The Bass Shop is proud to be sponsoring Janelle (aka Nell E Bean) from The BobKats. (www.bobkats.info).

In the macho world of rockabilly double bass players, it is great to see such a high energy band with a female slapping away! Janelle has some wonderful ideas that she has passed on to our artistic designer Richard Greenup.

During the upcoming weeks, you will be able to see the progress of Richard's interpretation of Janelle's dream bass.

Shown here below are the first photos of the preparation of a Romanian plywood instrument for Janelle. The undercoat was first applied, which was then followed by several thin layers of black. Alana Riley is a big fan of Janelle's and is very excited to be the official inspector of the painting process! The next step is to gently sand back the black paint to eliminate any `orange peel' effects and then buff (and buff and buff). After this is done, Richard will be able to start working his magic.



Now the `fiddly' work begins! Janelle's bass must first be gently sanded back by hand (we're talking grade 000000000000000 paper)! Susan Riley has helped out with this stage, as poor Richard and Dave are up to their eyeballs in repairs and setups.
Then comes the design.

Right: This is Richard's sketch of what Janelle has described
to him.
Below: Now comes Richards transformation into the "real thing".
The careful preparation pays off as Richard weaves his magic and transforms Janelle's bass...!

     
 
The finished "masterpiece"
  

... and the smiles say it all !

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