Andyjr1515

The Sims site is a bit misleading. The info on the Super Quad is on their main site, not their Super Quad or Sims Pickups site... Anyway - it's here There's an installation video on that page too. Can't recall offhand which of the single coil pairs cut. Trouble with turning them round is that the 'P' bass setting will also be reversed (as well as those large connectors ending up on the far side of the pickup chamber. I would stick with how they are designed - the sound options were pretty good.

Good to see yet another build on the go, Jez. I stole that 3-sashclamp trick from last time you posted it. Great tip And that's got me thinking. I'm on nodding terms with a few hospital surgeons. Hmmm....bone acoustic saddles?

Hi @Dazed Sorry for the delay. Amazing how useful photos are I remember it all now! OK - Lengthwise, the leads are pretty standard and usable length (and to any prospective customers, the bottom of the chamber floor was how it was BEFORE I worked on it, not AFTER I worked on it. Honest ): But - as you can see - there are additional considerations if you are retro fitting. Those connectors have to be able to get to the control chamber from the pickup chamber. The other end is also a multi-connector so no help there: Also note how deep this connector makes the bottom of the chamber (I think I remember there are some chamber dimensions on Sims website?) Final thing to note is that the connectors, that plug into pre-configured toggle switches, come out vertically so, again, it's worth double checking your control chamber is deep enough. Hope this helps Andy

Onto the headstock plate. Most important lesson learned during my early veneering work - always know where the holes are before you cover them up! String tree hole drilled and thin double sided tape applied: Not perfect, but fit for purpose as a fully reversible mod: The (probably final) additional coat of the Osmo worked well: And full view: Rear view - the hatches have still got to have the edges tidied up but they seat nicely and almost certainly will be fine with magnetic catches: We are moving to machine screws (like Wal) rather than the standard Fender screws. Got some nice stainless allen key machine screws for it but the supplier sent the wrong type of captive nuts - replacements should be with me Monday. Still to do: Tidy up the rear hatch edges Install neck captive nuts Fit magnetic catches Copper-foil shield control chamber Install pickups, switch and pots Install strap buttons Install bridge Set up That's not too bad - and I'm really pleased how this is starting to look

Hi, @Dazed It's going back a bit, but my recollection is that the supplied cables are fairly 'standard' length (ie similar to a fixed cable in a humbucker). I may have some photos - I'll have a look in the morning

In absolute terms with nothing to compare to, the Duncan-designed are generally OK. But side by side there will be no comparison. I'm sure it will be worth your time.

So what was my experiment? It was seeing if something I did on Mick's Psilos bass in matt, would work on satin. The above is halfway through the process but I'm confident it's working. On Mick's Psilos, I experimented whether you could do the same 'slurry and buff' approach with Osmo as you can with Tru-oil. And the answer was that you certainly could. Using the same approach as Tru-oil, the process eded up as a self-grainfilling, super silky finish. So what's the issue with higher gloss levels? Well my problem is always about trying to keep the coating thin but it actually levelling properly without leaving brushmarks or cloth-wipe ripples. I knew I wasn't going to be able to buff satin while wet - because the additional applications tend to soften the earlier coats and that affects the gloss level - but I could do a variation. So basically, what I have done so far is: Apply a decent coat with a soft brush Slurry with 400 grit wet and dry, working with the grain Wipe off with (industrial - cheaper and bigger rolls) kitchen roll Let dry Repeat Repeat, but using 800 grit The results are very encouraging with the shine coming through but the thin-coat-organic-silky feel retained Tomorrow, I will repeat, using 1500 or 2000 grit. It shouldn't need any more. For my 'piccolo-bass turned electric' project that I'm doing for myself, I'm going to see if I can get it to work with full gloss. I've tried Osmo full gloss once before and had a few issues, but the above approach might just work. Worth trying...

Well - Osmo might have something to do with it too ...s'pose

I'm a genius. Just sayin'

I like that a lot

Well....so far, I think the Osmo is going to blink first. But I'd better wait until the morning when it will be fully dry before I do my victory lap

Which will break first - Andy or the Osmo...

