I will try to do that.I just got back from the mountains so off to music stores in the morning.I wil try to post a picture if I figure out how to get it to reduce in size. Megapics are always to big to post.
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basses for newbies (SX batch build thread)
- Thread starter chunger
- Start date
- Status
billy -
download IRFANVIEW (irfanview.com). it is a free, basic image editor that runs from an executable (no installation/registry changes) and is easy to use. there are lots of editing apps available, but i like this one because it is simple and portable (and free).
pretty. . . $700, eh? I'm not very knowledgeable about it, but it seems the Japanese Fenders are on par or better than the USA ones (from internet hearsay).
Ok. . . back to work! Inserts go in.
And, a bit of a bummer here as I lost some finish near the neck pocket. . . it was cracked and loose, but I didn't see it. When I wiped the area, it flaked off.
After some tears, I moved on and set the neck. . . making sure to lube the threads which helps tremendously when torquing these things down.
The string alignment on this bass is not as good as I would like, but after debating internally for a while, I decided it wasn't off enough for me to muck with it either, so it stays as is.
The wiring was all munged up. . . I don't know how this bass even functioned. There's no way the bridge pickup was even working. This was not the best Ebay deal, and if it wasn't for this one being an honest 8 pounder, I would have sent it back. There were no dings in the photos on the Ebay listing and the bass was poorly packed for shipping. . . oh well.
But the neck is about as straight as they come
And, here we go again. . . don't muck it up this time
Back to my sortof standard fall-off spec. . . 3 layers of tape on the 11th fret and cut it 'til I hit the 15th fret.
And, learning from previous mistakes, I am going back carefully after I think I'm done to make sure I don't have any lingering high or low frets.
After verifying everything, I went back and crowned, sanded, and polished the frets. . . and after I took off the blue tape, I had bummer #2. . . a rather large piece of the fretboard finish at the edge came off with the blue tape. . . crap! A quick search on these forums indicated drop filling with crazy glue was a viable fix, so that's what I did. . . you probably can't see the puddle of clear glue in this photo. I'm just stirring the bubbles out and making sure the glue is worked into the edges of the gap.
And, here's how #9 sits
I could have knocked this one out tonight, but decided to wait on a few things:
1. the crazy glue drop fill to dry
2. Babicz Full Contact Hardware bridge
3. Those crazy cool rounded pickup covers from Nordstrand that I loved that came with the NJ4's. NJ4SE's are going into this bass and I have those on hand, but I miss those super-cool rounded covers and ordered a couple in my last pickup order.
As Babicz FCH bridges are now being distributed by KMC Music, so I was referred over to them by Jeff Babicz. . . after submitting my application for an account, I've been transferred to a rep who will contact me hopefully Monday. A shipment of FCH bridges is en-route to KMC music as they are currently out of stock, so hopefully, my timing will be good. An un-forseen benefit in all of this is if I do get an account with KMC, I may be able to get access to some other parts I had not considered before as they were somewhat recently acquired by Fender.
Hopefully payment will be arriving shortly for #6, but for now, I need to tread lightly on my bank account. Summer is coming up, and my household goes down to single income. Plus, I have a few expensive trips that are slated for summer. I also re-negotiated my "regular" job to an 11 month position with a 1 month furlow every year and that takes effect in July. At any rate, I've stopped buying every SX that comes on sale and will focus on finishing up what I have on hand and may need to throttle back my parts purchases to keep pace with basses that actually sell to maintain balance.
Looks like I will not be buying a drill press soon. . . which means I will not be making a neck jig soon but we'll see if I hit stride again on the fretwork. I believe the 21st fret was messing with me and the fall-off angles on #8. In thinking back, by trial and error, I think I have that angle dialed on all the 20 fret basses I've done. We'll see Monday when I get #8 it back for some finish tweaking. I'm meeting up with Jasaman to fine-tune all of the finished basses. Just a little extra QC to catch some of the finer setup details and get my builds really dialed.
The pass around bass is close to finished. If anyone on thread is curious to get hands on, I'd love to start generating a travel itinerary for #9 to solicit outside feedback on my builds.
'til next time:
And, a bit of a bummer here as I lost some finish near the neck pocket. . . it was cracked and loose, but I didn't see it. When I wiped the area, it flaked off.
After some tears, I moved on and set the neck. . . making sure to lube the threads which helps tremendously when torquing these things down.
The string alignment on this bass is not as good as I would like, but after debating internally for a while, I decided it wasn't off enough for me to muck with it either, so it stays as is.
