Dlog

Original bass blog here.

Hey there!
Yesterday I etched the control plate for the Suitcase Bass.

All traditional intaglio process, 1. Cleaned and prepped the brass plate. 2. Put a soft ground on it. (Some kid of tar, brushed on, then cooked.) 3. Hours of carving the ground off. 4. Then 1 hour and 24 minutes in ferric nitrate. 5. Rinsed, cleaned with a solvent and a toothbrush. 6. Viola! (Or rather, Bass!)

I am going to carve the ground of the neck plate this weekend and etch that plate on Monday. I decided not to etch the plate that is on the bottom of the bass where the jack and the foot collar are. The bottom of the bass sees the most abuse, and is rarely seen anyway.

I chose to completely open up the brass on the neck plate, allowing a field of etch to occur, hoping for a more “yes/no” effect, and not so many little lines. I am not worried about the 2 plates being different. The whole bass is an ongoing education, so it seems appropriate that it evolve. For some reason the brass did not etch evenly, and it turns out that I prefer the other method of mark making… I am really enthused about this process though, so I will continue to experiment with future projects and maybe revisit the bass brass. This scanned image does not do the plate justice. Over all a thumbs-up!

Other on-going bass related things; I am still planning to expand the micing options by installing a condenser mic, and maybe some K&K transducers.