kodiakblair

13 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Yes, that sums how I feel about this up pretty good.

So you feel like a can of Gammon ?

I suggested the can as a substitute drawing aid for those not owning a French curve set. Thread is concerned with how you reshape a peghead; the why has no relevance .

Last time I bought any vinyl was the late 80s. Of the 10 CDs purchased this century, 6 are still in the wrapper.

Can't stand the radio, the drivel spoken by presenters drives me up the wall. No streaming services either.

I've an MP3 folder in the PC and a duplicate flash drive in the car, those 998 files are more than enough for the rare times I listen to music now.

14 minutes ago, Beedster said:

had no idea this was such a well trodden path 👍

It is with me, apart from from my headless slab body, most of my builds get the 51/Telecaster peghead 🙂

@Beedster

6 maybe 7 years back reshaping the Harley Benton PB-50 peghead was a popular thing. I'd done a few and when the peghead topic popped up would send those interested BC members templates.

The original templates I knocked up were like this, for routers, a bit OTT since I learned none of the BC folk had routers 😀 

A quick rethink  saw the printed templates stiffened with vinyl floor tiles from the £1 shop, I used vinyl in my "Reshaping Peghead" thread.

Vinyl is much easier to trace around.

Prep work is a doddle, stick printed PDF to tile, score and snap straight lines using a ruler and craft knife. Curves can be cut freehand or you could use a 'French Curve' set.

Don't fancy freehand but no French Curve set ... handy alternatives.

An aerosol can is great for the tighter curves, while the large Ye Olde Oak Gammon Ham tin is perfect for the longer curves.

1 hour ago, tauzero said:

But the mono saddle blocks need moving

You don't move the actual unit, just the string height blocks.

There's not a great deal of sideway room in the slot, flat file to the block's edge solves that.

It's the method I used on my T-40 5 string conversion. Whole process takes about 30 minutes, that's including removing material from the bottom for lower action.

4 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

String spacing is much less than 18mm. Excellent basses otherwise.

Bridge saddle blocks can moved on earlier models with mono saddles.

Later models shipped with Sung IL BB285 bridges, spacing on those is fixed at 18mm. 

I've one of those, obviously mine wasn't owned by Mr Wetton 😄

Great basses GLWTS

On 29/04/2023 at 13:44, Gardenerben said:

Looking forward to your suggestions. Cheers

Peavey Grind ticks all your boxes.

Control cavity on the back has ample space should you wish active EQ, pickup cavities accept EMG 45s.

Probably pick one up for £250 tops.

Ebonol.

Wore roundwound for the past 35 years, very little evidence of marking. I'll take ebonol over ebony every time.

On 28/04/2023 at 06:42, Beedster said:

Anyway, back to the question! Anyone used a spindle sander to fo this?

Apart from there being absolutely no reason to, you'd be at it forever.

You have the pencil and template, mark outline on the back of the peghead.

Take a pullsaw or hacksaw and cut away the meaty bits, don't try and cut curves; just a series of straight cuts getting closer to the outline.

Clean away the peaks with a flat file then sandpaper smooth.

Whole task takes about 15 minutes.

1 hour ago, Phill said:

This was mine for a few months

I'd have worn a disguise too 👍

1 hour ago, Ritsugamesh said:

It's somewhere between 83-85 based on the serial number. 

Nice.

Went Fender shopping in Denmark St summer of 85.

After playing 8 meh Fenders, I tried a Hard Puncher 🙂 Cracking bass, the the others to shame.

1 minute ago, Waddo Soqable said:

They'd put whisky in it, so gots to be an improvement.. 

Naw.

The alcohol evaporates so you're still left drinking crap coffee.

2 hours ago, nilorius said:

What would You choose

My choice would be a pine 51 slab body P-bass but resale for such a niche model would be difficult so I'd go for "Fender Cliche".

Cliche would go up for sale, I'd build my own pine slab then take a holiday with the change.

"Master Built" was around £5.5k, even if I went daft my build wouldn't cost more than £600 so it'd be a bloody good holiday 😀

5 hours ago, tegs07 said:

They are just expensive when compared to instruments produced in low wage countries that don’t have to factor in workers rights such as health and safety, pensions etc.

By law Chinese and Indonesian workers must have a contract after 12 weeks.

They're also legally entitled to severance pay, medical ,sick pay, maternity leave (also paid for a miscarriage) and paid leave for family funerals. These are benefits beyond the ken of most factory workers in the USA.

In truth workers' rights are pretty poor in the US and as @Woodinblackmention business actively looks for ways to avoid them. The reason Gibson moved their factory from Kalamazoo to Nashville was 'workers' rights'; Kalamazoo had a union whereas Nashville is in a non-union 'Right to Work' state.

3 hours ago, stingrayPete1977 said:

There was a lot of stigma regarding the working conditions a few years ago but I've not heard much lately, it's that still a thing?

It was more than a stigma.

