A TB-4 Build whilst a BG-46 dries.

[wazkelly]

So that is a pre amp only. I don't need active pickups etc for that to work?

Hi Buddy, this is the one I bought and probably from this ebay supplier.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Genuine-B...-/400368322849


PUP's don't need to be active as I think Woks used one of these in his recent J Bass build. The stock soapbar humbuckers are a bit low in output and figured one of these would give em some grunt. Cheaper than the AUD $220 I paid for the Custom Bensons installed in the EX-5 to replace similar to what came stock with your kit.

[Simon Barden]

Whatever you do, don't fit the treble bleed kits. If you keep it passive, then if you turn one pickup volume right down - say to get only the neck or bridge pickup, then you'll basically get silence as the bleed kit passes all but the very lowest frequencies to ground. Waz had that problem on a Jazz bass. The bleed kits only really work well on guitars/basses with a master volume control, such as a Strat or Tele.

If you've already got Schaller strap locks on your other guitars, I'd be wary of cheap copies. Fine if you only ever use the copies, but I bought some post-only copies (as I've already got loads of straps with Schaller strap-locks on) and the posts were slightly larger than a standard Schaller, meaning that the straps wouldn't fit on them and I had to buy more real Schaller items.

As Waz says, you don't need active pickups to fit an active pre-amp (and many basses with active pres have passive pickups). Of course with the Belcat pre-amp you'll need to drill another pot hole, if there's space to do so, plus find room for the pre-amp block and the battery. Looks like you've got it, and there's enough spare wood under the backplate to easily enlarge the cavity if necessary. It will give you a master volume, pan pot, plus treble + bass controls (so you could fit a treble bleed to the volume pot if you wanted).

[wazkelly]

Or to stick with 3 controls just skip wiring up the blend pot and tape it up to stop it rattling around inside the control cavity.

[Simon Barden]

Or to stick with 3 controls just skip wiring up the blend pot and tape it up to stop it rattling around inside the control cavity.

But he's got two pickups and no selector switch. So either needs a blend pot or a switch. Either way, an extra hole would be required.

[wazkelly]

Late night posting and completely missed that point.

On the EX-5 I ditched the 2 vol & 1 tone in favour of a 3 way switch and master volume instead. Made a heap of difference and sounds much better. Stuck with the traditional Jazz setup on my J Bass but prefer a switch as once you roll about 10% to 15% off a PUP the other one takes over and you may as well have used a switch.

[Simon Barden]

Late night posting and completely missed that point.

Get a good night's rest and wake up fully refreshed in the morning. It's late afternoon here now but I'm half-asleep already!

[ozzbike]

Whatever you do, don't fit the treble bleed kits. If you keep it passive, then if you turn one pickup volume right down - say to get only the neck or bridge pickup, then you'll basically get silence as the bleed kit passes all but the very lowest frequencies to ground. Waz had that problem on a Jazz bass. The bleed kits only really work well on guitars/basses with a master volume control, such as a Strat or Tele.

If you've already got Schaller strap locks on your other guitars, I'd be wary of cheap copies. Fine if you only ever use the copies, but I bought some post-only copies (as I've already got loads of straps with Schaller strap-locks on) and the posts were slightly larger than a standard Schaller, meaning that the straps wouldn't fit on them and I had to buy more real Schaller items.

As Waz says, you don't need active pickups to fit an active pre-amp (and many basses with active pres have passive pickups). Of course with the Belcat pre-amp you'll need to drill another pot hole, if there's space to do so, plus find room for the pre-amp block and the battery. Looks like you've got it, and there's enough spare wood under the backplate to easily enlarge the cavity if necessary. It will give you a master volume, pan pot, plus treble + bass controls (so you could fit a treble bleed to the volume pot if you wanted).

Simon,

I have a PBH Bass with treble bleed circuits on both volumes (I think).....PB and humbucker. I have two other PB only Basses with bleed circuits on the single volume pots. I have a PBJ bass with bleed circuits on both volumes.....PB and J pickups.

None of them give me any issues. Maybe I wired them wrong.....but they all work fine. I basically have treble bleed circuits on nearly everything.....the BG-46 is a no no....advised of this by weirdy.

Job for tomorrow for me....open the control cavities on my basses with multiple pickups and no selector switch or master volume....and see what I have. You have made me curious.

[wazkelly]

Hey Ozzie, on my J Bass installed the treble bleed mod on both volumes and if one was wound fully off, no noise at all from anything. Same deal if I reversed the process. Only seemed to be an issue if one was on 'zero'.

If they are both on full and one is wound back there is no treble bleed happening as the PUP on full is the one making most noise. If you were to then back that one off a bit (who knows why?) there might be some of the typical tone drop encountered without the mod. I have had better results without and it sounds great just backing one off a bit as a way of switching to one of the PUP's only. Generally I have Bass volume on full, adjust level of noise at the amp, and rarely play with it after that.

Different on a 6 stringer guitar as playing around 7 or 8 and then winding up to 10 has a better dynamic impact.

[ozzbike]

Today I decided to step forward rather than delving inside looking for bleed circuits.....later....or not.

Today I had three references for the shape of the headstock. One option is to just stain the headstock as is....some models I have seen have just the shape and an all black stain/paint. Second option is to bevel an even edge around the headstock and do two colours....black on top and the orange/brown on the edge of the headstock. Third option is to cut away wood so that it appears that a veneer has been adhered to the existing headstock surface.

I chose the bevel. I hit this with a rasp...file...dremel with a sanding wheel...then a sanding block with 240 grade paper.

My colouring intentions are now.....black on top of the headstock. The rest of the neck and the back of the headstock will be the orange/brown colour. (I think I may drag some black around the scarf joint as I have seen on some images.)

I then hit the body up twice with Baltic coloured body filler. I am really liking the shape and the grain of this body.

Hang both until tomorrow.....sand to 240 grit all over.....then the damp and sand the fluffies at 320 begins.

Knock knock...Aussie Post....Real Parts for the win again. Black U.S. thread T Caster style recessed jack socket and 4 x metric thread black bell knobs.

[ozzbike]

The headstock before I attacked. I think it is a little different and I actually like the look.