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black & blond P makeover (etc)

#441
Will_White said:
Not my forte either but I can do it if I have a diagram. Line6man in the pickups and electronics forum is a big help as well.
Click to expand...

I'm with you in that regard! And it's working! (thanks again!) A monster has been unleashed - this thing sounds amazing! I've read that there's nothing quite like the sound of a Darkstar, and combined with the chambered ash body and this crazy nice neck - just wow. Big, rich - what tone! I'm going to leave the round-wounds on for a bit as they actually sound really good! A bit of truss-rod tweaking brought the neck into perfect alignment and I was able to get the string height perfect over the frets and pu. Haven't touched the pole-height yet, but will most likely do a bit of adjustment to fully dial it in as I get playing it. It finally weighed in at 9lbs 5oz which isn't light, but for me at the top end of acceptable. The neck wood (wenge/ebony) is heavy and it would have been monstrously heavy if not for my chambering.


I raised the contrast in the pic so more was visible through the (installed) tinted acrylic.
IMG_7998_zpsowonqypp.jpg


IMG_8003_zpsqp4cclav.jpg


Temporary 'badge' on the brass bridge anchor plate - will be looking in to having something engraved on it eventually.
IMG_7999_zpsqcnrmarl.jpg
 
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#443
Final breakdown of weights:

orig sparkle ash body = 6 lbs / 5 oz

chambered body = 3 lbs / 15 oz (essentially 4 lbs)

neck (w/o tuners) = 2 lbs / 7 oz

final weight (fully assembled) = 9 lbs / 5 oz

Sooo… if not for the extensive chambering, this bass would have weighed a wopping 11 lbs / 10 oz (!) can you say, boat anchor?

I could have shaved off nearly a lb if using ultra-light tuners and the brass bridge anchor & hm bridge added some extra oz's, but w/o all of the specifics involved, it wouldn't be the one and only Gildaxe Dark Sparkle P-bass. No, in my book this was mission accomplished!
 
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#444
Spending quality time w/the DS-P getting to know it. I realized that the bass itself is what the pu is broadcasting. Unplugged, it's nicely audible and you can hear the way it sounds pretty clearly. The Darkstar pu with the 500/500 stacked pot is loud and clear and pretty clean - it doesn't colour the tone as much as I first thought it did. The notes all ring deep and long and have a real quality to them. (plugged and unplugged)

So the long and short of it is that what you hear through an amp (which again can colour tone etc) is the combination of all the things this bass encompasses. It isn't especially light, but it seems to benefit tonally from it's weight as a heavy bass can do - it has authority. But, as it also is heavily chambered, it has an acoustic voice that gives it a unique character (that I mistakenly credited to the pu). Then there's the neck which is also heavy/dense and really delivers the deep, rich tone ebony and wenge is known for and my composite nut further provides both sustain and tone. But, all with no neck dive - it balances really well. On a lighter body, I can imagine this neck (for as good as it sounds/plays) could invite some imbalance. And finally to fully credit the Darkstar - this is a very articulate, clean and strong pu that really delivers the actual inherent tone/sound of the bass. Not to forget the brass bridge & anchor plate, which sandwiches the ash dynamically providing full-contact resonance opportunity. The result of 'all of the above' is an extraordinary bass both in looks and sound.
 
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#446
God's Favorite Bass said:
I hate when my watched threads don't update....grrrrr. Consider this as about 50 "likes" since I was like 3 pages behind and wondered why I have seen no updates only to find it almost finished.
That baby is superhighzoot!!
Click to expand...

Only thing that will be added is an engraved bridge anchor plate and Rotosound black tape-wounds - otherwise it LIVES baby! (and it will eat you pets if you're not careful!):laugh:
 
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#447
God's Favorite Bass said:
I hate when my watched threads don't update....grrrrr. Consider this as about 50 "likes" since I was like 3 pages behind and wondered why I have seen no updates only to find it almost finished.
That baby is superhighzoot!!
Click to expand...
Yeah, you got to make sure you click on the "watched threads" link at the top of the page regularly. You cannot rely on the "alerts" because that resets every time you click on it regardless of whether you've checked all the threads.

