apa Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 So heres Rosie Originally a Vintage Stingray Copy. Modifications: Replaced Fingerboard with Ebony - machined from blank Rosewood Neck binding with Brass dot inlays Scratch built Brass Nut Head veneered in Rosewood Body resprayed black including originally black rear cover to match Scratch built scratchplate with Rosewood veneer and Boxwood binding All hardwear and Pickup is stock Wilkinsons. As always there are a few things I would do differently but its all a learning process There are a few flaws too especially around the edge of the scratchplate and the base colour is coming through on the back Grrrrr. She went together and played straight off with just a quick shim of the neck to compensate for the lack of frets. BUT she doesnt sound right!! Originally I could get an ear pearcing twang form the maple fretted and roundwound set up but now with the Ebony fretless and GHS bright flats (Ground wound) (Which are lovely to play and much nicer than the half round rotos Ive tried) she's dull as dish water!!!! But Im not putting it down to the change in fboard so much. It seems more a pup issue. The output muffled and sounds like its coming through a MW radio. A bit of tweeking of the korg helps but its not right. Hmmm very odd. A new pup and preamp min order I think Anyway...... heres the pics with a 'before' for comparison. ALL comments, good or bad , welcome......................... [attachment=77814:full_fnt.JPG][attachment=77823:body_fnt.JPG][attachment=77816:fingerbd.JPG][attach ment=77818:body_side.JPG][attachment=77817:head.JPG][attachment=77821:neck_side.JPG][attachment=77819 :full_back.JPG][attachment=77820:body_back.JPG][attachment=77822:the_before.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Have you checked that your "hot" wire from the pup isn't shorting out to earth somewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apa Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 (edited) They are no where near each other. There are two wires. A thick one and a thin one. Now when I took it apart i did make a note of it but lost it. I do remember there the connections where and its pretty obvious. The thick one was to the vol pot body (You can see where the old solder was) and the thin one (Im assuming the hot wire) was to a white wire coming from the preamp. A Edited April 18, 2011 by apa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 That's some beautiful bass! I'm pretty sure I still have somewhere documentation to the effect that you were willing to send it to me for very little Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XylemBassGuitar Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 [quote name='apa' post='1203550' date='Apr 18 2011, 06:21 AM']They are no where near each other. There are two wires. A thick one and a thin one. Now when I took it apart i did make a note of it but lost it. I do remember there the connections where and its pretty obvious. The thick one was to the vol pot body (You can see where the old solder was) and the thin one (Im assuming the hot wire) was to a white wire coming from the preamp. A[/quote] It does seem more like a p/u problem. Have you done a lot of soldering before? Maybe one of the solder joints is cold (i.e. the solder/parts didn't make a good bond)? Did you have to heat any of the parts a little longer than usual? It's possible to damage electronics with the heat from a soldering iron. Also, how well did the new fretboard glue to the neck? Got any tiny glue lines between the two or is the joint invisible? By the way, I really like the look of the bass after your mods! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 looks really good - again! Is that fingerboard a veneer or did you de-bond and replace the entire board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apa Posted April 23, 2011 Author Share Posted April 23, 2011 [quote name='XylemBassGuitar' post='1208551' date='Apr 22 2011, 07:02 PM']It does seem more like a p/u problem. Have you done a lot of soldering before? Maybe one of the solder joints is cold (i.e. the solder/parts didn't make a good bond)? Did you have to heat any of the parts a little longer than usual? It's possible to damage electronics with the heat from a soldering iron. Also, how well did the new fretboard glue to the neck? Got any tiny glue lines between the two or is the joint invisible? By the way, I really like the look of the bass after your mods![/quote] Thanks XylembassGuitar Im pretty good with a soldering iron even though its been a few years. Ive double checked for dry joints and no I was pretty quick with the soldering. There were two connections. The only one that could have caused damage was the earth to the pot body. Its all a bit academic now since Ive splashed out on a Symour Duncan MM replacement pup and preamp As for the finger board. Erm well OK I admit the bonding wasnt the best One side was not very well glued at all so I filled it with glue and filler. However She plays so well, very low action shes worth the electrics replacement. You can hear the 'Good sound' through the mud of the old pup so Ill get back to you when I fit the new one. A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apa Posted April 23, 2011 Author Share Posted April 23, 2011 [quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='1208624' date='Apr 22 2011, 08:23 PM']looks really good - again! Is that fingerboard a veneer or did you de-bond and replace the entire board?[/quote] Thanks A' Mariner Its a replacement. The old one was machined off. I got a blank piece of ebony and machined a 11" rad. (I do have a short vid of this). Then glued it onto the neck (sort of, see above reply). It was machine trimmed back then the rosewood binding and brass side dots put on. A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apa Posted April 23, 2011 Author Share Posted April 23, 2011 [quote name='mcnach' post='1207565' date='Apr 21 2011, 09:39 PM']That's some beautiful bass! I'm pretty sure I still have somewhere documentation to the effect that you were willing to send it to me for very little [/quote] Thanks Jose (again! ) Im pleased with her Erm documentation? Im sure it was a typo So Proove it A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 [quote name='apa' post='1209241' date='Apr 23 2011, 03:31 PM']Thanks Jose (again! ) Im pleased with her Erm documentation? Im sure it was a typo So Proove it A[/quote] you'll hear from my lawyer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.