• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

4 string to 5 string project

#41
Nope and like I said, I was wanting to do kind of a piece mill kind of thing, but I do not have the skills or tools to create a nut and I cannot find one that will work. I know Ric5 has done 1-1/2'ers, but I am going to have to look for a different basss for my first time out.
 
#44
6 strings are a bit out of my realm, but Ive seen someone shave down the nut of a 6 string before in order to make it work with a 5 string body.

I would look towards Ibanez for a tight spaced 6 string nut, Thats just one off the top of my head.

A new nut would be cheaper than purchasing another bass.
 
#45
Narrowest 5 string nut I've measured was 1 5/8" on Yamaha RBX775, but don't think it could be narrowed on the sides to 1 1/2" and still keep the strings.
Ibanez SR6'ers have wider string spacing at the nut than that Yamaha.
 
#47
Ronbeast said:
Could you take a nut from a 6 string with tight spacing and cut off the slot for the B string?
Click to expand...

I have done that with Carvin bass nuts and used them on a Rickenbacker.

425%20022.jpg
 
#48
iriegnome said:
Nope and like I said, I was wanting to do kind of a piece mill kind of thing, but I do not have the skills or tools to create a nut and I cannot find one that will work. I know Ric5 has done 1-1/2'ers, but I am going to have to look for a different basss for my first time out.
Click to expand...

Buy a dremmel tool and several blank nuts ... it is not rocket science to slot a blank nut. Create 3 and use the best one.

b%20069.jpg


fb5%20026.jpg
 
#49
Here's one of my SG Frankensteined basses.

First with a modified Rickenbacker single coil pickup in the neck position and I wired it with just a volume and tone.

5sb%20033.jpg


Then I added a Jazz pickup in the bridge position and wired it like a Rickenbacker.

5sb%20046.jpg


Then I added a Rickenbacker HB-1 in the neck with a toggle for single/parallel/series operation and I put a musicman style pickup in the bridge.

b5%20100.jpg


Then I added stickers.

oct%20054.jpg


It is a cheap ebay plywood body frankensteined bass that sounds and plays good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: josiah goldfish
#50
Been a long while since I put up an update. Just got my Wilkenson pickups mounted. Rewired the whole bass since someone before me had chopped up the wiring. Ran a ground to the bridge and filled in (just a spacer) where the old bridge sat off the body and was routed for a through the body stringing. I will still have the 4 holes in the back of the bass, but hey, it is my first go around. Kind of digging the process. Wish things would move a little more quickly, but I am really in no hurry to complete this one. Pic's tonight of the new body together.
 
#54
I have the bass 90% done now. Neck is on. I have to put in the 5th tuner and find a nut. The tuner should not be a problem, the nut however is my hurdle. I don't know how to make them, I have never cut one, I can't find a premade one for 5 string with 1-1/2" width and I don't want to spend $45 to have one made by a luthier to tell me I shouldn't be making a 5'er out of a 4 banger. This is going to need rethinking for the next one.
 
#55
iriegnome said:
I have the bass 90% done now. Neck is on. I have to put in the 5th tuner and find a nut. The tuner should not be a problem, the nut however is my hurdle. I don't know how to make them, I have never cut one, I can't find a premade one for 5 string with 1-1/2" width and I don't want to spend $45 to have one made by a luthier to tell me I shouldn't be making a 5'er out of a 4 banger. This is going to need rethinking for the next one.
Click to expand...

The thing about nuts is that they really need to be tailored to the specific neck that they'll be installed on, as well as to the players preferences. You could buy a pre-made nut, and even if it was the right width there's no guarantee that it would have the right string heights or curvature. I don't think you should be intimidated by the idea of slotting your own nut. If you have a set of small files, you can do it!
 
#56
ctmullins said:
The thing about nuts is that they really need to be tailored to the specific neck that they'll be installed on, as well as to the players preferences. You could buy a pre-made nut, and even if it was the right width there's no guarantee that it would have the right string heights or curvature. I don't think you should be intimidated by the idea of slotting your own nut. If you have a set of small files, you can do it!
Click to expand...

+1000

The first project I ever had was a p-bass that had a busted nut, I bought material and cut my own nut for it and it has held up for 6 years without any intonation problems. Don't be intimidated by it, if I can do it, anyone can. Also, this is a learning experience, if it doesn't quite work, chalk it up as a lesson learned and rethink your strategy.

Good luck!
 
#57
Not at all intimidated by it. Just do not have the equipment for it. At all. I mean, by the time I would spend $50 on nut files, $10 on a piece of bone or some other material, I may as well have my luthier yell at me for doing this kind of project and then I would be back at $200 to get it fixed..
 
#58
The set of files I used for filing the nut on my bass cost about $5, and for the nut you can use basically anything on hand. I've used scraps of hardwood (free if you can usually find some) I've used plastic which can also be had for free or in a big sheet to make 1000 nuts for about $5. There are lots of materials that are out there for cheap that can be used to make a nut, and when you are working on a cheaper instrument you sometimes use a material that isn't so conventional.

-Ron
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back