This is especially important when there is an ongoing JIO build thread!
 
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#449
JIO said:
After looking into laser engraving ($$$), I decided to side-step it for something more direct and personal. After all - an artist's actual signature seals the deal.

IMG_8065_zpsfdknjyja.jpg
Click to expand...

Hey JIO

So you know, I have been making a lot of decals, and the signature ones are a huge success. As Pat mentioned they work incredibly well. Luthiers love them to put on the back of headstocks, on front or back of control cavities, inside pickup routs - or anywhere really.

I have the gold and silver leaf and foil a poppin'

It loads painfully slow as I posted them pretty big in Hi Res, so you have to be patient.

Examples here: Decals....


Here is one:

20150424_133527.jpg


Remember on the last go-round when I did some headstock artwork for you - you were the one that had the printing problem. The decal sheets which mapleglo recommended are great - Pat loves them!

EDIT: Hey JIO, maybe you have everything that you need, but I got the impression from you posts that you were in need of a decal source. Sorry to bother...
 
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#450
BassHappy said:
Hey JIO

So you know, I have been making a lot of decals, and the signature ones are a huge success. As Pat mentioned they work incredibly well. Luthiers love them to put on the back of headstocks, on front or back of control cavities, inside pickup routs - or anywhere really.

I have the gold and silver leaf and foil a poppin'

It loads painfully slow as I posted them pretty big in Hi Res, so you have to be patient.

Examples here: Decals....


Here is one:

View attachment 621134
Click to expand...
Clever...I like the idea of signatures. I could use them with my paintwork like in a cavity instead of paint markers.
We might have to chat.:thumbsup:
 
#454
JIO said:
Thanks Rick!
Click to expand...

Hey JIO

If you like and you want - pick some and I will send you a decal sheet to try, my treat. So you know, the top group is all 2 point outline and the backgrounds are right from your Gildaxe site in the same order as they are on the site. I like the black gold and silver myself, and the outline is cool because it will act as a window and display whatever is behind it.

The bottom ones have a very thin 1 point outline and again those are the same backgrounds as above. If you want any just let me know which ones. No big deal takes 30 seconds to print them out...

If you don't care for them and don't want them - that is cool too. Needed something to do over breakfast this morning...

Pat thought my decals were among the best waterslides he has ever used. Goes on easy as pie and a couple short light sprays and the decal disappears forever.
 
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#456
God's Favorite Bass said:
Just found this interesting and didn't know what to do with it lol...if you were ever a fan of the old "wildwood" series from Fender, this might be a fun project source. HOME not dye injected, but laminated, so a little different than wildwood but pretty interesting. There's even necks.
Click to expand...

Interesting… but doesn't do much for me visually - thanks for posting anyway!
 
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#457
God's Favorite Bass said:
Just found this interesting and didn't know what to do with it lol...if you were ever a fan of the old "wildwood" series from Fender, this might be a fun project source. http://www.prismaguitars.com not dye injected, but laminated, so a little different than wildwood but pretty interesting. There's even necks.
Click to expand...
These remind me of skateboards with the multicoloured laminate. Very cool!
 
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#460
God's Favorite Bass said:
Just found this interesting and didn't know what to do with it lol...if you were ever a fan of the old "wildwood" series from Fender, this might be a fun project source. http://www.prismaguitars.com not dye injected, but laminated, so a little different than wildwood but pretty interesting. There's even necks.
Click to expand...

Oddly enough a friend who is not a musician (he's an SF police officer) just 2 days ago told me he was involved (providing security) with a documentary involving this guy. Something about him teaching some VIP how to skateboard. I'll see if I can get more details.
 
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