Obrienp

This was a problem with the Hipshot bridge on the first batch of Nordstrand Acinonyx. The official Nordstrand response on TB was to use Loctite medium (It comes in various strengths of lock). Other thread lock products are available! It could be a problem with how well cut the thread is on either the grub screw, or saddle. Replacements for both are available from various sellers on fleaBay for various types of bridge and outlets like Northwest Guitars.

Great review @Chienmortbb. The Monza, plus neutral amp, makes a great platform for pedals/effects. I guess the clue is in the FRFR label but it took me a while to really notice just how transparent it is.

Hadn’t heard of that one before but it’s probably happened to me without me realising. New set of D’Addarios too. I got to use it at a blues jam last night. People said it sounded pretty good through the provided backline (Ashdown EVO head and a 2 x 10). Lots of compliments on its appearance but amazement at the weight. Heavier than a 70s P bass according to some. A couple of fellow bassists suggested I drill out some of the wood, like Gibson do on the so called weight relieved Les Pauls. If I did this, I guess I would have to do it from the back and cover the holes with a veneer. I also wonder how it might affect tone and balance. Strikes me it might be easier just to look for an alternative body in swamp ash, or similar, without going as light as the Obeche.

True but I think the pickup alignment is pretty accurate under the G string.

OK, so I have finally, pretty well finished. Not entirely straightforward but not too bad as these sort of builds, or I should probably say, assemblies, go. Fortunately, I got the bridge in the right place, judging by the string alignment on the neck. Strings 1 and 4 both have a good amount of clearance all the way down the neck, so they are not going to slip over the edge if my fretting is a bit wild. Pickup alignment is not so good but I am blaming the pickguard I got hold of. I originally lined the pickups up so that the strings were dead in the middle of the pairs of poles. Unfortunately, when I came to fit the scratchplate, the cut outs didn’t line up at all. It would have required too much to be cut off to get the pickups in the ideal place: it would have left huge gaps, so I moved the pickups. I have seen worse alignment and it works fine but it upsets my sense of symmetry. This wasn’t the only issue with the scratchplate and it is a lesson not to buy the cheapest available on FleaBay. It is cut so tight that it barely covers the control cavity route and in its original position the jack socket would have made contact with the side wall of the cavity. I had trimmed a little off the neck cut to make it match the squared off neck heel (thus covering the gap between neck and body) and these few millimetres north gave enough clearance for the jack socket. Then I didn’t have a gap to get at the heel truss rod adjustment, so had to make a notch to get the tool in (not as neat as I would have liked). Final gripe about the scratchplate is that it is meant to be brown tortoiseshell but definitely looks red to me. My fault for going cheap! I have levered open my wallet and bought a Stew Mac Telecaster Truss Rod Adjustment Tool from a UK supplier on FleaBay at a reasonable price. I am really glad I did. It works a treat and only requires the smallest gap to get it located in the truss rod slot. It doesn’t look as professional as the much more expensive Hosco tool but it works. The important bit is that the bass sounds much more like what I expect from a Precision. Nothing like as bright as the SD ‘51 in the Obeche body but still with some growl. The G perhaps sounds a bit muted but I guess that is the Tone Rider pickup. I am happy with the action I have obtained as well. I did pop a bit of credit card in at the heel to shim it a bit, to compensate for the thicker baseplate on the Fender high mass bridge. That seems to have done the trick, so I now have a bit less than 3.5mm at the 12th fret on the bass side and it is rattle free. The only drawback to the overall package is that, if I ever decide to buy a boat, I have the anchor covered right here. A quick weighing session on the bathroom scales puts it at 5 Kg on the nose! That’s 11 whole Imperial pounds! That is at least 1.5 Kg more than my other basses. This is definitely going to be a bass for short jam sessions and back up at gigs. No way I can use this as a primary instrument for gigging, or even rehearsing.

My Mum made me have piano lessons: I wanted to play clarinet (it was the time of Stranger on the Shore). I hated it. Couldn’t get it. The piano teacher was called Mr Bassman: must have been a sign😀! He got so frustrated with me that he used to poke me in the ribs with his long bony fingers (probably be arrested these days). Anyway, my Mum eventually gave up and decided to save her money. I don’t know who begged more for the lessons to stop: me or Mr Bassman. The experience completely put me off playing music until I was about 13, when a confluence of a friends guitar and hearing the Stones, Led Zeppelin, etc, persuaded me that maybe it was worth having a go. I still expect everything that goes wrong to be my fault and I drive my band mates crazy by constantly apologising for my perceived imperfections! 🤣

What is the band called Keith? I’ll look out for you. Are you playing at the Necton Festival? I’m impressed that you have the capacity to notice what the rest of the band are doing and the overall sound. I’m normally too busy trying to keep from making mistakes myself but I do find it disconcerting on the occasions when I do notice other’s mess ups. Normally starts and finishes, which I think can make a band look really amateur. Although, as others have said, the punters rarely notice. Listening back to recordings can be painful though!

