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Lets Buy A Wish Part II

#682
RickC said:
Another victim here! It seems to me there were several latecomers from the Massachusetts area who wanted to fondle the Wish; add me to that list. Think we could get her up here for a little tea pahty?

/rick
Click to expand...

Too bad you came late to the party, it was in Mass (but the western part which pronounces words properly) back in April.
 
#683
LajoieT said:
Too bad you came late to the party, it was in Mass (but the western part which pronounces words properly) back in April.
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Hey I spent a week in Western Mass one night :)

LajoieT, weren't you threatening to spill the beans on some cool discoveries you made re the Wish? Did I miss it?

/rick
 
#684
RickC said:
Hey I spent a week in Western Mass one night :)

LajoieT, weren't you threatening to spill the beans on some cool discoveries you made re the Wish? Did I miss it?

/rick
Click to expand...

No, you didn't miss anything, I've been dragging my heels and working my butt off for the past few months. I've barely had time to log onto TB and make a few wise a$$ comments once a day. I've got this Friday off so hopefully I can get the photos resized and all my thoughts in line and get it posted.
 
#685
LajoieT said:
No, you didn't miss anything, I've been dragging my heels and working my butt off for the past few months. I've barely had time to log onto TB and make a few wise a$$ comments once a day. I've got this Friday off so hopefully I can get the photos resized and all my thoughts in line and get it posted.
Click to expand...

Cool. Looking forward to it.

/rick
 
#687
Here's my $.02 on the Pimp The Wish movement ( I may have said some of this before, but I know there was one point at least that I haven't stated...)

I think moding the bass and making it better is one of the best ideas since the day someone said "Let's Buy A Wish..." However, I'd like to keep the mods in the hands of the "users". I'm sure we can all agree that the builders we're all familiar with (Nordstrand, Benavente, Stambaugh, Conklin, etc.etc.etc) can build a MUCH better bass than the Wish, but I'd like to see what people who don't make any significant amount of $$$ making instruments can do. So I'd like to see it be worked on by anyone who meets those criteria, not saying you cant EVER have built an instrument before, but if you've done it for money, please sit it out. I'd like to see how much better the bass can be made by regular folks. That said, I'd like to be sure that things like replacing the fretboard and installing a Truss Rod be done by someone who has *SOME* experience in such things, and the Luthier's forum is full of some folks who would fit this bill perfectly. I just think it will mean more than just having a top builder fix it up.
 
#688
LajoieT said:
Here's my $.02 on the Pimp The Wish movement ( I may have said some of this before, but I know there was one point at least that I haven't stated...)

I think moding the bass and making it better is one of the best ideas since the day someone said "Let's Buy A Wish..." However, I'd like to keep the mods in the hands of the "users". I'm sure we can all agree that the builders we're all familiar with (Nordstrand, Benavente, Stambaugh, Conklin, etc.etc.etc) can build a MUCH better bass than the Wish, but I'd like to see what people who don't make any significant amount of $$$ making instruments can do. So I'd like to see it be worked on by anyone who meets those criteria, not saying you cant EVER have built an instrument before, but if you've done it for money, please sit it out. I'd like to see how much better the bass can be made by regular folks. That said, I'd like to be sure that things like replacing the fretboard and installing a Truss Rod be done by someone who has *SOME* experience in such things, and the Luthier's forum is full of some folks who would fit this bill perfectly. I just think it will mean more than just having a top builder fix it up.
Click to expand...

But it doesn't NEED a truss rod. Perhaps the fretboard needs replaced, or at least trued...but if its like my wishbass, it does not need a truss rod...DO BASEBALL BATS AND CRICKET BATS HAVE TRUSS RODS?

Here's what needs done IMO

1) GOOD SANDING and refin
2) Fretboard work (possibly replace, if required)
3) new bridge
(I have an inexpensive, non-destructive 5 minute solution for this one).
4) new coverplate (possibly with a pickguard)
5) new knob
6) new nut (possibly)

Anything else would not be worth the effort.
 
#689
I've owned a couple of Wish's acoustic mandocelli. I replaced the nuts and did some fretwork on both. I replaced the bridge on one with a lighter wooden one. The other had an adjustable archtop guitar bridge glued to a "platform" base - I just shaved some extra weight off that one and redid the string spacing.

