Andyjr1515

No probs

He also sells individual carriers for them so they can be turned easily into separate units (perfect for multi-scale ). We might end up using those - these are 19mm spacing on the logo'd block and I think @Jus Lukin is more used to 17mm. Plenty of time to decide

$126 plus postage, Mick. Worked out about £120 total.

Hi @stewblack I meant the heel of the neck, not the heel of the fretboard. Sorry - my bad

There are sometimes things you can do with just a button position change. Any chance of a pic of the present top horn + fretboard and also of the heel?

And to the headless system. Now I may be wrong, but I'm sure someone has flagged this in the past. Maybe @Jabba_the_gut ? There are relatively few around that are single ball and (I think likewise) @Jus Lukin prefers this to double ball-end types. And that brings me to Nova Guitar Parts - Andre Passini in Brazil. He used to sell them on ebay, but to his surprise, the Chinese started 'selling them' - on ebay and complete with knock off graphics!!! I think if you wanted to describe the word 'blatant', it would be a good example. I noticed when I went searching them out that both his and the Chinese ones had gone. Presumably Andre complained to ebay and (there is hope yet) ebay took notice. So I contacted Andre through Facebook and got a very prompt reply. And just look at this, arrived from Brazil this lunchtime in less than a week from ordering: And - often the problem area of these types of tuner - look at this : Yes - ball-races. These are beautifully, beautifully made. Using the old engineering adage of 'if it looks right...' Very excited about this build

Let's think...er, three factorial less three, um, nine factorial less nine, um or is it 9 factorial plus.... - lots!

...but not as we know it. With apologies for purloining Mr Spock's iconic phrase in the process, @Jus Lukin and I have just finished a few months kicking around thoughts in what should be a very interesting project and - to keep the theme by stealing another programme's punchline - 'all systems are go!' It's going to be a mix of trad and modern. And maybe a world first...? The basic spec starts fairly conventionally: - Mahogany back; figured walnut top - Multi-laminate (prob 9 ) neck - Neck through - hints of EB-0; essence of Alembic then is starts pulling into the middle lane: - headless, single ball - chambered - 30" scale and then we are truly in the fast lane: - three - YES THREE - SIMS Superquads!!! And, we think, this might be the world first ...and don't worry, @Jus Lukin and I are both fully aware there might be a reason for that I'm still gathering the bits and pieces. I have a headless system arriving today from Brazil (and quite excited by this, too) and I have the top walnut from my shed stash. The first stages will be probably in parallel with a rebody project I'm currently on with. It means I can order the timbers at the same time and, in that my small cellar space means that I have to pull out all of the bigger equipment to use it, I can save set up time by doing the machining stuff for both projects with each piece of equipment needed. So, early days but we have a shape that @Jus Lukin is happy with: The rear end is a straight copy of an EB-0. The front end is a modified take of some of the early Alembics The walnut I had in my shed will darken when the finish has been put on, but I think is going to look just right with the general vibe. Bear in mind, of course that most of the middle section is going to be bridge and pickups: More about the headless system when it arrives later today And the SIMS Superquads. Well, apparently Martin Sims doesn't know of anyone who has fitted three but can't see why it shouldn't work. And, having fitted a pair of them to @TheGreek 's Silk Bass - well, they are pretty special! There's a thread somewhere on all the gory details of the save and refit, but this is what it (and they) looked like: And here's a video from one of the Basschat Bassbashes with Nick Smith demo-ing them and, mid way through the session playing Mick's Silk bass. They are pretty special pickups So, both with the rebody I mentioned earlier and this, I'm in for a real fun time. And the timing is pretty much perfect: I think I'm going to be down in the cellar for some time

Very nice lines. And I agree with @SpondonBassed - that grain pattern is lovely.

In terms of whether you need one...well it depends. Basically, because the F-style headstocks are straight, then the further away the strings are from the nut, the less the break angle of the string over the nut. That can lead to loss of tone (to an extent and most of us wouldn't be able to tell the difference) or the ability of the string to pop out of its nut slot or sometimes a bit of 'sitaring' where the string vibrates on the nut slot itself. Additionally - and especially with guitars but less so with basses - the two longer-nut-to tuner string lengths (the G and the D) can actually vibrate like a harp. In extreme cases this can actually change the sound coming through the pickups. So in most cases, a string tree is fitted on these types of head. But - if your windings are such that they go right down to the tuner nut, then actually you may be creating a good enough angle to not need to fit one. On a bass, my general rule of thumb is that if the string over the nut is heading towards10 degrees, then the string tree becomes more a matter of personal preference but, if so, make sure there are enough windings to get that tuner exit point as low as possible.

