Build #4 Custom HB-4

[Alexej]

The build is finished, but not without some issues...

Mounting the humbuckers was very tough...not being able to see inside...and I made some measurement mistakes in my head...the distance between the holes for the screws should have been bigger than that on the humbucker itself...with some force and pressure it worked, but is very tight now...



Second is the outputjack...somehow I had no signal at the hot end, but on the one for battery I had signal...is it a mistake? The bass sounds a bit more quiet, comapred to my IB-4...maybe this connection is wrong?



And I am not sure about the height of the action. Somewhere I read that on a fretless bass the string height is much lower than on the normal one...atm I have some rattling on the first 5 "frets" on every string...but I can not go much lower with the bridge for example...
Only thing I have still to check is the bend of the neck, it seemed quiet straight...



So, I have to check out some of the issues but some tones are coming out already...quiet dark and deep...

And I went for the Thunderbird Jazz Bass wiring, nothing special

[fender3x]

The build is finished, but not without some issues...

Mounting the humbuckers was very tough...not being able to see inside...and I made some measurement mistakes in my head...the distance between the holes for the screws should have been bigger than that on the humbucker itself...with some force and pressure it worked, but is very tight now...

Looks good...and as long as you can adjust the pickup to where you want it tight should be fine.

Second is the outputjack...somehow I had no signal at the hot end, but on the one for battery I had signal...is it a mistake? The bass sounds a bit more quiet, comapred to my IB-4...maybe this connection is wrong?

Your picture has the ground correct, but I think you've reversed the hot and battery posts. The hot should be the shortest one. The battery should be a little taller. It's easy to check with a multimeter and a guitar cable. Plug in the guitar cable. The "hot" terminal should have continuity with the tip of the guitar cable. The battery and ground should be continuous with the shaft with the cable plugged in.

It may be quieter than your other bass. This could be for a variety of reasons. Pickups could be too far from the strings. They could just be less "hot" than your IB-4...also IIRC doesn't your IB-4 have a battery and pre-amp? That could make a difference. My guess, though is the pickups are just a bit far from the strings.

And I am not sure about the height of the action. Somewhere I read that on a fretless bass the string height is much lower than on the normal one...atm I have some rattling on the first 5 "frets" on every string...but I can not go much lower with the bridge for example...
Only thing I have still to check is the bend of the neck, it seemed quiet straight...

The action looks high, but I would be more concerned with the rattling. Did you make sure that the neck was absolutely flat? If not you might want to get a 12" radius sanding block...

https://www.amazon.com/KAISH-Fingerb...hyprod-20&th=1

...and make sure the neck is absolutely flat. You need to adjust the truss rod to get the fretboard as flat as possible, and then sand, sand, sand until you have a perfectly flat, perfectly radiused fingerboard for the full length of the fingerboard.

Then do a full setup like this...