Well, we're getting there.
Jobs left are
- Treat the fingerboard with some penetrating epoxy sealer, because I'm not happy about the stability of the fibres of the artificial rosewood.
- Setup
- Chrome or stainless steel screw for the truss rod cover
- And some decent strings.
Interesting lesson here about colours. and photographs. Those photos were taken a few seconds apart with a tablet, all on the same carpet, but look how much the blue carpet varies in tone in the photos, and all because the camera electronics were playing with colour balance.
My tip for lining aligning the tuners is to get something dead straight with a reflective surface and align it across the tuner heads. Then set the tuners up so each corner is touching. Only works with this style of tuner of course.
I'm not unhappy with the aesthetics. A cherry or something dye job might have been nice, but the simple tru oil on maple has a certain appeal too, gives it a kinda vintage look I think. A scratch plate might have added to the vintage ethos, and I did consider making one, but the way I play it would have been 100% cosmetic. Were I doing one from scratch I think I'd get it with no controls drilled, and have the controls on the scratchplate like some Framus Star Basses. I should note the Framus Star was the bass for teenagers to have when I was about 15, Fenders being far too expensive to consider.
So, variations from the standard kit.
Hipshot bridge screwed down flat to extra long ferrules glued into the body. Body scraped back under the bridge so it sits flat.
Slightly different pickup positioning.
Non-kit Artec pickups.
Home made sandwich pickup rings and truss rod cover
Two vol, one tone pot, amber knobs
Pot positions juggles so controls are in a line
Coil tap switch for bridge pickup
Coil tap/phase switch for neck pickup
Narrower tuners
Slightly reshaped headstock
Headstock logo
"Binding" on the sides of the neck pocket to disguise shims
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