And in the meantime, I'm applying some Osmo Polyx 3032 satin on top of the 3044 so that we retain the colour but get a nice semi-gloss. I'm doing a bit of an experiment with the way of applying the Osmo. If it works I'll post the photos....and if it doesn't, I'll quietly sand it off and do it the way the instructions say

The headstock plate is too thin to attempt MoP inlays, but Mike and I thought it might be fun to be able to see at least a little of the original Rascal colour : Once the edges have been sanded to match exactly the original headstock, all it will need is some strips of thin double-sided tape to fully secure it - the bushes and string tree will do the rest

I love walnut in any finish or guise However, in real life, it's the Osmo treated version that has the warmth and tone of the original untreated, air-exposed wood:

I've spoken about the finishing oil Osmo Polyx 3044. In case you missed @TheGreek 's Psilos build thread, this was a version of Osmo I found when we were looking for a finish that wouldn't darken the wood too much. It aims to try to leave the finish closer to sanded cleaned wood than the 'wetting' effect almost all oils and varnishes do to timber. It worked great on Mick's. Based on that build, @scrumpymike asked me if I could use the same oil to see how it fared with the walnut, which I was happy to do. As the Osmo isn't really intended for use with darker woods, it was uncertain how well it would work. The great thing, however, is that - because I use a tru-oil slurry and buff now as a sealing and filling process before sanding it all off to then apply the intended finish coats, I could do an absolute A/B comparison of Tru-Oil vs Osmo Polyx 3044. And here it is: A/B Comparison of Tru-Oil vs Osmo Polyx 3044 In both cases, the body has has a single application of oil, slurried with 400 grit wet and dry and then immediately wiped off Tru Oil: Once fully dry. This was all sanded off, leaving the body in the same pre-oil state. Osmo Polyx 3044: Quite different - especially in the darker figuring areas where the tru-oil (and water does the same) turns the figuring grey to almost black. The Osmo, on the other hand, retains the light brown. The lighting is about the same in both shots. If it's a bright enough day tomorrow, I'll repeat the shot with the same background as the tru-oil - it actually shows the contrast even more. In real life it looks lovely. Also, once it's had a few more slurry and buff coats, the silky satin feel has to be experienced to be believed Here's the back with the Osmo - DON'T PANIC, MIKE - THE DISTORTION IS THE CAMERA LENS (trust me - everything is straight and true! Honest ) The edges of the hatches still need tidying up but this is basically how they will look: The matching up of the sapele grain and the walnut grain, by the way, is total coincidence... And this is the 'fan who is getting too up close and personal' 's view:

I know what you mean - but actually quite a bit of extra precision work and if the tiniest bit out of true would look very poor indeed. The jack socket plate is even worse because it's going round a curve at the same time. I can see why it's not done in general terms. Talking about precision work, getting gap-free hatches is also a challenge. I'm getting better at this. The rebates aren't at the full depth yet, but here are the basic hatches before fitting and sanding: The hatches are cut from offcut of the walnut top (they will contrast nicely once the finish has been put on) and will be held with neo magnets. The main hatch has been bent on my acoustic sides heat bending pipe to follow the contour of the body (you can see the pressure lines in the pic above - these will sand fully out):

I was going to...certainly I have no issue from a t/mark point of view as it is a genuine Fender neck and bits - or is it the visual? I'll check with Mike - ferrules would be just as easy

One of the things Mike asked me to put in was access for adjusting the truss rod without having to take the neck off. A bit of chisel-work and we have it Finish shaping and sanding complete: Next job (this afternoon, with any luck ) is slicing some walnut for the hatches, routing the rebate and bending / fitting them. In the meantime, the Osmo Polyx 3044 is on its way to me, as are the captive nuts and machine screws for securing the neck (another request from Mike after talking about a similar thing I did for a replacement Wal neck). All of a sudden, this is getting quite close....

Pretty much finished the carve and sanding has started. I've taken the arm relief up to the wenge but not cut through for the full 'sucked lozenge' effect. You still see the layers nicely from the edge view, but the front on view is pretty much Precision Lyte still: Clearly there's sanding to be done at behind the pickup chamber and also I may take a touch more bulk out of the lower waist relief: The S curve slimming seen from the top is pretty much how I wanted it to be (I know....pure chance ) And here's the edge of the arm relief: Tomorrow will see the finalising of the sanding and then tackling those challenging hatches! I can feel a new bandsaw blade coming on....

No point in trying to take a photo because it's too dark, but the carving is just about done. Should be able to do the last carve / weight relief tweaks tomorrow and start the final sanding... It's heading towards 1lb lighter than the Rascal. Doesn't sound a lot but it will make a tangible difference to the feel.

No apologies needed. The signwriter is already on with the new version, which is equally magnificent incidentally. It's going to be 8 feet x 12 feet, fixed to the front gable of the house and is going to be MrsAndyjr1515's Christmas surprise

Thanks for posting them, Silvia. Here's to next year's

Main decorating tasks are done I've done the 'S' carve and that has taken out a decent amount of weight (around 10% of the body weight compared with the Rascal) Still a more opportunity to take out, and this is still at very rough carve stage, but this is the general idea: From the front it looks much the same (although there is one variation I will bounce off Mike): ...but you see the more aggressive carving at the back: You will see that I've expanded the size of the main control chamber to take a little more wood out (again, this in the bulk wood removal state) but it also gives a bit more room for the wires and connections.

Posted in the wrong thread