A Dark Day in Vegas

[jwr2]

So this bass will become a 5 string bass?

Your kid looks like a twin of one of my nieces ... my niece looked like that about 15 years ago ...

Do you need pole pieces for the pickups? Do you need help converting anything?

[qwezirider]

Your daughter has that "daddy, is this gonna be mine?" look in her expression!

Shoot, she already knows in her heart that it is. Who am I kidding? It's just a matter of when am I not looking or when dad kicks the bucket.

[qwezirider]

..... she looks so much like my little blondie when she was a tacker - some 24 years ago now!

Damn...so they have to grow up, eh?

[qwezirider]

... and in a few years I think you may see a case of 'the hunter becoming the hunted....' "daddy, I want you to meet this boy...." YEECH!

Which is a polite way of saying I'm so screwed down the road. Working on all my "psycho dad of the girlfriend" looks and phrases now.

[qwezirider]

So this bass will become a 5 string bass?

Do you need pole pieces for the pickups? Do you need help converting anything?

It's leaning toward growing a string. I think I've kept good track of what your steps looked like on Charly's FG. The biggest unknown I have at this point is the innards of the pickups. I'm not familiar with them. Are they hollow inside and the extra holes are just being drilled through plastic, or is there something in there to be watchful of?

I absolutely love the finish on this bass. I got a new JG back in 2005 and this is greatly improved from then. On that one, I could still see very faint joints in the finish where body and headstock wings met the neck. It couldn't be felt, only faintly seen in the right light. Not on this one. It's smooth a glass everywhere and not a single joint visible anywhere. Whoever is painting and finishing these really has a terrific handle on a smooth finish. Very beautiful work.

[jwr2]

It is a little tricky converting a 4 pole pickup into a 5 pole pickup ... there are wires that can get damaged

[ram]

Which is a polite way of saying I'm so screwed down the road. Working on all my "psycho dad of the girlfriend" looks and phrases now.

Just looking him in the eye as you are polishing your bass and say - "she's the apple of my eye and you know I really wouldn't mind going back to prison..." works every time!

She a cutie.... enjoy her while she's young - they grow up waaaay too fast! And enjoy the bass - It looks great!

[johnallg]

Bruce, as to drilling the coil forms, inside the outer two is okay as long as you stay at or below 1/4" and don't drill outside the outer two holes. You HAVE to stay on the center line of all existing holes also.

If you look, one end one is closer to the end than the other on the bridge pup, and if you try to move that hole over any you WILL hit copper. The other hole can be opened to 5/16" without hitting copper, so it could technically could be mover over 1/16" but at your own risk.

[qwezirider]

I don't recall Jeff moving the two outer holes, just adding three - one in the middle and one each between the existing 1/2 holes and the 3/4 holes. Does that sound right, Jeff? And you're saying go no deeper than 1/4 inch as well.

[johnallg]

Bruce, I'm saying go no larger then 1/4" in diameter of the hole you drill. And be accurately on line with the center of the pickup along the long axis. Actually, for the button nails or the screw in bolts RIC uses now, you want the hole a little smaller than 1/4" to hold the threads of the bolts. You need to drill the hole all the way through the coil from top to bottom. Just go slow and be accurate.

[qwezirider]

See why I ask these things 14 times???? Measure 14 times and still give up for the evening and have a tequila. Or just find a couple guitar single coils and epoxy one into the bridge position. Perhaps I should just stick with the easy part for now...drilling a hole in the headstock.

[jwr2]

I don't recall Jeff moving the two outer holes, just adding three - one in the middle and one each between the existing 1/2 holes and the 3/4 holes. Does that sound right, Jeff? And you're saying go no deeper than 1/4 inch as well.

I don't keep all of the numbers in my head ... but I leave the 2 outer pole pieces intact, and then I remove the A and D pole pieces and I add 3 in the center. If you drill too deep you drill into the magnet. You can remove the magnet before drilling. The tricky part is the center hole. Sometimes drilling a center hole will disconnect a wire. Several times I have had to resolder that connection.

You can cover 5 string with 4 pole pieces. But the middle strings sound weird. You can cover 4 or 5 or 8 strings with a 6 pole Ric pickup and there is no problem on any of the strings. I have dropped a 6 pole piece Ric pickup into a 5 string bass and it works just fine. The toaster and the high gain both work.

Also the hb1 covers 4,5,6, or 8 strings quite nicely because it has rails. The only problem with any of the Ric pickups is they go to about 2 1/4". If you want a bass with 2 3/4" spacing then there is no Ric pickup solution for your bass.

[atomic_punk]

Maybe that is why the 4003s5 comes with a toaster in the neck position?

[scotty]

congrats Bruce FWI MMMMMnnnnnn

[jwr2]

Maybe that is why the 4003s5 comes with a toaster in the neck position?

yep