ped Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 Actually maybe SIMS pickups would fit, don't you have some already you could check against? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 Well done Rich, that looked like a challenging job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 On 03/01/2023 at 12:48, Paul S said: These are the best. Four gentlemen storing hot soldering irons where the sun doesn't shine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 47 minutes ago, ped said: Actually maybe SIMS pickups would fit, don't you have some already you could check against? The SimS are too wide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 53 minutes ago, TheGreek said: The SimS are too wide. Would you be against routing the cavities? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 That as a last resort which I expect we'll end up going down but at £400+ for a pair of SimS pickups it's unlikely that I'll be fitting them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 The ideal would be not modifying the bass - you’ve got good pickups currently… but it doesn’t work as a system - so I guess my suggestion would be work out the receipy you want to follow and mimic the whole system - rather than just get different good pickups… in my head pickup wise I would be thinking active flat response EMG pickups, or low impedance Barts or something and then a twaekable standard preamp or alembic style filter preamp or go the whole hog with multi coil pickups and filters á la Wal… ild not go for anything Fender style response 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 Any chance of being able to work out exactly what was going on in the original pickups and then replicating that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 35 minutes ago, BigRedX said: Any chance of being able to work out exactly what was going on in the original pickups and then replicating that? it's some kind of proprietary active circuit, with the controls linking back to it, sealed in Epoxy. I searched the web for hours when I had the chance to buy one of these and there a lots of people with dead pickups, and no ones managed to get in and trace/measure to make a replica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Kawai back with Richard - pickup builder may have identified a problem with the wiring so back they go... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 19 minutes ago, TheGreek said: Kawai back with Richard - pickup builder may have identified a problem with the wiring so back they go... fingers crossed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 Everything crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted January 21, 2023 Author Share Posted January 21, 2023 The pickups are out of the bass and sent Special Delivery to Martin. With any luck they will be there soon. Checking the neck pickup, before sending: When connecting the pup to the socket directly, the pup seemed to work on the G and D, but not the E and A. That was odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 That's what happens to a lot of Aria MB pickups from the 80's. They're split coil, like a precision, in one pickup housing. Frequently one of the coils dies. Perhaps as the epoxy ages it shrinks and rips the wire in the coil. Either way, it's not an unfamiliar problem with Matsumoku epoxy-sealed pickups from the 80's and it's very hard to find something which sounds the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 High output active Wilkinsons are the main contender to replace the replacements. The housings will need a bit of noodling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Active Wilkinsons scheduled to go to Richard later today... Progress has been slow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted February 9, 2023 Author Share Posted February 9, 2023 The latest update is I ordered a template for routing the pickup cavities to suit the MM style humbuckers. Mick ordered the Wikinson WSME4 pickups. They were delivered to me and the work has begun. There really isn't much wood to remove, but it's still slow work with a Dremel and the small router attachment and small router bits. Initially I thought it's burning more than cutting. The truth is the cut away wood is that fine it's like smoke. Definitely a situation for wearing a mask to protect the lungs. I don't know what the wood is, but some exotic woods can be killers in the lungs. The inserts cut need to be cut deeper. But this is as far as the Dremel router bit will reach. The next stage will be cut without the template in place. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralf1e Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 Do they not make a vacuum attachment for a dremel? I would have expected they did with the number of them sold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 Dreaming of the day it comes home... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted February 10, 2023 Author Share Posted February 10, 2023 10 hours ago, Ralf1e said: Do they not make a vacuum attachment for a dremel? I would have expected they did with the number of them sold. I'm not aware of one. Yet as a woodturner, I'm used to keeping masks and dust extraction gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted February 10, 2023 Author Share Posted February 10, 2023 (edited) 8 hours ago, TheGreek said: Dreaming of the day it comes home... Today I finished the routing... I need to dig out a very small drill for the screw holes. Didn't want to rush that. Edited February 10, 2023 by Grangur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 That bass is an awesome looking axe. !! Be great to see it back into it's finished state Going back in the thread re. soldering, i've had a WEP 937D + for many years and it has never failed. It comes with a host of different tips too. It's a 75W machine, though there is WEP 937D ( not the + model ) at 40W. https://botland.store/soldering-stations/1025-soldering-station-wep-937d-75w-5907558240764.html 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted February 15, 2023 Author Share Posted February 15, 2023 (edited) Today a pupil cried off with a sick wife he cares for. (I'm a driving instructor.) So I cracked on with some more routing and drilling of the pickup screw holes. For drilling the holes for the screws I used a pillar drill as this makes sure to get the holes put in vertically. A significant concern, when drilling is also to be certain that I'm not going to drill right through to the back. So I used a Vernier to measure the body to be 42mm thick and the pickup pocket to be 25mm. That leaves 17mm of wood available for the drill hole. I drilled the holes to be 10mm deep. I hate screwing the pickups in place. What really bugs me is the pathetically soft metal they make the screws from. I made a mistake of not drilling one of the holes deep enough and due to this the screwdriver, which isn't a great fit in the tiny screw head, chewed the life out of the cross-head of the screw. So I fitted another screw. After fitting the pickups I've now re-fitted the bridge and strings. Then gave it a preliminary setup, so the neck is back under tension. Next stage is to solder the electrics. Then intonation and the final setup. The white stuff you can see is where I did have 2 sided tape holding foam in place for the pickups. In the final assembly I've now used springs. Edited February 15, 2023 by Grangur 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted February 15, 2023 Author Share Posted February 15, 2023 (edited) 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. Edited February 15, 2023 by Grangur 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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