henry norton

I'm sure it's whether the two pieces of wood 'work' together or against each other. Something to do with resonant frequencies and judging by the variations in sound, less to do with the actual species than with the relationship between the specific neck and body. It could be why you can pick up one Fender bass from a rack and it sounds dull and lifeless yet the next (seemingly identical) one you try is full of life.

[quote name='guylewis' post='892707' date='Jul 12 2010, 01:36 PM']Yacht varnish will not dry hard enough IMO - it remains flexible which is its purpose - you'll have a frustrating time sanding it off too - Rustin's Plastic Coating on the other hand dries (cures in fact) like glass and is virtually indestructible.[/quote] +1 on that - I wouldn't use yacht varnish on a fretless board but Rustins plastic coating looks pretty good if you want an alternative to the epoxy route. So far as I know it's similar constitution to the polyester Fender would have applied to their fretless maple boards in the first place.

Lookin' good! If the router has dug in around the horns you could always re-profile them a bit with a sander - they're fairly chunky so could take some slimming down without any ill effects to the looks or the structure. The other way to deal with it could be to give a bit of relic treatment if that's your kind of thing. Keep us posted whatever you do

Looking like a really interesting restoration. I'd go for changing as little as possible if you're keeping the original markings and patina on the hardware. The CAR sounds really nice too. Even the slight scorch marks left on the neck'll add some character - don't go too far with it!

Your hardware looks fine - the good thing about the Schaller 3d bridge is it gives you some choice regarding string spacing so you can tweak it to suit. The tuners will last for decades too; Regarding pickup choice have you sorted out your fundamentals yet? Do you want active or passive, hot, vintage or modern clean? There are plenty available in PJ configuration. Just to get you started; Active pickups like EMGs - very clean, clear and crisp, (some say harsh) sound Passive hot - DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders or Wizard Thumpers (I think) more rocky with less highs but high output Vintage - Seymour Duncan Vintage, Wizard Trads & 64s, Lollar lower output & more range made to sound like classic originals Modern clean - Bartolini & Villex. Barts are quite full range but some say a bit bland, villex are closer to actives in range and adjustablity - quite popular right now Choice of pickups makes the biggest single difference to your sound (maybe other than choice of strings) but luckily most name brand pickups are pretty good. Individual choice is very subjective so it would pay to start a separate thread in the 'bass guitar' section to get some opinions on pickup choice. Hope this helps.

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='883239' date='Jul 1 2010, 06:59 PM']Still a Newsted boy myself.[/quote] Naaah, Cliff Burton

Despite being a Precision player for the past 20 years I'm liking your Wood & Tronics better than all your 'real' Precisions.

Yeah it's easy enough. Going from a 7.5 to a 16 inch radius will entail sanding a fair bit off the middle of the board so you just need to hope the dots go deep enough into the board to leave some left once you've finished. I s'pose the worst that could happen would be you'd need to re drill a couple of the dot holes and install some new dots if the old ones have been sanded away! Be careful of the rosewood dust as it's not too good to breathe it in.

[quote name='SS73' post='881095' date='Jun 29 2010, 05:20 PM']Trying not to confuse the thread, but ecc807, has the most gain, heaters need rewiring though, nice to hear one in a Marshall. www.pamandandy.demon.co.uk/valves/ecc80x/ecc80x.html[/quote] When you say "heaters need rewiring" do you mean a couple of resistors will need changing on the board or you'll need a new power transformer?

[quote name='Cieran' post='880403' date='Jun 28 2010, 10:55 PM']Thanks for the info Henry. After weighing it up I think I will do as you suggested and stick with the Thunder'Tron - that way I have a larger range of sounds available from both basses. Next on the agenda is saving enough money to get myself a Jaguar Bass VI............... [/quote] No probs - save hard mate, Bass VIs ain't cheap

Apparently (well, according to Ron Kern, a veteran US maker), in the golden Era, fender used acrylics (like Halfords aerosols) as solid colour coats, the clear coats were Nitrocellulose lacquer and that was sprayed on top of a catalyst activated primer/sealer.. the precursor to polyurethanes. So it looks like you can use just about whatever you like

The EMG HB is basically the EMG P pickup squashed into a guitar humbucker sized case - yeah, they sound pretty good although it is an active pickup so may sound a little too harsh or bright in comparison to your TV Jones. The DiMarzio Model 1 has the narrow spacing you need but is not a guitar humbucker size or shape so won't fit your Gretsch. It's designed to drop into a Gibson Mudbucker neck position so won't tick any of your boxes. The Squier P will give you all the P growl you'd need and if you've got a nice TV pickup in your Gretsch already why not spend your hard earned on a DiMarzio/Wizard/Seymour Duncan/Lollar pickup for your Squier?

