customstocker Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 wow, the Bass looks totally amazing, the Osmo gear is impressive to say the least. There is a German product which is very matt & used for base coats but even this stuff darkens the wood . I need to try this stuff myself. really interesting thread, Ive had about 10+ pages to catch up on as we have just got a proper internet connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 Hey Martin Nice of you to join us...looking forward to trying out the custom pick ups you built for this.. Settled in the UK yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 11, 2017 Author Share Posted July 11, 2017 [quote name='customstocker' timestamp='1499803848' post='3333779'] wow, the Bass looks totally amazing, the Osmo gear is impressive to say the least. There is a German product which is very matt & used for base coats but even this stuff darkens the wood . I need to try this stuff myself. really interesting thread, Ive had about 10+ pages to catch up on as we have just got a proper internet connection. [/quote] Great to hear from you, Martin and good news that you've finally sorted the internet Your timing is perfect - your pickups should be being installed in the next few days Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 12, 2017 Author Share Posted July 12, 2017 (edited) The expression 'tight as a tick' comes to mind ...but the cover still fits! : ... and, perhaps surprisingly, the controls are not impacted. I think it helps that the pot nearest the jack has stacked knobs. From the front, it's all pretty discrete: I need to make sure there is no shielding anywhere near the hot signal parts of the jack or pot tabs and also have another look at the security and shape of the back cover. It is supposed to follow the curve of the back, but the magnets aren't really strong enough to hold the curve on the very thin and wide cover that - left to its own devices - straightens and curves depending on the weather! So I might have to rethink the best way of doing that. In the meantime, I need to take that all the above electrics out again and do a proper job of the relief channels at the back of the knobs and jack. Then a bit of re-finishing those areas Then a bash at installing the pickups! Edited July 12, 2017 by Andyjr1515 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naxos10 Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 It's looking great, and a very neat electrical section there Andy. Hats off to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 It's looking good, Andy. Pleased to see it's staying with the natural colour of the wood. I like the minimalistic look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 12, 2017 Author Share Posted July 12, 2017 Re-weighed it, by the way. It's going to end up around 7lb 4oz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 There are actually very few jobs to finish off. So, will it be finished very soon? Well, not necessarily! The remaining ones are going to take considerable care and lots of fiddling about. Not least the pickups. Here are customstocker's (aka Martin Herrick - have a look at the great stuff on his website [url="https://www.herrickpickups.com/"]https://www.herrickpickups.com/[/url] ) custom coils: They are wound individually with different resistances to balance the output of each of the strings. The pole pieces have been put in so that they can be adjusted from the back. And, by golly, this is a delicate, wibbly-wobbly, highly magnetic assembly! "Be careful with the blue wires - they are very delicate", Martin wisely advised... So probably Martin has to look away at this point - because the first thing I needed to do was get the soldering iron out ...and desolder the one stable thing on the assembly - the stiff copper earth wire running across the four coils. Why? Well, these coils have to go down into separate chambers so what I will do is solder 4 individual earth wires from the shields to hook up with the collective earth on the output cable. Having removed the copper wire (but not yet added the individual earths) I did a very careful trial fit: Looks good for a first go. I marked the position of the cable runs to rout some slots for them to slot into and the join up to the pre-routed cable channel that's sitting under that ebony strip: Next job is to get the router out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 Why do I post as I'm going along? Because in describing to others, I'm basically sanity checking to myself I've routed the new cable channels and, happily, found the hidden main cable channel in the right place! ...and done the next trial fit: I really, really don't want to move this around too much so next time I fit it, hopefully it'll be the final installation. The tasks are:[list] [*]Check out the top coil that isn't sinking into its chamber quite as deep as the others [*]Solder the four earth wires on [/list] My plan, once they are fitted is to try them out directly wired, temporarily, to the jack socket. Then I will have a base (or even bass!) reference before I start adding the piezo complication. Wish me luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 [quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1499949088' post='3334740'] good luck!! [/quote] Thanks, cheddatom ! OK - they're in. So this afternoon, I'm going to pop the strings on, hitch up the jack and see if I've got any sound...gulp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 ...and we have sound! Not great sound yet - then again, I am going straight into the amp and it's a guitar amp so I'm getting a lot of buzz, but there is a decent tone coming from each of the strings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightsun Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 [quote name='nightsun' timestamp='1499955530' post='3334807'] [/quote] It certainly is! I connected the bridge earth to the circuit which has had the expected result of quietening the buzz significantly. It is now already less buzzy than my P90 single-coiled LP Jnr. I'm happy it basically is working properly so tomorrow I'll be seeing if I can hook it up to the piezo blend and sort the proper earth and jack connections.