basses for newbies (SX batch build thread)

[TRob1293]

I still don't know how you manage to hold 400 billion cables into ONE little hole on the jack grounding lug... lol

Last time i did that with a split pickup, probably 3 cables going to ground, and i manage to f*** up the jack and my left index finger with the soldering iron LOL

Gotta say, you're my wiring hero xD

Cheers, Chung! keep up the good work...

+1, no doubt!

 

[chunger]

drill hole a little bigger, stuff 6 wires in. . . set iron to nuclear (nothing on the jack that can break from a little heat).

 

[BassClefJean]

I can't believe I finished reading this thread. It's like reading a great, fat novel. You read as fast as you can to find out what's going to happen, then you are sad when you finish, cuz there's no more!

I'm a noob and a half - my SX is getting delivered tomorrow or Weds, and I'm really excited to do my own set up.

Thank you, chunger! Your ambition is inspiring, and your generosity humbling.

 

[chunger]

A bit more progress today. . . figured I'd try to get Mooselump's bass finished out and ready to send back.

First a bit of fret dressing to get the PLEK tool marks out. . . this is really light really. You can barely feel the marks left from the cutter wheel. Because it's what I have on hand, I use 320 (left-over from the fret leveling bar), 600, 1000 grit papers and then polish with a felt wheel on a dremel with some compound.

I tape off every other fret, dress up 1/2 the frets, and then move all of the tape. That way, I use 50% less tape and also am able to utilize both straight edges of the tape. I also don't have to cut any tape when I get to the higher frets where it gets too wide for a single piece. I'm sure there are a bazillion methods that work for this. I'm told I should try the 3M sanding pads. Mike, who was the PLEK operator, uses 400, 800, 1000, 2000, and then 0000 steel wool and uses a metal guard instead of taping. He even gave me a guard so I could give it a go. I tried that and found for me, taping worked better/faster.

I probably should have just PLEK'd this nut, but I just plum forgot when I was over at the shop. Plus, I've gotta pay off my fret files somehow First, I removed the existing one.. . I used my fret cutters and rocked it for a long time with little motions side to side until I heard the glue crack. Then, I slowly worked it out of the slot. I remember how a fretboard can really get jacked up if you force these things out. If there was any more resistance, I would have used the dremel and cut the nut down the middle and then squeezed on the outside to collapse the nut.

The nut slot needed a bit of cleaning out with a chisel and a razor blade. . . mostly to remove glue and a few chunks of the old nut.

New nut is sanded down to width slowly so I get a nice fit. Because I had such a hard time getting the nut out on a previous bass, I've decided to just fit them well and not use any glue at all. If in the future someone wants to glue it down, that's fine. . . a tiny drop of crazy glue or titebond on the bottom will be all that's needed. The material I'm using is TUSQ Graphtech. . . basically some sort of graphite infused plastic material. The stuff seems to have eaten up my Norman nut files pretty quickly (1 nut), so I figure it's got some favorable characteristics. I haven't done any hard-core tests on alternate materials, but I also haven't had reason to switch. I like how these nuts smooth out the tuning do to the friction reducing properties of the material.

String spacing looks good. . . I transferred the spacing from an old SX nut on this one because I liked the way it laid out just fine. Plus, PLEK optimizes for the string paths, leaving the string spacing alone would maximize the fret level.

Starting to cut the slots to depth

And then, I went too far on the D string. . . crap. .. i guess it was bound to happen at some point. It wasn't particularly ruined as I still had a little space. I probably could have stuffed a piece of copper foil or something thin under the nut and it would have been fine, but not this time on a customer bass. . . so, back to step 1. What a pain. . . REALLY should have let the robot do this.

2nd time works fine. I made an adjustment and flattened the G side of the nut a bit since my slots were running a little deep. I probably could have thinned it some more, but I like my strings completely buried in the nut because I've had the bass fall on it's face before and the nut shear off at the string which is no fun. This way, if the bass falls, hopefully, the strings won't be driven into the nut, and it will not break.

JLS came over the other day to take a look at some of the PLEK'd basses to evaluate the robot's performance. He left a Carvin R600 head at my place so that I could have something to test on for now. I took another look at the bass to make sure everything is in order. . . tweaked on the pickup heights a bit, raised the strings from ridiculous low to reasonably ridiculous low . . . that being ~.075" G string ~.085" E string. This bass is running really well now. It was missing a bunch of pickguard screws when it came to me and a lot of them were mis-aligned. I plugged the offending holes with toothpicks but do not have extra pickguard screws on hand. . . some are on the way with my latest electronics order from Invalid Link Removed . But, I think Mooselumps may just want his bass back, so if he gives the go-ahead, I'm sending it back.

