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Topics - PeterB

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Rickenbacker Basses / "New" '75 Ric 4001 - what color?
« on: June 15, 2010, 11:25:23 PM »
Last sunday I traded my trusty Darkstar-Precision for my first ever Rickenbacker. A '75 Ric 4001 in what I thought was Burgundy. But at home I began to doubt, because it's rather more redish than I expected. I like the color very much though! It has some serious wear-and-tear, but it sounds fantastic  8)











I dated the Ric back to January 1975 and according the available colors around that time it could only be Burgundy. Yesterday I had a short meeting with a fellow bassplayer, and he brought his '73 Ric in Burgundy. Look how different the colors are, although both to be Burgundy:




Strange....... ???

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Bill's Shop: Projects, Mods & Repairs / The rest of the projects.....: 8-string Precision and ChiSonic FenderBird
« on: May 12, 2010, 12:56:47 AM »
Because there's no such thing as "too much projects", I thought you might be interested in the rest of the bass-projects currently under the radar....

A 8-string Precision with 2 P-pups...

I've always had some plans for an 8-string bass, but couldn't really think of what I wanted exactly. A year ago I already bought a Schaller 8-string bridge, and a month or 2 ago I saw this body on TB in the Classified-section. Nice color and 2 Precisions pickups seems to be a nice combination.....and a good start for an 8 string.  8)





Now I'm considering how I could work out the neck. Maybe a conversion of a P bass neck, but a start with a paddle head neck will be the best option, or even maybe use a 5-string neck. Will be continued.....


ChiSonic FenderBird

I bougth an Epi T-bird body for almost a give-away price, and with the parts I already have lying around, this would be a cool idea.




I also have an Epi T-bird neck, so that maybe also a nice choice. I don't like the black finish, so I'm think about some nice options for that.


It's always nice to have some long-term projects lying around, in case I'm getting bored... :mrgreen:

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Bill's Shop: Projects, Mods & Repairs / A new hybrid: the JagBird
« on: May 09, 2010, 03:30:03 AM »
After the Lotto and the ChiSonic-Jazz, it's time for a new project: the JagBird.

For a long time I've wanted a bass with the playability of a Fender with a firm Gibson-vibe. I finally decided to create a JagBird. It will get the following specs:
* mahogany body in JaguarBass shape, with raised midsection like a T-bird;
* Allparts Jazz neck with rosewood fingerboard and pearl blocks and binding (my favorite neck);
* Lindy Fralin BassBuckers on the T-bird sweetspots
* Hipshot A style bridge, to achieve a smaller string-spacing.
* String-through
* Hipshot Reverse tuners

This should be the result:


Some ideas for the finish:



The body in progress:


The BassBuckers:



This should be a nice addition to my Tractor, Darkstar-P, Lotto and ChiSonic-Jazz!!  8) 8)

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Bill's Shop: Projects, Mods & Repairs / Another hybrid: the JazzBird
« on: November 15, 2009, 03:11:03 PM »
During the past months I've collected some parts to create a new monster, I wanted something unusual, with low costs and with a fat sound.

Please, meet my "JazzBird", I thought it might be fun to share this with you  ;D



I always liked the idea of the Mel Schacher mod, but never had a bass to fit it in, because I also thought it should be in a Jazzbass, like the original. But when I stumbled across a Epi Thunderbird neck, I took up this plan of a JazzBird to fit this mod in.

Found an old reliced Jazzbody with a very tight neckpocket and an Epi humbucker from a EB-3. Perfect!

When assembling the bass, the first problem was that the neck didn't fit in the body, the Epi neck is much smaller than a regular Fender/Allparts neck. I've thought about different solutions, but in the end I just decided to not try to fix it, but just bolt it on and see what happens. Only the bottom of the neck connects to the body, on the sides is a free space of appr. 1-2 mm's.

After completing the bass, I came across the next issue: the output of the E and G strings was very low. Experimented a lot with pickup-height, connection of the neck, the wiring. The spacing of the pickup was just right under the strings, but very tight. Tried everything and than I got some help from some members on the Dutch bassforum, which inspired me to the following "genius" solution: I used some "tools" to extend the spacing of the magnets and it worked...such a simple solution, I just can't believe it was just thé perfect solution  :o

In this picture, it looks like the strings don't match the poles of the pup right, but they do  ;)


Now I have an even output on all the strings, it sounds like a monster  8) The jazzpup on the bridge is a no-name, and very weak, so I have to replace that with a hot sounding pup soon. I also want to order an Artec Mudbucker to compare with this Epi humbucker, I suppose that Artec might sound even better.  8)

 




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Bill's Shop: Projects, Mods & Repairs / Fender Lotto project
« on: November 06, 2009, 05:43:53 PM »
Although I'm the newest member in the house at the moment, I thought it might be interesting to kick off a project topic myself. I did some before of which these two are the most interesting, a Tractor and a Darkstar-P:



Currently I'm working on creating a Fender Lotto, but in a different color. This should be the result at the end:


I heard a Squier TB with an extra humbucker of a Dutch bassist and was blown away by the power and the big bottom of it. After that, it didn't take long to decide to create a copy of the Lotto. I've considered many colors including Orange, CAR, black, and some more, but I wanted something "classy", but not the usual black. After seeing a Charcoal Frost P body on Warmoths site it was clear, Charcoal Frost it should be. The body is on it's way, but is lying in Dutch customs right now.



I have already gathered all the parts, including the big buckers:





A few things won't be like the original:
* I will also add a parallel/series switch for both pickups;
* I'm doubting about the bridge. I'm not a big fan of the BadAss bridge, so maybe I'll just choose a Gotoh 201;
* I have a Allparts Jazzneck with black blocks and binding for the Lotto, but still have to do some experiments to see if I can transform the usual Fender headstock into a Tele headstock.

I'm glad I will get some good help of a fellow bassist for the electronics, because that's just one step to far for me.

Besides the Lotto, I have some other projects on the shelf:
* a low-cost FenderBird (with Jazzbody, Epi T-bird neck and a Mel Schacher mod)
* a NR FenderBird (with Lindy Fralins Bassbuckers and Allparts blocked Jazzneck)
* an 8-string (with a Darkstar and a ??)
* a Telecaster guitar project

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