de afwerking mk5-4f - blablas does another build diary

[sblueplanet]

Pretty bizarre looking instrument with everything offset including the frets.

[Myke]

You don't hang around do you

Looks odd but nice

[blablas]

Wiring and shielding is finished.

Bass has been signed and the building is finished, all that needs to be done now is setting it up and take detail pictures, and of course playing with it. Edited August 17, 2017 by blablas

[blablas]

Setup is done.

First pictures of the finished bass:

Edited August 17, 2017 by blablas

[blablas]

With a neutral background.

Edited August 17, 2017 by blablas

[sblueplanet]

Love how you matched the rear cavity and not just a plastic one.

Another impeccable build. Well done!

[sprocketflup]

Aye, that looks great does that, well done

[blablas]

More detail shots.

Edited August 17, 2017 by blablas

[d-basser]

Lovely! How do the pickups sound like that? Are they not backwards from the 'standard' (i.e. bridge at neck and vice-versa)? Not a criticism as you clearly know what you are doing, just curious.

[blablas]

Yes they are backwards, but even with this Sidewinder in the bridge position it is still bordering on being too muddy for my liking, I will probably be doing some experiment with a series/parallel switch to see if I can get more mids and highs, and if that does not work out to my liking I might also ad a active preamp.

Edited November 19, 2013 by blablas

[sblueplanet]

If the pickups were the proper way round there would be plenty of mids. I had a Gibson EB and the small bridge pickup gave a tight punchy tone with the neck pup giving out so much bottom end I felt it would destroy my 15" cab!

[blablas]

There are enough mids if my neck pickup is dialed in, bud the Sidewinder on it's own is muddy, it's called a mudbucker for a reason.
One of my considerations to put it in the bridge position was to gain more mids and remove some of the muddiness, only the position by itself is not giving what I hoped for.
I like the sounds the bass can produce right now, but I was hoping for a bit more versatility, I think a series/parallel switch can bring more variation.

[blablas]

Replaced the two core wire with a four core one on the Sidewinder and placed and wired up a series/parallel switch, this switch gives a lot more variation in the sound possibilities and seems to have solved my problem with the muddiness.

For the time being I'm happy with the result, the muddiness is still there if want to but now there's also a setting that gives me a lot more mids.

[sblueplanet]

Good stuff. It looks like it should have a punchy sound.

Now, design me a half-size headless electric upright, hehe :-)

[blablas]

The next build is starting to take shape, it will be a fretted seven string single-cut bolt-on 35 inch scale bass.
I'll start a new topic once I've worked it out in more detail, if there is any interest in my next project. Edited August 17, 2017 by blablas

[Myke]

Looks massive!

Got any woods in mind?

[blablas]

I'm still thinking on which woods I will use, at the moment I prefer myrtle for top and back but I've also got other woods at hand and have not yet made a definite decision on which one I'm going to use.

[blablas]

Started the new build diary [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/224630-de-afwerking-mk4-7-blablas-next-build-project/"]here[/url].

[blablas]

[size=5][b]Update time![/b][/size]

I never developed a affinity for the mudbucker bridge pickup, whatever I try it stays a muddy sob and I can not get a sound out of it I like.
A couple of weeks ago I finally decided to replace it and started a search for a pickup that could fit underneath the mudbucker cover because I did not want to spoil the current appearance. In the end I went for a Chinese toaster replica which it arrived today.

Fresh from the box.


Removed the toaster housing, it's a genuine dual coil.


It should fit underneath the existing cover without any major problems.

Edited August 17, 2017 by blablas

[blablas]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/0WRLWKU.jpg[/IMG]
It already fits inside the existing cavity, that's something I didn't count on!

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/k4WVqJZ.jpg[/IMG]
Mounted in place and wired up properly.

The muddiness is gone! This pickup sounds way more to what I want then the sidewinder.

Edited August 17, 2017 by blablas

[tommorichards]

Whered you get the pickup from?
Looks amazing with the mudbucker cover still in place

[blablas]

[url="http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Rick-enbacker-Vintage-Toaster-Pickups-2pcs-Free-Shipping/1105163883.html"]AliExpress[/url]

[tommorichards]

thought it was that site. Any sound clips?

[blablas]

Not at the moment.

[blablas]

Last week I finally found the last Gremlin that was hiding in my mk5-4f wiring.
The neck pickup was dropping out every once in a while and there was a crackling noise with all the pots.
Tried all sorts of things over time, replaced the secondhand neck pickup with a new one - problem still there!
It must be something else, replaced the balance pot - no luck, still there!
Checked the soldering connections but they all looked okay, as a last resort took a closer look at the jack - and there it was!!
I used a mono jack with three soldering eyelets, it looked like two were attached to ground and one was hot. Upon closer inspection, and after measuring the resistance, one of these two ground eyelets wasn't as attached to ground as I thought. Three guesses which one I used for ground, the bad one, re-soldered the ground to the other eyelet and now everything appears to work like a charm - no more crackling or dropouts!

Moral of this story - blablas doesn't know much about electronics but in the end he will solve it!!

Edited December 30, 2015 by blablas