Andyjr1515

Sounds lovely, @ped.

The new neck looks the business, @ped . Ref the old neck, personally, I would take the tension off the trussrod to avoid the possibility of a permanent back bow setting in over storage time...

I have to say, that shiny neck does look the absolute dog's wotsits!! If you can get one/get one done like that, I'll be well impressed

Laser engravers are stunning bits of kit. And this is a stunning use of a laser engraver. 5 gold stars and smiley face - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wow!!! That is superb. And I struggle to get my head around how your did it. Lovely work generally, but that feature is a 'knock out of the ball park' jobee. Bravo!!

I would second @neepheid in terms of Artec's 'bang for the buck'. I can't think of any Artec product I've used or fitted that hasn't hit way above its weight and I've certainly used their lipstick pickups in my own guitars in the past.

Yes, absolutely. As @Hellzero says, small changes in the angle of the neck make a significant change to the action height. The Amazon link that @Hellzero puts on of the full-pocket tapered shims is also spot on.

It doesn't have to be. Accepting that any mod, good or bad, will reduce the resale value, then if the bass is potentially a keeper but you just want to make it more comfortable to play by taking some weight out of it - then you could do it from the back (upper horn, lower horn, either side of the neck run) without overly upsetting the balance and just leave the back with open chambers. It's a bit 'horses for courses'.

Be aware, by the way, that the amount of material you have to remove to make any tangible difference to the weight can be surprisingly high! You might find this thread for a very heavy Harley Benton I did a few years back for @Harryburke of interest:

Provided that you don't weaken the bridge area, it is unlikely to make any perceptible difference to the sound. And even those cases where the mods are so extreme that it does make a difference to the sound, it is just that - a difference, not a detriment. So, unless the bass is absolutely the best sound that you've ever experienced regardless of make, cost, type...then go for it. A bass that is too heavy is a bass that doesn't get played very often - if at all...

...and I'm assuming you don't have any proper nut files @Skybone The correct answer is 'take it to a guitar tech' but, if you are willing to risk having to do that anyway if it all goes wrong : What I would personally do for a bass - if my precious files got stolen on just the day I needed them - is: - use the new strings themselves as the nut file formers. This is tricky for a G string but, happily, you don't need to do that one - make a sharp thin pencil mark along the bottom of the nut slots - wrap a small piece of some 320-ish grit paper around the string - a half-loop only - hold the paper tight on the string with thumb and finger of both hands and gently file the slot back and forth - be patient...105 to 135 is quite a change - change the sandpaper from time to time - check the string fit without the sandpaper wrap from time to time to see the progress or lack of it - as soon as there is ANY sign that the pencil mark is being sanded away, STOP!!!! Be aware that properly slots are angled down a touch towards the headstock so that it is the very front edge of the slot that is the highest point. You may need to follow this angle as you sand if you find that the string is riding high at the back edge of the slot.

It was certainly an interesting veneer! This is how the final thing came out:

Most kind...but does Andyjr1515 know his epoxies from his onions?? Jury might be out

Well, the worst thing is if there is any area with not enough...that patch will bubble and raise with the moisture of atmosphere/subsequent finish spray/etc. You will be sanding the joint line in any case to use the epoxy in the joint to blend the veneer/joint/original finish, so a bit of squeeze out isn't the end of the world assuming that this is intended to be sprayed afterwards in any case.

With luck, your Jazz body would come out of the vacuum bag a bit like this: Then, ALWAYS cutting across the grain and not along it, you use the curve of the body sides as your blade guide: After some careful sanding along the line, again, across the grain line and not into it, it should blend in pretty well:

I've never tried applying veneer with epoxy (if I was doing this, I would strip it all down to wood then use the PVA 'iron on' method I've described in a number of past threads. However, there are both advantages and disadvantages of this too so epoxy isn't such a bad thought). But, assuming this is the standard flat-topped Sire Jazz, to use epoxy, I would be tempted to use a vacuum bag (like skate-boarders use or folks who want to store quilts in their loft). - I would cut the veneer a couple of cm large all-round and use a decent medium set epoxy (I think I would probably use Z-poxy Finishing Resin). - the veneer I would use would be close-grained, non-figured (the figured will likely split in the process). - with luck, the vacuum will not only help you achieve the close, flat bonding, but also start to curve the veneer a touch round the edges - when set, the excess veneer would be cut off with a single-edged razor or scalpel (must be super-sharp) from the top laying the blade from the top and using the curve of the top to use as a 'summit' for the blade to have point-contact only - then I would sand along the line of the joint with a sanding block, starting with something like 240 grit and finishing with 320 or finer I'll try and find some old pics of some of the things I'm talking about

Yes - I do the same 👍

StringsDirect also sell Switchcraft barrel jacks.

Switchcraft in my experience. That said, barrel jacks are a difficult concept from an engineering and materials point of view and so even the best won't last as long as, say, a Switchcraft standard jack.

Oh yes - and remember the golden rule "Always tune UP to pitch" If you are sharp, detune past the note and then adjust back up. This ensures that any backlash in the tuners is eliminated and also ensures that the tension of the coils on the post is at a consistent level.

OK - my take. 1. As folks have said, where the silks end up is entirely up to where the string maker wound them to and how far the peg is away from the stop tail or stop tail part of the bridge. They will always end up the same distance from the peg once wound up to tune 2. The big no-no is not to have winds on the tuner riding up on each other...even a bit. If they do, it allows the possibility of the winds shifting in relation to each other and that could lead to tuning instability 3. The ideal is to end up - with all coils butted up to each other - having the exit of the last coil as near to the bottom of the peg as you can get (but without risking 2 above). This way, you maximise the break angle over the nut and - in the case of string trees - it applies less tension and friction onto the string tree 4. The actual distance to allow depends on how thick the string is and how thick/long the thin string leader is 5. In terms of the distance I cut to, I personally have a rule of thumb of a fingers-closed hand width past the far side of the post (which for me is 10cm/4"), but with the bottom E usually shorter in order to avoid 2 above. 6. If I am going to err on a 'safe side', I err towards longer and not shorter. If I've overcooked it, I have no problem loosening it, snipping a cm or so off the end and then rewinding it

Oh yes - definitely this...

Yes - I'm definitely phoenixed out nowadays for doing this sort of stuff (spirit willing, hands not) but the fantastic and innovative ideas folks come up with with modding still fascinates me. And I know how I would tackle the back wing if I was doing it. I would probably need to draw a sketch, but basically I would recreate the general shape and visual effect of the two beauties that @RonC pasted above by: - routing the top rear bout from the back of the body, halving the thickness. - shaping the existing edge to the shape of the transition I wanted. - cutting a piece of contrasting wood and route a mirror step so that it would slot in at back that I'd removed and shape that to the 'correct' shape of the rear bout - I would add a sliver of contrasting light maple for the witness line - Glue it in - Carve the bout to the correct profile No idea at the moment what I would do to correct the 'SG' spikes of the front cutaways...

Yes - it came out well...and sounded great! It was your 5er Sterling with the Aguilar P added. Very enjoyable project and satisfying result : If you are tempted, @fretmeister, I would say 'Go For It!'

It sounds to me like insufficient neck relief. Have you checked that you have tangible relief on those strings? Hold down the string on the 1st fret and the 15th and then tap the string at the 6th fret. There should be a small but perceptible gap. If the string’s hard down on the fret, then there is insufficient relief. With a Rick, there are particular techniques to adjusting them so, if the above is the case and if you aren’t familiar with them, best to report back here before doing anything yourself 🙂