Paul_S's Sterling 5

[Andyjr1515]

Hi, folks

A more modest project, kicked off while the final coats of oil are drying on the Jack Bruce's EB-3ish, and for our very own Paul_S

Paul contacted me a while ago in terms of lightening and adding an 'upside down' P pickup to his trusty Musicman Sterling 5.

After kicking some options around - going passive with blend being one of the options - we met a couple of weeks ago for the handover of the bass into my stick claws

We plan to preserve the original pickguard so that this change is pretty much reversible, and originally were opting for a replacement guard that I just needed to cut the upside down P for. It'll be something like this:



I had some b/w/b pickguard material in my bits box so thought I'd use that to practice on while we were waiting for the new guard to arrive. I say 'practice' because personally I find working with pickguard material a right PITA.

I took an offcut and tried a number of options in terms of cutting and fitting. After a number of tries of the different ways, I ended up with a pickup-shaped hole :



OK - ready. Paul and I just had to wait for the guard to arrive...

...and wait....

...and wait....

...and wait...

[Andyjr1515]

...and wait...

In the end, I suggested to Paul that I make a start using the remainder of pickguard material I used for the practice run. Although the cellophane protection is a bit worse for wear, it might be OK underneath and either can act as the finished article, or as a template for a second, new, piece of blank material.

I've opted to cut this by hand - I reckon for a one-off, by the time I'd made an accurate template I may as well have made an accurate real one.

Positioning is clearly critical. For the MM pickup, the neck detail and the holes, I have the existing pickguard. It was easier scoring the outline on the back of the sheet. I used forstner bits of the appropriate size to pin down the critical datum points:


Double checked that those critical curves lined up with the original (upside down) pickguard:




Then used an upside down fret saw to 'join the dots':



Then finished with an assortment of coarse-ish files:


I daren't take off the cellophane yet until I've cut out the P pickup hole...but you can see why it's needed!!!:



I'll be attempting to position the P pickup and cut that tomorrow. Because it's reverse, it is not possible to put it exactly at the 'sweet spot', but I have agreed with Paul that we will position the B;E;A side at the 11" position :)n

I'll let you know how I get on

Edited October 26, 2016 by Andyjr1515

[Paul S]

I love these diaries, Andy. All the better when it is my project!! Shame I am going away tomorrow as I will miss the development, although I can catch up when I return.

Really looking forward to this!

[Andyjr1515]

Same technique and the reversed P slots are cut and trimmed. Also the screw holes actually line up!! I know....surprising and shocking in equal measure :

[Paul S]

I can almost hear it! Lovely.

[Andyjr1515]

...and just as a going away present - scary bit, ie the pickguard, is now done:





Just the routine attack with 18000 revs of tungsten carbide and 400 degrees of soldering iron to do now

Andy

[Paul S]

Lookin' sexy!

[Andyjr1515]

Now for the strip down.

Neck off - making note of the shim:



I'm afraid all these beautiful electrics are coming out. Paul's preference with the addition of the P pickup is to go all passive:



The pots will need to be changed anyway so, for the cost of a new switch and jack, we will make this basically fully reversible, ie keeping the original scratch plate and also removing the electrics as a complete unit:



Paul also has asked for me to take as much weight out as possible in the process. As such, we agreed that I would go medium 'swimming pool' under the plate. To avoid the possibility of router 'incidents', I opted for a rough out with forstner and chisel for starters. Here it is in progress:



Although in the area outside where the pickups will fit I could go deeper, I have opted not to because this body is VERY light wood (presumably swamp ash) and a deeper rout will only further reduce the weight a negligible amount while perhaps adding other unwanted issues. This size of rout has offset the weight of the pickup to a reasonable extent, but not reduced the overall weight of the bass much, if at all.

While it's off, it's worth a look at the Music Man bridge pickup in all its glory :



Lovely, isn't it

[EBS_freak]

I reckon they'd appreciate this on the MM forum...

:-p

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1477836393' post='3164728']
I reckon they'd appreciate this on the MM forum...

:-p
[/quote]
I'll show my ignorance here .... I didn't know there WAS a MM forum!

[Andyjr1515]

Sometimes I add details on these build threads to remind myself of things.

Such as, "I must remember to tell Paul_S where his wires went from the battery box!":



I shielded the P-pickup chamber and scratchplate area:


...and then installed the pickups:




The passive pots, etc, have arrived so just got to wire it all up and hope it sounds OK

[allighatt0r]

Very snazzy

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1477991993' post='3165712']
Very snazzy
[/quote]
It's a nice bass to start with, Bryan. I'd always admired the Musicman range from afar but they're even nicer in the flesh . Some very nice constructional touches too.

