Andyjr1515

Perfect answer then - hang the Encore on the wall to look at but play the HB

Well they certainly don't fix cars!* *In my personal experience. Your experience may, of course, differ.

Thanks It's my lapsed AA membership card and folks are very welcome to try to get the AA to come out to them on the back of it. The AA certainly didn't come out to me when it was current... Andy (#abandonedbytheAAUKt**ts)

I generally recess them and use stainless steel countersunk washers from ACCU : https://www.accu.co.uk/search-uk?query=countersunk+wahers&page=1

OK - found it. A 'quick and dirty' way of finding and sorting high spots in frets and also negating a 'ski-jump'. Warning This is NOT the way a pro-luthier would do it and, because it doesn't involve re-crowning and re-polishing the frets and other important stuff, it is merely intended as a quick fix on your own bass and at your own risk. Also not great if you string bend on your bass (most of us don't). Don't do this on someone else's bass or any particularly valuable one!!! 1. Quick and Dirty way of finding and tackling high spots on frets Use the straight part of an old credit card to use as a 'rocker'. Put the straight edge over 3 frets (use both hands...my other hand here is holding the camera) and does it rock? If it does, then it indicates a high spot at that string position for the middle fret of the three. Do this next to each string for that middle-of-the-three fret and repeat all the way up the board. Normally, when I'm not holding a camera, I would be holding the other side of the card with the other hand and just gently applying pressure on either side. Make a note of any high spot on a simple chart: You must be using the straight part of the card edge and not where it starts curving at the corners and also the edge must be covering only three frets at a time. As the frets start closing up, just use the shorter edge to make sure you're still only covering 3 frets: On a bass, for the first few frets, a credit card isn't long enough. Anything straight and thin will do! : Note, by the way, that you can't check the 1st fret (rare that this is an issue if the nut is cut properly) Next - on the frets where there is a high spot, mark the top of the fret with a non-permanent sharpie: Then take an emery board nail file (most supermarkets, Boots, etc): Use your finger to apply pressure and file gently back and forth in the direction of the fret and where the high spot was under that particular string. The sharpie line disappearing will show you if you're filing in the right place which only needs to be under the actual string that you marked an 'X' against on your plan. A bit either side is OK but don't stray to another string's position unless that was also marked as high. THE PHOTO BELOW IS ILLUSTRATIVE. WHEN YOU DO THIS BIT, POP A STRIP OF MASKING TAPE EITHER SIDE OF THE FRET TO PROTECT THE FRETBOARD IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY ANGLE THE EMERY BOARD. Check frequently with the credit card until it doesn't rock anymore THEN STOP! If you have a whole fret that appears to be high, first check that it is seated properly on the fretboard. If it isn't, tap it lightly along the fret with a hammer and recheck. If it's still high, then use the emery board, potentially along the whole fret - but check with the credit card at each string position frequently so you don't overdo it. The fret top will be slightly flat where you've levelled it. On a bass, Quick and Dirty says don't worry about that - I would defy anybody who says they can hear an intonation difference (although you can on a 6 string electric). Also the fret top will be slightly scratched. But the scratches will be along the fret direction and shouldn't give a problem. If it worries you, a fingernail buffer will polish those out to a decent extent (what's a fingernail buffer? Ask wife/partner/sister/mother...they will be in the same area as the emery nail boards) 2. Quick and Dirty reduction from a 'ski jump' to a 'gentle ski slope' (sometimes referred to as a fall-away) What is a 'ski jump'? It is where the upper frets, restrained by the neck pocket bolts, end up at an angle to the rest of the neck (which is pulled up by the string tension). It is sometimes just the last couple of frets, but often will affect all frets that sit over the neck pocket. The symptoms are when the bass has a decently moderate action but you still have a buzz coming from the very top frets. BUT FIRST - a repeat of the warning: Don't do this on someone else's bass or any particularly valuable one!!! THIS SECTION WOULD BE BEST DONE BY SOMEONE A BIT MORE EXPERIENCED AND, IN ANY CASE, ONLY SHOULD BE DONE IF YOU CAN BE SURE YOU HAVE HIGH UPPER FRETS Purchase a cheap 2-sided diamond steel sharpening stone. Something like this from Amazon. A cheap one like this isn't going to last long but will be fine for this task: Pop a bit of masking tape over the neck pickup to stop any filings sticking to the poles Taking care that the far end isn't anywhere near scratching the bass top, lay the stone on the fretboard where you want the ski slope to start from (usually the 1st fret from where the body joins the neck). Using both hands, gently move the stone 'rough side' down over the frets in this direction. It is easier if someone is holding the bass to stop is moving: Apply light pressure for the lower frets with your left hand and slightly higher pressure with your right hand on the upper frets. You should see the tops of the upper frets flattening evenly along the length of the fret and the lower fret tops less so. Stop when the flattening of the upper frets is no more than 1mm wide. Turn the stone over to the 'fine' side (usually 1000grit) and repeat 5-6 times to take out some of the scratches. String it up and try it. If it needs some more, then just repeat And that, folks, is Andyjr1515's Quick and Dirty method.