Anyhow, what I'm getting at is before y'all go installing a fancy adjustable bridge try a lighter movable wooden one. I'm curious what the effect would be on an electric. Then the next stage can be a fully adjustable metal bridge.
 
#691
So what's so horrible about the knob that it needs replacing? Granted, I haven't read the entirety of this thread all that carefully, but a knob doesn't really seem like something a builder could really get wrong...
 
#692
pklima said:
I've owned a couple of Wish's acoustic mandocelli. I replaced the nuts and did some fretwork on both. I replaced the bridge on one with a lighter wooden one. The other had an adjustable archtop guitar bridge glued to a "platform" base - I just shaved some extra weight off that one and redid the string spacing.

Anyhow, what I'm getting at is before y'all go installing a fancy adjustable bridge try a lighter movable wooden one. I'm curious what the effect would be on an electric. Then the next stage can be a fully adjustable metal bridge.
Click to expand...

I used just the saddle block pieces from an Indi bridge system (square metal blocks with adjustable-height metal saddles in them) underneath each of the strings:
- No drilling
- Each string can have the intonation individually adjusted
- Each string can have the height individually adjusted
- Very little tone difference from the original corian bridge.
- Improved the playability of the instrument HEAPS!
 
#693
Well from my memory of this particular instrument, it needs some significant work to get the neck playable anywhere above about the 18th fret and up. My assumption is that a truss rod *MIGHT* make that possible, maybe not.

I'd like to see the neck thinned out so it's less like a baseball bat. Will that make it less stable and therefore *NEED* a Truss Rod? I don't know, but probably.

Will that make the bass 387% better and easier to play? YES

As for the fretboard, it kinda depends on your standards. This particular fretboard has rather significant sized networks of holes in it. If just filling them and sanding down works for you then fine. IMO it needs a new fretboard as the current one never should have been installed in the first place.

Better bridge? YES
Better wiring? YES
Better Pups? YES PLEASE
Better cover (maybe pickguard to hide the spoon-route)? YES

Probably the *ONLY* iffy feature I'm in favor of keeping is the Worm Holes in the top wood. Heck, anyone up for cutting a scarf joint while the fretboard is off and putting a normal headstock on this thing.
 
#695
LajoieT said:
Well from my memory of this particular instrument, it needs some significant work to get the neck playable anywhere above about the 18th fret and up. My assumption is that a truss rod *MIGHT* make that possible, maybe not.

I'd like to see the neck thinned out so it's less like a baseball bat. Will that make it less stable and therefore *NEED* a Truss Rod? I don't know, but probably.

Will that make the bass 387% better and easier to play? YES

As for the fretboard, it kinda depends on your standards. This particular fretboard has rather significant sized networks of holes in it. If just filling them and sanding down works for you then fine. IMO it needs a new fretboard as the current one never should have been installed in the first place.

Better bridge? YES
Better wiring? YES
Better Pups? YES PLEASE
Better cover (maybe pickguard to hide the spoon-route)? YES

Probably the *ONLY* iffy feature I'm in favor of keeping is the Worm Holes in the top wood. Heck, anyone up for cutting a scarf joint while the fretboard is off and putting a normal headstock on this thing.
Click to expand...

The headstock, albeit UGLY and unconventional is quite functional AND it's a feature that will always say "I'm a wishbass"...I would think that the aim would be to make it into a workable instrument NOT hide its identity.

I disagree about thinning the neck, I think it would only make it 252% easier to play, not 387% :D
 
#697
PilbaraBass said:
I've had my rodless wishie for 10 months in a variety of climatic conditions and it's quite stable and in tune. LajoieT has a valid point, however, if one chooses NOT to thin the neck down, then I don't see any reason to go through the pains of putting in a trussrod.
Click to expand...

Well, adjusting fingerboard relief... but DBs don't have truss rods either and fingerboard relief is set by planing the fingerboard into the proper shape. And since y'all are gonna plane or replace it anyway I'm with the "don't need no truss rod" crowd.
 
#698
just my $.02, but neck size is such a subjective thing. I haven't played the Wish yet, but I have played other electrics with huge (i.e., URB sized necks); for me, they were great. Get the neck/fingerboard relief'ed and playable, yes. But not shave it down.

Seems to me the body shape, headstock, and huge neck are part of the essential "Wishness" of the thing, and as such you wouldn't want to muck with those.

/rick
 

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