Mikey R

j[quote name='Tegs' post='855516' date='Jun 2 2010, 10:46 PM']Looks like a solid enough job mate Tell me you haven't planed all those walnut strips by hand....? I will hang my head in shame [/quote] Yep, the only power tools I use are a jigsaw, cordless drill, drill press and a router. The rest is all cut and surfaced by hand. That includes ripping all those walnut strips. I also bought the timber for the bench rough sawn, so I prepared all of that by hand too. You learn quickly that way. If I was doing this for a living then I would certainly get some machines in the shop, but since its just for fun I choose to use hand planes and saws. [quote name='Tegs' post='855516' date='Jun 2 2010, 10:46 PM']I use a fair bit of pu glue (Woodcare is best I reckon) but would hesitate to use it on something like a guitar body as there's a risk of putting too much on. You can easily end up with faces not quite coming together due to the expansion, which is why I asked, as any spaces would obviously be catastrophic in something like a laminated neck. Look forward to seeing the finished product![/quote] Yeah, apparantly the foam doesnt cause issues, and several bass builders use it exclusively. I just dont like the idea of it. Ive not had a problem with yellow glue yet, so Im happy to stick with it. A luthier friend suggested I try epoxy next, something good like West Systems. Its an option for the next bass.

[quote name='Tegs' post='855439' date='Jun 2 2010, 09:42 PM'](the same bandsaw that severed my index finger tendon before Christmas and nearly ended my bass playing career altogether!!!!)[/quote] Nasty! I really hope you didnt lose the finger!

[quote name='Tegs' post='855452' date='Jun 2 2010, 09:53 PM']Woodwork and basses........... heaven! That pristine workbench is alien territory to me though Is that titebond pu or the original?[/quote] Hey Tegs, the bench is pretty good, by pristine I guess you dont mean tidy Its only a few months old, Im still working on getting it all dinged up. Heres a shot before it got covered in tools: I mostly work with hand tools, so the vice needs to be a monster. Its wracks quite badly though, so Im thinking of modifying it or replacing it with the big Veritas twin screw. The glue is Titebond Extend, I had a load left over from building the bench from B&Q 2x4s. The longer open time is better for complicated glue ups. Ive never used PU glue, I dont like the idea of the mess and the need to wear latex gloves. I need to make the most of my shop time and yellow glue is just the easiest to use.

You may be overestimating the amount of effort it needs to carve a neck - on the Shuker course I did last summer, it took me maybe a couple of hours at most, and Im not a joiner by trade. I reckon youd have a load of fun making the whole thing from scratch. Just my opinion though.

That scroll and volute is beautiful! Is that carved the traditional way with gouges and scraper?

By the time youve stripped the laquer, sawn off the wings, jointed and attached the new wings, maybe filled and re-routed the pickup cavities, removed and replaced the fingerboard, reworked the headstock, then refinished it, you could easily have built an instrument from scratch without all the workarounds. If the only thing thats nice about that bass is the neck profile, you can easily clone that on another bass. Looks like walnut and maple laminated neck? Walnuts really my favourite at the moment. EDIT: can we get a look at your shop? Its always nice seeing other people setups

Just bought a set of Bartolini 57J1 5 string jazz bass pickups off Julian. Really quick, posted the following morning. Cheers!

[quote name='discreet' post='849799' date='May 27 2010, 09:05 PM']+1. I've always used Rotosound, but the last lot I got were a bit rough, tbh. Now I'm using DR 'Fat Beams' and they're the business.[/quote] Im trying out D'Addarios nickel roundwounds in medium guage, after a quick truss rod tweek it took me a day or so to get used to them and now Im quite impressed. Much nicer than the same guage Rotosounds, very easy to play for a mid priced set of strings. Im saving up for a set of DRs

A good setup and the right strings can make all the difference.

If the neck pocket is a little smaller than the replacement neck, you can reroute the pocket to match. Just a thought.

