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Ou7shined

By Ou7shined,
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Ou7shined Mentor

Ou7shined

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Neither are finished but I liked this pic of them together and thought I share.

[u]The four stringer[/u] I built myself. Basically it's a BC mongrel - everything except the body and bridges came off Bass Chat bit by bit.

Ash body - I filled the standard front control cavity with a bit of floorboard and routed (cheers Neepheid) for rear cavity option which I have covered with a 5mm clear acrylic. [url="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/ou7shined/bass/rear-cavity.jpg"]pic[/url]
I finished the front with a maple tiger stripe veneer but I'm not sure if I'm keeping it. I fancy going a bit darker. I've partially lacquered it but the overall colour was heading a bit "Werther's Original" so I stopped.

Beautiful burr maple P neck (Dr. Parts) with homebrew 3+1 conversion (the Wilkinson machine heads I got with it were too big for a standard configuration without sticking over the top a bit - being a MM fanboy the solution was obvious) I then created a "feature" out of the spare machine head hole - [url="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d67/ou7shined/unfinished-heads.jpg"]pic[/url]. Not sure what I'll do with it next, whether to fill it with a contrasting wood or other material or just leave it as a hole (hanger :)) I suspect I'll be veneering the headstock too as there is a bit of damage to the face where the seller packed the machine heads loose in the box and "DUNK!". :huh:

The pups were a very tired set of EMG JV's which I stripped and cleaned and lapped the poles back into super shiny condition. And the 'lectrics are Aggie OBP3 - vol vol bass mid (push/pull) treb. I've wired it up with 2 switches (for the moment) One is a bypass for the Aggie which is great for referencing how much the pre-amp is colouring the tone or just for going straight into slap mode in an instant. And the second switch goes between 9v - off - 18v. The 9v setting is wired for parallel to extend battery life. The off setting is handy for unplugging or changing voltage without a big old POP.

Although this bass is far from finished, it has become my main gigging bass (sorry SUB) and I have gigged it 3 times now in this condition. It plays a dream and sounds the badgers vag with Slinkys. I find it very inspirational and I come up with new riffs in old song all the time on it. I'm considering installing a 3rd pup at the bridge if the right [b]passive[/b] one comes along. Mwhahahah!


[u]The fiver[/u] is my new acquisition. I mainly bought it upon the strength of the fact that it looks similar to my 4 string custom, that, and the recommendations of a few guys on here that have played it and bummed it up. I'll not say it's a disappointment as I got it for a ve-heh-heh-ry reasonable price but it is not a finished project - which is weird as the all ingredients are there. It's Barts and Schack pre-amp are very tasty indeed and the neck is sweet. I'd describe her as the Cameron Diaz of the bass world - Great body and in the right light she's gorgeous but up close and you're like "hmmm". :huh: So I'm gonna strip her and treat her to a proper seeing to Ou7shined sty-lee. :huh: The dimply, drippy varnish job, the 2mm gap and shim job in the neck socket, the *ahem* "truss-rod cover" which hides a multitude of sins and the scratchy linear blend pot are first on my list. Watch this space folks. :huh:

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Ou7shined Mentor

Ou7shined

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Thanks guys. :)

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='351990' date='Dec 11 2008, 06:03 PM']Very nice. Where's the Fecker Jizz Bass?[/quote]
Ha ha that is/was the Jizz bass.
It has had many guises since it was first born. I still have the fretless Fecker neck that I can put back on at any time but it's just so kick-ass as a fretted bass that I haven't bothered.

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The Burpster Proficient

The Burpster

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I :wub: that hol(e)y headstock...... effing class that mate!

And must be an original idea..... I'd licence it if I were you!

Put a white LED in it to illuminate it and Whhhhhooooaah !


Oh and keep the Tiger stripe top but stain it a wee bit darker and then black burst around the outside..... (ooooeeeeeh I'm getting a little excited!)

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Ou7shined Mentor

Ou7shined

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[quote name='The Burpster' post='352125' date='Dec 11 2008, 08:31 PM']I :wub: that hol(e)y headstock...... effing class that mate!

And must be an original idea..... I'd licence it if I were you![/quote]Do you know, I honestly held back publishing pics of the headstock after I 1st did it because I actually considerer that. But the [s]tasteless fools[/s] er... guys I showed it to thought it was kinda naff, so I never did.

