Major Woo Hoo

John Shaughnessy

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Oct 31, 2004, 4:06:28 PM10/31/04

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Ladies and gents, I give you the Kai 6:

http://www.js3jazz.com/kai/kai1.jpg

http://www.js3jazz.com/kai/kai2.jpg

http://www.js3jazz.com/kai/kai3.jpg

(my apologies for the cheapo digital camera)

Here's how the final specs shake out:

* Hard Ash body

*Maple/Ebony 24 fret neck. Neck is asymmetric and cambered to a "10" radius
on top.

*Sperzel tuners

*Tung oil finish

*Novax Fan Fret system

*nut is a custom made ebony/aluminum laminate

* Kent Armstrong Custom Wound MM Style PU

*Allparts bridges with Custom Graph Tech piezo saddles

*Graph Tech Synth System

*"pickguard" and control plates - figured Pearwood; headstock facings -
ebony

*controls: mag volume, piezo vol/tone, synth vol. Switches: Mag coil tap
(black), mag/piezo selector, synth inc/dec (patch controller)

Got it Wednesday, Tweaked it out, took it to my gigs on Friday and Saturday.
The sound is unbelievable - somewhere between a Music Man, an Alembic, and a
piano. The fan fret gives an excellent string to string balance and
eliminates the "sharpness" in the upper registers that used to drive me
bonkers. The high notes are crystal clear and have excellent sustain. The
low B has great definition, even through my little Polytone.

I opted to eliminate a tone control for the magnetic PU, and went with a
coil tap instead. I can use it to go from a funk/slap sound to a "Jaco"
sound instantly. And for the first time, I actually found a piezo I like. It
has a very nice tone for trad jazz and sounds a lot like Steve Swallow's
bass.

I'm still tweaking out the synth, but it appears to track very well for a
bass - much better than the Roland GK PUs.

Oh, and I should mention that it's very well balanced - no neck dive
whatsoever (that what the little "fish tail" dealy is or)

I'll post clip as soon as I get a chance.

And here's a plug for the guy who built it:

http://www.laguitarfactory.com/

--
Learning funk bass? visit www.js3jazz.com/store.htm

"Speaking the Truth in times of Universal deceit is a revolutionary act." --
George Orwell

m

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Oct 31, 2004, 5:18:47 PM10/31/04

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can't wait to hear it, it looks funky!
m

"John Shaughnessy" <johngoogle...@carolina.rr.com> wrote in message news:otchd.13007$YL.16...@twister.southeast.rr.com...

Boom

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Oct 31, 2004, 5:32:38 PM10/31/04

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On Sun, 31 Oct 2004 21:06:28 GMT, "John Shaughnessy"
<johngoogle...@carolina.rr.com> wrote:

>Ladies and gents, I give you the Kai 6:
>
>http://www.js3jazz.com/kai/kai1.jpg
>
>http://www.js3jazz.com/kai/kai2.jpg
>
>http://www.js3jazz.com/kai/kai3.jpg

Well, it's got 2 too many strings on it, but it's a beautiful looking
bass ;)

Let us know how you like the fanned fret system after you get to work
with it a while. We expect a good one or two page report!

ChrisK.

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Oct 31, 2004, 5:49:41 PM10/31/04

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John Shaughnessy wrote:

> Ladies and gents, I give you the Kai 6:
>
> http://www.js3jazz.com/kai/kai1.jpg
>
> http://www.js3jazz.com/kai/kai2.jpg
>
> http://www.js3jazz.com/kai/kai3.jpg
>
> (my apologies for the cheapo digital camera)
>
> Here's how the final specs shake out:
>

Looks amazing, congrats!

Chris

David Axt

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Oct 31, 2004, 6:06:12 PM10/31/04

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"Boom" <m...@nnn.com> wrote in message
news:9upao0lhfg1i8l28t...@4ax.com...

I have a friend that has a fanned fret bass. He says that it is easy to
play so long as you don't look at the fingerboard.

DA

Kloka-mo'

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Oct 31, 2004, 6:06:13 PM10/31/04

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John Shaughnessy wrote:
> Ladies and gents, I give you the Kai 6:
>
> http://www.js3jazz.com/kai/kai1.jpg
>
> http://www.js3jazz.com/kai/kai2.jpg
>
> http://www.js3jazz.com/kai/kai3.jpg
>

Wow, very nice looking.
Can't wait to hear it.

Oh yea, some of the shadows are wrong :-P

--
-rob
O
A
O>
( -)-* ..\\..
>_^_^_____ {_^_^_}

Yvon

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Oct 31, 2004, 6:33:06 PM10/31/04

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Very beautiful, I can'T wait to hear the sound clip!!

"John Shaughnessy" <johngoogle...@carolina.rr.com> wrote in message
news:otchd.13007$YL.16...@twister.southeast.rr.com...

Steve, eh?

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Oct 31, 2004, 7:32:14 PM10/31/04

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She's lovely. Congrats!

Steve, eh?

On Sun, 31 Oct 2004 21:06:28 GMT, "John Shaughnessy"
<johngoogle...@carolina.rr.com> wrote:

Dave Cochran

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Oct 31, 2004, 9:12:40 PM10/31/04

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Beautiful but man that's got to weigh a ton.

John Shaughnessy

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Nov 1, 2004, 1:53:35 AM11/1/04

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Not really. Weighs less than my '75 Jazz, and the weight is distributed
more evenly.

I did buy a big-ass padded strap for it though, as an added precaution.

--
Learning funk bass? visit www.js3jazz.com/store.htm

"Speaking the Truth in times of Universal deceit is a revolutionary act." --
George Orwell

"Dave Cochran" <d_co...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:sYghd.18458$5b1....@newssvr17.news.prodigy.com...

basste

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Nov 9, 2004, 3:06:05 PM11/9/04

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i'm late on this but i must say that: this baby is gorgeous !!!
weird fret, i would be curious to try it.
sounds ?

really nice spot !!!
congrats
bassté

"John Shaughnessy" <johngoogle...@carolina.rr.com> a écrit dans le
message de news:otchd.13007$YL.16...@twister.southeast.rr.com...

John Shaughnessy

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Nov 10, 2004, 12:17:26 AM11/10/04

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Thanks, I've had it a couple weeks now and it plays like a dream. Despite
the size of the neck, it has to be the most comfortable neck I've ever
played, period.

I'll post some clips when I can.

--
Learning funk bass? visit www.js3jazz.com/store.htm

"I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion
and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's."
- Mark Twain

"basste" <lesterN...@voilaSPAM.fr> wrote in message
news:41912334$0$1925$626a...@news.free.fr...