CLC Newsletter - March, 2010

Hello again from the west coast of Ireland. At last Spring is trying to make an impact here after the coldest winter in over 30 years. But there is hope - the frogs have laid some eggs in our pond (about 6 weeks later and far fewer than normal) and we have daffodils in the garden.

Tech bit. Truss rods.

Most of my instruments have trussrods fitted. String tension pulls a neck forwards and a truss rod counteracts this. Gut string instruments often don't need trussrods but with the arrival of higher tension, steel strings, necks needed reinforcement. For years Martin guitars used a metal tube fitted under the fingerboard but this did not allow for simple adjustment so a better system was needed and there are many different ways to do this. These days the choice is between trussrods that offer one way or two way adjustment. The one way rod only counteracts string tension, the two way type also does this but additionally can bend a neck forward in the rare case where a neck arches backwards. I use both types. My one way rod has a hex socket nut at one end threaded onto the rod with a washer behind it. The other end has a fixed brass anchor as you can see below.

The rod is fitted into a concave slot in the wood of the neck so that the anchor fits into it's hole and the washer buts against a ledge and the whole thing is covered with a slip of hardwood to build it into the neck.

With the fingerboard glued on if the nut is tightened the effect is to try to straighten the curve in the steel rod and, as it is built into the neck, the only way it can straighten is to pull the neck backwards against the string tension. The more the nut is tightened the more the rod will try to straighten and the more the neck will be forced back.

The type of two way unit that I use has a steel rod threaded at both ends (one end conventional thread and the other reverse thread) with an adjusting nut welded to one end. The threaded ends are fitted into similarly threaded sleeves which are welded to a steel bar that fits on top of the threaded rod. You can see the adjusting end below - the threaded steel rod is encased in blue plastic.

The two way rod is fitted into a straight slot in the neck so that the steel bar is touching the bottom of the fingerboard when it is glued on. In this case tightening the adjusting nut will cause the steel bar to bend upwards as the opposing threads force the two ends together and this will cause the neck to arch backwards. Turning the adjusting nut the other way will have the opposite effect and cause the bar to bend downwards which would bend the neck upwards.

The truss rod is not primarily a way of strengthening a neck. If I want to do that I can make the neck thicker, make it from a stiffer wood type or build some carbon fibre rods into the neck which, weight for weight, are much stiffer than wood or even steel. I add two such rods in my bass necks which you can see below as black lines each side of the two way truss rod.

Reading through this I'm not sure how clear I've made it!

Another thing a trussrod does is to enable the the relief to be set to get the best playing action but that's another story for another Newsletter.

If you have some tech query you would like explained you can This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it me and I'll try to tackle it in the future.

People in the Workshop.

In the last Newsletter there was a picture of a Flying Vee style bass that was waiting for the customer to collect. So here is Christoph who flew in from Austria to pick up his new bass.

I had sent Christoph the dimensions of the bass and he made the flitecase himself and it fitted perfectly. Christoph seemed to be very happy with the bass and I'm waiting of some pics of him and the bass with his band and massive HiWatt stack.

James Kennedy.

"One of my musical roles is as a session player both in studio and live. I have occasionaly been asked to play Double Bass. Having had problems with tendonitis and RSIs for some time I avoid anything which may strain my hands .I contacted Chris and we came up with this Bass. It is, we feel, a very creative solution. I have used it live and on many recordings to the satisfaction of all concerned. I have received many compliments on it's tone and it's proximity to that of a Double Bass. The decay on an upright is shorter, but with the correct technique it can be closely approximated. The instrument, however, is not all about approximating the sound of an upright. The Bass possesses a unique tone which is rich and extremely musical. I have had great inspiration and enjoyment from playing it.
This is a beautiful instrument visualy and sonically. The outstanding artistry Chris is so well known for is clearly evident in it's construction and tone. The featured sound clip is a piece which became the title track of my Dub Reggae/Jazz group Avatar's second album :Like River To Ocean. This piece is directly inspired by the natural beauty of the Kerry Landscape and years of 'sitting quietly '. I am playing a solo bass rendition here on my Kerry Made Chris Larkin Bass. Hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoy playing it . James Kennedy."

Unfortunately I was unable to get my hands on the soundclip James mentions above in time to include it but you can find out more about James, Avatar (his main project) and hear some music at these urls www.myspace.com/avatarsounds and www.amarumusic.net .

Your chance?

If you would like to write a paragraph or two about your Chris Larkin and get a chance to shamelessly publicise yourself and/or your project in the Newsletter send your effort to me along with a suitable pic/video/soundclip/url/link, etc., and I'll see if I can include it. It does not have to be about how good your guitar is (even if it is!) but maybe something about a situation it got you into, a gig experience, the design process or anything related to it. Use your imagination!

A blast from the past.

I recently got an email from an old mate from Belgium, Paul Gyles. This was what it said.

"You got to surf to www.koenvermeiren.be. Go to Cd’sMP3, you will notice Poltergeist, Paintings and Sculptures… go to sculptures and click on free mp3… You will hear the song Rockin chair with CLC custom all over the place (chords and lead ) Enjoy it!"

Paul has a lovely touch and gets a great sound from his ASAD RS Custom.

Another Old Postcard.

This one is from the 1990s. Same idea as the previous one in that I had them made up and gave them out at any opportunity to publicise the business. Some lovely quilted maple solids and the first series of archtop semis.

Stocklist plug!

I was hoping to have two new instruments on the stocklist this month but due to matters beyond my control (pickups not arriving, the wrong lacquer thinners being delivered) they were not finished in time. But, as a taste of things to come, here is a Syra 4 bass with poplar body finished in Baby Blue which will have three single coil pickups and a 5 way slider switch.

And an ASAD 2 HB with a top of spalted flamed maple that will have a gloss finish and will be wired in the same way as my personal guitar with switchable mid boost.

I'm looking forward to having these finished soon and they should be available from stock on the next Newsletter. If you would like top know more about these please contact me. I'm happy to reserve them for anybody who fancies them! In the meantime here are the same two immediately available guitars - a beautiful archtop in quilted maple and a stunning little acoustic in Irish flamey beech. More details on the Stocklist

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Frankfurt Musikmesse.

And from March 23rd to 27th the Musikmesse was on in Frankfurt. I was there for the three trade days. Stand numbers were down about 30% and there seemed to be fewer visitors. This was my 23rd year (I had a booth there for 13 years) and going now is really about meeting old friends and suppliers. Here are a few pics of me with people I've known for many of those years. If I'm not out of focus I seem to have a glass in my hand!

With Diane Ponzio who is a great singer and player who demonstrates for Martin and Theo Cheng who, although classically trained, does mean blues, cool jazz and anything else you fancy! He is also my longest standing friend in the musicbiz, likes pig products almost as much as I like chocolate cake and used to demonstrate for me when I exhibited at the Messe.

Two great bass makers, Stefan Hess and Tilman Antons.

Jon-Petter Westerlund (the JP guitar was named after him) who looks completely at home with a glass of champagne in his hand and a box of Aquavit to follow!

Andy Pirchner. Great guitar player, great friend and the man who was responsible for selling a lot of instruments into Germany and Austria for me.

With Chris May (Overwater Basses) and Joaquín Garcia (Doctorbass) at the Marleaux party.

That's all for this month. If you have any suggestions for the Newsletter please send them to me. If you think anyone you know might be interested in this Newsletter please send it on to them with their permission. If you do not wish to receive future issues please email me with unsubscribe as the subject and I'll remove you from the mailing list. If you are a new reader and would like to subscribe to get future editions please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it me with subscribe as the subject.