PlungerModerno Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 This is moving in the right direction . . . The awesome direction! Enjoy the build, and all the best with the bass. I am subbin'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted February 18, 2015 Author Share Posted February 18, 2015 [quote name='nugget' timestamp='1424211492' post='2693976'] I've used those connecters for work with sensitive measuring equipment and they work great. Really like this build, that body looks lovely, its going to be a cracking bass [/quote] [quote name='PlungerModerno' timestamp='1424211814' post='2693984'] This is moving in the right direction . . . The awesome direction! Enjoy the build, and all the best with the bass. I am subbin'! [/quote] Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted February 18, 2015 Author Share Posted February 18, 2015 I did a little online shopping today, I've ordered very cheap cream P bass pick-up covers, I can't decide if they will look cool or naff but for the sake of £3 it was worth getting them and seeing, I also ordered a roll of Aluminium tape to finish the shielding and a Dremel! the postman brought stickers and a PIO capacitor today. [attachment=184226:IMAG0694.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Work was a bit slow this morning so I decided I had to make a decision about the tuners, with that in mind I headed out to the garden with the Dremel and some small files to slightly reshape the tuners so they fit the headstock, well I say slightly, the G string tuner had to have one corner adjusted quite a bit, not idea I know but for me it was worth doing even if they look a little odd if you study them from the back. Pics of the back and front with everything held in place with masking tape or gravity. [attachment=184408:After Grinding 2.jpg] [attachment=184409:After Grinding.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 No one EVER studies machine heads from the back! They will be fine. I have a bitsa tele with some really car crash machine head placement on the back. I have never even given them a second look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 [quote name='owen' timestamp='1424440639' post='2696333'] No one EVER studies machine heads from the back! They will be fine. I have a bitsa tele with some really car crash machine head placement on the back. I have never even given them a second look. [/quote] Thank you for the reassurance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EliasMooseblaster Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 [quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1424441965' post='2696349'] Thank you for the reassurance [/quote] Yeah, if you hadn't told us that you'd had to cut them down, I probably wouldn't have guessed from those photos that they'd had anything done to them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 [quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1424443410' post='2696378'] Yeah, if you hadn't told us that you'd had to cut them down, I probably wouldn't have guessed from those photos that they'd had anything done to them! [/quote] Cheers, it one of those things isn't it, no one else notices but you always see it yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 [quote name='owen' timestamp='1424440639' post='2696333'] No one EVER studies machine heads from the back! They will be fine. I have a bitsa tele with some really car crash machine head placement on the back. I have never even given them a second look. [/quote] I agree too. Looks like you've done a pretty fine job with that Dremmel IMO Great solution - you keep the slightly tarnished / roadworn tuners and it didn't cost you anything I find I'm looking at this thread every day now! So come on - get a move on.... get those stickers in place! We want more progress Lol (said the man whose had a bitsa P build sat in a box in the garage for 2 months! Cheers again Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 [quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1424447478' post='2696434'] I agree too. Looks like you've done a pretty fine job with that Dremmel IMO Great solution - you keep the slightly tarnished / roadworn tuners and it didn't cost you anything I find I'm looking at this thread every day now! So come on - get a move on.... get those stickers in place! We want more progress Lol (said the man whose had a bitsa P build sat in a box in the garage for 2 months! Cheers again Marc [/quote] Thanks Marc, you should get on and do your bitsa bass to, obviously you'd have to do a build diary Back in the day when I did any mods or bitsa basses I tended to rush them and often messed something up, I've learned the hard way that I need a lot of thinking/research time before proceeding with any work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 [quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1424440280' post='2696326'] Work was a bit slow this morning so I decided I had to make a decision about the tuners, with that in mind I headed out to the garden with the Dremel and some small files to slightly reshape the tuners so they fit the headstock, well I say slightly, the G string tuner had to have one corner adjusted quite a bit, not idea I know but for me it was worth doing even if they look a little odd if you study them from the back. Pics of the back and front with everything held in place with masking tape or gravity. [attachment=184408:After Grinding 2.jpg] [attachment=184409:After Grinding.jpg] [/quote] looking good, you can't beat a bit of guerrilla engineering :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 [quote name='JPJ' timestamp='1424453872' post='2696550'] looking good, you can't beat a bit of guerrilla engineering :-) [/quote] I've not done anything as drastic before, when I started grinding the tuners the smell instantly took me back 35 odd years to Metalwork classes at school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 I don't have much time to work on this today as I'm off out soon but I have done some gentle matting down of the headstock and back of the neck using a medium synthetic wire wool pad, I wouldn't say it was relicing as such just toning down the shiny new look to the lacquer. One thing I'm not sure about is that the Rosewood fingerboard looks very new, it has a kinda grey hazy hue to it rather then the rich brown usually associated with this wood, I was wondering if there was anything not too expensive I could buy and apply to the wood to improve the look of it? I also worked out the depth and length of the slot needed in the body for truss rod adjustment, working out how wide it needs to be may have to be trial and error, obviously I don't want it super wide but it has to be wide enough for the allen key to turn enough. I know on Fender's you remove the neck to adjust the truss rod and I don't really need to make an access point but it makes perfect sense to me to only have to remove the scratchplate to adjust the action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Underside of the scratchplate shielded using cheap Aluminium tape and a couple of bits of copper tape with conductive glue to join it all up. I've laid the plate over the cavity and used a meter to check continuity and it works fine [attachment=184645:IMAG0706 lr.jpg] After spotting a curry stain on the white kitchen worktop I came up with the idea on trying some Turmeric on the white edges of the plate, I tried quite a weak solution at first and it looked like it worked but when I went back to it later it seemed to have fades back to white so I've slapped on a thicker more concentrate coating, I'll report back on the results later. [attachment=184646:IMAG0716 lr.