Lady 5Jane - Headless, Fretless 5 String Prototype (With Piano Pins)

[michaelwayneharwood]

Cool. Some great stuff there. If you want to thicken up the sound, wiring the pickups in series (rather than parallel) with help. It will cancel up some of those upper mid and highs and give you a more bass heavy sound... for example, exhibit A; has the PU in similar position. Here's a sound clip of both coils and then the PU in series...

Thanks for the example! I tried the pickups in series and parallel both and did not hear an appreciable difference, but it's worth revisiting. I am considering throwing a push/pull pot to switch between parallel and series, and second volume pot. I really like the clean look, but a pair of ebony knobs won't detract from it too much I think...

 

[reverendrally]

Make sure the PUs are adjusted up as close to the strings as possible. That will also change your sound.

 

[BioWeapon]

Grounding one pin will effectively ground all the strings at once - good thinking!

 

[JustForSport]

Make sure the PUs are adjusted up as close to the strings as possible. That will also change your sound.

That works pretty good with the active pickups, but passives are usually preferred a little farther away.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

I sometimes have a tendency to over think and complicate simple things. I drilled out a small hole in the bottom of the pin. It was beautiful work - almost perfectly centered, soldered easy, and I was very proud of the work...until I turned the pin and the number of twists needed to tune the C string broke the wire. The solution to the problem was MUCH simpler than I had originally thought. Fishing the wire through the hole and letting the threads of the pin contact it is very secure and works well.

*sigh*

With the right most pin grounded the buzz is completely gone as long as I am touching the strings, and greatly reduced in general when not touching anything. I still need to shield the cavities, and add some options for the pickups, but tonight is not the night for that work. I am going to just play and enjoy the sounds I am able to produce.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

I wanted to update on the long term results of the bass. She plays VERY well, and sounds nice. The piano pin tuners continue to work well. That being said she's REALLY heavy, and I have found that the neck profile is not as comfortable as initial impression suggested. I much prefer a rounded profile on the bass side.

 

[wintremute]

Thanks for the update.