Modding a '66 Mustang (really?? really???)

[ped]

30 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

Pull Pot?

Hm I don’t like them for some reason. Or stacked pots. I think a slider switch will be quite neat and a cool take on the jaguar style, plus I think Andy has one already

[Hellzero]

Push-push instead of push-pull pots are real game changers.

 

My 2 cents.

[Andyjr1515]

Well - my bits box is certainly wide and varied.  As I vaguely remembered, I do indeed have some genuine and unused Mustang/Jaguar slide switches.  The great thing is that I therefore also have the proper short and threaded screws

 

This is where @ped and I agreed it should go:

 

For the pickguard I drilled the corners of the slot, cut the middle out with a scroll saw and straightened everything up with a couple of needle files:

 

For the chamber, the same as the pickup chambers - hog out with a forstner bit and then chisel the 'waves' straight.  This is before I did that latter step.

  

For cable access, I simply need to drill a short hole between the controls chamber and this new switch chamber.

 

And it's in:

 

Tomorrow will be sorting the two pickup ring 'skirts' if I can find the material I'm hoping to use.

 

And after that it should be all of the actual construction work done - it should be then just a case of wiring it up and putting it back properly together

 

[ped]

Super neat! Nail bitingly close now…

[Beedster]

On 26/11/2022 at 20:00, PaulThePlug said:

Pull Pot?

 

👍

[Paul S]

On 26/11/2022 at 20:00, PaulThePlug said:

Pull Pot?

 

IME it's never a good idea to have dictators fitted to your bass.  I tried a Muammar Gaddafi on my Squier VM fretless Jazz once, started playing double harmonic scale in my rock covers.  Got rid PDQ.

[PaulThePlug]

Know what ya mean... but the 'Attila the Hun-bucker' is a monster!

Edited November 28, 2022 by PaulThePlug

[PaulThePlug]

In the pics... has the G bridge saddle barrel turned over or been threaded on the wrong way around?

[Andyjr1515]

2 hours ago, PaulThePlug said:

In the pics... has the G bridge saddle barrel turned over or been threaded on the wrong way around?

Yes - just flipped over.  It's been strung up and unstrung so many times (which is why I always use a 'sacrificial' set for this stage), I'm not surprised that the saddles have started turning over in disgust 

[Andyjr1515]

Proof of concept day for the pickup ring/gap cover stuff.

 

For the neck ring, it needs to be thin.  The bass has a very low action and so I don't want to lift the pickup ring much at all.  My experiment is using some thin plasticard which will create a 0.5mm thick skirt, about 1mm proud of the ring all the way round (when I do the final one).  This is my trial, just having an overlap front and back (the finished one will be all round the perimeter):

 

 

 

And for the bridge, something like this.  This sample is black/white/black - no good as the pickguard is now, after decades of light and smoke, close to ivory and it would clash with the white once the edges of the cover are bevelled.  I have a sheet of single-ply black on order that should be with me on Wednesday.  Oh - and I will use a set of compasses to get the curves correct for the final version  :

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by Andyjr1515

[ezbass]

I like your ‘proof of concept’ posts as much as the actual builds themselves. They’re always most informative. For the bridge pickup surround, I wonder if a more rectangular outer shape wouldn’t match the neck pickup better. Not my bass of course, @ped knows will know what he wants.

[Pea Turgh]

Could the bridge pickup surround “extend” from the bridge plate?  Like the rounded edges closest to the bridge plate not be round?

 

The neck pickup surround looks perfect 👍 

[Andyjr1515]

30 minutes ago, ezbass said:

I like your ‘proof of concept’ posts as much as the actual builds themselves. They’re always most informative. For the bridge pickup surround, I wonder if a more rectangular outer shape wouldn’t match the neck pickup better. Not my bass of course, @ped knows will know what he wants.

 

27 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

Could the bridge pickup surround “extend” from the bridge plate?  Like the rounded edges closest to the bridge plate not be round?

 

The neck pickup surround looks perfect 👍 

 

Both good points and - now I have the inner shape sorted - when the 1ply black blank comes, I will cut two of three outer shapes to bounce off @ped for him to choose whichever he prefers. 

