shoulderpet Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 (edited) So, technically more me putting parts together than a build but first time I have done this, still a work in progress, I still need to add the pickup and wiring, the cream pickguard has to go(not a fan) also the nut height on the neck is on the high side so I need to lower that somewhat. Neck and body, I added the tuners and string tree ages ago Neck added to body Bridge, pickguard and strings added Nut is cut too high, I will need to address this, this is at the first fret with the 3rd fret fretted Edited November 8, 2023 by shoulderpet 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbacco Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 nice job, I like the low low low action ... I am a fan of low action ... welcome to BBB club ! (Beginners Bass Builders) 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted November 8, 2023 Author Share Posted November 8, 2023 6 minutes ago, mrbacco said: nice job, I like the low low low action ... I am a fan of low action ... welcome to BBB club ! (Beginners Bass Builders) 🙂 I wish that was low action, that photo is to show how the nut is cut too high, that is the action at the first fret with the 3td fret fretted, the action is ok lower down the neck but is way high at the first fret, I plan to get that sorted soon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 Like the Fishtail Tuners on the F type headstock... Subtle modern touch and 'prolly weight saving too. Just needs a 'Wonder Pet' logo... Linny, Tuck and Ming-Ming... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted November 9, 2023 Author Share Posted November 9, 2023 (edited) And, I managed to get the action at the nut sorted, now with the 3rd fret pressed there is just a sliver of a gap at the first fret for each of the strings, action at the 17th I'm not that picky about and as long as it is in Fender spec ballpark I am happy but action at the nut affects the playing feel far more imo, also swapped out the strings for some Rotos I have a cheapy Wilkinson ceramic P pickup on the way that I will fit until I have the funds to upgrade to something a bit more flash. Oh and something I don't think my previous pictures showed very well was the bridge, I love these old school notched saddle bridges Edited November 9, 2023 by shoulderpet 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 20 hours ago, PaulThePlug said: Like the Fishtail Tuners on the F type headstock... Subtle modern touch and 'prolly weight saving too. Agreed - much better than elephant ears. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted November 10, 2023 Author Share Posted November 10, 2023 And the Wilkinson ceramic P pickup is junk, they used to make a decent ceramic pickup but they have moved to these newer "variguass" pickups for there ceramics. Strange considering there alnico pickup is really good, I am waiting for the wiring harness to arrive but i wired it straight to the output jack and the string to string balance is terrible, lesson learnt I should have paid a few quid more and got there alnico pickup which is much, much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 Tonerider?.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted November 11, 2023 Author Share Posted November 11, 2023 Ok so I seem to have got the pickup dialed in now after a lot of farting about with the pickup heights and it actually sounds pretty decent now so that is good 👍 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted November 13, 2023 Author Share Posted November 13, 2023 Ok, I have a Kent Armstrong ceramic hot pickup on the way to replace the Wilkinson. Next question is, what colour for the pickguard? What colour would go well with red? The existing pickguard is ok but a little boring 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted November 15, 2023 Author Share Posted November 15, 2023 Ok so I had a fun lunchtime, an adjustment I made to the setup revealed that I had cut the nut too low on the D string so out came the talc(cornstarch) and super glue( I was out of baking soda so had to improvise), filled the slot and re-filed it. Got the Kent Armstrong pickup and went to fit it and somehow managed to yank out the bridge ground so off came the bridge and I had to refit the ground wire, was not expecting that, anyhow new pickup fitted so all good, not had a chance to have a proper listen to it but I can tell already it is better than the pickup it replaced. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted November 15, 2023 Share Posted November 15, 2023 1 hour ago, shoulderpet said: Ok so I had a fun lunchtime I went to Tesco and bought ibuprofen. You win! How wild do you want to go with the pick guard? British racing green? Cyan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted November 15, 2023 Share Posted November 15, 2023 I'm Red/Green Colour Blind... Red and Green does the 'stand-off' or 'behind' thing with my eyes... The Green Pearl looks Wonderful - nice with the maple neck. https://a.aliexpress.com/_mO7snGC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted November 15, 2023 Author Share Posted November 15, 2023 1 hour ago, Richard R said: I went to Tesco and bought ibuprofen. You win! How wild do you want to go with the pick guard? British racing green? Cyan? 1 hour ago, PaulThePlug said: I'm Red/Green Colour Blind... Red and Green does the 'stand-off' or 'behind' thing with my eyes... The Green Pearl looks Wonderful - nice with the maple neck. https://a.aliexpress.com/_mO7snGC I'm open to anything however loud as long as it looks good really. I have a cheapy black pickguard on the way (hopefully it fits) whilst I decide what kind of pickguard to go for. Those AliExpress ones looks pretty good, worth a try at that price I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted November 15, 2023 Share Posted November 15, 2023 Gold anodized aluminium! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted November 15, 2023 Share Posted November 15, 2023 Depends if you are happy drilling holes? 13 v 11 etc... there are a few on Aliexpress - neck truss as well so watch out... quality is good... This on my Aria Pro Jazz to PJ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted November 15, 2023 Author Share Posted November 15, 2023 (edited) 52 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said: Depends if you are happy drilling holes? 13 v 11 etc... there are a few on Aliexpress - neck truss as well so watch out... quality is good... This on my Aria Pro Jazz to PJ... Nice, I am thinking of adding a bridge pickup eventually but maybe another P pickup as I am more of a P bass person and most of my favourite tones from other players are p bass so would be good to be able to use a P bridge pickup for some extra high mids bite with a little of the middle position P pickup rolled in. Edited November 15, 2023 by shoulderpet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted November 24, 2023 Author Share Posted November 24, 2023 (edited) And so after a mishap with the wiring I have the pickup now wired direct to the output jack, initially I was going to redo the wiring with volume and tone or similar but I am seriously considering just leaving it as is as it sounds so good direct to the output jack, very loud and very bright and with the Rotos has a nice bite to the tone, added a couple extra screws to the pickguard also Edited November 24, 2023 by shoulderpet 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbacco Posted November 25, 2023 Share Posted November 25, 2023 very nice build you have there! bravo! 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted December 4, 2023 Author Share Posted December 4, 2023 On 25/11/2023 at 10:11, mrbacco said: very nice build you have there! bravo! 🙂 Thank you, I still need to get a nicer pickguard sorted but is coming along nicely 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted December 4, 2023 Author Share Posted December 4, 2023 So, I have swapped the P pickup again, this time for a Seymour Duncan SPB-2 that I had spare which is my usual go-to pickup. I initially wanted a bright P pickup but I figured that the Duncan although usually is a very low mid heavy pickup and quite dark would be significantly brighter without any pots to load it down and in an ash bass with a maple fingerboard and I was right, the tone is plenty bright but with some nice hefty low mids, no issues at all getting treble from this setup I am going to hang onto the Kent Armstrong as it is a nice pickup and I will use it if I decide to get the bass routed for a 2nd P pickup. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted December 7, 2023 Author Share Posted December 7, 2023 And so more nut fixing being done, whilst the other slots are sorted the A string slot is a tiny bit on the low side so have refilled the nut slot for the A string and will refile to correct height. Worth noting, I recommend when fixing a nut that superglue and cornstarch is used instead of the usual superglue and baking soda, using cornstarch gives the same results but it gives you a couple of minutes to work with it before it sets completely instead of getting only a couple of seconds to work with baking soda and superglue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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