Andyjr1515

No problem. I have many makes of string in my bits drawer and that was the only one that didn't fit. I don't recall any other strings I've used or fitted with that larger ball. It is certainly not one of the popular makes as far as I am aware.

I have had the privilege to work on a couple of Wals since I started this crazy hobby and, without any hesitation, they are my favourite basses. Everything is SO well engineered and the instruments just feel and sound - great! It's one of the absolute delights of the regional Basschat Bass-bashes because the kind folks round here let maniacs like me actually pick them up and play them. So, anything that I can do that can keep a Wal working or get playing again is always of interest. So you can imagine how excited I was to be contacted by our very own @Fishman who explained that he had some Pro 1e components and could I get it all playable again. 'Sure! Send them to me." Gosh - a Pro 1e! Happy Days The box was smaller and lighter than perhaps I might have expected. Well - maybe it's a particularly lightweight version...even MORE exciting because sometimes they can, indeed be on the heavy side Oh...that's odd... Well - definitely a Wal! That is the best pickup in the industry in my opinion: Well, OK - I'll admit that @Fishman did mention that it needed a new body. And the fretboard is coming off and being replaced with an ebony fretted one with a couple of AJR swifts at the 12th, requested by @Fishman so that there can be no ambiguity that this isn't a full genuine Wal (oh...and because they DO look pretty cool ) This is the kind of job I can slot in while the relevant machines are out for @Jus Lukin 's build (my cellar isn't big enough to leave the bigger stuff in situ) so it won't be a super fast affair but I am looking forward to it. Oh - and I've got a lovely piece of lightweight swamp ash for it (ignore the outline - don't worry, it won't look like a Fender I'll keep you guys and gals posted

So why do I make sure I have the timber and some of the hardware before I make a proper start? Well, for a through-neck the geometry has to be right otherwise it is major grief. Whereas on a bolt-on you can alter the neck pocket and neck angle, with a through neck that angle has to be right. And - as many of you know - when it comes to neck angles, a few mm here or there can make a big difference. And so I need to have hold of the actual bridge and see how far forward and back the saddles will go, and how much actual usable adjustment there is in terms of height. I need the fretboard blank because I need to know what my finished fretboard depth is going to be so that I can draw the string line against the bridge movement limits and that lets me work out the neck angle. And then with the actual neck blanks available on hand, I can work out the most economical way of achieving that angle (eg, can I get two splices from one blank or not) So today - with the bridge here and now the timber blanks in hand, I've got out the long rulers and set-squares to draw up the geometry. So first - on the bridge, where do the saddles sit in relation to the base and how much intonation movement is there? Then I can I work out where the bridge - and therefore the bass body - needs to be in relation to the nut. On intonation range, the Nova bridge score is off the scale. First, by fitting a dummy string, I could work out the maximum and minimum practical intonation movement achievable without string interfering with the bridge components. That worked out, I could now set the Bottom E right back and the Top G right forward. That gives me a whopping 9mm usable intonation movement! : But that's not all. Because there are four positions that each saddle unit can be fixed to : That gives an additional 38mm movement from the furthest forward to the furthest back - a total of 47mm!!! We're into multi-scale territory without even having to fit the individual bases (which Nova can supply in any case ) So top marks on that one. And it takes ALL the worry out of fitting the bridge in the wrong place (not that I would EVER do that ) The saddle height range, however, is more limited. I could only get 5.5mm reliable height adjustment of the saddle (reliable meaning where I could still fit the locking grub-screw). However, the base is generously thick (bodes well for the tone! ) at 6.5mm and so if, like me, you intend to sink the base into the bass top, you can practically sink it up to a further 6mm without interfering with anything, giving a total 'design safety factor' of around 11mm in the event of the neck angle not ending up quite to plan. So two big ticks for Nova. Then I hit what I thought was a snag. I always keep sets of 'setup' strings so that I don't k****er new strings with all of the build set up and stringing and restringing stuff. So I just pulled a random test string from my bits drawer - and then hit what I thought was a snag. The ball end was too big to allow the adjuster to slide into the saddle-holder: That's odd, I thought. I checked that it was fully seating and it was. While not overly difficult to fix - either by deepening the ball end socket on the unit, or filing the ball end down - it seemed unusual that this wouldn't have been picked up in such a well engineered item. So I opened a pack of new D'Addario strings and: Perfect. So I then tried a Newtone big fat B string: Perfect again. And all the other makes I had in the drawer. I've no idea what make the first one was that I tried, but my conclusion is that this isn't an issue with the Nova bridge - it is more an issue with that particular string manufacturer's balls... Tomorrow, I will finish calculating the angles and start getting a few neck splices cut. Oh - and yes - we're going for a 9-piecer: Thanks for looking

It is ridiculous! Everyone here, including me, will tell you that you need at least seven! At least.

No - you won't harm frets with polish although, depending on the polish, it might not get down to the metal and just react with the surface. Is the 'silvery colour' shiny? If so, the frets may be Evo Gold. They dull down to a brassy gold colour but freshly dressed are actually much more silvery. What's the bass? Best polish for frets is probably Autosol, but you must mask the fretboard when you use it because it's a bit of a messy white paste that is an absolute devil to get out of fretboard grain.

Ah - those look more like it. Great find!

That'll do (ignore the oak table...)

