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my EBMM stingray begins its diet today

#82
johnk_10 said:
when i first bought it, being used to my early 1976 rays, i didn't care for the unfinished feeling necks on the new ones, so right after i bought the new one, i cleaned up the neck, sealed it and shot it with gloss nitro.to me, it felt much better that way, and besides having large frets, it totally reminded me of my vintage ones.



When you refinished the neck how did you clean up the frets from being covered in the gloss nitro?
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#83
Jim C said:
Really nice pro job John.
+1 on the no rear route as the grain is so nice; maybe just a chrome cover for battery access like the earl SR's is the way to go
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yeah, that's what i was thinking too, and i already have an old chrome battery cover from a '76 ray. i also have the 4-40 brass inserts and 4-40 flat head philips screws for it.

stingraybatterycover.jpg


i think that the two mini switch method is the way i'm going to go with. i could also go with a volume, 4-way rotary switch (1. both in series, 2. neck, 3. both in parallel, 4. bridge) and a two band eq system without drilling any holes in the control plate which also might be cool. i already have a few of the two-band pcb's that i could make for it.

the first thing i'm going to do, is just route the single SR pickup and play & listen to it like that, since i love how simple a standard single pickup ray is. if i decide to go the HH route, then i'll route it for the middle pickup and make another pickguard for it. BTW, the ray pickups weigh 5 oz, so they add more than a 1/4 lbs to the overall basss weight.
 
#84
EXB445 said:
johnk_10 said:
when i first bought it, being used to my early 1976 rays, i didn't care for the unfinished feeling necks on the new ones, so right after i bought the new one, i cleaned up the neck, sealed it and shot it with gloss nitro.to me, it felt much better that way, and besides having large frets, it totally reminded me of my vintage ones.
Click to expand...



EXB445 said:
When you refinished the neck how did you clean up the frets from being covered in the gloss nitro?
Click to expand...

the same way that fender and musicman does it, i carefully sand off the lacquer with wet/dry sandpaper on a t-bar block and then buff them out on a buffing wheel.
Click to expand...
 
#87
johnk_10 said:
i could also go with a volume, 4-way rotary switch (1. both in series, 2. neck, 3. both in parallel, 4. bridge) and a two band eq system without drilling any holes in the control plate which also might be cool. i already have a few of the two-band pcb's that i could make for it.

the first thing i'm going to do, is just route the single SR pickup and play & listen to it like that, since i love how simple a standard single pickup ray is. if i decide to go the HH route, then i'll route it for the middle pickup and make another pickguard for it. BTW, the ray pickups weigh 5 oz, so they add more than a 1/4 lbs to the overall basss weight.
Click to expand...

Very cool ideas for switching and hadn't considered rotary; had been thinking all along that I was surprised that you were going for the 2 pup version as the original is just so right and looks quite the business.

It's so popular that the guy that names everything after himself (except Al) was motivated to bring back Leo's version ;)
 
#88
mongo2 said:
Truth is, they really don't notice the nuances of tone a player can hear.
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and if anyone really cared about that, there wouldnt be a market for 90 percent of the stuff out there. people buy stuff that satisfies them. whether its a 4 pound balsa wood bass or cinder block with a neck attached.

on topic though. this is a cool freakin' project. id love to be able to do something like this but id probably cut a finger off:eek:
 
#89
I'm looking forward to seeing the finished bass. It would be nice to have the skills that you do to be able to tackle a project like this.

I too, prefer lighter basses. I haven't compared the same bass in a light or heavier version side by side, but for the comfort factor alone, it's worth it. I have sold a couple of great sounding and playing basses for their heavy weights alone.

I am not convinced that heavier basses sound better either. I have some light basses that have plenty of attack. Each bass has it's own sound and the weight is just part of the puzzle.
 
#91
just finished routing the bridge pickup, vintage style battery compartment, the output jack hole and roundover on the body's edges. with the exception of the 6 screw mounting holes, it looks like a vintage stingray right now instead of a plank of wood. the bare body weight is now 3lbs 7.4 oz).

stingraybody-19.jpg


stingraybody-20.jpg


i just need to drill the holes for the pickup, battery, and bridge grounding wires, install the brass inserts for the battery cover screws, pickup mounting screws, two large bridge studs and drill/mount the strap buttons and i can start testing it plugged in.

tomorrow, its going to get the arm relief and tummy cut, and i i'll probably route it for the middle pickup too. if i do decide go with the two HH pickups, i'm going to go with a two way (treble & bass) eq system with a master volume, a four way rotary pickup selector switch.

should be final sanded and sealed by tuesday afternoon.
 
#93
johnk_10 said:
hey mongo, where do you get the aluminum G&L tapered tuning head shafts? it's not that it needs them for balance, but i would be nice to keep it lightweight up there anyway.
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I ordered a set of G&L tuners from a G&L dealer. The tuner plates fit the MM format or you can swap out the posts to keep the original tuner plates.

How much does the body weigh?
 
#94
Joe Nerve said:
I was just jokin (obviously) with he doorway chinning bar. I plugged in here because I'm looking forward to seeing this build. I think it's great to be able to do such things to make yerself happy, if you can.

I also respect people wanting to play lighter basses. My experience however has been that the bass weight issue is more in my head than in my body. I sold a bubinga corvette a while back because of it's weight. I have since then jumped around on stage (yes, for 3 long sets - and at times for 2 1/2 hr single sets) w some other pretty heavy basses, and once I got used to it, it wasn't an issue. I have a fortress flashback that weighs around 12 lbs. and I really don't notice. If basses all weighed an average 12 - 14 lbs I don't think people would complain as much about weight. Then a 15 lb. bass would be considered heavy. And strapping on a stingray would feel like the lightest and greatest bass ever. I really believe it's all relative. But so is what makes people happy. I like skinny redheads. If ya like a light bass, no reason I see to not go for it.
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Yeah, sorry if my response missed the boat on the tone of your original suggestion - didn't mean to come off as preachy.

I totally believe that the tolerance for weight-thing varies from person to person. I know bassists and even some guitarists who can go indefinitely with boat anchors strapped to their backs. I personally can't handle it - not sure if it's my personal skeletal structure or what.

What I WOULD offer up (here comes the preachiness again) is that just because you can do something without pain doesn't mean it isn't setting you up for pain down the road. Use big, wide, neoprene straps. Stretch a lot.
 
#99
WoodyG3 said:
I'm so glad you made that decision. That is way too nice a piece of wood to cover up with pain. Are you going to use any grain filler?
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nope, just sealer, then 8 coats of clear gloss.

i put it together tonight to test it out and it sounds great, and IMO, better than ever. it is still VERY much a stingray and sounds just a little more full, but still has the ray's famous attack and punch. i did notice that the previous dead spot that it used to have on the G string (E-9th fret) seems to be gone now :).

stingraybody-21.jpg


stingraybody-22.jpg


stingraybody-23.jpg


stingraybody-24.jpg



i decided that i am going to route it for the middle pickup since i'd like it to have more tonal variations, but i gotta say, it sure is nice to play this bass on a strap now, and it balances perfectly (with NO NECK DIVE AT ALL). as it sits, it weighs 8 lbs 3 oz and will lose a bit more with the contours, but gain 5 oz with the additional pickup, so with paint and the additional pickup, i'm thinking it'll be under 8 1/2 pounds when finished as an HH (2 pickup), and would weigh around 8lbs 2 oz. with a single pickup
 

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