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 As I was on a roll I decided to fill the old scratchplate and bridge screw holes in the body as the previous owner had used big wood screws to fix both items, the scratchplate ones were also in the wrong place for the new plate. [attachment=184653:IMAG0707 lr.jpg] Then I cut a groove for truss rod adjustment using a tile cutting attachment on the Dremel a Forstner bit and a drill, it's not pretty but I'm please with my 1st attempt at doing anything like this. [attachment=184654:IMAG0712 lr.jpg] [attachment=184655:IMAG0713 lr.jpg] [attachment=184656:IMAG0715 lr.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 The Turmeric might be working, it's odd as it keeps fading back towards white but does seem to be retaining some yellow each time. I sanded the rough edges of the tuners that I used the Dremel on so they are now smooth. Ordered some Lemon Oil for the fingerboard. Not a lot else will happen with this now until the weekend due to work being rather busy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Nice, neat work with the Dremmel looks fine to me, and is useful for trussrod adjustments with out the need to take the neck off, or tilt it! Just wonder whether something like tea might help with an ageing tint? It's pretty good at staining cups, after all .... and your bass won't smell like last nights' curry Keep us posted with any progress Cheers again Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 All my work is with the client for approval at the moment so I used the down time to attack the neck! I did a bit more work with the imitation wire wool, added a few dings to the headstock, then in a rare moment of inspiration I applied a load of HB pencil to a piece of paper and rubbed that along the top back area of the neck between the G and B frets on the E string, it's added a subtle greyness to that area, I have no idea if it will stay on there or rub off with playing as they is still lacquer on the neck, only time will tell. The Turmeric staining on the scratchplate has faded away again! The postman brought waterslide printing paper and clear matt lacquer today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 Since my last update, I've managed to find time to fit the tuners to the headstock, I've also been putting some lemon oil onto the fretboard which has improved the look of it, it's less milky looking and more dark brown/black now. As for the scratchplate I used a concoction of Mustard, Turmeric and a bit of Ketchup to help it stick, I left this on over night and again it worked but only time will tell how much it fades back to white. Tomorrow I'm hoping to have time to get the neck and bridge attached to the body, then string it up and see what's what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 Over the weekend I finished fitting the tuners, put the neck on the body, filed the excessively high nut down and fixed the bridge in place, then the fun started! off came the neck again and a shim added, neck attached again and so the process went either adding or removing shims to part or all of the neck socket, at the moment it's got nice enough action but the bridge saddles on the E & G string are at there lowest possible height and the truss rod is slackened off so it's not right yet but I seem to be going in circles! I'm far from an expert but I usually manage to get this right in a couple of attempts, not this time though. Anyway I got bored and frustrated so moved on to electrics instead, CTS pots, Russian NOS Paper In Oil cap and an old input jack were fitted to the scratchlate, I added wires and the connectors to try out different pick-ups but as it stands only one set (Aria STB) fit in the scratchplate so that kinda made the decision of what ones to try 1st redundant. So it's far from finished as the necks going to have to come of yet again once I work out what I need to do rather then guessing The input jack is a bit intermittent so that needs looking at too. Here a quick phone camera snap before it comes apart again. [attachment=185306:IMAG0725 lr.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbird Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Is it a possibility that it might be worth recessing the bridge in the body would sure help the action and is not a big job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 [quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1425297373' post='2705875'] Is it a possibility that it might be worth recessing the bridge in the body would sure help the action and is not a big job [/quote] Like people did when they retro fitted Badass bridges back in the day. I'm going to have another go at adjusting the shims to see if I can get it any better 1st just in case I'm being stupid and doing something wrong, sometimes I find if I leave a job for a few days when I come back to it everything falls into place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 It's looking really good Rumple Let us know what you opt for, re the bridge, as that may be something I have to consider when I (finally) start my project... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 This morning I spent another few hours on the bass, I replaced the jack socket with a Switchcraft stereo on, I'd read somewhere that they held the jack better than a mono one and it certainly seems to be the case, I filed the nut slot a tad more so the height of the strings over the 1st fret are more manageable and also rounded off the corners of said nut as it seemed very square, next I added the stickers to the back of the body, knobs to the pots, strap pins to the body and the rest of the scratchplate screws I'll post some decent pictures tomorrow when I've charged up the camera. I love the way it looks and it's sounds really good even with the cheap Aria pick-up. On the down side I've failed with the set-up It may very well be my lack of experience but I have swapped necks on basses before and managed to get a decent low action with little or no buzz but I just can't get it right on this, I understand the principles and in my mind it seems that it's not possible to get the neck straight/flat enough for low action, it's always too concave, I'll check out a few YouTube videos to make sure I'm not being stupid and doing something wrong before getting a professional opinion. While I'm talking about the neck I'm 95% convinced I'll wind up replacing it at some point with one from a Jazz Bass, it's a nice neck, looks fantastic but is too wide and chunky for comfort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 As promised here's some pictures of the bass, as mentioned above I'm loving the look and sound of the bass but can't decide if I can live with the wide P bass neck so I'll live with it for a while and see how I get on. [attachment=185909:P1010384 lr.jpg] [attachment=185910:P1010386 lr.jpg] [attachment=185911:P1010388 lr.jpg] [attachment=185912:P1010390 lr.jpg] [attachment=185913:P1010394 lr.jpg] [attachment=185914:P1010396 lr.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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