[quote name='Musicman20' post='878887' date='Jun 27 2010, 04:33 PM']Does anyone have any information on the large bodied hollow bass guitars that are around? Nothing as expensive as that amazing Gretsch for sale in the forum, but similar? I dont know what the market is like on these. Are they pretty much all under normal scale size? Im really craving that deep thumpy sound these bad boys make, along with the fact they look stunning. Cheers[/quote] I got so fed up trying to find a good quality short scale semi bass I decided to make one myself in the end. There are plenty of cheapies on Ebay though if you don't want to pay Gretsch prices, but the Jack Cassady seems to be the nicest longscale out there. Ibanez do a couple, as did Yamaha, Washburn and Aria, mostly along the same lines.

I always thought oil type finishes looked better on natural wood guitars than a thick, glassy smooth lacquer. That said, you'd be hard pushed to get a metalflake finish using oil Have you looked at brush on finishes like Rustins plastic coat [url="http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Rustins-Rustins-Clear-Plastic-Coating-23018.htm"]click here![/url] Bryan May painted his guitar with it and that still looks OK - give it enough coats and you'll be able to sand and polish it just the same as a sprayed finish but with considerably less mess.

They're all good. Gotoh are usually the cheapest, Schaller and Hipshot are about the same cost-wise. With Schaller you get beautifully designed and packaged hardware whereas Hipshot give you a wider choice of materials, shapes and sizes for bass hardware. It's all good stuff though.

The main reason nitrocellulose is so handy for spraying things like guitars is because it can be packed into an aerosol and it won't kill you if you breathe in the fumes, neither of which can be said about polyester which needs to be mixed with a catalyst and then thinned just before it's sprayed on so it can't be packed into an aerosol. The health issues aren't meant to be as bad as they used to be - you needed a proper spray booth and an air fed mask as a simple filter wasn't enough - but it's still not something you'd want to breathe in. I don't know much about polyurethane lacquer (allot of the big makers use it now, allegedly) but I've been using acrylic to finish allot of my necks recently as it's fairly tough but goes on quite thin and shows the grain up nicely but I've never tried it over a colour base. You can do a metalflake finish with just about any spray lacquer so polyurethane shouldn't be a problem but don't discount cellulose because it doesn't go on as thick as 2 pack - the reason most cellulose finishes on guitars look worn out is because they're old, not because cellulose is soft - it isn't.

[quote name='RuiJRocha' post='876429' date='Jun 24 2010, 03:06 PM']What kind of truss rod I must use?? Or I just can put two carbon square pipe in the inside? Cheers RR[/quote] [quote name='EdwardHimself' post='877158' date='Jun 25 2010, 10:46 AM']I think you should probably use an adjustable truss rod. Get yourself a dual-action one but whatever you do though, do NOT glue it in![/quote] Don't just put a couple of carbon pipes in it, get yourself a proper truss rod [url="http://www.luthierssupplies.co.uk/"]Luthier Supplies[/url] Try Luthier Supplies, they post all over the world. I think Thomann do them too. If you get a double action or U section one you only need to cut a shallow, flat bottomed channel. Looking good

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' post='878342' date='Jun 26 2010, 07:31 PM']Anyone tried the uber-cheap Epiphone EB basses around at the moment? I had a play in the shop and apart from a bit of buzz, really liked it. Very muddy, thumpy tone if you're into that sort of thing. I'm thinking of switching as I'm a short guy and reckon the smaller scale would suit me better. The low frets on my Warwick Rockbass are a stretch unless my bass is held pointing the ceiling.[/quote] I bought a nearly new Indonesian Made one off a Basschatter a while back and got on famously with it right from the start. The tone was a bit limited but all in all, the earlier mahogany EB-0s are really nicely made instruments worthy of an upgrade or two. I added a bridge pickup and a varitone and it ended up as my main bass. You can do the muddy, wooly blues/dub type thing but now it'll do Precision growl and Jazz pops and slaps as well. I tried an epoxy coated fretless neck on it too and that sounded really nice, with plenty of treble and (dare I say it), sustain. Try getting hold of an earlier one as the later Chinese made ones I've seen have had heavier maple necks and are generally not so well put together.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='877813' date='Jun 25 2010, 11:00 PM']Thanks for the input. Anyway, for me, it would have to stay simple...as originally designed. No extras, no fancy wood, (other than a lovely birdseye neck with rosewood board maybe) just a really well made Precision with the best pickup known to man.[/quote] The thing about finding the "best pickup known to man" is pickup choice so hugely subjective - all you can do is find the pickup [i]you[/i] like best which either means trying allot of souped up Precisions (preferably with the same board, hardware and body wood but with no added electronics), or spending allot of money buying all the top drawer P pickups you can find and testing them back-to-back in your own bass. I'd definitely do that if I could warrant spending the cash

