I do hope you like Rosewood & Mahogany...

[HeadlessBassist]

Well after a series of trades, I picked this up today from a very strange dealership in Manchester, which takes up a whole upstairs factory floor.

 

So it's an Overwater Perception Custom Classic made in 2006. The main differences from the Inspiration/Progress series is that the older basses have the pickups  further back towards the bridge & closer together, producing quite the punch in the mids department, not unlike a rampaging horde of angry Stingrays. I particularly liked the Rosewood on Mahogany spec as it reminds me of my first Status bass which I bought in 1990.

 

After putting on some new Elixirs and adjusting the truss rod, the only issue is that despite the string height being just about perfect from frets 1-7, the huge brass blocks on the bridge don't allow the strings to go low enough between frets 12 & 24. I'll call Overwater tomorrow and see if they have any smaller string blocks for these old bridges, and visit my tech to see if the string grooves on the E & B blocks can be widened/deepened. 

 

 

Edited 20 hours ago by HeadlessBassist

[chris_b]

Nice bass.

[Grooverjr]

Nice. You just need a bit of teak in there and it could be the Fawlty Towers breakfast tray bass

[skej21]

Trapped my sciatic nerve just looking at this, but it is aesthetically beautiful! 

[chris_b]

These are fantastic instruments, but I've never seen one that's light enough for my back, so I'll just have to look at the pictures. If Chris May brought out a Super Light series I'd have several in a heart beat.

[HeadlessBassist]

4 hours ago, chris_b said:

These are fantastic instruments, but I've never seen one that's light enough for my back, so I'll just have to look at the pictures. If Chris May brought out a Super Light series I'd have several in a heart beat.

 

This one's supposedly about 9.6lbs, so not overly heavy. It's amazing how the slightly different pickup positions affect things - this one is seriously mids-focused and cuts through hugely compared to the Inspiration I had for a short time, which was very subtle. 

[ped]

A solution would be to use some abrasive cord and file down the string grooves in the saddle

[HeadlessBassist]

Thanks Ped - these string guides are solid brass. The ones that have the separate inner block and the Alun key bolts in the top.Would an abrasive cord go through brass?

 

Interestingly, I spoke to Chris May this morning and his idea was to take the bridge off and rout a few MM deeper, thus setting the whole bridge lower. 🤔

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by HeadlessBassist

[ped]

Blimey they are chunky. those strings could be set better in the saddle by pressing hard over the bridge - that B string is looking like it could be bent much more than it is. That’ll help quite a lot. 
 

I’ve used abrasive cord on all sorts of bridges - I’m sure they’d make light work of brass. I tend to tie one end of the cord to a door handle and hold the other end, then with my other hand I run the bridge saddle over the cord. It doesn’t take long to deepen the groove - just be careful to keep it straight (ish). Oh and the saddle will get quite hot! 

I have only really needed to do it for D and G strings (I like a super low action particularly on the treble side) so you might need different gauge cord for the bass side, so it might be a different ball game. Hopefully Overwater can supply some lower profile saddles but if not, instead of a new bridge, this is worth a try. 

 

[HeadlessBassist]

2 minutes ago, ped said:

Blimey they are chunky. those strings could be set better in the saddle by pressing hard over the bridge - that B string is looking like it could be bent much more than it is. That’ll help quite a lot. 
 

I’ve used abrasive cord on all sorts of bridges - I’m sure they’d make light work of brass. I tend to tie one end of the cord to a door handle and hold the other end, then with my other hand I run the bridge saddle over the cord. It doesn’t take long to deepen the groove - just be careful to keep it straight (ish). Oh and the saddle will get quite hot! 

I have only really needed to do it for D and G strings (I like a super low action particularly on the treble side) so you might need different gauge cord for the bass side, so it might be a different ball game. Hopefully Overwater can supply some lower profile saddles but if not, instead of a new bridge, this is worth a try. 

 

 

Thanks, I'll give it a go when I get back from the SW on Friday - I think part of it is due to the Elixirs having no tapered end like some other strings do. They're actually quite a light gauge too - 40-95 set with a 125 B-string.

[ped]

2 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

Thanks, I'll give it a go when I get back from the SW on Friday - I think part of it is due to the Elixirs having no tapered end like some other strings do. They're actually quite a light gauge too - 40-95 set with a 125 B-string.

Those are what I use too. Just press firmly where the string leaves the bridge and re-tune. After a few goes they’ll sit nicely and you’ll notice a much more piano- like clarity. I believe setting the witness points like this is really important for tone, not to mention tuning stability 

[kwmlondon]

Great Odin’s ravens that is a gorgeous looking thing!!!!

[ped]

Some chunky saddles on my Vigier Arpege fretless. 
 

I’ve actually found loads of bridges don’t allow for low enough saddles. 

[HeadlessBassist]

4 minutes ago, ped said:

Some chunky saddles on my Vigier Arpege fretless. 
 

I’ve actually found loads of bridges don’t allow for low enough saddles. 

 

If only everything was as easy as a Status!