What's On Your Workbench?

[TerribleTim68]

Katalox...

View attachment 3759767
View attachment 3759768
And LEDs.

I'm seriously in love with the LED action.

 

[Wes275]

I used three different pics, scaled them to size and made a sort of average of them. The pics matched within a few millimeter. That's close enough for me.

So to scale it to size did you just measure the bass outside dimensions and then scale the picture until it had those dimensions?

 

[Jon Clegg]

So to scale it to size did you just measure the bass outside dimensions and then scale the picture until it had those dimensions?

I usually scale to the scale length -- If I know it's a 34" scale I scale for the distance between the 12th fret and the bridge to be 17", I'll usually cross check with something else on the pic that I know the size of, like a pickup etc.

 

[MPU]

So to scale it to size did you just measure the bass outside dimensions and then scale the picture until it had those dimensions?

Some measure I know, for instance pickup width, string spread, scale length etc.

 

[Wes275]

I usually scale to the scale length -- If I know it's a 34" scale I scale for the distance between the 12th fret and the bridge to be 17", I'll usually cross check with something else on the pic that I know the size of, like a pickup etc.

Ahhh that would be easier. Ive tried to find dimensions of the body in the past and failed. Haha Next time i get the urge to start my first bass build I'll scale the... scale. Right now im putting together a fretwire build for my first go. Short Scale P.

 

[Axstar]

Another Fender Jag neck!

This is from a 2017 MIM Jaguar Bass with a Pau Ferro fretboard. It was barely used, so no nasty surprises this time!

The frets however were typical Mex Fender; flat topped and a bit unfinished.

I leveled them, although they were basically okay. I've sorted out the ends of the frets, crowned them and polished them.

The Pau Ferro itself was also a bit rough and dusty feeling. I scraped each fret area with a razor blade (Wilkinson Sword!) and then burnished with 0000 steel wool.

Finally I finished off with two coats of boiled linseed oil. The first was applied with the steel wool, and the second was wiped on. Each time I let it sit for ten minutes then wiped back off.

 

[ctmullins]

for Pau Ferro! Nice photography too.

 

[Axstar]

for Pau Ferro! Nice photography too.

I wish is was dark rosewood as much as the next person, but it does the job and it is very pretty! This is a lovely board and it came alive with a bit of oil.

 

[dwizum]

It looks nicely quartered. That's my favorite look for pau ferro, you get that little bit of shimmer going and it's really pretty.

 

[Axstar]

What's in my oven? This Dimarzio Area J pickup was badly microphonic out the box. This seems to happen a wee bit too often with Dimarzios in my experience.

I wax potted it today, but this softened the caulk holding it all together, and the coils set in a way that no longer matched the cover. Boo!

I cooked the pickup from cold up to 100 degrees C over ten minutes. At this point the pickup is nice and fudgy, such a gooey centre but nice snap on the outside... I then use the cover to reset the two coils back to their proper shape. Bon appétit!

I checked that the pickup still had a pulse, and the DC resistance gained a thousand ohms in the heat!

 

[dwizum]

At this point the pickup is nice and fudgy, such a gooey centre but nice snap on the outside...

Oh great, now I'm hungry.

 

[Fat Freddy]

At this point the pickup is nice and fudgy, such a gooey centre but nice snap on the outside...

Yeah....Like armadillo....

 

[JIO]

What's in my oven? This Dimarzio Area J pickup was badly microphonic out the box. This seems to happen a wee bit too often with Dimarzios in my experience.

I wax potted it today, but this softened the caulk holding it all together, and the coils set in a way that no longer matched the cover. Boo!

I cooked the pickup from cold up to 100 degrees C over ten minutes. At this point the pickup is nice and fudgy, such a gooey centre but nice snap on the outside... I then use the cover to reset the two coils back to their proper shape. Bon appétit!

I checked that the pickup still had a pulse, and the DC resistance gained a thousand ohms in the heat!


View attachment 3760670

That's one hot pu...

 

[Axstar]

That's one hot pu...

Amazingly it worked. Double amazingly it is no longer microphonic.

I figured that cooking the pickup had a 50% risk of killing the pickup. I measured the DC resistance before cooking it to make sure it was still alive.

For potting it I bought a cheap pillar candle from the local DIY shop and chopped it into cubes with a chisel. I then melted it down in a empty gluttony-sized Nutella jar I had kicking around. I dipped the pickup in for ten minutes or so and waited for the little rat-tail trail of bubbles to stop flowing from gaps in the pickup flatwork.

Dead simple!

 

[JIO]

Amazingly it worked. Double amazingly it is no longer microphonic.

I figured that cooking the pickup had a 50% risk of killing the pickup. I measured the DC resistance before cooking it to make sure it was still alive.

For potting it I bought a cheap pillar candle from the local DIY shop and chopped it into cubes with a chisel. I then melted it down in a empty gluttony-sized Nutella jar I had kicking around. I dipped the pickup in for ten minutes or so and waited for the little rat-tail trail of bubbles to stop flowing from gaps in the pickup flatwork.

Dead simple!

It always feels good to pull something off!

 

[Axstar]

It always feels good to pull something off!

It was better when I was a teenager, but the thrill is still there.

 

[Fat Freddy]

It was better when I was a teenager, but the thrill is still there.

 

[MPU]

Not exactly on the bench right now but earlier this morning it was. Custom Masterman body now with Corvette parts and MEC TJ pickup.
I'm curious why Warwick dropped this shape. It balances perfectly, whole bass positions nice, nut is closer than on Corvette or Infinity and the bass fits nicely to my belly.
Nearly 900g less weight than bubinga bodied Corvette is also nice and I can really feel the difference.

 

[dwizum]

Such a nice piece of wood. The figure is great but my favorite thing about it is the perfectly straight grain lines.

 

[tubedude]

All the most commonly griped Ric flaws are pretty easy to fix, the body contouring easiest of all. Though I’m a sucker for a bound body edge, you pay for it in forearm wear. I think the change to a single DA rod is a positive, and the new V2 bridge is a partial improvement over the original. Ric seems to have given up on the Chickenbackers, which is probably smart. Anybody who buys one isn’t in the market for a genuine Ric anyway, yeah, it’s IP theft at its most blatant, but virtually unstoppable when the resources of a global superpower are behind it. Ric has better ways to spend its resources than pointless lawsuits that accomplish nothing, took them a while to figure that out. You can get a lot of the Ric vibe and tone going without directly copying the protected bits, though it’s not necessary for one-off tribute builds (like mine).

I'm determined to have a forearm contour and binding. I can't seean easy way to do it however. The router obviously will no longer cut a perpendicular channel following the contour. So the channel would have to be cut before contouring. But there's the depth issue. And how to change the router depth while running the router so as to plunge at the correct depth and moving at the correct rate. Is there a trick to make this happen, or am I reduced to working with my chisels and razor knife? BTW Nice work Gilmourisgod!