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STRINGS ARRIVED AND THEY FIT!! And I have just realised that the July Guitar of the month goes by Perth time, so I gained an extra 2 hours to get it finished, final polished, pictures taken, and uploaded. That gives me 5 hours so I will be fine. I might focus on that and then come back here and finish the documentation process (for next time!).
Have you seen the July entries? The other builds are amazing and the competition is going to be fierce. I have had fun and I will also have my very own custom bass - that's the most important thing. Winning that will be an extra pat on the back for all entries, but saying that, I will give it my best shot! Best be off. I gut me a bass to finish!!!!
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@Simon Barden Thanks mate. You have been so helpful in this whole process!
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Hoorah, it is finished and the strings fit!!! Just uploaded into GOTM and will update this build page tomorrow ... must sleep ...
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So after much stress and mucking about, these arrived! DR NGB5-45. For those in the same situation as I was in, these were the longest 5 string bass guitar strings I could find ... and they glow under black lights ... yet to test them out!
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And, although it is a tight squeeze, they fit by the skin-o-their-teeth. It looks strange in the picture, but it does work trust me!
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I did a mock run, after measuring the distance from the 12th fret to the bridge (17") and smiled once they all were on!
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Did some minor adjusting to the truss rod and bridge height and fine-tuned the action. Next step Intonation ...
This proved more tricky than I had hoped.
First attempt, the open G versus 12th fret ... was a little sharp
Open G
Attachment 36300
12th Fret G
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You're going to need the bridge set fairly flat I'd imagine. The saddle already has an angle on it so it shouldn't be too far off. 0.045" string saddle position nearest the neck and the 0.125" string furthest away.
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After adjusting the bridge it is looking better ...
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Open G
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12th Fret G
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Once the G was sorted, I placed tape so that I could remember where it was before adjusting for the E. I only had a 4 string tuner on my phone so focused on this string rather than the low B.
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This was tricky and after 3-4 hours it finally worked!! That floating bridge is a tricky sucker. I think I might pin it so that it doesn't move.
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The pressure from the strings had made slight depression in the timber bridge, but not enough for my liking. I used a blade to mark these lines ...
Attachment 36306
Then used a file to create slight divots in the bridge to hold the strings in place.
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After it was all tuned, it was time to pat myself on the back and give it a good polish.
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Thanks for coming along for the journey, it has been so nice. Thank you to everyone who has offered support, without your help it would have been much more difficult. Such a wealth of knowledge out there with so many generous humans!!
Here is the finished piece ...
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One more for luck :)
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Very nice. It's amazing what a difference the extra length of the string-though fitting makes. Not important on guitar strings where the same diameter is used throughout, but on bass strings, where the lower strings change diameter so that you don't have to wrap the thick part of the string around the tuner, it's a a lot trickier. And the full-sized string length varies from string to string and pack to pack. It would be nice if the makers were more consistent and also a bit more accurate as to the length of the full-sized section. I've bought some where this was a good 25mm/1" shorter than stated.
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Thank you kind sir. I completely agree with the string talk. I was amazed at how difficult it was to get the information on the string length. Some of the bigger companies didn't even have that info on their websites so I had to call. And why do they not make bass strings without the taper I wonder? Longer ones haha!
The string-through design made it a little more tricky. I did consider (at one point) of drilling holes closer to the fretboard, but am glad I didn't resort to that one. Was not sure whether it would have effected the intonation? Did not want to risk it. What are your thoughts on that one?
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It won't affect the intonation, but you can get too great a break angle on the strings. Especially with a floating bridge, that could make it very unstable. A floating bridge is designed to be mainly pressed down under string pressure. Put too much sideways force on it and its not working how it is designed to work. The kit would be better off with a trapeze tailpiece, but 5-string bass trapeze tailpieces aren't common at all, and certainly there were no cheap Chinese made ones that I could find.
It would be a good candidate for a one-piece bridge/tailpiece. It might mean a small re-jig of the neck angle to get the string height over the body down, and a flattening of the arch top where the bridge would sit, but I'm sure it could be done.
You don't want the thick part of the heavier bass strings going round the tuners, especially the ones with smaller post diameters. They are too thick to bend properly and you are likely to get the windings snapping or cracking, with the string failing as a result. The string also won't sit (at least initially) properly against the post, so tuning will be lost as the string slowly pulls itself towards the post.
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Yes, my friend who owns a music shop down the road suggested I upgrade to a fixed bridge when I showed it to him. He is confident it can be done. I have told him I will try the floating bridge for a while and if it starts to annoy me, I will grab the upgrade and no-doubt post in on here!
For those (you know who you are looking for strings that fit this beast, here are a few links):
https://www.amazon.com.au/DR-Strings.../dp/B0044COBIW
https://www.amazon.com.au/DR-Strings.../dp/B0044COBIW
https://www.stringsandbeyond.com/dr-...um-45-105.html
There are a number of other colours too. I would like to try the Black Beauties, but am uncertain if they are same length? Maybe someone els
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
JohnH
What a great build!
JohnH you have been there the whole journey so thank you for the encouragement and support. Thank you !!!
