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My First Build 2020
- Thread starter tobascovodka
- Start date
... and the tap snapped inside the string lock on the 3rd hole, so I get to reorder brass and start that over... It's the first thing that didn't go right so I can't be that upset I guess, but its also the the last thing. Just frustrated cause it was the second pass and I wasn't even twisting hard, just a crappy tap I think, or I didn't reverse often enough. Ordered another tap as well.
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There are still some minor things to finish up, and still need to thin down the neck, but it plays, in tune, and the intonation was a breeze! The flame walnut around the pickups is a little hard to see, as is the book matching. These Fishman Fluence pickups are very interesting, quite versatile, need time to figure them out.
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Damn, that's some incredible work. Bravo! Re-reading your thread, I see this is not your first build of 2020, but your FIRST BUILD. Just amazing!
I've never done brass fabrication beyond slotting a nut. Curious about the solder: all of the tension of the strings is being held by the solder joint, which you then drilled through. Is that strong enough? This is a question of inexperience, not a challenge.
How do you like the ABM bridges? Do they have thrust bearings?
You said earlier that "the type of bass I wanted didn't exist on the retail market" -- what were you aiming for, and did you achieve it?
And I'm not convinced about the yellow strap
I've never done brass fabrication beyond slotting a nut. Curious about the solder: all of the tension of the strings is being held by the solder joint, which you then drilled through. Is that strong enough? This is a question of inexperience, not a challenge.
How do you like the ABM bridges? Do they have thrust bearings?
You said earlier that "the type of bass I wanted didn't exist on the retail market" -- what were you aiming for, and did you achieve it?
And I'm not convinced about the yellow strap
Damn, that's some incredible work. Bravo! Re-reading your thread, I see this is not your first build of 2020, but your FIRST BUILD. Just amazing!
I've never done brass fabrication beyond slotting a nut. Curious about the solder: all of the tension of the strings is being held by the solder joint, which you then drilled through. Is that strong enough? This is a question of inexperience, not a challenge.
How do you like the ABM bridges? Do they have thrust bearings?
You said earlier that "the type of bass I wanted didn't exist on the retail market" -- what were you aiming for, and did you achieve it?
And I'm not convinced about the yellow strap
Yes its my first build, I've done electronics on my guitars before so that wasn't new, otherwise other than my work bench that I built during the time I waited for bass parts this is my first major wood project.
Hard silver solder is typically between 30k-60kpsi and I have at least 1sqin I think itll be ok, no promises
.I achieved everything I wanted for sure, the only thing I didn't is the fiber optic wire fret dots, by the time I was at that stage the Luminlays had arrived, and I chose not to compromise the neck with an additional route.
The ABM's are very well machined and finished, the black screws that came with them didn't stand up to the purple heart snapped a head but I was always planning on using stainless. They do not have thrust bearings, they are quite tight once they are close to tuned . I may wipe a touch of moly on them.
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beautiful piece with beautiful pieces! wow! congrats on a great job! 
@FretsAreFor Now that I've had a day to play a bit, putting moly grease on the tuner threads and friction washer was the right move, they are so much more usable now. I really think ABM should include a small tube of grease/anti-seize with these, I guess they don't because they are sold as a single piece, and so little grease is needed. Also they ship worldwide and it would be a liquid technically with a shelf life. It really doesn't take much, just a tiny swipe and they become smooth and much easier to use, and still hold tune perfectly. I wouldn't necessarily recommend headless if you're re-tuning often because the torque required to tune without having the big wings of a standard tuners to give you a leverage advantage. I ordered some thrust bearings just to try out see if its better than moly grease alone or if it will compromise the tuning stability.
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There is one small modification I will do to the string lock I made on the next string change in a few months. I will drill another set of holes to loop the string ends into instead of leaving the cut ends hanging at the top, just so I don't accidentally scratch anything with them. I should have done it before I cut these stings to size, but I was just so excited I didn't think about it in time.
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My first headless used Hipshot hardware. It's stiff as hell, and it's pretty unpleasant to use. I don't use different tunings, I just bring it back to pitch when needed. But it's not fun. That's only one of many problems I have with their headless kit.
My second build used Technology For Musicians headless hardware, and wow what a difference. They use thrust bearings (which you can see in the first pic in my review). They are buttery smooth. No finger strain at all.
I hope your add-on thrust bearings do the trick!
My second build used Technology For Musicians headless hardware, and wow what a difference. They use thrust bearings (which you can see in the first pic in my review). They are buttery smooth. No finger strain at all.
I hope your add-on thrust bearings do the trick!
I'll let you know about the add-on bearing, if you still have your build with the Hipshots try a high moly grease, I use Loctite 51048 moly paste for many friction things, especially lower speed, and its amazing.
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@FretsAreFor Thrust bearings came in, installed, so here's my take. I kinda wish these ABM's just came with the thrust bearings, especially for the price, but for $5 it's worth putting them on. I like the tuners you had with them but I did't like the way they mount as a two piece.
Stock ABM: very tight especially close to tuning, very hard to turn.
Stock w/Moly grease: huge improvement, much easier to tune, not perfectly smooth
Thrust bearings: even easier to turn, smoother than grease option, night and day from stock. I think they look nice, I'm sure its not for everyone. If you wanted them more concealed I think you could run them with just the bearings and carrier, w/o the steel raceways/guides to reduce the gap, or use a plunge cut bit to recess them into the knurled heads.
Stock ABM: very tight especially close to tuning, very hard to turn.
Stock w/Moly grease: huge improvement, much easier to tune, not perfectly smooth
Thrust bearings: even easier to turn, smoother than grease option, night and day from stock. I think they look nice, I'm sure its not for everyone. If you wanted them more concealed I think you could run them with just the bearings and carrier, w/o the steel raceways/guides to reduce the gap, or use a plunge cut bit to recess them into the knurled heads.
Fantastic!!! Yeah, they're so good that they really should be stock on all headless bridges. The best way to conceal them would be to get bearings of the same diameter. You could also paint (or cerakote) the sides of the bearing parts to fit in better, but that's splitting hairs. My guess is that exactly zero people will even notice them except you
I like the look of the extra details created by the thrust bearings.
I do as wellI like the look of the extra details created by the thrust bearings.
As long as the knob is just a threaded section and an appropriate size bearing is readily available, I assume it would.
I patted myself on the back for “installing” a solderless wiring harness in my P-Bass (pause for laughter)Man, I have days where I feel good about measuring things out correctly, this guy’s casting brass!Here’s hoping you get some pictures of the process.
I patted myself on the back for “installing” a solderless wiring harness in my P-Bass (pause for laughter)
epic!
