Unwanted custom bass for me. MMB-5

[ozzbike]

A few issues popped up in my life that prevented the HBB 5 kit from finding a home....but this little number has been swooped upon and is coming to me......nice.

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...wanted-custom/

I think I shall get some mahogany timbermate...do both the maple neck and the mahogany body with it...but I think the headstock will stay natural....and then finish it......hmmmmm....buffing oil and wax.......tru-oil......or satin finish wipe on polyurethane?????

The single photo does not show if it has a side entry jack socket hole. The top has four holes bored for obviously 2 x vol and 2 x tone. I shall wait until it arrives....but I am thinking about seeing if a Bass preamp could be fitted.....four pots and a battery....maybe no coil splitting then.

Humbucker in the bridge......maybe I should split this one with a push pull pot. Jazz Bass in the neck......just normal I think.

My first five string.....keen.

[Andyxlh]

Wow that looks very nice! I have a stingray, and I can see how it would be improved with another pickup further forward.

[Simon Barden]

You could always fit a mini-toggle switch to split the MM coils if you wanted a bit more variation in the sound. Though I think the volume pot on the Belcat preamp is a 500k log one, so you could easily replace that with a push/pull or push/push pot.

[Andyxlh]

You could always fit a mini-toggle switch to split the MM coils if you wanted a bit more variation in the sound. Though I think the volume pot on the Belcat preamp is a 500k log one, so you could easily replace that with a push/pull or push/push pot.

Yes, (assuming you are talking about the stingray), I could actually add the middle preamp boost which my stingray doesn't have. Mine only has the top and bass boost and the plug goes into the end of the control plate. Not sure if they still make them that way or not. I know this is a mod that's available, but I just reach for the imprecision bass or my RC4A bass when I feel that way inclined......

[ozzbike]

I prowled the green shed and got myself some things.....wow mahogany timbermate is very pink....mmmmm. (Got some anyway.)

I dug in my box of tricks and found both gloss and satin water based minwax wipe on poly....never been used.

Just wondering how either would go on over timbermate? No stain....just sand to about 180....2 or 3 coats of the timbermate with a sand to say 240 in between. Was then thinking of raising nap of the wood three times at 320 grit....then wipe on the poly with say a 400 grit light sand in between. I think four coats should give a nice surface....then light wet and dry....and some auto finish products.

End result....timbermate in the grain....natural colours....no colour from the clear finish.....maybe try satin this time....mostly done gloss in the past. I got an Aldi air compressor cheap on clearance a little while ago.....with air lines and a large and small spray gun...maybe that is an option for the finish.....just need an inline filter.

Was going to either fill the headstock face with Baltic timbermate....or nothing and just finish with clear...over some decals.

I have no experience with a five string.....so not playing with the electronics at all....yet.....😎. I will see what the kit comes as.

It appears to have four holes on the top.....no photo of the side....so hard to see where the jack socket goes....maybe only upgraded...recessed TELE style socket and switch craft jack.

[wazkelly]

Hi Ozzie, good score and sure you will have a ton of fun putting it all together.

The 4 holes in the MMB boomerang shaped control plate are probably 2 x vol, 1 x tone and one for jack socket as that is how mine turned up.

I bought one of the 'Belcat' pre-amps on eBay and having a bit of fun trying to figure out how to wire it up properly as it comes with Treble boost, Bass boost, Blend and master volume. The stock MMB pickup is 4 wire and therefore splittable via the stacked blend pot. As all 4 holes were required I had to fit a recessed cup jack socket on the side. Sometime this week I will have another crack at the blend pot wiring as there are 3 lugs on the top and three on the bottom of the pot stack plus 4 wires and an earth coming from the PUP. I know which wires are paired to which coil but when doing the tap test sometimes the front coil was louder then when wires were placed in a different order the back coil was louder??? Will need a clear head and plenty of note paper to write down results of each combination otherwise I may end up just pairing off the red & white, wire it up as a '2 wire' and ignore the blend pot altogether.

[RalphH]

A few issues popped up in my life that prevented the HBB 5 kit from finding a home....but this little number has been swooped upon and is coming to me......nice.

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...wanted-custom/

I think I shall get some mahogany timbermate...do both the maple neck and the mahogany body with it...but I think the headstock will stay natural....and then finish it......hmmmmm....buffing oil and wax.......tru-oil......or satin finish wipe on polyurethane?????

