Andyjr1515

And so, other than a tweak of the truss rod to suit Mick's DR Neon White strings and printing and attaching the label, it's finished Forgive the gratuitous photos:

One of the remaining jobs was to add some brass ferrules to the bridge exit holes. I've used 5mm thinwall brass, ground to the correct angle and then cut parallel so there is minimal impact on threading through the strings when stringing up. At the same time, I've added one more functional, precautionary, element - a back support for the saddle: The reason is that, as the tuners are pulling from the back, the proximity of the bridge means that the - especially roundwound - strings tend to try to pull the saddle backwards out of square as you tighten the strings (anyone who's strung up a violin will fully understand this phenomenon). What I don't want is that, over time, the pull on the saddle to open up the slot at the top, allowing it to sit not fully square. This carved fillet ensures that the saddle (which is, of course, loose) always remains upright and square in its slot. Well, fingers crossed - other than sticking a label on the back of the control chamber cover with the chosen name - the next hour should see this fully finished. Just got to polish the frets and put Mick's special strings on

While Mrs[s]Andjr1515[/s]Swift is packing, I jotted down the last tasks - having already got the nut adjusted, adjusted the trussrod and sorted the final action height. It's a short shortlist :[list] [*]Fit some brass tube ferrules at the bridge end. Strictly speaking they are not necessary from a functional point of view but Mick understandably would like to know nothing will wear or mark in the long term - especially as there is the rumour that Andyjr1515 is planning to flee the country shortly. [*]Repolish the frets now all the finishing is finished [*]Add a label once we've picked the name from the excellent suggestions [*]Fit Mick's 'special' strings [/list]

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1500648808' post='3339386'] I'm already thinking about my next build with him [/quote] Ohhhhhhh crap! "Sally - can you hear me?........ Get your bags packed.....no - right away.....anything......overseas.....trust me, it's what we need to do..........Oh and see if a magic marker will work on the passport paper.....Mrs Swift........for goodness sake, just do it! I'll explain later!!!"

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1500567851' post='3338784'] That is one heck of a bass, Andy. I can't begin to understand the skill levels involved - not to mention the lateral thinking - that made it possible but I unquestionably admire them. However I also think it is one of the ugliest things I have ever seen! I like Fender shaped basses.... [/quote]

Can't find a decent recording of the piezo vs magnetic, but[url="https://youtu.be/a8NKbFLyUaI"] this illustrates how it sits on the strap[/url]. Thanks once again to Chris S for starring in the video

I've done a few arty-farty shots if that gives anyone inspiration:

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1500541537' post='3338537'] SlantyBassfarce [/quote] OK - that's introduced yourself....but what about the suggestion for the bass?

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1500538514' post='3338493'] Bassy McBassface - cos I made a few good suggestions so thought I would be the first to get this in there! [/quote] ...whereas that is not at all sophisticated - but did make me laugh

[quote name='BassApprentice' timestamp='1500538161' post='3338488'] I'm not sure if you actually have an interest in Greek culture or it's just a username but I came across this word: Psilos which means bare/smooth/uncovered in ancient Greek. Thought it would be quite fitting for the nature of the design and finish. [/quote] Hmmmm....there's sophisticated

[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1500499817' post='3338339'] Be good to hesr the difference between the two pickups [/quote] Thanks for the kind words, Ian I took a few other clips - I think one where I tweeked from full piezo to full magnetic....I'll see if it came out enough on the recording. The interesting thing, that Chris S will verify if he passes by, is that as I changed the gains for greater parity, the difference between the tone between them became less marked. Where we started, with the magnetics lower vol than piezo, the difference was like chalk and cheese. This gives Mick loads of options to create the sound that fully suits his rig. I'll see if any of the other recordings are any good tomorrow

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1500487691' post='3338227'] You made him take off his ring I see [/quote] He did that on his very own. He's a very well brought up lad is our Chris S

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1500453651' post='3337806'] Please post it, I really want to hear it! [/quote] Well, I haven't received a mountain of cash from Chris NOT to post this so - [url="https://youtu.be/940xdffwfYw"]a very brief sneak preview here[/url] What we were able to do is work out how much gain to add onto the magnetic circuit to balance the piezo and then work out, by playing with the two tones, how to maximise the spread of tone from deep thumpy bass at one end to an acoustic treble edge at the other extreme, just by the roll of the one blend knob. None of that, of course, is on the sample video above - with that clip it's just everything on neutral. We also confirmed that it sits on the strap in a great position to play, and with the tuner block wrapping round - but an inch or so away from - the player's hip Last few jobs to finish off: tidy up the hatches (done); flatten off the slight bump in the upper neck Chris could feel when he was playing it (done); drop the action height a tad; lower the nut a tad; fit Mick's fancy white strings; take the arty-farty photos

A very successful test run / balance set up with Chris Sharman - many, many thanks to Chris, Jo and Matt for letting me disrupt your evening! It was invaluable on many levels, but the main thing is that I have a decent starting point sound balance-wise for Mick to work with on his own rig. It was also nice to get such positive feedback! Now the thing is, I also have video evidence which...unless Chris pays me a lot of money not to...you may get to see