[quote name='The Burpster' post='352125' date='Dec 11 2008, 08:31 PM']Put a white LED in it to illuminate it and Whhhhhooooaah ![/quote]I like it. :)


[quote name='The Burpster' post='352125' date='Dec 11 2008, 08:31 PM']Oh and keep the Tiger stripe top but stain it a wee bit darker and then black burst around the outside..... (ooooeeeeeh I'm getting a little excited!)[/quote]I'm warming to the idea. :huh: The thing is the back of the body is natural. Hmmm let me think.

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robert43 Apprentice

robert43

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Hi nice work I was wondering how did you do the 4 string head stock I presume it was a 4 hole head stock & the hole at the top is where the G string tunner would be ?
Also you said the tunners were to high ie over lap at the top so how did you modify this plug the top then redrill them ?
Thanks & nice work

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Shockwave Mentor

Shockwave

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[quote name='Ou7shined' post='351936' date='Dec 11 2008, 04:54 PM'][u]The fiver[/u] is my new acquisition. I mainly bought it upon the strength of the fact that it looks similar to my 4 string custom, that, and the recommendations of a few guys on here that have played it and bummed it up. I'll not say it's a disappointment as I got it for a ve-heh-heh-ry reasonable price but it is not a finished project - which is weird as the all ingredients are there. It's Barts and Schack pre-amp are very tasty indeed and the neck is sweet. I'd describe her as the Cameron Diaz of the bass world - Great body and in the right light she's gorgeous but up close and you're like "hmmm". :) So I'm gonna strip her and treat her to a proper seeing to Ou7shined sty-lee. :huh: The dimply, drippy varnish job, the 2mm gap and shim job in the neck socket, the *ahem* "truss-rod cover" which hides a multitude of sins and the scratchy linear blend pot are first on my list. Watch this space folks. :huh:[/quote]

I think Chopthebass did the original finish, I admit i was not terrible enthused by it either! The reason of the sins underneath the truss rod cover was because the original truss rod was not man enough for the job, We had to retrofit a much stronger truss rod into her. It was managed without removing the fingerboard, But created the mess.

I have to say though, One of the best sounding pre-amps i have ever owned. The bass has a great slap tone!

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Ou7shined Mentor

Ou7shined

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[quote name='Shockwave' post='352589' date='Dec 12 2008, 11:54 AM']I think Chopthebass did the original finish, I admit i was not terrible enthused by it either! The reason of the sins underneath the truss rod cover was because the original truss rod was not man enough for the job, We had to retrofit a much stronger truss rod into her. It was managed without removing the fingerboard, But created the mess.

I have to say though, One of the best sounding pre-amps i have ever owned. The bass has a great slap tone![/quote]Agreed the slap tone beats my SUB hands down. The finger tone is wkd too. It just sound lovely all over in fact. :)

I have to say that whoever did the 'lectrics made a bonzer job of it, very tidy.

Out of curiosity, what was the truss-rod cover made from, sticky-back-plastic? :huh:
I'll be putting a wee bit of rosewood back into the cavity and tidying it up a smidge and I'll craft a new cover from wood veneer.

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Shockwave Mentor

Shockwave

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[quote name='Ou7shined' post='352638' date='Dec 12 2008, 12:30 PM']Agreed the slap tone beats my SUB hands down. The finger tone is wkd too. It just sound lovely all over in fact. :)

I have to say that whoever did the 'lectrics made a bonzer job of it, very tidy.

Out of curiosity, what was the truss-rod cover made from, sticky-back-plastic? :huh:
I'll be putting a wee bit of rosewood back into the cavity and tidying it up a smidge and I'll craft a new cover from wood veneer.[/quote]

Myself and an electronics expert had to puzzle out the electronics as the schematic was very confusing. It took us a whole afternoon to work out which bit was the input etc, The guy who did it is named Jessie hes an amp and electronics expert, He can look at a PCB, work out exactly which bit does what and doesant even know what its for! He charged me 20 quid for the whole job, hes a real nice bloke. One of the last of a dying breed unfortunetly hes been doing it for 40 years+ :huh:

The truss rod cover? Dont get me started it was waghorn guitars, a supposed luthier in bristol. He did all the routing on the bass and installation of the new truss rod. Charged me 200 quid for what frankly was not a great job. Although his wood working skills are good, his botching skills are terrible.

