Vox Hollow Body

shadowcastaz · April 24, 2008, 08:31:20 AM

I got covers,does this mean I dont have to wait for melody maker pups to roll back my sb400? I take it the 6 poles have little affect on 4 strings of a bass?

drbassman · April 24, 2008, 09:16:02 AM

Quote from: shadowcastaz on April 24, 2008, 08:31:20 AM
I got covers,does this mean I dont have to wait for melody maker pups to roll back my sb400? I take it the 6 poles have little affect on 4 strings of a bass?

Well, Fender used 6-pole Stratocaster pups in all of their Music Master basses, they never used a bass pup in them. They sounded pretty good for what they were! I would say you don't have to wait for Melody Maker pups if you want ti try the SD Jags. String spacing shouldn't be a problem with these huge magnets SD uses in the model I bought. It never seemed to hurt the Music Masters I've had in the past!

Dave W · April 24, 2008, 09:44:52 AM

Also, the Rickenbacker toaster has six alnico poles and works fine on bass.

Pickups where the polepieces are the magnets seem to work despite the misalignment. You might have a problem if you used Gibson PAF style construction, with small diameter plain steel polepieces and the magnets underneath the bobbin.

drbassman · April 24, 2008, 10:26:31 AM

Quote from: Dave W on April 24, 2008, 09:44:52 AM
Also, the Rickenbacker toaster has six alnico poles and works fine on bass.

Pickups where the polepieces are the magnets seem to work despite the misalignment. You might have a problem if you used Gibson PAF style construction, with small diameter plain steel polepieces and the magnets underneath the bobbin.

Good points Dave. I think this will work out fine.

drbassman · April 25, 2008, 03:41:43 PM

Got the Vox body finally. It's just as it was pictured. Abused but not broken. I'm filling the scratches in the poly with super glue, should work just fine. I'm trying to save its vintage appearance. Stripping poly is the worst!

I got the pup all done and fitted into the cover. Just had to file the top cover about 2mm or so and it slides right in now....

Dave W · April 25, 2008, 06:02:02 PM

Ooh. I hope it sounds as good as it looks in that cover and ring combo.

I'm not sure what kind of finish Vox used, but I do remember it was glopped on extra thick, at least on the Italian ones made by Pigini (EKO) . So thick that finish cracks were common.

drbassman · April 25, 2008, 08:51:24 PM

You are correct. This one is thick poly, just like a Fender! A few cracks here and there, but CA will take care of them.

I think (hope) the pup sounds good. It should, after all, it's a beefy SD!

drbassman · April 28, 2008, 05:31:06 PM

I'm loving this old Vox. It's a true HB, no sound block up the middle, just braces. Light as a feather! I'm using CA glue to fill in the scratches and nicks and it's working well. The dufus who had it before scratched the name "Burning Flame" on it in 3 places. What a rocket scientist he must have been! Very creative too. Show me a flame that doesn't burn!

Anyway, here's the scratches filled with CA...

And here it is sanded flat. You can also use a razorblade scraper to take it down before sanding....

Barklessdog · April 28, 2008, 05:49:48 PM

looking nice. We all learned a new trick.

shadowcastaz · April 28, 2008, 07:00:46 PM

uuuuuuuuuuuuuuh,CA ,crazy glue?

drbassman · April 28, 2008, 07:19:55 PM

Super glue, crazy glue, whatever you like to call it!

chromium · April 28, 2008, 08:48:52 PM

Talk about puttin' out a fire! That came out really good. I've used clear lacquer (Deft, etc..) to touch up, cut, and buff chips and scratches on basses w/ lacquer finish. Can you use CA on those too? or is this just a trick reserved for poly?

drbassman · April 29, 2008, 05:33:03 AM

Quote from: chromium on April 28, 2008, 08:48:52 PM
Talk about puttin' out a fire! That came out really good. I've used clear lacquer (Deft, etc..) to touch up, cut, and buff chips and scratches on basses w/ lacquer finish. Can you use CA on those too? or is this just a trick reserved for poly?

You can use CA for very small nicks on nitro and other lacquers, but you have to be careful, it really melts it and can get into the color below and mess it up. I pretty much reserve the CA for poly finishes which it's really compatible with. It just melts right into poly and any nick or scratch is filled with no visible lines after sanding. Really works great!

drbassman · May 22, 2008, 11:44:26 AM

Well, I wet sanded until my elbow ached, threw some polish on the body and rats........still some deeper scratches visible from sanding, not form the original abuse. Man I hate wet sanding! Back to the sanding routine tonight!

drbassman · May 24, 2008, 09:23:05 PM

Wet sanding is finished. All of the deep ugly scratches are gone. there are some vintage nicks and flaws, but I want this bass to look its age when finished. Next, fitting and finishing the mahogany
neck.