If there are any issues with it or it arrives shifted due to climate, let me know. I'm also super interested in feedback from the outside world on these builds. Hopefully, this one will get played hard! Mooselumps stepped up to the plate on this one. He emailed me and basically wanted "the works" on this bass. I sent him an itemized quote based on the specs requested (not particularly cheap options), and he said go for it! I'm happy to report that everything that can be done to squeeze maximum performance from this instrument has now been done.

 

[JLS]

I tape of every other fret, dress them up, and then move all of the tape. That way, I use 1/2 the tape and also am able to utilize both sides of the tape. I also don't have to cut any tape when I get to the higher frets where it gets too wide for a single piece.

Thanks! I'll bring you some 3m pads today.

 

[MooseLumps]

I have the other screws and was planning to plug the holes. Thanks Chunger.

 

[chunger]

I'm checking to see if anyone knows what these are and how I might be able to get some. I'm interested for a couple of reasons. For jazz basses, I now have a few pickup options available that have very different voicings, and it would be nice if during setup, I had the option of relatively quickly swapping pickups out to optimize for the basses. Also, this would allow for faster pickup swapping for test sessions. That way, I can continue to test pickups on the same bass so the only variable people hear is the pickup.

 

[selowitch]

Regarding these, I asked essentially the same question here.

 

[MPSGODOY]

I'm also super interested in feedback from the outside world on these builds.

What can I say, Chunger?
I'm following this thread in every step and looking carefully into your great job building this basses.
Actually, here in Brazil we have a great forum with a thread exactly about your building process. And everything you've made is an inspiration to common bass players without technical knowledge, like me.
Thanks and keep with that wonderful job.

 

[praisegig]

Regarding these, I asked essentially the same question here.

Both are used with test equipment. The top one is banana plugs and the bottom is test probes that can have alligator clips attached. You can find them at Radio Shack, with various sizes and types here.

Link Removed

 

[selowitch]

Both are used with test equipment. The top one is banana plugs and the bottom is test probes that can have alligator clips attached. You can find them at Radio Shack, with various sizes and types here.

Link Removed

Your link appears not to work. Perhaps you meant Invalid Link Removed? It would be great if someone could come up with a parts list for this project, using a P-Bass and then a J-Bass for examples.

 

[selowitch]

these are NOT banana plugs:

Whatever they are, let's cut to the chase and identify what connectors are needed for pickups, and let's come up with a parts list and diagram for a quick-changing pickup setup that our fellow TBers (not least of all -- yours truly) can use.

 

[chunger]

I'm open to screw down terminal solutions as well. I guess it's an issue of mount location for the terminal block. On the control plate would be the best way to go to keep it clean.

I'm just not very electronically savvy. For me, it's more monkey see monkey do.

Side Note: I've started integrating price scaling for standard, professional, and premium grade basses in my invoicing. I'm pretty much up-charging $50 for professional grade and $100 for premium grade instruments from here on out. This will be allocated to cover "development" costs. . . primarily musician time and studio time. Friends have been helping me out and pitching in for free up until now, but you can't free-load forever especially if things scale up. I've already done close to 100 mixes in this bass project . . . short ones, but still. . .

Rotosound is a go for manufacturer relationship! They have been a pleasure to deal with.
Still waiting to hear back from the DR Strings rep.

 

[joeyl]

2nd time works fine. I made an adjustment and flattened the G side of the nut a bit since my slots were running a little deep. I probably could have thinned it some more, but I like my strings completely buried in the nut because I've had the bass fall on it's face before and the nut shear off at the string which is no fun. This way, if the bass falls, hopefully, the strings won't be driven into the nut, and it will not break.

one thing with the strings running deep in the nut, is that aggressive players can break the 2 outside sides of the nut right away, whereas if the strings were in shallow slots, they would just pop out of the nut.

 

[selowitch]

Side Note: I've started integrating price scaling for standard, professional, and premium grade basses in my invoicing. I'm pretty much up-charging $50 for professional grade and $100 for premium grade instruments from here on out. This will be allocated to cover "development" costs. . . primarily musician time and studio time. Friends have been helping me out and pitching in for free up until now, but you can't free-load forever especially if things scale up. I've already done close to 100 mixes in this bass project . . . short ones, but still. . .

Are you offering basses to members of the general public? Do you have a pricelist? A waiting list?

 

[chunger]

Are you offering basses to members of the general public? Do you have a pricelist? A waiting list?

Yes. email or PM me. Available basses at this point are:

#5 standard grade (burgandy metalic Fender Jazz)
#7 professional grade (black SX p-bass)
#17 standard grade (vintage yellow/block inlay SX jazz bass)
#11 (not yet evaluated) (sunburst SX P/J)

I may have to retain some of these to record and document prior to sale, but otherwise, I have build sheets/invoices made and the basses are ready to move. Others in the batch will be coming online quickly. Prices vary as the original purchase price for the base instruments and pickup configurations vary a great deal.

