Chienmortbb Posted September 9 Author Share Posted September 9 1 hour ago, lemmywinks said: Earlier this year I stuck an East Uni Pre in a bass I picked up for £130, gigged it and it sounds incredible. Did win the "cheap bass with a great low B" lottery wth it and the neck is fantastic so thought it was worth getting it to where I wanted sonically. It’s proved then. We are all mad! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 46 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said: It’s proved then. We are all mad! I made a £70 Harley Benton kit bass. I upgraded so many things all that's original is the neck. So I bought a Squier neck and used it with the HB parts... So yes, we are all mad... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 10 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said: I made a £70 Harley Benton kit bass. I upgraded so many things all that's original is the neck. So I bought a Squier neck and used it with the HB parts... So yes, we are all mad... But it keeps us off the streets. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted November 3 Author Share Posted November 3 (edited) Well, too much wasted time on BC + caring duties, cable making and gigging meant I had had little time to play. This week I have fitted new bridge(s), fitted a neck shim and changed the machine heads for Wilkinson 750s. The machine heads were bought a few years ago as “new to me” on the BC marketplace, I cannot remember how much I paid for them or from whom I bought them. They were just waiting for a future project. They were a bit stiff initially and I should say that the original machine heads were not bad, certainly better than the one originally fitted to my Sire Marcus Miller M2. Anyway a quick squirt or two of Lidl PTFE lubricant spray and they are a smooth as (insert own simile here). In one of my earlier posts, I said that I could not get the height down as the bridge pieces were at their lowest settings. When I picked up the bass after many month I found that one of the saddles was missing. So the bullet had to be bitten, ordered a new set from Northwest Guitars. I found them on Amazon but not wanting to add to Mr Bezos’ vast fortune, I went to the Nortwest Guitars website. The bridge was dearer than on Amazon. So, I bit on the bullet harder and paid Mr B some of my hard earned gig money. As you can see from the picture below, the new individual bridge pieces are shorter than the old ones, they are also shorter in height than the originals. That, together with the shim has meant the saddled have lots of adjustment both ways and the only thing stopping a super low action is a few high frets… Two things left to do, try a new pickup. Will liaise with @neepheid on that one. Finally I have to decide whether to do localised ferret levelling as part of the fret polishing, or go for a full on level and crown. As there are only three high frets, I will probably go for the former as even the high one are not high across fret board. However as you can see, there is some tarnish on the frets so they do need a good polish. So the initial cost of the bass was £150, the new bridge(s) £23 and I think the machine heads were no more than £15. I was going to get a ToneRider P pickup but I have a P taken from my real Aerodyne. There was nothing wrong with it but I wanted a silent J pickup in there a bought a set of DiMarzios from @Dood of this parish. So the original Fender (Japan) pickup will go in here first. If that works itcwill make a very nice P bass for under £200. Edited November 13 by Chienmortbb 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted November 3 Author Share Posted November 3 Just some further thoughts… I have never owned a bass with a typical P bass neck. 42mm nut width and half a baseball bat for its profile. I always thought the J bass neck was better, even though I almost always use only the Neck pup on my other basses. My long hands seem to gel well with this neck. The finish on the body, back and front is superb with only a slight imperfection on the lower part of the neck pocket. While no bad, the neck could have been finished better. However there are no sharp fret ends. Although the new bridge was smaller that the old one, the finish revealed is perfect. There was no damage when the old bridge had been and, not only were the holes identical, but the stagger built into the bass means that the intonation was almost spot on. I have not yet decided whether to re-decal the bass, however there is a sharp edge at the body end of the neck that will need rounding off. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted November 3 Share Posted November 3 43 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said: My long hands seem to gel well with this neck. Makes perfect sense to me. Rest your thumb on the side of a broom handle then cup your hand until the finger tips touch the handle, do the same with an aerosol can or similar. Which one has you move the finger tips the greater distance? I've wee hands, with stubby fingers. Relaxed I get about 40mm from thumb to finger tips. The most comfortable neck for me has been my Wishbass Lobes, they're 33mm front to back at the 3rd fret. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted November 7 Share Posted November 7 On 03/11/2024 at 18:44, Chienmortbb said: localised ferret levelling I think you need to do a YouTube video to show off your technique on this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted November 9 Author Share Posted November 9 (edited) On 07/11/2024 at 11:25, Norris said: I think you need to do a YouTube video to show off your technique on this! The ferrets got away but I decided to do a full fret level. Now on the crowning and polishing part. Oh and my technique is cr4p so no showing off for me. Edited November 9 by Chienmortbb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merello Posted November 9 Share Posted November 9 4 hours ago, Chienmortbb said: The ferrets got away but I decided to do a full fret level. Now on the crowning and polishing part. Oh and my technique is cr4p so no showing off for me. Poor wee furry mammals.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted November 9 Author Share Posted November 9 Since you insist, neck after levelling and crowning underway. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted November 9 Author Share Posted November 9 All finished, neck fitted and retiring with new set oh Newtone Platinum round core strings. Plays much better and will improve further once final relief and string grit is adjusted. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted November 13 Author Share Posted November 13 (edited) After setting the relief and string height, the saddles are at the bottom of there travel. So increases thickness of shim or file the saddles? I think shim first. Edited November 13 by Chienmortbb Smelling mistapes 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted Monday at 18:09 Author Share Posted Monday at 18:09 I have not done anything yet about the string height. I decided to swap out the picky for the Fender Japan one from my Aerodyne. That is also a ceramic and has much bigger magnets than the originals. They do sound better but the originalss not as much as I had hoped. I have ordered a set of Tonerider Classic P so will update as soon as I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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