3below

Columbus Jazz bass, there is a memory from my youth, along with Jedson tele bass and Woolworths Kay bass, my first bass (type thing) circa 1974?

Being a chappie who was around and youthfully playing in bands in that era I am surprised that Dimarzios, Mighty Mites, brass nuts and bridges have not been mentioned yet. I did both the P bass and Ric thing in the late 70s /early 80s. Both worked well (no surprises there) with Marshalls and Hiwatts. For a good all round bass to cover it these days, G&L SB1, the mfd pickup will do aggression/rude very well, P on steroids You can even get 'authentic vintage' 1980s examples at sensible money.

Likewise I was not unhappy with the value I had from that combo, it did many gigs over the years, faultlessly. I also found repair uneconomic and picked up a used Fender (Eminence) 15" on this very forum. The next bit will (probably) make @Phil Starrwince (and likewise me, since I was / am a Physicist). I just fitted it and did not worry about Thiele/Small parameters and correct porting. Fortunately it sounded OK (we are only talking 100W here). TNT combo with a modern speaker and correctly ported will be a pretty reasonable thing apart from the weight :).

The glue on the BW speaker in the 115BW combo that I owned from 1980 failed in about 2010. The cone parted company with the frame during a gig, I tried the copydex approach however was unsuccessful. I had not caught the damage soon enough. When I took the speaker apart I also encountered the deteriorated foam reside that @agedhorse mentions. You have nothing to lose by attempting a 'copydex' repair.

Inspired by my last licence plate 3 string cbg I decided to build something 'different'. 30.9" scale, flat ebony fretless board (10mm thick) , hollow body, parallel neck and as small a headstock as possible. . Stainless inserts and a 'mistake' in drilling the the bolt holes despite using a pillar drill. Note the anti neck dive fitment, 1 lb of lead! 20mm neck depth and 48mm width (easy using the planer-thicknesser). 48mm neck width results in 13.5mm string spacing. From using the 3 string cbg I hoped that this would be playable (if not the design will let me replace the neck with a conventional taper one). Extended neck join and angle to get neck tilt with shim. Next time I will set the neck support block in at an angle in the body (or rout an angled pocket). Those with sharp eyes will notice the little infill at near the fingerboard end. Careful measurements can fail when user stupidity intervenes in simple mathematics! Wanting to keep the headstock as thick as possible, get the maximum break angle (and not cut / carve / rout a Fender type headstock thinning) I copied this sunken method that I found on another guitar build. If anyone does use it remember to make the depressions large enough to get a box spanner or socket over the machine head bushing nut. These did, just! Self made ebony nut, made with rat tail file, really pleased with how that turned out. Cavity for recessed piezo pre amp control panel. Due to this 'design' evolving rather than being planned correctly (ironic that my professional career relied on planning to prevent p**s poor performance) I ended up routing the recess after assembling the body shell. Much easier if done before. Body is sapele, 60mm wide, 20mm depth. Bridge with stainless adjusters. Angled machine heads to reduce turning moment (and hopefully help with neck dive). Machines are from Retrovibe, 20:1, excellent quality and fairly lightweight. Good price as well. Neck dive has been averted, all up weight is 7.9Lb Joyo piezo pre amp, chosen beacuse of price and features (£24, 5 band eq, tuner and phase. It also had a piezo undersaddle rod thrown in). Bought direct from Joyo so no risk of a 'knock off'. Finish is Tru-Oil. Very easy to use and get a 'glossy' finish. The neck is so stiff that I have had to (for the first time ever in any bass I have owned) use the truss rod to add relief. If you build one be aware that not all USA licence plates are the same thickness, some are very flimsy, some are steel, others aluminium. The Colorado plate was easy to use, the Nebraska one was 'buckled', difficult to get flat and eliminate buzzing / vibrations. Strung with some status flats I had lying around it is quite a 'fun' thing. The box format is surprisingly loud acoustically, string spacing is tight and playing it requires finesse (not my normal right hand technique). Will hopefully post some sound clips, I am pleased with it, it has a jazzy EUB, double bass vibe, plenty of string growl as well.

I suspect this was made by a still functioning luthier, Tony Revell in Mid Wales / Shropshire (who is a family friend and has done work on several of my instruments).

Many years ago (late 70s / early 80s) I had a John Birch SG bass with the strap button in the same place that you are thinking about, it was a neck diver 'par excellence'. Fitting Hipshots to my current Gibson SG bass sorted the neck dive issue, money well spent. You can always put the Grovers back on if you ever move it on and sell the Hipshots afterwards.

I remember these from my youth (1970s), someone in one of my early band's had one. As I remember gloss black head-stock, confirmed by a bit of googling, so this is a replacement. Like various other cheapy things (Jedson, Woolworths Teisco Kay to name two) our aim in life was to get real instruments asap. When I see some of the prices that these are up for I remain astounded, nostalgia trumps reality?

Bought a set of Dunlop straplocks from Vin. Excellent transaction, communication and speedy arrival. Really well packed. Many thanks, highly recommended.

Likewise, I really like the 'barncaster' look. No need to worry about chips and marks on the finish either

If you mean end cutting then a tool like this can be found in good tool shops for far less. Look for as flush an end cut as possible which will reduce subsequent filing work. I would suggest getting ones with the longer handles rather than short. Some fret wire can be very resistant (or I am weakening in old age lol). https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170965706002?epid=1973069207&hash=item27ce59a512:g:gp4AAOSwNF1fZiSY I have bought other bits of kit from Chris Alsop, all very useful and well thought out. If you mean cutting the tang back for a bound edge or hidden frets this can be done with the tool (which now seem expensive) or with cutters and a file. A Dremel or similar might work well for this as well, you would need to make some sort of clamp to hold the frets in while you did them.

What strings / gauges did you choose? Apologies if I missed this in the thread, The bass and build is highly inspiring

Ressurecting an old thread, I am having the same issues as @Amafi, to the point that I am playing guitar on this number rather than bass, Mike's job is safe :). Any suggestions on what would fit this 12 bar shuffle gratefully received. FWIW it is very similar to Darts, The boy in New York City.

That would seem highly likely.

I have also done this with exactly the same result. The long scale 5 set runs at 43 , 56 , 70 , 100 , 136. The short scale 4 set at .043, .056, .070, .106. The 106 E string is just so much better on my short scale basses. My thinking was if the 136 B string will work at 30" then combine that with a short scale set (accepting some of the main string wrap of the B string will go around the post - which from experience will work ok). Conclusion: If (when) I build the 30.5" 5 string bass it will not have my usual TI flats on it.

Very tasty bass What strings / gauges are you using? I just tried capo and retuning on my G&L to simulate the 30" scale. The TI flat B string is too floppy to use for me at this scale.

Making myself use my G&L L1505, I may actually be getting the hang of the 5 string thing after several failed starts. Its a hard life having to use such kit.

Brass hardware is so 1970s, I was there when retrofitting was all the rage. Black crackle is the real deal. Accept no substitutes.

I'd also offer to lend you mine but it is a long way from Mid-Wales. Have got the location ready for the NBD

+1 likewise I only have one bass that does not have TIs. I also have way too many basses.