Cor Tek's 2007 closure of their Korean factories caused a major uproar. They were cleared of any 'wrongdoing' in 2012 but corruption claims lingered, the judge who cleared them was later arrested and the Korean president was impeached. Sacked workers ended up being compensated but it took 12 years. 

2 hours ago, tegs07 said:

Bearing in mind labour costs are the main reason USA basses are more expensive. It’s a big reason why nobody wants to pay for them.

Are USA labour costs  high when you look at the big picture ?

When FMIC had 360 staff they were knocking out 360 units per day. Zhunyi Shenqu are an Ibanez builder in China, 600 staff producing 600 units per day.

The Cort and Samick factories in Indonesia have similar ratios of workers-guitars/basses. Roughly 1 instrument per staff per shift.

$200 labour + $200 parts/materials from a $1500 - $1800 makes for very happy investors.

Last time I looked G&L were paying $19, which fits nicely towards their $2k average retail.

EBMM buck the trend, their going rate is $16.50 against an average $2500 to $2900 retail.

Most US production line instruments are expensive because the bosses know Americans will pay the price.

On 08/04/2023 at 12:18, tegs07 said:

Google suggests average US Fender salary is $56,000.

Lazy research on Googles part 😄

Fender careers do list $56k as top whack at Corona but the small print tells applicants that's its unlikely they'll receive it,  screen grab is from today's 'factory floor' vacancy page. 

Rate for 'guitar inspector' is lower, $26.6k to $48.9k.

$18.50 to $20 per hour might appear great compared to the $6 earned by Chinese factory workers but loses the glamour when you consider cost of living.

Average costs in the USA are between 75% and 80% more expensive than even places Shenzhen.

If you do a search on TalkBass, there's a fella called 'kohanmike' has built a few.

He's part of a Uke ensemble, has 54 bass ukes in classic guitar/bass styles.

To save you searching here's a link 👍

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/sub-short-scale-talk.644956/page-92#post-27365955

They're called 'O ring' guitar knobs, about £3 each on eBay. 

Hold off ordering for a couple of days, I should have a set in the spares box 👍

I picked up a J&D short scale P-bass for £50, course that was 2nd hand ; twice that from DV 24/7.

DV have more shorty options than G4M or Thomann so maybe have a look there.

Nice enough wee bass, pity I'm not a fan of short scale basses .

11 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Why? Is the position of the strings a mystery before the neck is mounted? Pretty sure I could take a wild stab at where they are supposed to go even without bolting it to a body (although seeing some fenders, maybe I am wrong).

Aye, it's a load of nonsense.

The 'may require work to fit' is a standard disclaimer carried by most aftermarket neck sellers but there's no reason for an uncut nut.

This is a CNC machined product and pre-cut bone nuts can be bought, its a simple case of setting the nut slot depth to suit the string slots. 

3 hours ago, Beedster said:

A Fender US quality bass can easily be built for £500-£600, Custom Shop quality for £1000, and that’s a new prices for the parts, shop around in eBay and here and it can be done much cheaper 👍

I'm with you every step going down this road 🙂

2 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Definitely plays a fairly big role,

Not 'fairly big', it's the main factor.

There's almost £500 between an AllParts/Mighty Mite and a Fender replacement neck yet they're produced the same way and carry the same "may not fit/might required work" warning.

'Crafted in Corona' is a nice way of saying where the CNC machine is located 🤣

FFS, £679 and you still need to cut the nut slots 🤬

4 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

I’ve seen the almost perfect spec neck for less than I could buy the neck blank for, from a brand with a reasonable reputation 

Have I picked you up wrongly and you're talking a fully finished neck for less than a blank ? If so, where are you looking to buy blanks from ?

Alistair Reid in Glasgow sells 39" PAS 22 x 100 hard maple blanks for £19. Vist a timber merchant and you'd be half that, OK it'd need dressed but it's not a huge task.

Most expensive blank G&W sell is Wenge 50 x 110 x 990 at 55€, you could get 2 blanks from a chunky bit like that. Standard hard maple is €19 🙂

 A 2 way TR and stainless steel fretwire would cost you 16.50 from Alistair, double that from G&W.

Reid's fretboards start at £6 for maple rising to £33 for blackwood, G&W run about 50% more but have a huge selection. 

https://www.reidtimber.co.uk/guitar-blanks

https://guitarsandwoods.com/

2 hours ago, la bam said:

 

Does such a thing exist?

Look no further than the Tone Monsters from Guitar Fuel.

http://www.guitarfuel.com/home.html

Ty has 2 styles with 5 or 6 options for each. Preamps can run on 9v or 18v. 

Absolute doddle to install, connect pickups. Not as affordable as when I bought my first unit, £40 maybe 7 years back, might be double that now.

eBay store has no provision for UK customers, just message him and he'll sort it out.

To hear them in a variety of basses, jump on YT, Johnny Lee Long installs them in just about everything.

edit.

Stereo jack socket comes prewired on every version.