 

That said, the first one I tried was, indeed, rectangular with small rounded corners...and it looked like a piece of black plastic trying to cover up a hole     This shape (at least in my minds-eye with the radii exactly matching the ones of the pickup) looked much more like it was meant to be there.  But, yes, you are right - it can and will be any shape @ped prefers

 

While I'm waiting for the black 1 ply blank, this is now the finished surround for the neck and the same round-ended mock up for the bridge which, in the final version, will have bevelled sides and a pickguard fixing screw either side:

 

 

 

[Andyjr1515]

42 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

Could the bridge pickup surround “extend” from the bridge plate?  Like the rounded edges closest to the bridge plate not be round?

 

The neck pickup surround looks perfect 👍 

And yes - this has some decent mileage.  It will be one of the mock-ups I will do as an option with the all-black material. 

 

[ped]

Looks great!! I rather like the rounded bezel for the rear pickup, and for it to be as small as possible whilst also covering the hole. Looks great in the last shot. Thanks for the update 👍🏼

[Andyjr1515]

Just now, ped said:

Looks great!! I rather like the rounded bezel for the rear pickup, and for it to be as small as possible whilst also covering the hole. Looks great in the last shot. Thanks for the update 👍🏼

Yes - could be quite a bit smaller.  I'll trim this one down to the minimum (including width for the fixing screws) while I'm waiting for the black single-ply.  Should be able to do that in the morning. 

[ped]

Are the pickups height adjustable once installed via the usual spring system? I guess they move independently of their surrounds to some extent?

[Andyjr1515]

56 minutes ago, ped said:

Are the pickups height adjustable once installed via the usual spring system? I guess they move independently of their surrounds to some extent?

Fully adjustable

 

[Hellzero]

Maybe a daft question, but is it so hard to say bridge and neck pickup instead of the always confusing front and rear as it doesn't mean the same from one person to another?

 

Furthermore, I've never seen any pickup at the rear of an instrument... 🤦🏻‍♂️

[BigRedX]

25 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Maybe a daft question, but is it so hard to say bridge and neck pickup instead of the always confusing front and rear as it doesn't mean the same from one person to another?

 

Furthermore, I've never seen any pickup at the rear of an instrument... 🤦🏻‍♂️

 

Very much this. To me the "front" pickup would be the one closest to the bridge.

[ped]

15 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

Very much this. To me the "front" pickup would be the one closest to the bridge.

 

Well, that would be wrong 😂

[Andyjr1515]

The good news is that I've got to the 'make a list of the final jobs' stage.    

 

The bad news is that I've only ticked off half of one of them in a morning's work.  

 

But that's better than going backwards

 

I've tidied up the bridge pickup chamber, copper-foil shielded and earthed it, fitted it and modded the trial pickup ring to as thin as the chamber allows.

 

Here's the shielded chamber, ready for sorting the fixing holes.  I confess I am a little nervous of the un-supported outlet cable coming from the Gemini pickup.  It's a heavy cable and those three teeny coil attachment wires are pretty fragile.  It's a pity that there isn't any sort of cable secure - I would have thought a simple lacing through a couple of drilled holes in the base plate would have been possible.  Still, it seems OK - I just won't take it out again!

 

Also here is the slimmed down trial guard for @ped to see what he thinks.  The final version - whatever shape @ped decides on - will have two small pickguard screws holding it in place, one either side of the pickup.

 

 

 

[ped]

Hi Andy, that looks great, I think the shape looks good (granted this is just a mock up, the left hand side look more even). The shape of the pickup is quite unusual but visually it look like a jazz pickup at first glance, so it's not jarring at all. 

 

The neck pickup can be left out, I can keep pots and pans in there

 

Best of luck with the final jobs, my diary is clear and car keys are in my hand 🤣

 

I sometimes put dymo tape labels on my basses, and I could put one across the front of the bridge to cover the tabs cut out for the previous pickup with the model name (Thunderbackerstang?)

 

I think the number one question will be 'what pickups are those!'

[Mottlefeeder]

32 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

...  I confess I am a little nervous of the un-supported outlet cable coming from the Gemini pickup.  It's a heavy cable and those three teeny coil attachment wires are pretty fragile.  It's a pity that there isn't any sort of cable secure - I would have thought a simple lacing through a couple of drilled holes in the base plate would have been possible.  Still, it seems OK - I just won't take it out again!...
 

Have you got room for a blob of hot melt glue to strengthen the joint or to anchor the cable to the pickup?

 

David

[Andyjr1515]

30 minutes ago, ped said:

I could put one across the front of the bridge to cover the tabs cut out for the previous pickup

Don't you think those cutaways add a certain 'je ne sais quoi' ?  A bit like cooling vents on a Maserati