dazza14

Sanded and shaped, just need to add the string 'grooves' so lots of measuring and remeasuring in store for me...

This time I positioned the template horizontally to the grain (stupid mistake on the last one going vertical...).

I then cut the basic shape - note it's been cut over-sized again - with a basic position for the 'O' holes.

Then I had to remove the stain from the wood.

.... Take two!

After having a conversation regarding the bridge from an Allegro eub I decided it might be a safer bet to design the bridge with stability in mind. So here is Mk2.

Yeah, the grain was running down the cuts rather than across - naive mistake - I won't be making that mistake again on Mk2...

I've got a week in the sun coming up so I'll no doubt ponder the matter but I've been told wood is available so I might be taking a trip to my local tool shop to drool over some better tools.

Oh my... I love these basses.

And then.....

I'm using this as an example of dodging a bullet - much better to break now than with the strings running across it. 

Next step is to get some more wood and start over with a new, improved, design... still a pain in the donkey though.

Ok, update from the weekend...

Managed to drill holes for the 'wings' and cut a rough line from the hole to the outside (the photo was taken prior to the sand papering).

My band have been recording at a local studio where the software being used is 'Studio One'. The sound engineer fella is really a hobbyist so recording the stuff is fine but mixing it down is something he is less experienced in but he's mentioned he can export the files to anybody with the same software so it can be fiddled with (improved).

Does anybody here have the software/skills/inclination to do this?

I have Innovation Honey's!!! What are the chances?? 

When I got my HB I read a load of forums and watched a few YouTube videos of the home improvements that can be done to them, the rubber strip under the bridge, a stress-relief ball under the tail and they all seem to work, it started off with a metallic sound but now it has a nice thump to it.

But the bridge was too low and had a horizontal crack which, apparently was fine given that the crack was being compressed by the string tension, but I often looked at it with concern so it was a second reason to fit a new one. 

I paid £225 for mine so spending an extra £120 is something I'm trying to avoid... I'm hoping to get mine fitted by the end of the week. I just need to cut the 'wings' and grooves for the strings.

A bit of extra sawing, carving and lots of sanding this weekend has resulted in this.

You can clearly see the saw marks on the angled side but, like I said before, I've made it a few millimetres over-sized so it should sand out. 

A slightly better angle to see my intended route with the coping saw...

Lovely basses, I've owned;

1 x vintage white P bass

2 x fretless Jaco J bass

1 x roadworn P bass

each one I've sold and, aside from the white P, I've regretted selling. Would love the roadworn one back, that brute was a slim-necked whore of a bass.

The EUB has a flat bridge position so I've used the flattest part of the wood to be the base.

Ignore the dodgy doodles on the wood (it's really to remind me which side of the wood needs the angle).

Because the wood is bloody hard wood it's taking ages to cut so I'm having to do it in two axis, so I cut horizontally to the desired depth and then I cut 2-3mm vertically to remove the wood in stages. It's slow going but it puts less pressure on the saw blade and feels like I'm getting more done.

BTW I'm using a combination of a wood saw and a coping saw and everything is being cut slightly over-sized so I can sand it back to a nicer finish afterwards.

Photo's so far....

This is the original piece of wood - sourced from a mate of mine who is currently repairing some hard wood flooring at his fathers house - and the template taken from the existing bridge.

I couldn't find one. I found a company in Germany selling like-for-like ones but the price was just under half of what I paid for the bass.

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

Leave enough room for everyone. Sounds simple and obvious but I turned up late one night and the guys had already set up. . .  and left no space for the bass at all! They just looked blankly at me when I asked where they expected me to go, and then got a bit ratty when I told them all to move up to make room. What a bunch of idiots!!

I don't like to be early to a gig, if we're starting at 9pm I like to arrive at 8pm but in a previous band people arrived at 6:30pm and would setup leaving me no rom at all and my setup is small. Had years of it... now I'm in a smaller band so I get more space to move into but my 'tardiness' remains.

Been playing my cheapo Harley Benton/Palatino EUB for the last year or so but the G string has always sat too close to the fretboard for my liking - it doesn't touch the neck but it makes fingering a little difficult at times - so after adjusting the bridge height and using a 'spacer' to raise it without putting total trust in screw threads I've decided to take the plunge and craft a new one.... 

Armed only with simple tools and a basic knowledge of woodworking I've set about it with gusto. How it turns out, I've no idea, I keep reminding myself that the worst case scenario is I'll simply refit the current one so nothing wasted except time and, if recent sawing skills are anything to go by, a few sticky plasters.

I'll post pics when I get them loaded.

My former band played classic 50's rock n roll and during the interval I got chatting to a young couple at the bar who asked why we decided to play the "oldies", after a few minutes she asked if we played any Pet Shop Boys... 

I simply replied "ummmmm...." and hoped her fella would correct her. He didn't.

4 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

I tried very hard getting into Ziggy Stardust and thought I might be a bit gone in the head as all my mates liked it. Many decades later I still don't like it. Also agree with you about Heroes.  I bought the lead single, with V 2 Schneider on the B side., which I played to death. I bought the album on the strength of this but should've just stuck with the single. Low on the other hand still sounds good to me after all these years. His best after Station.

I may need to retract my earlier statement, I'm listening to Low as I write this and it's changing my mind... I always like 'Warszawa' but other tracks have stuck their heads up to be admired too....

Perhaps I should look at 'Heroes' again too....

My one is 'Heroes' by David Bowie - actually you could throw 'Low' into that as well - I just have never got into those albums and I love Bowie. After his death there was a top ten albums of his to listen to - on the BBC website I think - and I read through them thinking yeah that's good, agree with that and that then it got to the top three which went #3 Ziggy Stardust, #2 Heroes, #1 Hunky Dory and I felt such shame.

Some bands I know I just won't like (based on the singles) so I've avoided albums by music giants Stone Roses, Nirvana, Led Zep and Oasis.

I had one of these, bought mine new in 1994 (for the tidy sum of £139), with the same white pickups, headstock shape and it was a hefty bit of wood. Came in a era-typical metallic 'aged' white... ah, they were innocent times...

PM about to be sent....

A few years ago I visited Dawson's Music in Reading and tried a bunch of (at the time) newly released Jaguar basses by Squier. I tried one with a P/J configuration, a short scale, a Troy Sanders sig and one with a single humbucker. Which I thought played really well and was a nicely priced bass. 

Squier have since discontinued this certain model and they hardly ever appear on here or e-bay for sale so where have they all gone?

Did they sell in such small numbers that no-one owns them or are the owners so happy with these basses that they're keeping hold of them??

I saw one on Gumtree before Christmas that had lost an argument with a belt sander, but these things are rare but I thought they were nice basses.

Any owners out there??

Oooooooh love it!

Currently;

Charles Mingus - Blues and Roots

Ray LaMontagne - Trouble

Bob Marley - Survival