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Ou7shined Mentor

Ou7shined

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[quote name='robert43' post='352420' date='Dec 12 2008, 09:02 AM']Hi nice work I was wondering how did you do the 4 string head stock I presume it was a 4 hole head stock & the hole at the top is where the G string tunner would be ?
Also you said the tunners were to high ie over lap at the top so how did you modify this plug the top then redrill them ?
Thanks & nice work[/quote]
That's right after running through a few alternative designs I set to the G hole with a fret saw and a scrap of sandpaper. I could easily have chopped the head right down to match the 3+1 but IMO the proportions would have been affected too much so I went with an optical illusion. The hardest part was creating the new hole for the the G post with only a drill and some sandpaper but I made it in the end and you'd never know that it wasn't factory done.

The Wilkinson machine head plates are over sized for some reason and if you had all 4 in a row the last one stuck out over the end (I guess the position of the holes in the aftermarket headstock might have something to do with it too). The downside to the lack of space meant that I couldn't reverse the tuners action for being upside down but that doesn't really bother me all now I'm used to it.

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Ou7shined Mentor

Ou7shined

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[quote name='Shockwave' post='352684' date='Dec 12 2008, 01:28 PM']Myself and an electronics expert had to puzzle out the electronics as the schematic was very confusing. It took us a whole afternoon to work out which bit was the input etc, The guy who did it is named Jessie hes an amp and electronics expert, He can look at a PCB, work out exactly which bit does what and doesant even know what its for! He charged me 20 quid for the whole job, hes a real nice bloke. One of the last of a dying breed unfortunetly hes been doing it for 40 years+ :huh:[/quote]Wow it sounds like you and this bass have been through a lot together. I know very little about it's story, you'll have to fill me with all the details some time. It would be interesting to know what was spent on it too.


[quote name='Shockwave' post='352684' date='Dec 12 2008, 01:28 PM']The truss rod cover? Dont get me started it was waghorn guitars, a supposed luthier in bristol. He did all the routing on the bass and installation of the new truss rod. Charged me 200 quid for what frankly was not a great job. Although his wood working skills are good, his botching skills are terrible.[/quote]The routing is nice but for a luthier to do that to the trussrod... wa wa we woo!

If I've got time, I might get the neck off today. If only to see what's under there. I'm curious to know what the wee bit of plastic bag sticking out the side turns out to be. :) :huh:

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Shockwave Mentor

Shockwave

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[quote name='Ou7shined' post='352697' date='Dec 12 2008, 01:44 PM']Wow it sounds like you and this bass have been through a lot together. I know very little about it's story, you'll have to fill me with all the details some time. It would be interesting to know what was spent on it too.


The routing is nice but for a luthier to do that to the trussrod... wa wa we woo!

If I've got time, I might get the neck off today. If only to see what's under there. I'm curious to know what the wee bit of plastic bag sticking out the side turns out to be. :) :huh:[/quote]


[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=25655&hl="]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=25655&hl=[/url]

Heres some of the story, I really cant remember alot of it. I received the parts in a trade deal with Shaggy. I put about 300 into it and sold the bass on. I had to pack the neck pocket quite a bit, I heard that the guy i sold it too also rearranged the neck pocket but not sure how. I think you need to either graft on a decent peice of wood into the neck pocket, or drop the bridge into the body. Personally i would drop the bridge into the body.

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rjb Enthusiast

rjb

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Copyright that headstock if you can (you'd most likely might have to adjust it slighty to make it look less like a Fender).

It looks brilliant left as a hole and would also look great with an insert of contrasting wood. :)

Edited by rjb
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robert43 Apprentice

robert43

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[quote name='Ou7shined' post='352688' date='Dec 13 2008, 12:30 AM']That's right after running through a few alternative designs I set to the G hole with a fret saw and a scrap of sandpaper. I could easily have chopped the head right down to match the 3+1 but IMO the proportions would have been affected too much so I went with an optical illusion. The hardest part was creating the new hole for the the G post with only a drill and some sandpaper but I made it in the end and you'd never know that it wasn't factory done.

The Wilkinson machine head plates are over sized for some reason and if you had all 4 in a row the last one stuck out over the end (I guess the position of the holes in the aftermarket headstock might have something to do with it too). The downside to the lack of space meant that I couldn't reverse the tuners action for being upside down but that doesn't really bother me all now I'm used to it.[/quote]

Hi thanks for that I might do it to a Jazz bass I have as I like the MM 3+1 head stock more than the Fender 4 in a row

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