There's a 'quick and dirty' way that can get you 2/3rds there with the minimum of equipment and, to be honest, skills. I've done a short tutorial somewhere...I'll see if I can find it when I get a moment

Yes - a well presented sequence and should, on most basses, get you down to a 'normal decent' action height. However, @roger has thrown the gauntlet not only onto the floor, but down the spiral staircase of the castle's turret He's asking about 'the lowest possible action'. And for that, the fretwork has to be as near perfect as possible. So - it all depends on the bass, the strings and, more importantly, the playing style but - my definition of a very low action on a 4 string bass (measured with a capo on the 1st fret to eliminate the nut and measured from fret top to bottom of string at the 12th fret) is around 0.75mm on the G and around 1mm for the other three. Much lower and the amplitude of the actual string vibration in places is likely to greater than the gap between the string and the fret and the bass will sound more like a sitar. To achieve that, then, as @Bigguy2017 says, the frets have to be 'rocker level flat' at all 164 positions and there needs to be no 'ski jump' at the upper frets whatsoever. In fact, for very low actions, the final 6-7 frets should ideally be levelled to give a moderate fall-away. The reason for this is that under string tension, the neck bends upwards...but the length from the beginning of the neck pocket can't bend - and so it becomes more like a rising ramp (hence the ski-jump term). Because the actions on basses tend to be higher than on guitars, most basses won't suffer this - but for low actions, they might well do so.

^ Absolutely this ^

That would be good. Your videos are satisfyingly informative (and many on YT are not! )

There's a fairly comprehensive installation guide on the East web site.

Just to avoid confusion - in the context of guitars and basses, 'active' means 'powered'. So to clarify, the pickup circuitry on the SuperQuad toggle switches is not active, it is fully passive. The only thing that is powered are the LEDs in the pickup. So yes, you can disconnect the battery and all three tones for both pickups will be unaffected (assuming that you don't have any other powered circuitry anywhere else )

None at all. They are totally passive pickups so it is no different to adding a powered EQ to a standard Jazz Bass

Ah OK - so it has a front rout and standard Jazz metal controls plate in addition to a rear rout for the two super-quad switches? If so, then by far the simplest is to use the fitted battery on the J-retro plate assembly. At the end of the day, it is presumably only 3 screws to lift out the whole assembly to replace the battery (which often last over a year as long as you remember to pull the jack lead out when not in use)

I can give a view on most of your queries, but I'm a bit confused here, @Beedster First of all, which model of Enfield do you have? And do you mean you want to fit the John East preamp with the same spec as fitted in the J-retro products into the existing rear chamber? Or are you planning to use a top-loaded J-retro with its plate and all? I'm assuming you are looking at the former option - which is fairly straightforward. The latter is more difficult and more extreme, with no sonic advantage. John East is very responsive to enquiries and will be able to tell you if that particular pre-amp spec is available as a separate unit to fit in the existing chamber. He will also be able to tell you how big it is from which you can work out if you can fit it, and a second battery*, into the chamber, removing some of the excess wood to make room but leaving of the magnets in place so that your back hatch is unaffected. Ref your original query, for what it's worth these are my thoughts: - *While I'm pretty sure that one battery would run both the two sets of SIMs LED's and a pre-amp, personally I would generally fit two batteries. This is because a flat LED battery in the middle of a number in a gig means the LED lights go out...but a flat pre-amp battery means the bass goes quiet! Or worse - before it goes quiet, they usually start squelching and squeaking as the pre-amp utters it's dying cries. Been there, done that! That said, if as with the Lionheart, you fit a push pull to the volume to switch between passive and active EQ, then at least you will be able to keep on playing - but it will still be a problem because it will probably still squeak and squelch until you realise what's happening and, in any case, switching to passive your amp volume will not be set right. - the SIMS Super Quads are totally passive. The circuit boards on the toggle switches simply add mini resistors and the like into the circuit for certain of the combinations to balance the resistance and avoid the usual volume jumps and drops when changing between the three permutations of the four coils. It's VERY clever stuff, but (or because) it is totally passive. - the preamp simply takes the passive signal and boosts or modifies it through the powered EQ. So yes, @Owen is quite right that you could simply buy an EQ pedal to achieve the same thing unless you want to adjust on-the-fly.

I'll be bringing: my SWAAPATWTBWADS* Bubinga Fretless, probably Pete's Swift lightweight piccolo build and maybe also his (not lightweight) EB-3 tribute build *Same Woods And Proportions As A Warwick Thumb But, Wisely, A Different Shape

Really good video and interesting stuff

The more I look at this, the more I think it's going to be an absolute beauty! There are some splendid details - the exposure of the core wood at the cutaways and sides, the join of volute and back headstock plate, the fretboard (generally) and inlays (specifically) to name but three. And the soft curve of the body carve to add a fourth. Once the finish is on it is going to be spectacular.

Lovely!

It's no problem if they've worked OK but, in addition to the issue that @Jabba_the_gut raises there are two other advantages: - they are quite thin and lightweight and they can crack open with the force of the allen key, especially when they are cutting a thread through something like rock maple (which often they are) - it is easier to keep them straight. You keep the position of the bolt with fingertip of one hand on the top and do all the heft with the spanner with your other hand. So, it's not a crime, but it has advantages

I've thrown my hat in the ring for this - but it is on fairly long leadtimes. If anyone's itching to sort it sooner, then I'm sure @PaulThePlug would be happy with that. I would be happy to finish the top with a veneer whether or not I do the fill and rout too

Top job. This is getting into 'Master Craftsman' territory

I'm pretty sure Hipshots will be Imperial threads, not Metric. The guitar saddles are 4-40 UNC (ie, 40 threads to an inch): https://hipshot.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360027039471-What-size-hex-wrench-Allen-key-do-I-need-to-adjust-the-height-on-a-Fixed-Bridge- Can't be sure whether the bass saddles will be the same size but, as they are made in USA, they are almost certain to be imperial threads too. A quick question to the Hipshot zendesk would confirm.

Love the look of that

Loving it