Waddo Soqable Posted February 23, 2023 Author Share Posted February 23, 2023 So I made a 1ft long mild steel lolly stick of the (approx) appropriate with for the slots. .. this was incidentally made from a piece cut off the side of an old road sign, so by sheer coincidence the bass will have some literal "Street credibility " Anyway this will be chopped into 4 pieces for the slots, 2 of which seen here, I'll have to round off the ends for the next 2 obviously. When these are done I'll mark and drill the holes, and hopefully they'll raise the bridge units by a suitable amount ( you never know your luck..) I've hacked a bit more wood out to try and level the slots, this I'll have to persevere with until I'm happy with them 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 25, 2023 Author Share Posted February 25, 2023 More filing and stuff, marked and drilled the holes in the metal plates, they seem to sit in the slots OK-ish. I'll have to come up with some patent bull$hit like "Ferr-O-Tone solid steel Sustain Plus Blocks" A trial fit looked OK, strung it up to see what sort of action it might give, and had a nasty moment when I thought the truss rod nut had stripped it's hex socket, a search thru my tin of Allen keys was unsuccessful, however I tried the one that came with the Squier P bass and it fitted, so was able to do it up a bit ( I'd let it right off when disassembling the thing originally) will no doubt be tweaking further. I'll leave it to sit a while now with tension on the strings, I did them up in stages, they're a semitone flat from standard now, which is what I generally have basses tuned like (unless I've got to play with other people who won't tune down) I'll attempt to get it so its action is kind of playable before messing with the next bit, putting PUs in etc 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamIAm Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 Really great work! S’manth x 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 Looking good! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 (edited) Well it's kind of together again.. I couldn't find the black plastic card / sheet stuff to make a black scratchplate (I definitely have some, somewhere) so for now I just re used the original, after a bit of filing to modify a funny lumpy bit. Tbh the black would look cool, but the contrasting white keeps the classic Rick look going . Easy enough to make a black one, or indeed any other colour later if I fancy it I've put the orig PUs back in too just to get it back up and running, after the delays & messing with the bridge units etc I was keen to get it going again... I have a MM stingray PU stashed that I may put in place of the bridge jazz PU, obviously requiring a big hole carving in the top! .. the bassy ultra cheap n' nasty neck PU actually sounds OK for what it is so not to fussed about that. Getting a decent action will require more work tho it's playable ( I'm not one of those ultra fussy types either luckily!) I'm really not a fan of set necks, give me a bolt on any day. I reckon I'll be filing down some of the higher frets for sure. The wood used in the original bass is pretty poor I'd have to say, but hardly surprising considering the low price they were when new. Anyway its been a fun project so far and will no doubt evolve further as and when.. Edited February 27, 2023 by Waddo Soqable 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 (edited) Edited February 27, 2023 by Waddo Soqable 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Looks great that, well done! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Nice clean lines. Well done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Four cigarette holders! Cracking job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 Thanks folks 👍 it'll certainly remain a "work in progress" to be tweaked and messed with no doubt.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamIAm Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Looks fantastic! How does it play/sound? S’manth x 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Smanth said: Looks fantastic! How does it play/sound? S’manth x It I guess sounds largely as it did pre-op as I've dropped the same PUs back in, for now.... it's quite clanky if bridge PU tone turned up so rick-ish in that sense. I'll likely mess with other PUs tho. As I mentioned I'll need to continue fettling it, but it's certainly playable (bear in mind it was a mega cheapo thing to begin with) and is quite fun to bang about on 😁 It's got some sounds that for instance the P bass doesn't have, so worthwhile as a bit of variety! Edited February 27, 2023 by Waddo Soqable 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Nice... Can you bend over the end of the strings... no not you, the string ends... you could have some ones eye out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 28 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said: Nice... Can you bend over the end of the strings... no not you, the string ends... you could have some ones eye out! Very good point !.. (Tho as mentioned by Mykesbass handy for the traditional impaling of a fag on the end) I have now trimmed them down by half as much as seen, but want to leave a bit to pull on with pliers as I'm still going to be taking the strings on and off whilst continuing to fettle the whole thing. When finalised I'd chop them close to the top block of course 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 Just to be on the safe side.! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 You could tie a bit of rag on each of the string ends, like on lorries with long loads. Looks really good. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 17 minutes ago, tauzero said: You could tie a bit of rag on each of the string ends, like on lorries with long loads. Or braids, or leather strips, or both plus a fag. In fact the whole Keith Richards look. Would bloody ruin it though! Looks great as is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Actually, it'd make a really good toasting fork for crumpet. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 CRUMPET!... Always reminds me of the D!ck Emmery vicar sketch... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Not only but also: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 28 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said: Not only but also: Rumpo.... (as I recall..) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 1 hour ago, tauzero said: You could tie a bit of rag on each of the string ends, like on lorries with long loads. Looks really good. Or the classic rusty Ford Transit tipper carrying lengths of busted up old wood with a pair of grubby Y fronts tied on the end... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 18 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said: Rumpo.... (as I recall..) Les Dawson as Cosmo Smallpiece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 3 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said: Les Dawson as Cosmo Smallpiece. That's him.. 'Rumpo' was his catchphrase, or one of them.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 3 hours ago, SpondonBassed said: Actually, it'd make a really good toasting fork for crumpet. That's how roasted necks came about. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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