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Musicman Big Al Club

#1,462
Great thread! I've had the 5H below since 2013 and never have seen this thread. Cool info. 49 5H Big Als, wow.
I got this from BassNW in another attempt to find a Stingray 5 that worked for me. It does.

It originally was black with black PG and the heavy tuners. It now has shiny Hipshots and a slightly tinted clear to show the mahogany. (Removing the finish and the MM undercoat did have a noticeable effect on resonance, first time I'd experienced this in person). Had some fretwork done and that guy did the nitro tinted neck.

This bass really turns heads when it comes out. Both sonically and visually. Had no idea there were so few of any of the varieties of this bass.
Big Al.jpg
 
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#1,463
Alivefor5 said:
Great thread! I've had the 5H below since 2013 and never have seen this thread. Cool info. 49 5H Big Als, wow.
I got this from BassNW in another attempt to find a Stingray 5 that worked for me. It does.

It originally was black with black PG and the heavy tuners. It now has shiny Hipshots and a slightly tinted clear to show the mahogany. (Removing the finish and the MM undercoat did have a noticeable effect on resonance, first time I'd experienced this in person). Had some fretwork done and that guy did the nitro tinted neck.

This bass really turns heads when it comes out. Both sonically and visually. Had no idea there were so few of any of the varieties of this bass.
View attachment 4248423
Click to expand...

Nice one! Hey, can you share pictures of the back of the headstock? Which hipshots are you using? is it a simple screw in replacement? I think I posted in the thread before but i'd like to switch to lighter tuning pegs for my 5 as well (my 4 already have the light one)

Thanks
 
#1,464
Benko said:
Hey, can you share pictures of the back of the headstock?
Click to expand...

The tuners are some version of the Hipshot ultralites with the shiny surface and those triangular handles. As you can see I just filled in the old holes with wood filler. The Hipshots are smaller than the original hole so I use about a 6" by 1/2" strip of .005 brass shimstock to wrap around the insert that fits into the hole. The small hole that you drill is covered by the original tuners if you should choose to reinstall them. The wood filler is not visible beyond about three feet. This cured the fairly drastic neck dive that this instrument had.

Big Al back head stock.jpg
 
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#1,465
Alivefor5 said:
The tuners are some version of the Hipshot ultralites with the shiny surface and those triangular handles. As you can see I just filled in the old holes with wood filler. The Hipshots are smaller than the original hole so I use about a 6" by 1/2" strip of .005 brass shimstock to wrap around the insert that fits into the hole. The small hole that you drill is covered by the original tuners if you should choose to reinstall them. The wood filler is not visible beyond about three feet. This cured the fairly drastic neck dive that this instrument had.

View attachment 4248756
Click to expand...

Thanks, it's pretty clean I'd say, I'm saving the picture on the post in my bass album. I don't gig the Big Al much as I'd go for my lighter stingray, so I wanted to keep the Big Al as original and pristine as possible. Playing at home sitting, weight is a non issue.
 
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#1,468
Alivefor5 said:
Great thread! I've had the 5H below since 2013 and never have seen this thread. Cool info. 49 5H Big Als, wow.
I got this from BassNW in another attempt to find a Stingray 5 that worked for me. It does.

It originally was black with black PG and the heavy tuners. It now has shiny Hipshots and a slightly tinted clear to show the mahogany. (Removing the finish and the MM undercoat did have a noticeable effect on resonance, first time I'd experienced this in person). Had some fretwork done and that guy did the nitro tinted neck.

This bass really turns heads when it comes out. Both sonically and visually. Had no idea there were so few of any of the varieties of this bass.
View attachment 4248423
Click to expand...
That looks AWESOME! A natural Albert was never offered as far as I know and your version shows what could have been. And the tort PG makes it even better . Fine job!
 
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