The wiring was all munged up. . . I don't know how this bass even functioned. There's no way the bridge pickup was even working. This was not the best Ebay deal, and if it wasn't for this one being an honest 8 pounder, I would have sent it back. There were no dings in the photos on the Ebay listing and the bass was poorly packed for shipping. . . oh well.
But the neck is about as straight as they come
And, here we go again. . . don't muck it up this time
Back to my sortof standard fall-off spec. . . 3 layers of tape on the 11th fret and cut it 'til I hit the 15th fret.
And, learning from previous mistakes, I am going back carefully after I think I'm done to make sure I don't have any lingering high or low frets.
After verifying everything, I went back and crowned, sanded, and polished the frets. . . and after I took off the blue tape, I had bummer #2. . . a rather large piece of the fretboard finish at the edge came off with the blue tape. . . crap! A quick search on these forums indicated drop filling with crazy glue was a viable fix, so that's what I did. . . you probably can't see the puddle of clear glue in this photo. I'm just stirring the bubbles out and making sure the glue is worked into the edges of the gap.
And, here's how #9 sits
I could have knocked this one out tonight, but decided to wait on a few things:
1. the crazy glue drop fill to dry
2. Babicz Full Contact Hardware bridge
3. Those crazy cool rounded pickup covers from Nordstrand that I loved that came with the NJ4's. NJ4SE's are going into this bass and I have those on hand, but I miss those super-cool rounded covers and ordered a couple in my last pickup order.
As Babicz FCH bridges are now being distributed by KMC Music, so I was referred over to them by Jeff Babicz. . . after submitting my application for an account, I've been transferred to a rep who will contact me hopefully Monday. A shipment of FCH bridges is en-route to KMC music as they are currently out of stock, so hopefully, my timing will be good. An un-forseen benefit in all of this is if I do get an account with KMC, I may be able to get access to some other parts I had not considered before as they were somewhat recently acquired by Fender.
Hopefully payment will be arriving shortly for #6, but for now, I need to tread lightly on my bank account. Summer is coming up, and my household goes down to single income. Plus, I have a few expensive trips that are slated for summer. I also re-negotiated my "regular" job to an 11 month position with a 1 month furlow every year and that takes effect in July. At any rate, I've stopped buying every SX that comes on sale and will focus on finishing up what I have on hand and may need to throttle back my parts purchases to keep pace with basses that actually sell to maintain balance.
Looks like I will not be buying a drill press soon. . . which means I will not be making a neck jig soon but we'll see if I hit stride again on the fretwork. I believe the 21st fret was messing with me and the fall-off angles on #8. In thinking back, by trial and error, I think I have that angle dialed on all the 20 fret basses I've done. We'll see Monday when I get #8 it back for some finish tweaking. I'm meeting up with Jasaman to fine-tune all of the finished basses. Just a little extra QC to catch some of the finer setup details and get my builds really dialed.
The pass around bass is close to finished. If anyone on thread is curious to get hands on, I'd love to start generating a travel itinerary for #9 to solicit outside feedback on my builds.
'til next time:
Chunger said:
Shoot me a pm on your ideas and we'll see what we can do for your jig building needs. I might be able to build it for you. See Ya........Lon
I'm going to wait until I can get a better press because I also need to do some critical metal drilling procedures on some firearms. Might as well spend a little more and get the right tool for the job when I can.
+ 10000 from me on Irfanview, great app, Jo6Pak.
Chunger, Thanks again for taking time to provide such a detailed play-by-play on your SX builds. I have several basses I'm going to work on, eventually...
Just finished a setup session with Jasaman the other night, and did some swapping. . . took #5 and #8 back, sent #7 off with him.
Seasonal changes have made all of my necks move recently. I'm not used to that as my 6 never shifts, but these flexi-flier fender-style dealies do move on you from time to time.
In other good news, the good folks at Mono cases:
http://www.monocase.com
have decided to support my efforts here and I am now able to offer them as an option on my builds (double and single M80). One would be hard pressed to find a better gig bag than this, and I'm super excited about this development.
I am in process of finishing up paperwork for KMC music to order up the Babicz bridges, and I have another order from Nordstrand shipping out tomorrow. I'm hopeful the next few builds will be successful.
Seasonal changes have made all of my necks move recently. I'm not used to that as my 6 never shifts, but these flexi-flier fender-style dealies do move on you from time to time.