As always, Ian, a wonderful result. I think we all hate using ebony, but it does produce the goods

While I don't fully understand the chemistry, Luke, I like the results I was also particularly impressed with your pickup routings - that separating piece between them is mighty thin. Great job

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1500330761' post='3337049'] hold up - he's got to do another month hand building a custom case for it first, including getting Adrian Newey to teach him how to mouldy carbon fibre... ... then he will post it to you [/quote] Two months....don't like to be rushed

ETA is the end of this week It's been a long build, this one... After the 'road test' and tweak on Chris S's gear tomorrow, I have: the final tidying up of the finish - generally where the finish is a touch too thick on the ebony and so makes it lighter; I'm on with the remake of the pickups cover - and the new one DOES line up; I need to adjust the nut a touch; re-polish the frets where they've got a bit of finish on them; sand a small area of the main cover flush; put some brass ferules that Mick wants at the bridge end. And then it's done! Oh, by the way, this is how the controls area came out in the end: And this has everything in place, all working and including the straplocks but still invisible from the front :

I've spent a lot of time doing some of the 'fiddling about' jobs. First off, the Dunlop straplocks are fitted: By the way, the ebony at the body join has still got a bit of varnish on it - the milky look will disappear when I've done the finish tweaks. How does it sit on the strap? Perfect How does it sit on the lap? Perfect The other thing I've done is added a trim pot to further attenuate the piezo signal. It's the blue one here: I'm borrowing Chris Sharman and his proper rig tomorrow to do the final tweaks of the various gain settings Through our band's medium PA, it already seems to have a significant amount of oooomph!

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1500284515' post='3336621'] If you really have to use screws for the pickup cavity (and i think it's a good idea as it's a cover that shouldn't need to come out very often) use small, black screws and fit them over the darker lines of wood. It should give a more discret, almost invisible, look to them. But you should have thought of this already [/quote] Yes, indeed. They will be four small black screws, countersunk into the ebony strips

Back to it this morning - the start of the tweaking and balancing of the magnetic coils and piezo process. Like the rest of the build, takes some thinking about... So where I’m starting from: [list] [*]Martin Herrick custom coils, going through [*]a John East MPM-02 preamp/mixer, mixing with [*]an acoustic-bass undersaddle piezo [/list] Starting point was a major (and not unexpected) volume difference between the piezo and the magnetic coils, with the piezo being much louder. This was even with pre-amp trim pots for gain on high for the magnetic and zero for the piezo. So step 1 was to take out the optional pin shunt to attenuate the piezo signal. The volume difference was much better but still there. Next was a mains buzz (again not unexpected) from the coils. They are not fully humbucking and there is quite a bit of pre-amp gain on them. I checked against my own fretless and, sure enough, the magnetic only volume was significantly lower than on the new build. The piezo, on the other hand, is completely buzz free and VERY bright (think acoustic bass with bronze strings). Again, nice tone but very different. Still, before I turned the gain down to see if it cured the buzz, this was a good time to balance the individual coils themselves, with the high gain exaggerating the volume imbalance. This was pretty straightforward with these three essential components: [list] [*]Alternative length slugs, supplied by Martin [*]Some various thickness foam pieces to place the individual coils at different heights inside their chambers [*]Tape to hold the positioned coils in place [/list] The slugs just screw into the back of the coils: So the good news is that now the coils are balanced with a pretty even volume across all four strings.  Nice tone, too, through my little electric guitar valve amp (I’m hoping that Chris Sharman will try it through his proper rig once I’ve done the main tweaks) So next steps: - Turn down the pre-amp gain on the magnetics to match a standard passive volume. - if the buzzing is cured, move to the piezo - if the buzzing isn't cured, pop a low value capacitor into the circuit to filter it out even when the tone is on treble - Pop a trim pot into the piezo circuit to further attenuate the piezo signal to match the magnetic signal

Just testing - just did a post that went skewiff...

Just in the nick of time - got to pack for an away day! All wired up and all working Still got to tidy up the spaghetti, but this is basically all of it in place On Sunday, I'll fiddle about with the gains and attenuation on the pre-amp and the balance of the magnetic pickups / string heights, etc.. But we have piezo, we have magnetic, we have blend, we have individual tone and volume

[quote name='naxos10' timestamp='1500016947' post='3335097'] A perfectionist you are indeed Andy. [/quote] Far, far, far away from that, naxos10 but ref the cover - it is so obviously squiff with the black and white lines either side on the neck - it's the first thing your eyes would be drawn to I suppose I am arguably a little further away, nowadays, from my previous justified descriptions of 'rough and ready', 'near enough is good enough', and 'as long as it does the job!' but I see some of the real life work of builders such as Jabba_the_gut, and many of the other great builders on this forum and know that I'm still miles away Having said that, I am pleased with this one so far...

As fretlessguy says above, putting a higher power bridge pickup would be probably the best way of keeping the thump of the neck while having better blend options from the bridge. There are loads of other ways of alleviating the problem, as above, but they will all have consequences and compromises - and most of those compromises will relate to the sound of your humbucker changing.