Rayman

So I’ll probably fill the holes left by the previous bridge….. or…… put a cover on it maybe?

Would these work on a short scale David?

So, I’m pressing on.

This bass is a fun project, and if I can get it to play, happy days.

No idea what has gone on previously with the bridge, someone has had a couple of goes at moving it around, for whatever reason, but it came to me without one at all.

So I found this one in the bay, an old 70s Japanese bridge, which, lined up perfectly with the original holes…..

That’s a very attractive thing indeed 

P bass works for everything. If in doubt, it’s the only choice.

 I never really believed that statement, until I saw Brand New Heavies live a few years ago. Andrew Levy was struggling to punch through the mix with various super jazz type basses. He glanced across to his tech mid song and said something. Tech comes out with his MIJ P bass….. BOOM……. there’s the sound. He stuck with it for the rest of the gig, much to the delight of the dancing crowd. Honestly….. a lot of people noticed the difference.

The Precision bass really is an amazing instrument.

We’re a 3pce original heavy rock band. I’m bass and lead vocals. Everyone is equal. A stance I try to carry through life generally.

It could be argued that the front person is the least important member of the band! 
 

Ok, well pictures would be a good place to start.

Just one song for me…. I’ve already told Mrs Rayman what I want…

“Underneath The Stars” by Kate Rusby. 

I love the fact that bands think about their appearance live.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a local pub or a stadium, giving the audience something to look at is super important in my opinion.

We, just wear black, all black. Which works pretty good for original heavy rock.

To me there’s nothing worse than going to see a live band, who just wear jeans and t-shirts. Often the lack of effort in how they look reflects in the music they’re playing.

Ramps are just tools that help some players who like to use them….

Like string wraps, roundwound strings, flatwound strings, 5 strings, 6 strings, active, passive, frets no frets etc….. 

Should sound good in both circumstances…. I would just add, I had a 121P combo with a rock/pop covers band many years ago, and found it lacking a bit, both in terms of headroom and tone.

Beautifully made, light, a nice thing, but just not my sound, even with a NY121 extension cab it struggled to punch through. 
 

I do know though, that plenty of others have been really happy with theirs.

Definitely a possibility 

Ok..

so I’m going to be honest…. I’ve had a mare.

I used a water based stripper on the fretboard to remove the varnish that had been painted over it in its entirety. 
 

The stripper has been way more aggressive than I thought it would be, and has lifted the grain right across the fingerboard. It looks pretty horrendous…. and at this point I’m not sure where to go with it.

 I’m not defretting it and sanding it back, that’s way more involvement than I had planned….. although, it could use a refret….. sigh

Well I have a problem with regards to this…..

My amp, an old Ashdown ABM EVO 2 combo, is my sound. Absolutely love it whatever bass goes through it. However….. we live in an upstairs flat…. we rehearse in an upstairs rehearsal room……
 

It’s an issue 

Janek Gwizdala, afternoon workshop and evening gig last night in Nottingham.

Beautiful bass tone from the Mattison bass, and fascinating to talk pedals and techniques. Just a shame there weren’t more bassists at the workshop.
 

Such an amazing player, great night.

Just now, bassbiscuits said:

I literally have no idea what these ramps are - what are they used for?

 

Excuse my ignorance in these matters.

If you play with your fingers over the pickup, you get used to the feeling of the pickup beneath your fingertips. If you move in front of the pickup or between pickups, there’s a big hole where there’s no plastic to stop you. A ramp fills that hole, and gives a consistent distance under the strings all the way across it.

I think that whatever makes your instrument feel better to you, like a ramp or anything else, is absolutely a great idea. I must admit to buying a fret wrap, but as someone who pounds the roots and rarely goes above the 12th fret (in a live situation at least) I rarely use it.

Yep, I’m a ramp guy, I’ve made a few for my basses, including one for my fretless and one for my 5 string.

I find having one super comfortable, and, makes me play more consistently too.

The perfect bass. If I had the cash it would already be sold.

Thought I recognised that profile pic

Welcome back

Could be knockoff , the seller thought it was a Kay, but didn’t know. 
 

But, yeah I don’t mind either way, it’s a bit of fun, if it ends being playable even better!

1 hour ago, Bassassin said:

This is interesting! It's early/mid 70s & probably made by Sakai Mokko. Originally one of those Burns-inspired things & would've looked a lot like this:

 

 

These turn up (like loads of old MIJ stuff) with a bewildering number of names & variations, but there are Sakai-branded examples which 99% confirms the manufacturer. I expect (if you do refin it) you'll probably find the screwholes for the top horn scratchplate & quite likely the old finish under the red.

 

Looks like a cool project - for me the worst bit is the fretboard varnish which might take care to remove without damaging the binding. Frets don't look too badly worn & should tidy up OK. Do the pickups work? Not sure about these (never been hands-on with this type) but if they don't, it might be possible to re-use the chrome covers over replacements to keep the look.

 

I'd expect the original bridge (if you have it) will be a pretty crude 2-saddle job, so if you intend to us a more conventional replacement, check the string spacing/neck width. Not too sure about these basses but a lot of the earlier original-ish MIJ stuff has pretty narrow spacing.

 

Anyway, looking forward to seeing how this progresses!

Yep, there’s a new (old) two saddle bridge on the way. Which hopefully will fit, although it’s had a couple of bridges on it by the looks of things. It’s also had a bridge cover at one point, and, yes, I can see the covered holes where the upper horn guard used to be.

Yep, the pickups work, which is a bonus.

Its meant to be a fun thing, not a full restoration back to its original state. It’ll probably end up with flats or tapes on it, for a full on old school vibe.

Yes, I’m ok with most things, but getting into removing fretboards is beyond my abilities. The main goal is to get it to function at this point …… although, predictably, once you start, you open a can of worms!! Right now there are worms everywhere!

Just now, Dan Dare said:

 

No point. You've said what you think and so have I. 

I thought you might say that 

Interesting truss rod alterations 

A new “bullet” truss rod nut ordered. Which will mean the neck will have to be removed to alter it, but…. finding the correct one for a sensible price isn’t easy.