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Vintage Kawai neck-through fix up


Grangur

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9 hours ago, Grangur said:

All soldering done, pots and knobs fitted. 

 

Both switches are as per the specifications by Leland Sklar, "DFA" functionality!

 

Set up and ready for return.

 

Strange as it may seem... The bridge saddles may be straight, but the intonation seems fine like this. This has been checked as far up as the 17th fret.

 

20230215_213041.thumb.jpg.7f411a7b8e27e194e0e87c6babc58c58.jpg

 20230215_213030.thumb.jpg.06c387f03ced575d2aa71399a64114d9.jpg

 

 

Looking at the 2nd photo I think the bridge placement may have always been slightly out of line with the carve of the body and the pickups. Does the body of the bridge measure up equaly with either side of the frets?

Might be a camera angle illusion but my ocd tells me it is and has always been about 2 mm twisted.

It's why one makers guitars costs thousands and another makers doesn't.

Sorry if I am wrong no offence meant but the more I look the more I can see it. That would account for the saddles being almost in line.😀

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10 hours ago, Ralf1e said:

Looking at the 2nd photo I think the bridge placement may have always been slightly out of line with the carve of the body and the pickups. Does the body of the bridge measure up equaly with either side of the frets?

Might be a camera angle illusion but my ocd tells me it is and has always been about 2 mm twisted.

It's why one makers guitars costs thousands and another makers doesn't.

Sorry if I am wrong no offence meant but the more I look the more I can see it. That would account for the saddles being almost in line.😀

Strange, but I too have been looking at it and thinking something didn't ring true. 

The strings are central to the pups, neck and wood lines. So, of the 3 screws, the centre one is correct. 

 

Measuring the space from the bridge to each side of the 1st pickup, which I think is pretty true to the line, there's a 2mm difference from one side to the other. The E string side is 15mm. The G string side is 17mm.

 

If one was to fix it, I'd keep the centre screw as it is, fill the other 2 holes and re-drill them. This would, however, mean that 2 of the mounting screws have holes that may be slightly less secure than they were.

 

The bass has given pleasure for 40 years. Yes, the bridge is slightly skewed, but does it affect the playability of it? Or the tone quality?

I think I'd leave it as it is.

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3 hours ago, Grangur said:

Strange, but I too have been looking at it and thinking something didn't ring true. 

The strings are central to the pups, neck and wood lines. So, of the 3 screws, the centre one is correct. 

 

Measuring the space from the bridge to each side of the 1st pickup, which I think is pretty true to the line, there's a 2mm difference from one side to the other. The E string side is 15mm. The G string side is 17mm.

 

If one was to fix it, I'd keep the centre screw as it is, fill the other 2 holes and re-drill them. This would, however, mean that 2 of the mounting screws have holes that may be slightly less secure than they were.

 

The bass has given pleasure for 40 years. Yes, the bridge is slightly skewed, but does it affect the playability of it? Or the tone quality?

I think I'd leave it as it is.

The twist on the bridge looks to approximate the usual saddle settings. So although the bridge is not straight in the conventional sense, it probably works well with the saddles almost in a line.

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7 hours ago, Grangur said:

Strange, but I too have been looking at it and thinking something didn't ring true. 

The strings are central to the pups, neck and wood lines. So, of the 3 screws, the centre one is correct. 

 

Measuring the space from the bridge to each side of the 1st pickup, which I think is pretty true to the line, there's a 2mm difference from one side to the other. The E string side is 15mm. The G string side is 17mm.

 

If one was to fix it, I'd keep the centre screw as it is, fill the other 2 holes and re-drill them. This would, however, mean that 2 of the mounting screws have holes that may be slightly less secure than they were.

 

The bass has given pleasure for 40 years. Yes, the bridge is slightly skewed, but does it affect the playability of it? Or the tone quality?

I think I'd leave it as it is.

I believe at this point you are absolutely right. It is only 1mm on each side giving the 2mm overall so you would be drilling back into about half what you filled. Best left alone.

Thanks for confirming the distances though. It reassures me that ocd isn't all bad.

Maybe the angled bridge was done by design?🤗

Light bulb idea pops up? Sheme scheme scheme🤔

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18 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

After all the silly little delays with this I think that I can live with it...

Have you tested the sound yet? Is it what you were looking for?

If so Wilkinson's should pay you for an endorsement 🤣

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