@Longwheelbass Can’t see the pics: says access denied.

Normally, if you don’t have the bridge grounded, there will be quite a lot of background noise from the bass, especially noticeable when you are not playing. Assuming that we are talking about a passive instrument: If you haven’t been getting noise (hum, plus picking up other sources of interference like your mobile polling), there is some form of hidden ground that you can’t see, or you are really lucky. If you are getting hum when your bass is connected to the amp and it doesn’t stop when you touch the strings, you don’t have a bridge ground. Although the standard split precision pickup set is meant to be hum cancelling, It is still best practice to have a bridge ground on passive instruments (to get rid of hum) but drilling the hole for the cable, from the control cavity to the bridge position, can be tricky. I did it yesterday and messed up first attempt. You need an extra long drill bit and because it doesn’t need to have a large diameter, it will flex. It’s tricky but well within most DIY skills. I would take the opportunity to shield the cavities (if they are not already) with copper tape, or graphite paint. That way you will end up with a really quiet bass. The pic is one I prepared earlier (including bridge ground cable).

A few suggestions depending on the eventual diagnosis of the cause: 1. If it is the machine heads causing the problem; Wilkinson lightweight tuners (Hipshot copies) are a direct replacement (even the screw holes align), are better than the originals IMO and cost not much. Available from the likes of Northwest Guitars, etc; 2. Bass Direct have quite a few medium scale strings from various suppliers and their pricing is keen for some brands; 3. Available from the above are Maruszczyk short/medium flats for around £30 (give or take). I really like them but it is down to taste. They do fit on a Mezzo: I’ve done it. The silks just clear the nut, so there is no chance of the wrapped part going round the capstan.

That’s the real Rock ‘n Roll lifestyle right there. Driving Rollers into swimming pools and chucking TVs out of hotel windows is very overrated!

Wish I had thought of that! Thanks, I will use that technique, if I have to move the bridge. Fingers crossed that I have got it close enough 🤞. I won’t find out until this afternoon, which is my first chance to work on it. There is going to be a slight delay because I am waiting for new supplies of cloth covered wire to arrive in the post. Sod’s Law in operation: it’s the only component that hasn’t arrived yet. Hoping to get it ready for a blues jam on Monday evening.

No it didn’t have one. I had to drill it with an extra long bit. It took me two goes. Unfortunately it is very flexible and obviously flexed in the wrong direction first attempt, breaking through underneath: rats! Something to fill and cover up. Annoying because I have done this before without making a mess. The second attempt worked fortunately. If you look at the second pic above, the black wire is the ground from the bridge.

@Gasman No words are going to be adequate but my deepest sympathies for your loss.

Thank you @PaulThePlug. That’s pretty well what I have ended up doing. This is how far I have got. Bridge now attached, so I hope I haven’t cocked up. It look alright to me but I will find out when the strings go on.

Thanks. Very pleased with it.

The G4M body arrived this morning, so this is the initial mock up. I am going to have to ease the sides of the pocket a millimetre or two to get the neck into it. I now see what you mean about the gap between neck and body only being about 3 mm. Somehow I had it in mind that it would be more significant. There is no drilling at all for the bridge in this body, so i have freedom to place it exactly where I want. That also introduces the dilemma of where the 17” inches from the 12th fret should fall on the bridge: half way along it, or more like a quarter along? By this I mean, should I allow an equal amount of fore and aft travel for the saddles, or more travel backwards? Also getting the bridge position centred looks a bit of a challenge. I have always had bodies that had mounting holes pre-drilled, or in the case of the 51 P body, it had been drilled for the through stringing. This enabled me to line up the bridge. Just as a general aside; I weighed the G4M body: 2.9Kg! I think this bass is going to be a bit of a boat anchor! Neck and machine heads weigh about 1.1Kg, then I would estimate around 0.5Kg for the rest of the gubbins. That’s about 4.5Kg, or 9lbs, 14oz! A real big boy bass and about 1Kg more than my ‘51 with the same neck.

