Interesting bass (and history reminder)

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Sam Sherry

Ken, any particular reason you went for the "drill a hole through the scroll" instead of the "no-hole wrap-around" style extension?

Yes, because it works well and is the standard excepted way. On my old Lion head bass, we will run the string thru the bottom of the ebony but using only a top wheel. That is a bit more work, but to preserve the Lion and the tongue in his mouth, it's worth the extra cost. Also, the string thru the scroll is less bulky as well. Bending the low B-string at sharper angles doesn't help the string life as much either. Especially when I like trying different sets and using the strings over and over on different basses.

At least we are not cutting scroll like many of the earlier luthiers did. It is so hard to repair those heads and make them look good unless you are fitting a new extension over it to hide the repair.