SpondonBassed

All right all right, which one of you lot broke Jack? He don't sound so happy now.

If by AI, you mean Artificial Insemination, then it may well be a cure for The GAS. Before you know it you'll have lots of little basses just like @Jabba_the_gut's biting at your ankles.

Is it "What's better than five of nine by a good pair"?

As has been said by @Andyjr1515 among others; part of the pleasure of doing this is being able to take time out to work out the best way to achieve a desired result with what you have to hand. It's easy to get caught up in a wave of enthusiasm and then go kak it up. For the sake of a little restraint all the work to that point might as well be written off. I've been trying to work out by eye how to conceal the East's long PCB behind the existing control panel cover by removing just enough wood to make it slot in obliquely across the cavity. I stopped to think how best to choose the exact centreline for the PCB before I start the cut. Using the amp itself is not a great idea because of the risk to the soldered connections through repeated bending of the many wires during the trial fits. I needed a gauge that represents the loaded PCB dimensions closely enough to serve throughout the job. I started with a baton of the same thickness. Then I traced the outline of the PCB allowing for a little over where some wires exit from the end of the board. A few cuts with the tenon saw and a quick rub on some Abranet and we have a gauge. That's all I can get done today. I am exited so it's perhaps for the best. It'll allow a bit of time for me to cool off.

Excellent! I would've worked it out step by step but that encapsulates it all nicely for me. Thank you. Now I can work out why the Ray34 eats batteries unless you disconnect it despite being unplugged as well.

Maybe you aren't quite ready to hand saw a chopping board from the back of a P bass but you are well on the way.

I like that a lot. There is something satisfying about a good mitre joint. What angles did you use?

It's known as The GAS in these here parts. Welcome to the forum DP.

Yes. I'd like it to be reversible but invisible on the outside save for the controls and a small East badge. I can do it by removing material within the existing cavity. I'm confident that it will fit snugly where indicated with some careful whittling. You can see where my line intersects with the body of the original switch. I have to be careful though. The angled socket means I have to be absolutely sure where the first drilling goes prior to chiselling out to the final dimensions. Up until now I have been working in the warmth of the living room in front of t'telly. For this sort of work, I'm waiting for an opportunity when I can make enough time for it to be worth heating the workshop as it is not on the main heating system. Also, this is risky. I have to be centred, as they say, before I dare power up the Dremel.

I'd say that between you, you'd have a better chance than most of getting something workable and sounding good. Beware though, you will probably find that you are planning your next one even before you finish your first. There are already some SR based projects in this part of the forum. A search pulls up a couple of pages of results.

The main one would be the possibility of making an entirely serviceable bass into a collection of poorly assembled bits. You should perhaps start with a risk assessment. If you are happy to take a gamble you would improve your odds by researching the pages here if you have not done so already. This will help a great deal in focussing on the right suppliers and products. Unless you have someone competent building for you, your own tooling and skills may be the only things that limit you after that. Have you done any of this sort of thing before?

Yes. The DFA switch operates without mains power too. Not many people know this. It's powered by a single PFM pellet that is embedded at manufacture and lasts for the life of the liar instrumentalist that's telling you about it. Actually, the plan has changed with regard to the switch. I need the room where the switch body was in the cavity for the main board on the Eastie beastie in addition taking out some timber from the inside. The plan now is to try and put a little East badge in its place. If I can legitimately do so that is. I must drop John East a line...

Oh don't get me wrong my friend. I spent many years concentrating on trying to make a good High Fidelity system out of second hand stuff and cast-offs as an impoverished yoof. It became my holy grail. Nowadays, sound quality is not such an issue even with averagely priced components in sound systems and the challenge has gone out of it for me. It was a marvel how I actually got to listen to any of the music such was my obsession with removing 50Hz mains hum and building the perfect bedroom speaker set out of knackered valve radios because they had the biggest drivers I could get my hands on for nowt. Now I am listening to remasters of the music I grew up with. Little of it is left uncoloured by the hardware that it ran through. I want to play it that way as well these days and this is where we differ; you are playing original music whereas I am only doing covers. There is little on my set list that would require FRFR. Quite the reverse. I am now playing in the dirt. We just coming at it from opposite directions, that's all. Regards

Sod FRFR! We're bassists not sopranos! If you need something to add to later the Trace Elliot 1818 is excellent. Plenty of room on top for just about anything else you might want... even tweeters (shudder)... and they're so cheap second hand these days because nobody wants to lug the buggers around. (Sorry)

I think that is the biggest part of it. If you aren't delivering a full fat signal to whatever amp is first in line, you may as well give up. Same for fretted. The trick is not to overpower it unless intentionally. But you knew that.

You're GASsing like a proper old Basschat lag now... Well done, carry on.

Well, you can say it's overkill for a hobby bassist but my rig is an Ashdown Combo on top of an 18 inch Trace ext cab in the workshop or the Laney RB3 sat into the redundant fireplace in the living room. I use a Zoom B3. This also acts as an excellent headphone amp for keeping it to myself when I need to. It has many amp and speaker combinations simulated.

I had it the other way 'round with mine. When I put black nylon tapes on, I found the tone suited it much better. I had only changed the strings to limit the wear and tear on a fingerboard that had a black finish just starting to fail in some spots but I liked the change in tone a lot.

How are you stringing it? With flats or roundwounds? If you haven't already given this some thought, I'd start from there.

Quite Skary. Job done.

Give it a minute or two. Remember who you're asking. Heeheehee. Good to see you back on it Jim!

Welcome Bjam.

Welcome iiii.

...and the shelving... and the flooring. You'd be hard put to find more timber per cubic metre in a flippin' tree house! It's all right. We're used to a multitude of splendid domestic grains and textures accompanying your posts by now. It's one of the "perks" of the Build Diaries.