Let's see your guitar and bass gear!

GAS is real...

My name is Ian and it's been 67 days since I last bought a guitar. 

Ready to solder:

I'm liking the look. Pickups are humbucker sized P90s from GFS

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

Ready to solder:

 

I'm liking the look. Pickups are humbucker sized P90s from GFS

I'm a fan of prettyuch all p90s and the Mean p90 from GFS is awesome 

More details on that Martin Stinger bass project:

I grabbed it from storage to see what the current neck specs are. Mainly looking for heel depth and width. 



63MM width



We'll call that 26MM thickness. 



And here's the pocket. I forgot this thing is made of plywood. Other than that, a typical P-Bass neck should fit. 

And speaking of necks, I searched around a bit and found a potential supplier for something cheap that will do the trick:

https://twtguitar.com/products/4-strings-precision-bass-guitar-neck-roasted-maple-neck-12-radius-18-mm-holes-21-frets-satin-finish?VariantsId=10013


They have this "roasted maple" neck and a rosewood fingerboard neck. The thing came with a maple board, so I'm inclined to go that way again. I also forgot I swapped on Fender-style saddles on the bridge that came with it. It has a nonstandard bolt pattern, so swapping bridges may take some doing. I also have some Fender-style tuners that should work as well. 

I want a pistachio wood fretboard now because I looked at USACG site.

Apparently they aren't in business anymore.

So I can't have a pistachio fretboard custom strat neck.

I is sad

I bet you guys haven't ever seen one of these, and FedEx finally delivered it!

In reply to Antihero :

Nice! 
 

This may be the first actual documentation of FedEx successfully pulling a package back out of the æther. I'm impressed. 

barefootcyborg5000 said:

In reply to Antihero :

Nice! 
 

This may be the first actual documentation of FedEx successfully pulling a package back out of the æther. I'm impressed. 

Literally, I'm stunned!

barefootcyborg5000 said:

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

That Ibanez looks like a nice piece. 
 

This tele isn't a scratch build. Stewmac kit. Specifically the $179 t-style kit. Was on sale around Black Friday for $149. With upgrades I'm in it $250, which isn't bad for the experience/fun and it plays and sounds as good or better than anything else at the price. The neck could be shimmed a little, raise the bridge... fine tune a bit. But I'm satisfied as is. 
 

Perfectly suitable couch guitar. 

These pickups are Fender take-offs, a mismatched set. The bridge pup needed repair, i knew that going in. The hot lead had broken, so i pulled one winding and reflowed the joint with freshly cleaned wires. Soldered it up and plugged it in. Nothing. But the neck pickup is good and this is a couch guitar so i left it alone for a week. Last night i thought maybe i had a dirty joint and it was worth another set of strings to try and fix. Same process but with a little more care and attention. I apparently left my multimeter on after last use and it takes odd batteries so I couldn't test it at home. Bring it in to work and borrow a Fluke. 1.21m ohms. 
We have a bad winding, over. 
 

Maybe the guy i bought it from will trade me out. 

Antihero said:

BlueInGreen - Jon said:

Ready to solder:

 

I'm liking the look. Pickups are humbucker sized P90s from GFS

I'm a fan of prettyuch all p90s and the Mean p90 from GFS is awesome 

Yeah, it rocks :D A Mustang should have some high end bite and the Mean 90s deliver

Got the old MIJ copybass out of the closet yesterday and remembered why I hadn't played it in a while. The frets were terrible. Getting it even close to playable had resulted in the action being higher than Snoop. It's just not my bag. 
 

Fully unacceptable, all the way up. Well, got the kids in bed and decided to do something about it. 
 

actually took two passes. The first leveling pass was with a block and paper, but after I'd shaped them and started to fine sand, I realized I still had a few low spots. I should know better. Every time I try to follow the accepted steps something goes dumb. So back to my trusty flat file and a light touch. Some folks don't like files for this job but it works for me. Then I reshaped all the frets again and got up to 2000 wet and called it good since I apparently don't have any polishing compound. 
 

I could go for more shine, but it'll have to wait. Still, I like the work/process. Takes a 40+ years old instrument and really puts some new life in it. These old frets may have another dressing in them, but not more than one. Hoping they last a while longer. 
 

Wish I could find more info on this bass. Japan made J copy. Unknown electronics. Branded as a Gilbert "bassline" and by my eye is a lawsuit era copy. I've found exactly one image online of a match, but there was no info attached. There is no serial number. It's a quality piece though. Very nice neck, good tuners, and sounds and feels good. It's a lifer for sure. 

