PlungerModerno

11 hours ago, Jimothey said:

Just a quick mockup of how it will look, I think it's gonna be a nice looking bass when finished...... 👍🏻 

(Hopefully 🤞🏻) 

I think the current headstock is nicer than the Warwick style one. But I'm partial to a little pointyness.

EDIT: I think the pickguard on the Red P body should be tort!

7 hours ago, Bigguy2017 said:

Have a look at the MM Old Smoothie - 5 pole pickup with 4 strings.

Excellent suggestion.

A suggested experiment: bend a string at or above the 12th fret and listen to the volume as it changes position over the poles. This will be more subtle on bridge pickups (hopefully, unless a string on a saddle or the whole bridge starts moving!).

1 hour ago, Si600 said:

I wonder if they'll do a custom order....

Or just left handed versions - so you could have a typical P in a lefty, or have a neck pickup single right next to the last fret!

EDIT: Depending on how they are made this could be as simple as rewiring the coils in a custom way, might even be a fairly easy mod reusing the existing switch, or it might need to be a custom built pickup and switch, which may not be doable close to the standard pickup cost, unless you order dozens of them.

If it sounds good, it is good. It's a musical instrument ain't it! 

Seriously though, you can have a bass with a pickup whose poles are directly under the strings and have issues with uneven volume across the strings. It's nice if it lines up, but it rarely does with any real precision.

1 minute ago, hooky_lowdown said:

Good luck trying to file down stainless steel. 🤣

Ceramic abrasives work on an SS penknife... but it's fairly slow.

Diamonds would be the way, given how cheap little sharpeners can be. I think some tile cutting blades for hacksaws etc. might even be an appropriate size and allow fairly good progress. Just expect to sweat with SS.  It's generally super hard.  Go with brass or fret alloy or something else a lot more workable if you can!

11 hours ago, Mutley said:

As title guys, just modding my Jazz and as the nut is white, if that really matters, just exploring the merits of either, went for plastic/synthetic on my P.  Any advantages to Bone over the other.

Cheers

Bone is biodegradable, if that is important to ya!

I think the cut of the nut matters more than the material, as long as it's not an extremely soft plastic (or wood) that wears out very quickly, and the open notes don't sound too weird vs. the fretted (or fingerboarded) notes it's fine. If it sounds good, and strings aren't popping out or binding leading to tuning issues, it's good!

If you have the choice a sufficiently dense material that is self lubricating is probably best. I know Tusq work grand, but there are a bunch of options that will work. Just beware of the hazards - some woods and plastics will act funny if filed or sanded and may easily melt or burn with powertools. The dust may also be dodgy to be around.

I posted this over here:

Couldn't resist posting it here!

15 minutes ago, binky_bass said:

@mhoss32 - Wishbasses are basically terrible lumps of driftwood that claim to be a custom bass! I was just having a little joke as you're bass is so far at the other end of the scale (wishbass being about a -236 on a scale of 1-10 on quality, and yours looking more like a 10, if not considerably higher!)

Can't wait to see yours finished! I'm quite jealous of your ability to build such a thing!!

You take that back, that plywood was never driftwood!

7 hours ago, JohnDaBass said:

One idea is to use a Jess Loureiro split '51 P ( wired in series)  to replace the stock Bronco Pup and add an EBO Humbucker in the neck position. Thus a BroncieWife 😂😂😂😂😂

I assume that's this: https://www.jlguitars.com/index.php?id_product=30&id_product_attribute=0&rewrite=p-bass-51-coil-split-tele-bass&controller=product&id_lang=8

I think that could be a great combo with the neck 'bucker.

What I'm hoping to do with the Lace pickup allows me to move it about before sticking it down (and move it around for different strings I switch out). Would it be worth suggesting... a BroncGrabbaWife?

I think assembling is a crucial stage of a build - all builds are assembled, but not all basses would be built by the person who assembles them (if you mean sawdust and solder and varnish/painting). 

The line I can't decide is between a mod and a build/assembly.

As I see it If you buy a bass and change the strings that's not a mod, but if you switch a pickup that is - not because a string change does any less than a pickup change to the instruments character (esp. going from a vintage pickup that has a slight hum to a hum-cancelling but excellent tonal match pup, vs say going from Labella brand cables like James Jamerson flats to MK fleather light Rotosounds spankerinos for example). It's because of the "getting stuck in" factor.

I salute all my brothers and sisters that get stuck in, whether it's just music that you're making or mountains of sawdust and shavings!

Why not a short scale "Wife" style deely:

It would mean routing for a traditional mudbucker... I was thinking about getting one of these for a P bass: https://lacemusic.com/products/lace-ultra-slim-acoustic-bass as an alternative to routing and to see if I prefer it in the neck vs. the bridge position.

10 hours ago, Si600 said:

Or any power tool? If your hands haven't directly controlled the speed and direction of the blade on the wood... Or chewed it from solid with your own teeth.

It's certainly a topic into which far more can be read than should I fear 😉

Hang on, we'll have our seasoned timber in a matter of years!

6 hours ago, DarkHeart said:

Not everyone has a fully stocked workshop unfortunately or even the space to put one,  I`m one of those that just assembles, having said that I`m a happy assembler. 😀

Indeed. Some have only a screwdriver and a borrowed soldering iron!

