always remember our relationship fondly, and speak highly of you, but as of today- it’s over. I’m sure you’ll find new loves in the future, but for now we’re just going to have to go our separate ways. This really is the best move for both of us, and I sincerely hope we can stay friends.

Best of luck… I’ll always remember the good times.