Please stop making me want a couch tele

In reply to Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) :

No

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

Please stop making me want a couch tele

You DONT have a couch Tele?!?!?

Does that mean you also don't have a Dining Room Les Paul Or an Entry Room Acoustic? Or a bedroom Sunn Half Stack? Or a About 1/3rd Of The Way Into The Living Room Strat?!?!?

I assumed this is how everyone lived......

Hopefully the end of my pickup saga. Ordered a new Fender "vintage 52" unit. 

Antihero said:

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

Please stop making me want a couch tele

You DONT have a couch Tele?!?!?

 

Does that mean you also don't have a Dining Room Les Paul Or an Entry Room Acoustic? Or a bedroom Sunn Half Stack? Or a About 1/3rd Of The Way Into The Living Room Strat?!?!?

 

I assumed this is how everyone lived......

At one point, pretty much.. acoustic in the common room, LP and mesa half stack in my room but that was 25 years ago  now I just have closet instruments!

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

Antihero said:

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

Please stop making me want a couch tele

You DONT have a couch Tele?!?!?

 

Does that mean you also don't have a Dining Room Les Paul Or an Entry Room Acoustic? Or a bedroom Sunn Half Stack? Or a About 1/3rd Of The Way Into The Living Room Strat?!?!?

 

I assumed this is how everyone lived......

At one point, pretty much.. acoustic in the common room, LP and mesa half stack in my room but that was 25 years ago  now I just have closet instruments!

It was bad when I was rooming with a couple guys in my band at the time. Several couch guitars, pick your flavor, bedroom guitars, basement guitars, usually a kitchen acoustic, and enough parts laying around to build a couple functional spares just in case. One time I counted 43 stringed instruments in the house. I'm not sure if I miss being single...

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

Antihero said:

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

Please stop making me want a couch tele

You DONT have a couch Tele?!?!?

 

Does that mean you also don't have a Dining Room Les Paul Or an Entry Room Acoustic? Or a bedroom Sunn Half Stack? Or a About 1/3rd Of The Way Into The Living Room Strat?!?!?

 

I assumed this is how everyone lived......

At one point, pretty much.. acoustic in the common room, LP and mesa half stack in my room but that was 25 years ago  now I just have closet instruments!

Does a 20x32 band room filled to the gills count as a "closet"?

If so, yes I have those too lol

barefootcyborg5000 said:

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

Antihero said:

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

Please stop making me want a couch tele

You DONT have a couch Tele?!?!?

 

Does that mean you also don't have a Dining Room Les Paul Or an Entry Room Acoustic? Or a bedroom Sunn Half Stack? Or a About 1/3rd Of The Way Into The Living Room Strat?!?!?

 

I assumed this is how everyone lived......

At one point, pretty much.. acoustic in the common room, LP and mesa half stack in my room but that was 25 years ago  now I just have closet instruments!

It was bad when I was rooming with a couple guys in my band at the time. Several couch guitars, pick your flavor, bedroom guitars, basement guitars, usually a kitchen acoustic, and enough parts laying around to build a couple functional spares just in case. One time I counted 43 stringed instruments in the house. I'm not sure if I miss being single...

43 is a good start!

Once I get back into my house, I am going to have an attic "music loft" area, and that's going to be where all the drums, guitars, and big amps live. I hope to sprinkle a few guitars and basses around in other areas of the house, well, at least until I get yelled at. 

For those looking to stock up: The Orlando guitar show takes place this weekend. 

Starting to accumulate parts for something I've wanted to do for a long time:

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

HH tele! Woot!

barefootcyborg5000 said:

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

HH tele! Woot!

The best kind of Tele IMO

This project is either very close to finished, or will never finish. 
 

New pickup arrived today, and I've been debating what to do about the neck angle. It's ok, just, but the saddles are too low and the saddle screws are way too proud. It's a nice cheese grater. So I ordered some angled shims from ol' Jeff, but they were wrong. No angle at all. So I decided to build my own micro-angle adjuster as seen on some fender and peavey stuff. Pretty simple, very cheap. 
 

It's a washer, a t-nut, and a set screw. Like $1.97 at ace. Drill a hole:

counter-drill and sink the t-nut:

and flush cut and glue in a disk or washer for the bearing load:

Now I can put the saddles where I want them and adjust the string action with the Allen screw in the neck pocket.