The HBB-5 Build.

[wazkelly]

Hi Ozzie, I like your well thought out planning checklist for this kit.

Just a few thoughts and comments I felt worth sharing:

1. Not sure timbermate grain filling will do much on basswood or back of a maple neck but happy to be proven wrong.
7. Stock Humbuckers are not bad and have plenty of grunt with 7.97k on one coil and 8.01k across the other coil which means once split they still have enough oomph. You can spend plenty on soap bar upgrades for not much extra benefit. I used Bensons in the EX-5 and they have plenty of MM warmth and alternatives were either Bartolini or EMG passives. If budget is an issue suggest trying stock units to begin with as that will save at least $200 - $250 up-front.
8. I used one of these on my EX-5 and it is a ripper, fantastic idea.... Aussies seller doesn't have any available but this UK site does and price seems reasonable https://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_ju...ring_45_mm.htm

* 3 way switch - stock units are noisy and prone to failure. I have used these on most of my 3 position switch upgrades and found them easy to connect and relatively noiseless when switching across all 3 settings ...... https://www.realparts.com.au/electro...ch-chrome.html

Stock tuners on this kit are better than the open back elephant ears, in fact they look the same as on the EX-5. They are functional, don't slip but do feel a bit tight under tension. OK enough for occasional use but if regular gigging was happening that would justify upgrades.

Timber bridge? No idea buddy and tend to think once it has been 'located' in the right scale length position maybe glue it down? Best to wait for others to drop by and add their thoughts.

Cheers, Waz

[ozzbike]

Waz...those two options....adjustable nut and good quality three way switch....are great ideas. Thank you. 😎

Hmmmm.....well I will save myself some dollars and see how it goes.....those resistance figures for the stock pickups sound good. I do note that the ones in my TB-4 are very quiet...have to ramp the amp a little.

But stock tuners sounds good.

Yeah the bridge is an unknown thing for me. That will be interesting.

*****I get good results with timbermate on Basswood and Maple.....but at 120 grit....sand the filler off at 180. Wasting you time finer than that I think.

[Simon Barden]

8. I used one of these on my EX-5 and it is a ripper, fantastic idea.... Aussies seller doesn't have any available but this UK site does and price seems reasonable https://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_ju...ring_45_mm.htm

Just FYI, Thomann is a German company, but do have a generally good English version of their website (though you do still find the occasional German phrase). Their prices are actually properly shown as Euros, so for costing purposes, convert from Aus$ to € rather than £ (the Thomann web site conversion to £ can be on the slightly optimistic side for us in the UK). Ten years ago they used to be significantly cheaper than the UK for most of their products, which forced the UK retailers to compete so now UK prices are generally on a par, though they can still be competitive on some products.

I wouldn't worry too much about the wooden bridge. A web search shows quite a few basses with them, and of course a double bass has a wooden bridge. You've got a solid wooden centre block to take the downwards pressure. Plus you don't need to worry about drilling bridge location holes.

You could pin the bridge if you find it moving about, though if you change string gauge (or even make), you'll probably need to relocate the bridge to get the intonation correct again, so I'd only do it (or glue it) if it was a real nuisance for you.

The pickups seem to be of one of the standard soapbar sizes, probably 1.5" x 4.5" rather than 1.5" x 3.5", so retrofitting alternatives should be pretty easy to do.

I'd certainly replace the selector switch for one like Waz recommends. The kit ones work for a bit but can easily go short circuit to ground. I've had two identical switches to the kit ones fail on two Vintage (the brand) Les Paul copies, and both have shorted the signal directly to ground. Get a short switch, not a long one (as you normally get on a Les Paul), as you won't have the depth to get a long one turned round and poked through the hole in the body. Luckily that's the only control that's awkward to install. I'd be tempted to get some 3 or 4-core shielded cable to run the distance from the control cavity to the switch location, as it's quite a long run. Plus you only have to get one cable through the holes from the control cavity up to the switch position (and I have no idea what that route is from the kit photos).