Hey, my favourite colour

Peter, has the castle gone mouldy? It looks kinda greenish? I prefer it here (York Minster in winter): Or even here (Kendal in the spring): I think we chose well!

Im currently tinkering with one of [url="http://www.blackstaramps.co.uk/products/ht/htdual.html"]these[/url]: Its quite good but as its a guitar pedal, its going to need a little more work to get the tone REALLY nailed. Im very pleased with it so far though!

[quote name='Merton' post='836806' date='May 14 2010, 07:33 AM']Pedant [/quote] Uncle Pedro is right - Mersea Island is, or at least was, very different from the mainland. Fewer white ford escorts, for one thing. But I did used to work just down the road from where the Status workshops are now just outside of Colchester, so Mert isnt too far wrong. Anyhoo, Merton has been a propper gent waiting for me to put this one together. During the course of building this, alot has gone on, but Im glad Im now getting more time to spend in the workshop.

[quote name='OldGit' post='833711' date='May 10 2010, 10:14 PM']I'd not make any major decisions before trying it in a band situation. [/quote] I totally agree. My plan is to get Andy to overwind them with a coil tap where they are now, then wire in an "awesome" switch for when extra thump is needed. I know I should wait, but the temptation to tinker is almost overpowering...

Nothing past 16 for me, and Im 30. Im pretty certain its self inflicted.

Ive recently picked up a BlackStar valve overdrive pedal and its got me alot closer to that big P bass sound. I found my sound with a bit of mid boost, treble cut right back and just enough crunch so that its starting to really warm up. As its a guitar pedal it still needs a bit of tweeking to the lower end, plus Im planning on getting my Thumper overwound, but its very close. Unfortunately, Ive still not had a chance to try it with guitar and drums yet, but now everyones finished moving house it shouldnt be long before practices resume.

No-ones said anything about the role of autotune in modern pop music. Anyone chosen for their dancing ability can now sound good enough to sell to 15 year olds.

Its certainly a good idea to get other peoples opinons and ideas. Just remember you dont have to listen to them!

Is anyone else now chuckling whilst reading this thread backwards?

Nice find! My little bro used to work in a record shop, with a cash converters two doors down the road. His manager used to get regular calls from the boss at CC, who oftentook delivery of celephane wrapped CDs, just to check if the record shop was 'missing' any stock. And most times, it was.

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='807739' date='Apr 15 2010, 10:21 PM']are there any close up piccys of fanned frets about ?[/quote] Sorry gents, Im a bit late to this party: EDIT: EBC - this bass was at the SE bash last year, on Mertons stand. You must have walked past it like a million times!

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='364171' date='Dec 27 2008, 03:08 PM']18v allows more headroom but this probably needs a bit of explanation. It's a bit like the difference in bandwidth between a 1mb connection and an 8mb connection and the difference all depends on what you want to do.[/quote] [quote name='umph' post='453504' date='Apr 3 2009, 04:48 PM']more voltage = more gain on tap = the opamp amp can handle bigger swings in the voltage without distorting meaning a cleaner sound that goes higher and lower[/quote] Hi gents, do you know what the maximum peak to peak voltage of a passive pickup normally is? I thought it was in the range of tens of millivolts but Im guessing this is wrong. Just having a quick think about this, it may be that the op amps have a higher gain bandwidth product when driven by a higher voltage, so this would mean better high frequency response? EDIT: A quick google shows the active EMG pickups put out around 0.7v to 1.4v RMS, so that would be 1v to 2v peak, if we were talking about steady sine waves. Which we're not. Hmm, not getting any closer to finding this out.

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='799161' date='Apr 7 2010, 08:11 PM']It probably warns against using it for bass because the output transformer can't cope, and while it'll give you that distortion for a while, you may find that one day it lets the magic smoke out.[/quote] Hey, Ive just started looking at valve schematics, could you tell me a little more about the problems with output transformers and low frequencies? What causes the problem, primary or secondary, or does it do something to the power valves? Sorry for the stupid questions, Im just learning about these things!