Good point but he does seem to have achieved it. Might be coincidental I guess. Lower frets, less chance of rattle, so lower clearance possible? Maybe not. Strings are the same, so can’t be that.

NBD yesterday. Sire U5 fretless from Thomann. Quite a lot vested in this for me, as I sold two basses to raise the cash for this. Suffice it to say, it was worth it. So far I am very pleased with the little Sire. Others have reviewed the fretted U5 and as far as I can tell, this is identical save the black plastic inserts where the frets would normally go. It seems to be really well made for this price point. Fit and finish is spot on right down to the set up. It perhaps needs a bit more relief on the neck but that is easily fixed with a tweak of the truss rod. The neck has a lovely feel with beautifully rolled edges and an extremely thin matte coating on the back (gloss on the board). At the moment I can’t think of anything I would want to change on it. Even the OEM flat wound strings are good. They have a nice feel and suit the instrument well. I’m not sure what brand they are: not the usual D’Addarios, as they have blues silks at both ends and plain ball ends. Time will tell how the hardware lasts but it seems perfectly acceptable. The machine heads are identical to Northwest Guitars own brand vintage style, which are sold as an upgrade for Squiers, etc, so I am hoping they will last a bit. The bridge is chunkier than your average Squier ash tray and the ridged saddles are a nice touch. It can also be strung through. Unfortunately, it has an unusual screw at each corner mounting system, which makes upgrading a little less straight forward. As can be seen in the picks, it has a flamed maple top with edge binding and a plain painted brown back. It’s a carved top, which stops it from being a completely slab body. It gives it an arm contour of sorts but no belly cut. Viewed from the side the profile seems to do the reverse and actually bulge at the belly but it is comfortable on a strap nevertheless. Despite the maple top and binding it seems very light because the body is quite thin front to back. I haven’t had a chance to weigh it but I would guess around 7.5 lbs. I would certainly put this on your list, if you are looking for a short scale fretless. It is reasonably priced and nicely made. Bizarrely, it cost £40 more than the fretted version at Thomann.

Folks. I thought I would tie up the loose ends on this. I got my bass back today with the reprofiled neck. I had a couple of fitting sessions with Tony on the way, to make sure he got it right. I find this much more comfortable to play even though the nut width is now around 39mm, not quite as narrow as I had originally expected but it works. The rear profile is much more Jazz like up to about the ninth fret and then starts to flatten a bit. It has also been refretted with narrower and lower vintage style frets allowing the action be lowered a bit more. As per my request, the back of the neck is finished in 2 light coats of clear matte varnish. This doesn’t seem to react with the original nitrocellulose 🤞. All that work came in at around 2/3rds of the original quote for a new bespoke neck! On the subject of nut widths, it prompted me to measure the nut on my other basses. I was surprised how much it can differ from the published specs. My Nordstrand Acinonyx is 38.15mm against the spec of 36mm. My Maruszczyk Elwood (32”) is 37mm against the spec of 38mm (close). All Parts ‘51 precision neck on a bitsa 43mm (just about correct). The prize for manufacturing accuracy goes to my (new yesterday) Sire U5 fretless, which is spot on 38mm.

@dmccombe7 Lugging the PA doesn’t help! Fortunately we have gone down to using 2 column PAs, one of which belongs to me and the other to the drummer. I have also reduced the size of my rig: now down to either a BF Two10, or LFSys Monza and class D head, depending on the size of the gig. I do lug the monitors as well though. Congratulations on how well your glam band is doing. I would be overjoyed if we had that many gigs but I’m sure it has its drawbacks as well. I agree with you: if it becomes a chore then it’s time to walk away. At the moment I am the one who wants to go on playing when the others are looking at the clock and mumbling about having done our contracted time.

I feel like that. Less than 2 years to go and arthritis in my left hand is not getting any better. I will do any depping on offer and get very frustrated when the bands I am in don’t have gigs (like now). However, I did 5 gigs in 4 days in July last year and ended up in hospital. I was ill anyway but doing too much pushed me over the top, so I am trying to moderate commitments now.

Looks like you have done pretty well so far this year, judging on your posts! I haven’t had a gig this year in either of the bands I play in but that has more to do with various of us having medical issues and people taking trips abroad. Lack of communication on the other hand isn’t great. I wouldn’t jump ship though. If you really need cash, there must be plenty of other bands who would welcome an experienced bass player with existing commitments. Depping is also a good way to go IMO. You will probably have to learn new material and you get to play with other musicians, which is very rewarding (again IMO).