Side Note: Wheels are in motion to test Genz Benz amps and cabinets to try and come up with an "end-to-end" complete package solution for a serious student. The in was Kaman Music Inc. which distributes the Babicz FCH bridges (still waiting on back orders to test). KMC also distributes Genz Benz amps, so I gave them a call. Shuttle 6.0-12T combo and Shuttle 9.0 are inbound for testing in the field. I am personally a bit more of a solid state sort of guy (Markbass and Thunderfunk), so I'm not holding my breath on these 2 amps blowing me away, but I figured it's worth a serious look. Even in the studio, I've preferred the tone acquired from a solid state Great River pre to the modded Ampex 351 tube pre.

The form factor of those Shuttles makes a whole lot of practical sense. If they sound decent and prove reliable in the field, I'm thinking about trying to put together a complete package so someone can walk in with nothing, and walk out with everything needed to learn, practice, gig, rehearse, and record.

Bass, gig bag, amp

 

[MooseLumps]

That #5 is a sexy beast. I'm surprised it's still around and the LPB jazzes disappeared.

Chung, I was wondering about the utility of the Babicz bridge on these basses. They seem to be pricey and unconventional. I'm not saying that they aren't the bees knees, but there are solid replacement bridges available that don't allow for side-to-side string motion for less than half of the retail on those Babicz units. The bridge on #16 is an eBay special.

Making the Genz-Benzes available is awesome. There are a lot of potential players out there who would benefit from a professional level combo to start with.

What sort of bags are you looking at?

 

[chunger]

That #5 is a sexy beast. I'm surprised it's still around and the LPB jazzes disappeared.

Chung, I was wondering about the utility of the Babicz bridge on these basses. They seem to be pricey and unconventional. I'm not saying that they aren't the bees knees, but there are solid replacement bridges available that don't allow for side-to-side string motion for less than half of the retail on those Babicz units. The bridge on #16 is an eBay special.

Making the Genz-Benzes available is awesome. There are a lot of potential players out there who would benefit from a professional level combo to start with.

What sort of bags are you looking at?

The low-cost bridge on #16 works just fine. Side/side saddle movement is controlled and the bass obviously sounds great. My understanding is the holes don't always align because the pattern is close, but not exactly the same as stock Fender.

At manufacturer pricing, the Babicz bridges are pretty darn comparable to other options. I haven't tested them yet, but they did seem to be an option that had something else to offer tonally. Otherwise, the Gotoh 201's seem to work just as well as any other upgrade bridge on the market.

One thing to consider as far as SX's go is the ability of the bridge to adjust really low. I don't know how the Babicz stacks up in terms of adjustment range, but I do know even with neck shimming, many of the SX's cannot run a replacement bridge without grinding down the saddles for clearance or running high string action.

OH. . . forgot to mention, concerning gig bags, Mono Cases has agreed to let me do luthier's pricing. I see no issues whatsoever with their products --> Solid

 

[MooseLumps]

Then it is left to the testing to decide!
SCIENCE!!!

 

[KingRazor]

Yes. email or PM me. Available basses at this point are:

#5 standard grade (burgandy metalic Fender Jazz)
#7 professional grade (black SX p-bass)
#17 standard grade (vintage yellow/block inlay SX jazz bass)
#11 (not yet evaluated) (sunburst SX P/J)

I may have to retain some of these to record and document prior to sale, but otherwise, I have build sheets/invoices made and the basses are ready to move. Others in the batch will be coming online quickly. Prices vary as the original purchase price for the base instruments and pickup configurations vary a great deal.

Side Note: Wheels are in motion to test Genz Benz amps and cabinets to try and come up with an "end-to-end" complete package solution for a serious student. The in was Kaman Music Inc. which distributes the Babicz FCH bridges (still waiting on back orders to test). KMC also distributes Genz Benz amps, so I gave them a call. Shuttle 6.0-12T combo and Shuttle 9.0 are inbound for testing in the field. I am personally a bit more of a solid state sort of guy (Markbass and Thunderfunk), so I'm not holding my breath on these 2 amps blowing me away, but I figured it's worth a serious look. Even in the studio, I've preferred the tone acquired from a solid state Great River pre to the modded Ampex 351 tube pre.

The form factor of those Shuttles makes a whole lot of practical sense. If they sound decent and prove reliable in the field, I'm thinking about trying to put together a complete package so someone can walk in with nothing, and walk out with everything needed to learn, practice, gig, rehearse, and record.

Bass, gig bag, amp

#7 looks extremely tempting. I'm glad I don't have the money because I'd probably buy that bass instead of pay bills...

I'd really like to see how your "package" compares to the Squier one with the fender rumble amp and an affinity P bass.