[Andyjr1515]

Nothing much to show at the moment, but been doing quite a bit of experimenting with wiring options. A summary of the conclusions are:[list]
[*]As suspected, the (parallel coils) standard Music man in passive mode is no match at all for the volume output of the P pickup. Music Man pickups are very low output...it is the preamp EQ that generates the volume normally. It is also beyond the acceptable range of adjusting pickup height to compensate
[/list][list]
[*]Rewiring the Music Man with the coils in series creates a decent volume balance between the two pickups
[/list][list]
[*]I experimented with using a blend pot to cover the middle position. With a standard three-way switch it wasn't possible to wire up so that the middle could be through the blend and the other two positions not (that would have been nice!) and the interaction between the other volume settings for neck only / bridge only was too great and not intuitive. Nice sounds, but not really usable for practical use.
[/list][list]
[*]The option to use a blend and use the three way switch as a 'series/parallel/single' split for the Music Man is not really practical because of the huge volume drop for the single and parallel options
[/list][list]
[*]It is therefore going to be a straightforward 3-position switch (neck/both/bridge) with 2 volumes and 2 tones. The only thing I might do is pop linear pots on the volume.....this is because in the 'both' position, tiny tweaks to the Music Man volume produce some REALLY different and usable sound differences. However, it is far too sensitive to use in gig conditions. Linear pots should take out that sensitivity. I'll order some linears and give it a try
[/list]

Edited November 4, 2016 by Andyjr1515

[Paul S]

Through the marvels of modern technology I have just looked at this from my room in Mexico. Cracking job Andy. The wiring configuration you have settled on sounds more intuitive than the middle blend thing.
Looking forward to my next WiFi opportunity!

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1478316670' post='3168408']
Through the marvels of modern technology I have just looked at this from my room in Mexico. Cracking job Andy. The wiring configuration you have settled on sounds more intuitive than the middle blend thing.
Looking forward to my next WiFi opportunity!
[/quote]
Great to hear from you, Paul . Hope the trip's going well.

On the off chance that the technology holds and you get wifi again, do you want (from the fretboard end) neck vol, neck tone, bridge vol, bridge tone or vol, vol, tone, tone?

I'm impressed, by the way, with the Aquilar. Even through my little practice amp, it shows some impressive woomph yet retains great clarity

Edited November 5, 2016 by Andyjr1515

[Paul S]

Fingers crossed the WiFi holds up... Neck vol,tone, Bridge vol, tone please!
Really chuffed with how it looks, too, as I feared the p pup might look a bit clumsy - it doesn't at all.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1478352202' post='3168557']
Fingers crossed the WiFi holds up... Neck vol,tone, Bridge vol, tone please!
Really chuffed with how it looks, too, as I feared the p pup might look a bit clumsy - it doesn't at all.
[/quote]
OK - no problem. Linear pots should be with me Monday

I think it looks very good...like it was meant that way

[Andyjr1515]

Done

The wiring is fairly straightforward - standard 3-way switch stuff:


...polished, and the original scratchplate and wiring loom popped in the case in the event that Paul wants to revert to original spec (very easy to do):



Quick sound check - absolutely fine. Some VERY interesting sounds in the middle position with small tweaks on the Music Man volume The neck-only and bridge-only positions are utterly different in character to each other but balance very nicely volume-wise.


Looks good doesn't it?



I'll be passing this back to Paul next week

Thanks for the feedback, folks

Andy

[Paul S]

I can hardly wait! Yet another lovely job, sir.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1478642736' post='3170635']
I can hardly wait! Yet another lovely job, sir.
[/quote]
Thanks, Paul

[Rumple]

Nice work Andy

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1478679164' post='3170761']
Nice work Andy
[/quote]
Thanks, Rumple

[Paul S]

Just to top this off - I picked up the bass on Wednesday and it looks amazing - just like it had come out of the factory. Cosmetically perfect. Used it a last night's gig and the sound has blown me away! The Aguilar P pickup is also perfect - mellow and old school exactly as I had hoped. Interestingly (or maybe not? I don't know enough) the MM pickup has been tamed by making it passive - nowhere near as aggressive as it is with the preamp driving it along and thus, for me, more useable. The blend will get some welly, too - it adds a bit of bite to the P in a very interesting and useable way. Different to a PJ, as you would expect. I really couldn't be happier.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1479545444' post='3177319']
Just to top this off - I picked up the bass on Wednesday and it looks amazing - just like it had come out of the factory. Cosmetically perfect. Used it a last night's gig and the sound has blown me away! The Aguilar P pickup is also perfect - mellow and old school exactly as I had hoped. Interestingly (or maybe not? I don't know enough) the MM pickup has been tamed by making it passive - nowhere near as aggressive as it is with the preamp driving it along and thus, for me, more useable. The blend will get some welly, too - it adds a bit of bite to the P in a very interesting and useable way. Different to a PJ, as you would expect. I really couldn't be happier.
[/quote]

Phew!