In other good news, the good folks at Mono cases:
http://www.monocase.com
have decided to support my efforts here and I am now able to offer them as an option on my builds (double and single M80). One would be hard pressed to find a better gig bag than this, and I'm super excited about this development.
I am in process of finishing up paperwork for KMC music to order up the Babicz bridges, and I have another order from Nordstrand shipping out tomorrow. I'm hopeful the next few builds will be successful.
So out of curiosity, what would a Chunger SX with mono case, nords, babicz etc. cost a prospective buyer at this point? Too soon to judge?
PM or email me [[email protected]]. . . I believe it might be a violation of forum rules for me to post pricing information and I have removed other posts with specific pricing info (as per rule below):
Commercial users may not:
-- Post pricing information and other sales dialogue (must be confined to private conversations with TB users (PM or email)).
I would not offer or promote any product though unless it was either exceptionally good or offers a significant value/price advantage to the end user. The end cost in my opinion is outstanding. . . but, for a newbie, perhaps a bit of a hill to climb. Still, really cheap compared to the other alternatives that can deliver similar results.
Hey Chung! I'm currently buying some Copper Tape from Stew Mac, i'm in Venezuela and i can't find copper tape here, hence, i've never used it before.. I really don't know how much to get... Stew Mac's Tape is 180" long (by 2", 3/4", 1/8"), which one should i get to shield a P-Bass??
Pickup Cavity
Pickguard (don't know if it is necessary to shield the entire pickguard, but i guess i will be doing it entirely)
Bridge (that little sandwich you do with the ground cable and the bridge)
Inside Pickup Covers ¿?¿?¿?¿?
(i think i saw this one time)
Hopefully im not hijacking this thread cause you use copper tape to Chungify your SX's
Thanks in advance
Pickup Cavity
Pickguard (don't know if it is necessary to shield the entire pickguard, but i guess i will be doing it entirely)
Bridge (that little sandwich you do with the ground cable and the bridge)
Inside Pickup Covers ¿?¿?¿?¿?
(i think i saw this one time)Hopefully im not hijacking this thread cause you use copper tape to Chungify your SX's
Thanks in advance
Hey Punkster,
If you buy the stewmac copper tape, get the 2" and the 3/4" rolls. You won't need anything else, and you will be able to do approximately 5 basses with those 2 rolls. If you are only doing 1 instrument, just buy the 2" roll and cut 3/4" strips as needed. That way, you spend a little more time with scissors, but save some money.
I shielded the parts of the pickguard that enclose the pickup route. Make sure to solder the joints. Copper shielding foil can also be found on Ebay as it is a somewhate common item for all manner of electronics.
I put a strip under my bridges to get better grounding to the strings. I've never heard of someone complaining about a ground that's too good. I've been soldering my ground wire to the foil under the bridge, but you can sandwich the ground wire between the bridge and the copper foil if you want.
If you buy the stewmac copper tape, get the 2" and the 3/4" rolls. You won't need anything else, and you will be able to do approximately 5 basses with those 2 rolls. If you are only doing 1 instrument, just buy the 2" roll and cut 3/4" strips as needed. That way, you spend a little more time with scissors, but save some money.
I shielded the parts of the pickguard that enclose the pickup route. Make sure to solder the joints. Copper shielding foil can also be found on Ebay as it is a somewhate common item for all manner of electronics.
I put a strip under my bridges to get better grounding to the strings. I've never heard of someone complaining about a ground that's too good. I've been soldering my ground wire to the foil under the bridge, but you can sandwich the ground wire between the bridge and the copper foil if you want.
Yeah, im only doing 1 bass (my only one) so i guess i will be buying one 2" roll (international shipping is not that cheap hehe, actually is more expensive than the copper tape itself)
I guess i'll just have to take my good old scissors and do some cutting haha..
Im also buying some other stuff, WAY too expensive here in Venezuela, i don't know what the F is wrong with people here, they were charging me:
- Switchcraft Mono Jack: 28$
- Orange Drop .047uf Cap: 14$
- CTS 250k Linear Taper Potentiometer: 24$
- CTS 250k Audio Taper Potentiometer: 24$
- Aluminum Tape (Non-Conductive Adhesive): 46$ (a MINI roll, like 1" by 10 Feet)
So, no.. it's cheaper to buy things from US and ship them here to my place.. luckily i have family in Houston, TX. and Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Thanks Chung! i guess i'll save some 10 bucks and spend it on some other modding things
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