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightsun Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 LTRFTP.......I've been following this since day one. You sir, certainly have a talent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 [quote name='nightsun' timestamp='1499957153' post='3334823'] LTRFTP.......I've been following this since day one. You sir, certainly have a talent. [/quote] Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 How have you secured the pickups in place? Or do they just float in their respective holes? Well done by the way! Definitely on the home straight now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 [quote name='Norris' timestamp='1499975543' post='3334964'] How have you secured the pickups in place? Or do they just float in their respective holes? Well done by the way! Definitely on the home straight now [/quote] They will be seated with discs of soft foam, pressed down by the cover. That, and the effect of the magnetism, is why that cover will need to use screws rather than be held on with magnets. I'm going to remake that cover, by the way - not happy that the stripes are sufficiently lined up with the neck... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naxos10 Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 A perfectionist you are indeed Andy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share Posted July 14, 2017 (edited) [quote name='naxos10' timestamp='1500016947' post='3335097'] A perfectionist you are indeed Andy. [/quote] Far, far, far away from that, naxos10 but ref the cover - it is so obviously squiff with the black and white lines either side on the neck - it's the first thing your eyes would be drawn to I suppose I am arguably a little further away, nowadays, from my previous justified descriptions of 'rough and ready', 'near enough is good enough', and 'as long as it does the job!' but I see some of the real life work of builders such as Jabba_the_gut, and many of the other great builders on this forum and know that I'm still miles away Having said that, I am pleased with this one so far... Edited July 14, 2017 by Andyjr1515 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share Posted July 14, 2017 Just in the nick of time - got to pack for an away day! All wired up and all working Still got to tidy up the spaghetti, but this is basically all of it in place On Sunday, I'll fiddle about with the gains and attenuation on the pre-amp and the balance of the magnetic pickups / string heights, etc.. But we have piezo, we have magnetic, we have blend, we have individual tone and volume Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 16, 2017 Author Share Posted July 16, 2017 Just testing - just did a post that went skewiff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 16, 2017 Author Share Posted July 16, 2017 Back to it this morning - the start of the tweaking and balancing of the magnetic coils and piezo process. Like the rest of the build, takes some thinking about... So where I’m starting from: [list] [*]Martin Herrick custom coils, going through [*]a John East MPM-02 preamp/mixer, mixing with [*]an acoustic-bass undersaddle piezo [/list] Starting point was a major (and not unexpected) volume difference between the piezo and the magnetic coils, with the piezo being much louder. This was even with pre-amp trim pots for gain on high for the magnetic and zero for the piezo. So step 1 was to take out the optional pin shunt to attenuate the piezo signal. The volume difference was much better but still there. Next was a mains buzz (again not unexpected) from the coils. They are not fully humbucking and there is quite a bit of pre-amp gain on them. I checked against my own fretless and, sure enough, the magnetic only volume was significantly lower than on the new build. The piezo, on the other hand, is completely buzz free and VERY bright (think acoustic bass with bronze strings). Again, nice tone but very different. Still, before I turned the gain down to see if it cured the buzz, this was a good time to balance the individual coils themselves, with the high gain exaggerating the volume imbalance. This was pretty straightforward with these three essential components: [list] [*]Alternative length slugs, supplied by Martin [*]Some various thickness foam pieces to place the individual coils at different heights inside their chambers [*]Tape to hold the positioned coils in place [/list] The slugs just screw into the back of the coils: So the good news is that now the coils are balanced with a pretty even volume across all four strings. Nice tone, too, through my little electric guitar valve amp (I’m hoping that Chris Sharman will try it through his proper rig once I’ve done the main tweaks) So next steps: - Turn down the pre-amp gain on the magnetics to match a standard passive volume. - if the buzzing is cured, move to the piezo - if the buzzing isn't cured, pop a low value capacitor into the circuit to filter it out even when the tone is on treble - Pop a trim pot into the piezo circuit to further attenuate the piezo signal to match the magnetic signal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 If you really have to use screws for the pickup cavity (and i think it's a good idea as it's a cover that shouldn't need to come out very often) use small, black screws and fit them over the darker lines of wood. It should give a more discret, almost invisible, look to them. But you should have thought of this already Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted July 17, 2017 Author Share Posted July 17, 2017 [quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1500284515' post='3336621'] If you really have to use screws for the pickup cavity (and i think it's a good idea as it's a cover that shouldn't need to come out very often) use small, black screws and fit them over the darker lines of wood. It should give a more discret, almost invisible, look to them. But you should have thought of this already [/quote] Yes, indeed. They will be four small black screws, countersunk into the ebony strips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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