The single photo does not show if it has a side entry jack socket hole. The top has four holes bored for obviously 2 x vol and 2 x tone. I shall wait until it arrives....but I am thinking about seeing if a Bass preamp could be fitted.....four pots and a battery....maybe no coil splitting then.

Humbucker in the bridge......maybe I should split this one with a push pull pot. Jazz Bass in the neck......just normal I think.

My first five string.....keen.

Hi ozzbike
I built a MMB-5 last year and configured it to be able to try all the different configurations of wiring, (stock control plate, 2-band active eq, 3 band active eq, switched coils etc,) locating the jack socket on side of the body and used plug-in connectors to make control experiments easier. The stock PUP is still in use and tone can be shaped easily on and off board. The experiments were well worth while, and I settled on a combo for my sound to help compensate for the tone of the body timber; something you may also have to contend with.
Most MM Stingray 5's are Ash or Alder which makes the signature sound quite punchy in the mids. The body on my MMB-5 is Tilia, (Basswood) and the difference between the Tilia and Ash tone- wise is distinct; not quite so clear in the mids. As mahogany is warmer than Tilia, your mahogany body is likely to make the bass quite low-mid rich. With this in mind, the standard passive eq with the kit is probably going to sound muddier than mine did. Another tone issue is that my kit (and probably yours) had the PUP located 22mm closer to the neck than on a MM version. I moved mine back to the correct distance from the bridge to that "sweet spot" of tone used by MM and G&L.

All the best with your build. I really enjoyed mine.

[ozzbike]

Hi Ozzie, good score and sure you will have a ton of fun putting it all together.

The 4 holes in the MMB boomerang shaped control plate are probably 2 x vol, 1 x tone and one for jack socket as that is how mine turned up.

I bought one of the 'Belcat' pre-amps on eBay and having a bit of fun trying to figure out how to wire it up properly as it comes with Treble boost, Bass boost, Blend and master volume. The stock MMB pickup is 4 wire and therefore splittable via the stacked blend pot. As all 4 holes were required I had to fit a recessed cup jack socket on the side. Sometime this week I will have another crack at the blend pot wiring as there are 3 lugs on the top and three on the bottom of the pot stack plus 4 wires and an earth coming from the PUP. I know which wires are paired to which coil but when doing the tap test sometimes the front coil was louder then when wires were placed in a different order the back coil was louder??? Will need a clear head and plenty of note paper to write down results of each combination otherwise I may end up just pairing off the red & white, wire it up as a '2 wire' and ignore the blend pot altogether.

Waz...the one and only kit photo has gone......but I have it here.

The four holes are not in the normal MMB style.......I will be interested what options it gives me...Aus post says it should be here Friday 06 July.

[wazkelly]

Hi Ozzie, that looks similar to IB-5 setup which is 2 x vol & 2 x tone and probably has jack socket hole on the side.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[ozzbike]

Hi ozzbike
I built a MMB-5 last year and configured it to be able to try all the different configurations of wiring, (stock control plate, 2-band active eq, 3 band active eq, switched coils etc,) locating the jack socket on side of the body and used plug-in connectors to make control experiments easier. The stock PUP is still in use and tone can be shaped easily on and off board. The experiments were well worth while, and I settled on a combo for my sound to help compensate for the tone of the body timber; something you may also have to contend with.
Most MM Stingray 5's are Ash or Alder which makes the signature sound quite punchy in the mids. The body on my MMB-5 is Tilia, (Basswood) and the difference between the Tilia and Ash tone- wise is distinct; not quite so clear in the mids. As mahogany is warmer than Tilia, your mahogany body is likely to make the bass quite low-mid rich. With this in mind, the standard passive eq with the kit is probably going to sound muddier than mine did. Another tone issue is that my kit (and probably yours) had the PUP located 22mm closer to the neck than on a MM version. I moved mine back to the correct distance from the bridge to that "sweet spot" of tone used by MM and G&L.

All the best with your build. I really enjoyed mine.

Oh wow.....love the finish on that five string. Really nice job Ralph....amazing.

This one has two pickups on it....as per the photo....hmmm.....moving the big one may not be an option....see how she looks.