Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

VBNBD


tauzero
 Share

Recommended Posts

Some time ago (back in 2023), I bought a Chinese fan-fret bass for the grand total of about £225 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404181116674. This was shipped with the neck off to keep shipping prices down. I initially screwed the neck on, then decided to use inserts and bolts, and also to replace the preamp which was absolutely dreadful (pots did either nothing or something unexpected, with what appeared to be the volume control having a centre detente). I also decided that the neck could do with a shim.

 

So I finally got round to finishing it a couple of days ago. The body is a rather unconvincing photoflame. The neck is slightly on the chunky side but comfortable and the frets are finished beautifully, not a sharp end to be found. I've been able to get it down to a good low action. The preamp is now an Artec SE3 as the original was a five-pot preamp - this necessitated a tiny bit of routing with a Dremel, as the pots sit in recesses which wouldn't accommodate the preamp circuit board so I had to bridge between to recesses. I left the original pickups in for the time being, they seem pretty good. It also has the original strings on which aren't so good, they're rather dull so I'm not sure how well the treble control works.

 

fanfret.thumb.jpg.77a0aba084f0f70b9206e1aa29f65ef6.jpg

 

Incidentally, the tuners have good and bad points. Strings go straight through the middle of the knob so there's none of the weak points associated with the claw type string holders, and none of the fiddliness of getting ball ends in and out of the tuners (especially the B string on a fiver). However, the intonation is by sliding the entire tuner back and forth, for which the string has to be removed, and the string height is adjusted by a screw in the middle of the brass bridge saddle. If the bridge saddles could be moved independently fore and aft and up and down, on a fixed base, the tuners would be far better.

 

bridge.jpg.71f2d8bf31741a00aed85463bb55dd9a.jpg

 

It will be getting an outing at an open mic later this week.

 

 

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...