The good news is that the timber is coming! Clearly things are busy over there at David Dyke's - it arrives Monday In the meantime, the constructional veneer arrived for the back/top demarcation - this is 1.5mm maple rather than the standard 0.6mm - and is now being glued to the underside of the top: The main next job that holds everything else up is getting the neck blank laminated once the wood is here

It's a beauty.

Yes - in various ways and various situations, I think we've all done similar things...works every time. I think you will be very pleased with the John East - they are great little preamps.

I like the look of those!

Carrying on with the theme - someone mentioned AGC's. They are a particular favourite of mine because they retain the functionality with a passing nod to conventionality, but not overly bound to that. For a 'traditional' single cut, this is pretty d**n fine: So what they have done is lowered the lump of the top horn. But of course, that doesn't actually need to be there at all, really. Functionally, this would work just as well: Great topic @Si600 - we don't really challenge bass design nearly enough

There's a bit of pragmatism, a bit of conservatism and a bit of personal taste and a bit of an opportunity all mixed together, @Si600. The pragmatism and conservatism is that "I want everything the same as a double cut but I want it to be single cut. So Kert's Camphor: Becomes this as a single cut with a 3 minute session on the bandsaw: (Hmmm....there's a build for the future.....) While @Len_derby 's Swift Lite: ...could easily become a beluga with the saving of 3 minutes on the band saw: (Hmmm...to my eye, that don't look too bad...one to keep in the back pocket?) Functionally they are identical. But you then have to ask, why is the top horn...hang on...why are either of the horns there in the first place? Well - the bottom one has no purpose (edit: Big purpose if you try to play it without a strap!). The top one is somewhere to put the strap button. Functionally, that is their only purpose. So in Banjoland, folks would look at a 'traditional' bass and say "What was Leo F thinking?????" Because their Swift Lite's would look like this: (Hmmm........................................Nahhhhhh!!!) You can tell I'm still waiting for timber to arrive....

There are lots of things around to protect consumers - and especially if we are talking physical safety. It's worth looking up the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (might have been updated since then) and the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 and probably the current Sale of Goods Act . The Consumer Protection Act uses both Civil and Criminal law and applies to producers, importers and suppliers - and sometimes all of them! I don't know the facts and so can't comment on this particular case. But if what you say is correct, then they certainly seem to be treading a bit of a perilous path if they know it can cause injury and they know that it has caused injury and yet don't appear to be planning or attempting to do anything about it. Of course, unbeknown to any of us, they may be doing just that...

Still waiting on the wood - probably next week now. I think DD's are really busy (which is a good thing in the long run ) Anyway - keeping busy, I decided to clear a few infrequently used drawers full of random stuff. And one of those contained an unused 9v battery...and I haven't done anything to it...and it wasn't shorting on anything...and the drawer was dry and nowhere near any heat or light... : Just how I found it. And those cells are rock solid. And who knew they had cells inside them anyway??? And...er...do they do this?????

The other thing you can do if it is only the free length of string itself vibrating rather than vibration in the nut itself, is just shove a strip of foam behind the nut to stop the vibration. I actually use an old velcro cable tie and wrap that round the strings behind the nut...does the same thing. Certainly worth a try before drilling a hole in your headstock. If it is actually sitar-ing in the nut slot itself, though, you probably need a tree.

No - I couldn't find it either. It was definitely the Midlands bash was it?

Waiting on a wood delivery. Normal service will resume as soon as....well, as soon as the wood arrives.

It's looking great You are quite correct to use screws. Magnets will hold a wood cover, but not the weight and pull of a jack as well

Oh - I remember that red one! I think there's a photo on the Events page.

One of the notable features of the ones I fitted in Mick's 'Silk Bass' was just how even the levels were across all options so presumably, yes, they must have sorted it. There's a mention of how even it is in the Basschat video - and you can actually hear that there is no discernible change in volume through Nick's demo of pretty much all of the positions.

OK - that's what I CALL a routing template : This is dampened and so it pretty much the colour it is going to be when finished. Bear in mind, of course, that most of the central block will be taken up with fretboard, pickups and bridge, but that quilting that is already starting to show is really going to pop out once the finish is finally on: It's why I love walnut...

Yes. They are completely passive and the three-way toggle shows the option. Mind you, with @Jus Lukin 's plan for the pickup selectors also to be toggles (actually, a very sound solution) I think to work out what is in what mode based on the switch position could be...er...challenging

It took me a little while to get my head around the SimS Superquads when I did Mick's Silk Bass and then realised I was over-complicating it in my head. They are actually very straightforward to fit. Each of the pickups has it's own wire-loomed three-way switch giving it the option of, basically, Jazz; P and Humbucker In all other respects, except for the battery which is just for the LED's on each, they act exactly the same as standard passive pickups. And so to wire them up, I will need to create a 6-way (actually, I realise it's 7 way - apologies, @leftybassman392 !) switching - bridge only; middle only; neck only; bridge and middle; middle and neck; all three - and the one I'd forgotten - the 'telecaster' bridge and neck. Happily, none of this affects the build which - to be brutally frank - is the only thing I'm concentrating on at the moment! Yes - I have high hopes. Time will tell, but it is the addition of a thrust bearing that I think makes it stand out from the crowd. Maybe Steinberger, etc, already use these kinds of bearing, but the cheaper systems I've come across in the past certainly don't. I don't think a thrust bearing changes the friction on the screw-thread itself created by the string tension, but it does take away almost all of the friction of the adjustment knob against the bridge body.

They don't I think @tauzero is using lateral thinking Anyway - no one's as far out as I was