3 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

It's the bridge positions.  There's been a bit of cumulative creep that has put the strings too offset towards the treble side.

Normally, that wouldn't really need sorting, but you have to remember that these pickups are two rows of two side by side coils.  In that it is fixable, that the fix can be invisible and relatively straightforward, I'd rather sort it

A less honest luthier would never draw attention to those inevitable issues that occasionally crop up. Best of luck, may the fix go smoothly.

What a lovely bass. Thanks for taking us along with you in it's creation.

2 minutes ago, Jimothey said:

The timber is from an old conservatory roof joist...... 👍🏻 

Who knew what was hiding in that joist all those years! Reclaimed timber can be amazing stuff. I think Spector did a run with Redwood from old water tanks in NYC a few years back, great way to add a story to the instrument!

Really puts me in mind of one of these:

Cool bass. Normally I'm not that keen on pearloid but it goes with that tinted finish very well. Matching headstock is a lovely touch. Does it have the same strings as your other bass? I would suggest giving the pickups a chance with a similar set as on the ACG before you make up your mind!

1 hour ago, itu said:

The picture is cropped, so I suppose there is a bridge? That kind of a system moves the string so much that fine tuning would be next to impossible. Status, Steinberger and all others using double ball end strings have similar bridges.

How about Phil Kubicki Ex-Factor:

41 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

You need to look at all the photos in the link provided in the OP for this system to make complete sense. 

I was struggling to see how this worked for both tuning and intonation adjustment, and why the "return" on the string didn't interfere with it until looking at the other photographs I realised that these are just the tail-pieces and there is a completely separate bridge that goes with the system.

Yup there's a bridge in that implementation, a slightly longer sleeve/tube and you could easily add a side-clamping set screw or front adjustment screw and a saddle (I say easily, it would be fairly detailed to make it easy to access in such a tiny footprint in single saddle form. I think a separate saddle assembly or individual saddles may be a better overall approach, depending on what you're after of course.

@itu - the Kubicki solution is like the NS Design solution. I like the angle of the tuning knobs more, at least to look at, but it has a lot of the same issues (availability, how to vary string spacing, routing requirements). Other than that it's a beast of a bridge with a fanbase it's clearly earned.

@BigRedX Yup the single pic is quite confusing. I added it in an edit lol.

2 hours ago, Jimothey said:

New body is cut and sanded, I've given it a quick wipe of danish oil to see how the grain will look and after reading @Andyjr1515post re finishing to see if I've missed any sanding which I have on the lower horn!

I think it will look good with the contrast of a maple fretboard?.......👍🏻 

 

I think it'll work just fine with a tinted or bright plain maple fb. I think it might look odd with a darker tinted or roasted maple, but I would need to see the shade to know. I would be shocked if you roasted the assembled neck, but there's a first time for everything

Personally I like the knot near the lower horn, adds a bit of extra character, but I know they've done wooden pickguards if you want more inspiration:

This thread is probably relevant here: 

Although it focuses on the P vs. reverse P in it's middle/neck role - I imagine it's an even bigger difference in the bridge position, since you're moving each half of the pickup so much farther in proportion to the "speaking length" of the string (from the saddle to the sensed area of the string).

Killer slap tones. What Status is legendary for. Sounds great overall, but very bright & biting/aggressive with those rounds. 

Nice playing, really nice timber in that top!

20 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Once you have a template - it will be no more fiddly really to rout (obviously machines do it now) and popping and wiring one in won’t be much more hassle either

True, certainly not enough more fiddly to pay for the extra feet of copper wire and the extra poles in each pickup. I suspect one of the upsides of the brass plate was less broken solder joints when assembling on the clock!

Check this out for a flipped & reversible P pickup, in the bridge position no less!!!

24 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

I think I've read that not having the patent on the humbucker was the cause

Ah. That makes more sense. The split P is more fiddly to assemble and set up quickly on a production floor and there are other downsides (more complex shape to route etc.).

I'm not sure where to post this really: http://www.sankeyguitars.com/whatsnew/2018/10/1/new-invention-wrap-lock-headless-tuner It's from a few years ago, and the examples are all guitars - but I can see it working with tapered or exposed core bass strings without scaling it up significantly. Not sure if it would be that useful on most basses with all wound strings but a piccolo bass or a six string (or more) with plain strings might benefit immensely over some of the standard set screw arrangements.

I think I might have stumbled across a possible path to tool-less headless single-ball-end string changes, if only you could implement a nifty automatic clipping system like some locking tuners have!

Does anybody know of something that exists that does all this singing and dancing? The closest I can think of is the  NS Design Self-Clamping Tuning System which you still will want to clip the strings for - even if it was on the market as a bridge seems like a lot of routing, forces a certain string spacing, and would not allow for rear or other interesting, shrouded or angled tuner arrangements due to the tuning knobs being where they are (like a volume knob, 90 degrees from the usual headless arrangement, parallel to the strings).

2 minutes ago, LeftyJ said:

The pickup positions Leo Fender chose are actually very carefully thought out, they're exactly at harmonic knots of the open strings. They don't call it the sweet spot for nothing 

https://youtu.be/4o36OqL-JO4

Thanks for reminding me of this.