Having quite rightly been pilloried for spending much of Lockdown - Part 1 meddling in 'the dark side' of 6-string electrics and guitar bouzoukis, I have learnt my lesson and solemnly declare I will spend Lockdown Part 2 concentrating wholly on proper instruments, that is, bass guitars. And you are aware in this modern post-truth world that my word is, of course, my bond Well...all of that might be rubbish, but - so far - basses have been pretty much my main distraction. First I finished @wwcringe 's African Bass Mk II: Then I did a refinish for @jimmy23cricket , stripping his black LTD 5-string body and making it bluey-greeney-tealey: And for another basschatter, shortly going to add a body and new fretboard to a very nice neck and loaded scratchplate And for another basschatter, @Jus Lukin , just at the final drawing stages of a very exciting project. In the words of Mr Spock, "it's a bass, Jim, but not as we know it." Build thread for this kicking off shortly. In that it means I will spend most of Lockdown Part II (and probably Parts III and IV) down in the cellar, MrsAndyjr1515 is, perhaps, a little too cheerful.

I like offsets. That initial pic looks very promising

I'm not convinced that trying to create a Faraday cage in a hollowbody is worth the effort but ensuring that all the connecting wires in the loom are shielded might be (and no quicker/easier way than contacting @KiOgon ) But - it might well be the pickups if they are single coils although I think I would have expected the buzz to have changed at least a bit when you turned down the volumes or flicked the pickup selector. Lovely bass, by the way. Got to be worth a new loom whatever

Just a post-script on this build - one of my personal favourites. I asked P how he was getting on with the Guitar Bouzouki. He was happy for me to share his answer "I was looking for a Irish-style guitar-bodied bouzouki, to provide a rounder and more complete sound, and also a more comfortable playing position when seated. The commercial offerings from mainstream folk vendors were uninspiring and custom makers few and far between, so I contacted Andy through the basschat web site and asked whether he would be interested in taking on a project. Despite being unfamiiar with the concept he readily agreed. Andy set about the build with great enthusiasm. He was happy to incorporate some design ideas from Andy Irvine's instrument and added some signature touches of his own. He based the neck on the profile of my existing bouzouki to provide a familiar feel. He also solved a number of technical problems which neither of us had forseen at the start. The result has exceeded my expectation. The sound is rich and full, and continues to improve with use. It's comfortable to play and feels immediately familiar. The build quality is superb and the choice of tone woods and body woods provides a striking and unique look. The only thing he hasn't solved is the name: we still don't know if it's a Gazouki, a Bizarre, or just a Bouzouki, provided that no-one from Greece is present!" In truth, I didn't get the neck profile quite the same as P's existing bouzouki. He brought it along when he picked up my build for me to have a look at a traditional Irish Bouzouki and it was great to see one in the flesh. But it was immediately noticeable that the 'V' on the neck of the traditional stayed 'V' for much longer than my own carve. It's actually very straightforward for me to tweak (pretty much a while-you-wait job) but P is giving it a good play-in before deciding whether to stick with the present shape or get it a bit closer to his traditional. It'll be good when the pesky Covid is on the wane so that P can get playing with his band again - I'd love to see some clips of this in action

Oh dear! What has gone wrong? It was looking great...

It's OK. We've got Boris on the case... ...oh, c**p

I quite like the Seymour Duncan STC pre-amps. The 3-band version STC-3P uses 4 holes and I've fitted those to two basses - and I've also fitted the 2-band version, the STC-2P to my own fretless. Easy to fit, not overly expensive and work a treat...

Lovely job

It's great to follow up hunches and "I wonder what would happen if"'s. I will be one among many following one of your own "I wonder what"'s

Can you post a picture of the present one? Assuming it's a BTB-300FM, a number of the photos on Google show a Neutrik locking jack. A quick shot of the jack and folks here will be able to tell you exactly what to buy

Splendid

Hi There's a lot of good sense mixed in with a decent amount of confusion in this thread! Let me try to crystallise the bits that are right and the bits that matter: With a bass, pretty much everything affects everything. So, more specifically to your particular issue, the tension of the strings affects the bend of the neck which affects the action height which affects the intonation. And so there is an important sequence when you are starting with an unknown quantity - that is, a bass whose set up is unknown 1. Fit the strings that you plan to use 2. Tune up to pitch 3. Check the neck relief (simplest way that is 'near enough' is: Hold down the G at the 1st fret; Hold down at the 17th fret; tap the string in the middle (8th fret); there should be just perceptible movement. Repeat for the bottom E string. Choose whichever has the least gap. Then: a gap up to the thickness of a business card is close enough - more than that, the truss rod needs tightening; a tiny gap is fine but if the string is hard against the fret at the 8th, the truss rod needs loosening - there has to be at least a perceptible gap) 4.Now you can check your action height 5. Adjust the action height at the saddles. Don't worry about them being high on their grubscrews - once they are up on the grub screws, it makes NO audible difference how high they are as long as you haven't run out of thread 6. If you have, indeed, run out of adjustment, then you may need to add a thin shim to slightly change the angle of the neck. Let us know the results of steps 1 - 5 before doing this 7. Once you have set your action height, you can set your intonation. I can explain why it has to be in this order, but this is the order it has to be (which is what most folks above are saying too). Hope this clarifies.

Rewired to series (Tom's preference) which has evened out the string differential nicely. As many of you know, I'm no bass player - but here's a clip:

And...it's finished!!!! Here are some shots: