Project Vista Sonic (rut row, JIO's at it again!)

[JIO]

You really need to get yourself a little lathe, it would make things much easier for you (mine’s a Taig, Sherline is even better). What’s the purpose of the route under the bridge?,

Judging from the design of the bridge saddles - Burns probably did it to lower the bridge so the high saddles wouldn't be too high. If the saddles are bottomed out, the string is at 5/8" compared to 1/2 that of a standard Fender bent-plate bridge. Never used a lathe but I'll look into it.

 

[Beej]

I think you'd benefit more from a small mill than a lathe for making little guitar parts. I've been scouring around here for something affordable and small for years. There was a small mill that a guy had in his sailboat a while back that went in like two days. Too bad cuz it would have been perfect...

 

[Jon Clegg]

I think you'd benefit more from a small mill than a lathe for making little guitar parts. I've been scouring around here for something affordable and small for years. There was a small mill that a guy had in his sailboat a while back that went in like two days. Too bad cuz it would have been perfect...

Yeah, I agree. I find myself usually making things that require a mill (or a small CNC) rather than a lathe.

 

[JimmyM]

You folks who do metal fab amaze me. Truly a great skill to have.

 

[Beej]

Cheap is relative too. I can pick one up all day for around 4000, but the little flexible ones that go for 2 grand are my eventual goal.

 

[farace]

We're all bozo's on this bus!

I had that album memorized in high school. Wore it out and had to buy another copy.

--Ah, Clem

 

[TerribleTim68]

I'm pretty dang good with metal fab (or at least i like to think so). It's the woodworking that scares me. But I still don't own (or have access to) a mill or lathe. I do have a stomp sheer, a box break, a tubing bender, welders, cutting torch, plasma cutter and about any air tool one could want. But no mill/lathe.

 

[farace]

Now that my partner is back home (finally!) and starting to feel better I need to dig my Ampeg/Burns out of the closet and look at the bridge. I don't remember my bridge having rollers, but I may just have forgotten. It's been years since I've looked under the cover.

Great job on the metal fab work!

 

[JIO]

I had that album memorized in high school. Wore it out and had to buy another copy.

--Ah, Clem

You know it! For me it was 1st year at art school - I remember 'grass' being involved. (boy, if you want to date yourself refer to weed as grass!

 

[JIO]

Now that my partner is back home (finally!) and starting to feel better I need to dig my Ampeg/Burns out of the closet and look at the bridge. I don't remember my bridge having rollers, but I may just have forgotten. It's been years since I've looked under the cover.

Great job on the metal fab work!

Great news (your partner home) - best for you both in the days ahead. And thanks! I'm pretty much of the midset that I can do something even if I've never done such before. Being in SF/Oakland/Bay Are really helps as there are some great (old) resources/buisnesses here that sell raw matrials needed like the metal place I got the brass from and Tap Plastic where I get my pg supplies. Also, I am lucky enough to have access to a shop right down the road (HW1) with some but not all power tools. What I use most often is the band-saw, drill press, band-sander and to have a space to do noisy and dusty routing. The rest I do by hand which I can credit my dad and gramma from Poland (his mother) who were both hands-on 'makers'. Me being an artist was a genetic gift from them of which I never take for granted.

 

[Fender_Bender]

I think you'd benefit more from a small mill than a lathe for making little guitar parts. I've been scouring around here for something affordable and small for years. There was a small mill that a guy had in his sailboat a while back that went in like two days. Too bad cuz it would have been perfect...

We’re getting a bit off topic, but you can use a “milling attachment” on a lathe. I made the entire Billet brass bridge shown here on my little lathe with a milling attachment holding the workpiece. The individual slots in the saddles for each string were done on the lathe too (each sized differently).

 

[farace]

Great news (your partner home) - best for you both in the days ahead. And thanks! I'm pretty much of the midset that I can do something even if I've never done such before. Being in SF/Oakland/Bay Are really helps as there are some great (old) resources/buisnesses here that sell raw matrials needed like the metal place I got the brass from and Tap Plastic where I get my pg supplies. Also, I am lucky enough to have access to a shop right down the road (HW1) with some but not all power tools. What I use most often is the band-saw, drill press, band-sander and to have a space to do noisy and dusty routing. The rest I do by hand which I can credit my dad and gramma from Poland (his mother) who were both hands-on 'makers'. Me being an artist was a genetic gift from them of which I never take for granted.

Similar story here. Best lesson I ever got from my dad was that, with the right knowledge and tools, one can do anything. So I've never let the fact that I've never done something stop me before. I remember some guys in the Alfa Romeo Owners Club that were more than surprised that I managed to rebuild the engine from my '71 Spider and drive it to the convention, for instance. (I grew up genetically a Mopar guy, so Alfas were quite a change.) I think art was a genetic gift here as well, though I didn't discover it until later. I enjoyed Scientific Illustration in college, and several years after graduation went back to school and got associates degrees in Fine Arts and Commercial Arts. My primary medium (when I can get around to it) is sculpting marble and alabaster, though I dabble elsewhere as well. Then when I met my partner she convinced me that I could play jazz. It was something I'd never considered, and I'll never be a Paul Chambers or a Jaco, but I guess I do okay in our group. So much depends on a "can-do" mindset. Now if I could only get my son to embrace the concept.

 

[JIO]

Speaking of fab - weight reduction mission accomplished! (1lb lighter!) So the bass went from 9lbs/5oz to 8lbs 5oz (probably 6-8 oz once the bridge & strings are on) so that makes it a gig contender in my book. Main cavity routed 1.5" (body is 1-3/4") and all forstner & drill holes the same depth. Next step - some sanding. After studying pics of that all red whammy-bar '63 Vista Sonic, it is a trans-red. Will do more sanding on the neck to get below the dents so I can have it done like that. The body is in ok shape but the past DIY refinisher left some hack marks on the back. (why such is refered to as a "hack-job") so will be sanding all those off. Even the red w/black halo finish was a trans red, which is why the cavity looked like it did - more of a wash than a solid red. The red w/black halo is cool and all, but I've never really liked it. The Silvertone Hornet also commonly came in that colour scheme. After seeing the all red whammy-bar bass (it was a prototype - only that one exists) I think all (trans) Hot Rod Red is the way to go.

Got appropriate length brass bolts (slot head as well) and may file the top of the dome flat just because.

 

[JIO]

Sanding update... 'hacks' most likely from using a power sander. Lots of elbow-grease made it go away. (it's pretty hard wood)

More sanding on the neck & hs - will glue on the extension piece and cut the nut/string guide once it's back from being finished.

Neck pocket on the too-wide side...

Dove bar sticks to the rescue!

...leading to a nice snug fit!

And here is my solution for a better tr adjuster -

...which is to weld a 3/16" ratchet socket to the existing shaft - no way stripping can occure and a solid dynamic interface for adjusting. Will make a brass plug to fit the square socket-chuck and drill/file it to fit the shaft welded with a UV pen. Way better. (sorry Mr Burns...)

 

[JIO]

Sanded out the bridge ramp - (sorry, out of focus)

After fix -

Just needs a little filling at the curve.

 

[Fender_Bender]

I’m guessing this was a fairly expensive bass in the first place?. If nothing else, I would imagine 2” thick English sycamore planks would have been rather expensive back then. Also a bunch of proprietary hardware on the scene as well.

 

[farace]

Finally pulled my Ampeg/Burns out of the closet. Thought I'd take a few reference/comparison shots in case they're useful.

So I had forgotten, but yes, I have a roller bridge. Notice, though, the difference in routing. This bridge is fairly evenly spaced in there, and it's not ramped. This bass also has threaded metal inserts for the bridge cover.

Bridge cover, top and underside, with thumbscrews. Don't know if the fairly thick tape padding is original or not.

Back of heel, with neckplate. Thought you might find the shading of the neck interesting. (Excuse the box of leftover Mardi Gras items from an event my partner planned; it was something convenient to rest the bass upon.)

Let me know if there are any other details you might want shots of while I've got it out. (Thinking I might get around to getting those Roto tapewounds off there and replaced with something else, maybe D'Addario XLs.)

 

[farace]

Looking at my bridge photo, I'm wondering how on earth I intonated this bass, if I did. Those intonation screws are nigh inaccessible.

 

[JIO]

Looking at my bridge photo, I'm wondering how on earth I intonated this bass, if I did. Those intonation screws are nigh inaccessible.

Very interesting Bob (first off - thanks for the pics!) --- yes, a couple things are very different. What year is your Visa Sonic? The string mute bar base on yours is on the pg, where as mine (would be) on the body below the pg. The ramp on mine was probably done to allow access for fore-aft adjustment of the saddles as compared to the sunken rout on yours that would make that task difficult. (?) Funny thing, in the Burns book it shows a 1963 Vista Sonic (in red/black) that looks like yours (mute bar on pg) and on my post #88, the pic of a VS with the full string-mute bar is also like that, but the VS in the black & white ad is like mine! (mute-bar on body below pg) Flipping through the 2 Burns books I have shows both examples - so this is something for the Burn fb page members to chew on! (I suspect many are British) None of the pics are large/detailed enough to see the ramp and if both details (string-mute bar on body and ramp) were one way, and the bar on the pg/no ramp were another way. I love a good mystery!

And yes, I dig the strange spray-job on the neck - especially with the full-on red and black front & back haloed hs! Nothing basic about that! The bridge thumbscrews with inset mollies is also different than mine - which is two small screw holes. Also noted round-head bolts on the saddles where as mine are flat-heads. I was thinking of stringing it up with the black tape-wound Roto's - what's your opinion of them on that bass?

 

[JIO]

I’m guessing this was a fairly expensive bass in the first place?. If nothing else, I would imagine 2” thick English sycamore planks would have been rather expensive back then. Also a bunch of proprietary hardware on the scene as well.

Actually the Vista Sonic was "aimed at a lower market ... and quite a popular bass in its time." (94 BPS) As England was still getting on its feet after WWII, some parts were carryovers from the war effort. The electronic harness with its archaic components is an example of that.