SpondonBassed

The belts are knackered. They can usually be replaced.

Grand.

Aw.

Bang on! (I like your signature file now too... or do I?)

The pickup screws? I have no idea. I wouldn't be able to compare it to anything anyway as the only other bass I built also had screws.

I drilled the pilot holes for the pickups. I measured and tried to get a good position for the pole pieces several times and when I was satisfied, I went for it. Measuring up after... nailed it! 295mm on the knob. Next task, shielding. As if there hasn't been 'nuff of that this year!!! I am still using some self adhesive tape that my late mum bought to keep slugs away from her plant pots. It's good stuff for shielding too. Doing it all now means I wont have to worry about it again. Pickup mounting springs and screws. I've restrung it and it's looking good. Pole pieces are aligned as best they can be and the copper shielding hides my chiselling marks. Controls and loom ready to fit tomorrow, all being well. I think it's one of @KiOgon's that a fellow member donated to me.

The Fostex X15 runs at normal speed. What machine have you got? Chances are that all it needs is a new set of belts. The rubber perishes over time.

Everything below the underscore beneath the word "Quote" is your signature file. It appears at the end of each post you make to those members who select the option to see signature files. The bit I've circled in red is called a spoiler box. It hides its contents until the reader reveals them. In this case, yours is empty. To edit: Click on your user name at the top right of the page. Go to Account Settings and on the left of the page select Signature. From there you can edit your signature file.

Welcome David.

That's not dancing so much as trying to cope with a severe wedgie! Somebody pass her the talc.

You have my undying respect for what you're doing even if you do keep catching me out with that empty spoiler box in your signature file, you scamp you! I wish you every success with the venture.

Welcome (back) Greg.

I downloaded a spreadsheet from somewhere that detailed the positions for pickups on a variety of bass guitars. For the split P it specifies 295mm from the twelfth fret. As the Yamaha neck appears to be about three quarters of an inch longer than the Encore's, I expected to run out of room to move the pickup by the same amount. This was confirmed when I got the measurement of 295mm. I could almost get there but not quite. I really wanted to get the best from the pickup placement so I decided to remove sufficient wood for clearance at the correct position. I used a Dremel to hog out the worst of the job and finished by hand with a chisel. I am very happy with the result. I can now put the pickup where it is supposed to be with the centreline at 295mm from the twelfth fret. Time for a cuppa.

Time to fit the bridge in the new position dictated by the Yamaha neck. I wind out the G saddle to its max and then measure 34 inches to the nut from the saddle centreline. I mark the distance with a pencil line on the body. Then I centre the bridge using twine. I mark that off with pencil. Having centre punched the hole positions directly from the bridge, I drill out pilot holes. Mustn't forget the bridge needs an earth connection. Best done now. Again, using candle wax as a thread lubricant, I fit Posidrive screws and tighten the bridge down. I used four strings out of a crap set of five that came with my Pit Bull kit a couple of years ago. For a laugh, I've strung it BEAD. It has tuned up with zero setting up already. I'm well chuffed with the acoustic sound so far. There is tweakage to be done however and I shall work out where the new sweet spot for the P pickup is going to be another day.

I nearly fell over watching that... and I was sitting down to start with!

I find myself moving or foot shuffling unconsciously sometimes when I play. It's not what you'd call dancing like somebody has said already. I suppose it is a sign that I could perhaps learn to do both together. I don't see think it's anything that people would want to see though.

It must be a word that rhymes with "excellent" and has many letters in common. What could that be...? Inclement, er, Increment, er, ex-Clement...?

Does this help?

Very kind of you to offer. Thank you. It's a bit far from Spondon, Derbyshire however. Maybe if things improve nationally and with my own care duties that tie me to the house anyway, it would make a good opportunity to get away for the day and meet a fellow member. Cheers. I'll keep it in mind.

Welcome Sida.

Quite right. But that's the great thing about this. All of the parts were free. Whilst not wanting to ruin any of the parts, nothing is lost if it goes wrong but if it goes right, then I have repurposed something of value. I have to say though, this seems to be building itself so far.

I mentioned wanting to put two extra screws in the neck joint to pull the neck into the body towards the bridge. It's an easy mod to do if you get your angles right... gulp. Time to have a go; Our Dremel pedestal can be angled. This is how I planned to keep the drilling angle fixed in both the neck and body. For the clearance holes in the body, I could only drill to a certain depth before the Dremel itself fouled against the body. I used the Dremel's flexi-drive attachment to drill deeper. For this I had to follow the drill angle by hand. Not too easy without experience but fortunately it's a bodge I've done before. Once through I flipped the body and countersunk the holes to a depth suitable for the required depth of bite in the neck. Of course the heads need to be under-flush else you'll snag your strides and other bits on the back of the bass. Nasty. Using the angle set by the drill pedestal I drilled pilot holes in the neck. It's always worth putting a bit of candle wax on the screws. All done up, this is now a six bolt neck. The neck joint is as snug as a bug from the front. The assembly of body and neck feels secure. I can't wait to see how it sustains.

In actual fact, the reason for this topic is that the OP needs to be given a break from him. By the way, I'm not anti. I know he's a member here and I respect his skills and experience. It's just his style of delivery that rankles. It's not for everyone.

At least you're not sitting on the fence... I just find his style irritating. I'm sure he's a nice bloke and all but.

All I did this evening was shape the neck end and grind off the screw shanks that were left in the body. As a respected BC member often says; this is not how to do it but this is how I do it. I found that a medium engineer's file worked well with the neck. It felt remarkably like filing brass! I was quickly able to get to this: The gap is negligible now - Then it was time for the Dremel again... That quickly took off the snaggy bits of screw shanks;