kodiakblair

Admittedly guitar factory wages aren't high but it's hardly slave labour. If you're in the 'Land of the Free' and work for Ernie Ball you can expect $16ph, work for Fender in Corona and it's $18ph. For a comparison, the In-n-Out burger bar down the road from the Corona plant pays a starting wage of $22ph. It's just factory work so workers get factory wages. Over in Zheng'an, China the cost of living is 1/5th that of California but the guitar factory folks are on $4.5 - $5. There a few reason why bosses there pay a bit better. It's home to 130 guitar factories, if next door pays more you risk losing your workforce 🙂 If none of you offer OK money then you all risk losing your workforce to the big cities. Prior to the Guitar Park opening 25% of the county's migrant workers were in the big city guitar factories, keeping them happy and productive is now vital to the local economy. Exception to the $4.5-$5 rate is Zhang Weiyi. His place produces about 180 guitars per year but they carry $8000 price tags, he needs the cream of the crop for his work force 👍 South Korea has a higher cost of living than China but still much lower than the US. $9 - $9.25 is the going rate there.

Must have been something in the water last week, I spotted a Westone Thunder III listed for a mere £1400 🤣🤣🤣🤣

That headless of mine has the old Wilkinson SC, 62mm x 16mm.

Thankfully @Hellzero jumped in and saved me from burning out what few braincells I have left 🙂

I've a black one on this. Where I bought it though is a tough question to answer 😃

Had these 2. 158lb each and lived on 3rd floor, took a chainsaw to them when access to a skip came my way 🤣

About 30% less copper . Carey got his hands on some original 51 single coils, he picked the one he thought sounded best then reverse-engineered it. Fender aimed for about 6.3k ohm for the singles but being 'proper hand wound' the ladies played fast and loose with the spec, often going for "looks about right"; some are up at 6.7/6.8 k ohm while others are down around 5.7 k ohm. The Nord 51 is in that 5.7k to 6.7k range 6.3 k ohm is a fair drop from today's standard DCR. Duncan, Fralin, Lollar and the rest mostly go with 9k - 9.5k. I've plenty of singles in that 9k - 9.5k bracket but prefer a lower wire count, those Ali-Ex/eBay singles with their 6.8k ohm DCR fit the bill perfectly.

Been a few developments in the last 4 and half years. My monster Bloodstone is still around, had it in a custom build from last Summer. Few months later I swapped in the Herrick multi coil, nice enough but as always no drastic change. Both now reside in the parts box, replaced by the one below right. Stumbled across them on eBay/Ali-Ex while hunting for a Musicmaster pickup. Staggered pole came from eBay, seller (7th Songs) gives you various options for poles and string wrap. Cost £18 and is a very nicely built 'vintage' single coil, fibre flatwork/cloth push up wire/Alnico 5 magnets/ wax potted/ 6.8k ohm DCR and comes with foam pad, springs/tubing and both wood/machine screws. Raised pole for A threw string balance out, likely fixable by adjusting string height but the 2 saddle bridges I favour are limited in that respect. Flat pole model came from Ali-Ex (Shenzhen Finger Musical Instruments). Though I can't say for certain it and the staggered pole came from the same factory I'd take that bet, they're identical in every respect bar the poles 🙂 This one cost an astounding £10 inc VAT and shipping .

I'm not so sure about the "new" part. Thomann had these Harley Benton fanned fret 5b DLX basses out in 2016.

Had the same set of TI flats on one since 2014, silk on E clears the nut by 40mm. On the 2 I fitted 2 saddle bridges that silk clearance drops to 4mm with the TIs and 10mm with the Status Hotwire tapes.

Sorry that knot does nothing for me, I'd hide it under a solid colour. If I wanted au natural, I'd knock up a body from scratch.

Heat gun but I fear you're opening a can of worms. The poly is thick, really thick around the edges. 'Foto Flame' is glued to the body, removing it peels away a layer of wood below. The Lime/Linden below is not pretty, has fairly plain grain and you might find knots. I'd leave the finish be; fill the screw holes, give it a light sand then hit it with a "make paint stick" plastic primer. You'll have a much flatter durable base for your choice of colour.

Not really. The 'photo-flame' and thick poly top coat are there for a reason 👍

Last time I made up a varitone pot I just replaced the tone pot with it. Followed this from a boy on TalkBass.

Or just rub the logo off, it's only painted on 😃 Thread jogged my memory about this Revelation, really regret selling that one 😞

Much the same. Pickup shell discrepancies, loud AF, potential foam/shallow cavity issue. The output from Entwistle neos really is alarming 😁 My Peavey Ellefson sig came with a PJ set of Duncan QPs. Took a wee screenshot of an Audacity snippet. This was my other Peavey Ellefson Zodiac with the Duncans replaced by Entwistle PJ set.

Long time fan of Entwistle neodymium pickups. Loud AF, don't lose the mids and they don't have a stupid name designed to attract impressionable Americans 😁 I've fitted plenty of them over the years. Pickup covers too big. Covers can be swapped, you just pop them off. Either reuse the one from your old pickup or £3 from eBay 👍 Poles too long. Generally not an issue if you're replacing a ceramic mag pickup or as @Bassman68 mentioned use springs instead of foam. Should the pickup cavity be particularly shallow, you'll want a pencil, some masking tape and a drill. Masking tape goes in the cavity, rub the pencil on the bottom of the poles then press the pickup into the cavity. You'll have a line of dots showing where the poles will land, use the drill and make holes 🙂 Pickup will now drop in nicely and you won't have made the cavity any deeper.

China is home to 15 local varieties of Lime/Linden. Indonesia has 3 if my memory is playing fair. Mongolia has one, it's fairly widespread but is quite small ( 20ft to 30ft). Japan also has it own native Lime tree.

As with all families it's seldom you find two siblings exactly alike never mind cousins. Basswood is a softer lighter Tilia, average Janka 410 and 26lbs ft3. European Lime has average Janka of 700 and is 33lbs ft3. Guitar companies aren't stupid, they know that 99.9% of the general public see the word 'lime' and think of the citrus fruit and unless folk are familiar with Ancient Germanic warfare they won't have a clue about 'Linden'; it was used for shields.

Got ma fingers an toes crossed for you 👍

Morning Dave. Just nipping out for hour or so, will PM you with details when I get back 👍

Congratulations @JohnFitzgerald Stunning choice of materials, great design and top quality parts; you picked a fantastic project which allows Mark's skills to shine. That's an all-round winner 😎

Damn straight. I'm equal parts grateful for having the Wal and finding somebody with spare cash. Getting shot of it meant month's deposit for rented flat, that put an end to couch surfing and sleeping rough.

You did better than me. JG Custom, leather scratchplate so one of the first 50 Wal built. £250 cash and a beat to blazes Gibson SG. Later took £50 for the SG due to being on the bones of ma arse 😃 I've no wish to see the early 90's return 🤣