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='877683' date='Jun 25 2010, 08:13 PM']unless there's a specific issue with your fenders, the only real step up would be to get something custom made taking all your preferences into consideration, or maybe tweaking what you have by customising it.[/quote] [quote name='XB26354' post='877712' date='Jun 25 2010, 08:52 PM']I think the whole point about a good P-bass is its simplicity. I don't get boutique versions of them. From what I've seen the US Standards are as well made as at any time in Fender's history. A vintage P might have a sound and look of its own, but won't be better quality, just older. It is alder or ash, maple neck, one pickup and 2 controls. Decent wood and attention to fretting/setup and you can't go far wrong. If you're going to drop serious money on a bass, either go vintage or get something that does something else - or even, gasp, keep your money in your pocket as I have finally learned to do after years and tens of thousands of pounds wasted on boutique instruments![/quote] I agree with most of this but I do believe [i]some[/i] players benefit from a boutique instrument, although the benefit (especially with something like a standard Precision layout) is probably more in the mind of the player than in the quality of the woods, construction and electronics. I think the US Standards are really nice feeling instruments, smooth rounded board edges and fret ends, usually nicely set up and usually good quality paint & fittings. Paying more money for rare fingerboard woods and a flame in your maple won't make it a better sounding instrument, but the player might 'like' the bass more, feel more connected to it especially if it was custom built for them which often leads them to play better. Do you get what I mean?

[quote name='Thunderpaws' post='874844' date='Jun 22 2010, 10:17 PM']Hello. Things are progressing. Got a new job and bought a puppy. Photo's to follow!! I am about to do the neck pocket on my bass. I am waiting on a Gotoh 201 bridge and my neck thickness (at centre) is 31mm. Can anyone either tell me: How deep I need to make my neck pocket or What's the height of the saddles on a Gotoh 201 when the saddles are at the lowest. I think I just take this off my neck thickness to get the neck pocket depth. Is this right? Last but not least. I need to drill the holes for my schaller machine heads. I think I need a 17mm drill bit. anyone know where I can get one without paying 35 notes! g PS: photo's to follow this weekend on my build thread, "i just bought my first wood!"[/quote] It depends on what sort of bass you're making - bolt on ,glued in, no neck angle or angled. A Fender neck pocket is pretty much standardised at 5/8" (just under 16mm) so you should be fairly safe with that, although it's easier to remove a bit more wood than it is adding it. As for a special sized drill, if you've got a bench grinder or have a friend with one, you can buy an 18mm spade bit (the flat, wide wood drill bits with the spike at the bottom), and carefully grind a half a mill off each side although, for the most part I've found that once you've put a few layers of finish on your headstock you have to ream your perfectly sized peg holes out again anyway, so maybe doing them a bit oversized to begin with wouldn't do too much harm. Either way, don't give anyone 35 quid for a drill bit, unless it comes with 30 quid cash back

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='875164' date='Jun 23 2010, 11:15 AM']The FGN Les Paul guitars are sold for quite a high price. The start at 1000 euros and go up. I've seen £549 as a price for a FGN strat. (googles). Ah, 749 euros for a P-bass. [url="http://www.musik-schmidt.de/gb-Fgn-Neo-Classic-P-Bass-3TS.html"]http://www.musik-schmidt.de/gb-Fgn-Neo-Cla...P-Bass-3TS.html[/url][/quote] Considering the MIM Standards are cheaper than that and a US Std. not much more (in the UK), they're going to have a hard time pushing them at that price, no matter how good they are. Would you say they were as good as a US Standard throwoff?

I've posted this up before but this kind of says it all about the "need" for more power [url="http://www.chambonino.com/construct/const9.html"]1000w Valve Amp[/url] As it is, my 100watt Marshall is plenty loud enough for most gigs that don't have a PA beefy enough to handle a bass DI'd. I s'pose if all you want is really heavy output stage distortion you might as well buy the smallest valve amp you can find and mike it up to a massively powerful digital power amp (preferably the venue's). If volume is what you want you're probably better off investing your hard earned in a few decent cabs. So, 100watt Marshall Superbass is my choice and way lighter/cheaper to fix/better sounding IMO than an SVT or 400+

Your MM pickup cut out looks allot neater than the original factory routing! Nice job - I've considered swapping out the J pickup in my Precision for a MM, d'you reckon it's given you more diversity than a PJ setup would give you?

I always thought the Fender Bass VI was the instrument made for just these tic tac country basslines, with light gauge roundwound strings on a short scale bass. The 50's & 60's vibes will be well catered for with your P.