So I've come to enjoy to come to enjoy the color on the body. As I applied a few more coats more of the gold highlight in the stain became more evident, and it gives it a very nice effect, albeit it's very difficult to see in pictures.
I'm having an issue now where on the last coat of stain I applied, I started noticing it was leaving what looked like small dings in the body. I can use sandpaper to lightly sand, and they disappear after running over the spots a couple times, but this makes the stain a little uneven in the areas that need to be sanded. When I've gone back over it to add color back to those spots, I end up with more small dings I have to sand out.
My (very amateur) belief is that due to maple being a hard, closed grain wood, maybe it's taken as much stain as it can and these are uneven spots where stain is just sitting on the existing stain and not being absorbed properly. Also, what would be my best approach? I'm thinking I may just need to reapply stain across the body, and then lightly sand the whole body, instead of just those areas, to get an even color and just leave it as is once I'm done and apply finish after it dries. I was also thinking (possibly insanely), to lightly apply stain with a high grit sand paper to apply stain while also preventing these spots from appearing, but I wanted to check with you brilliant folks first.
The issue with the stain on the front is pretty`much resolved. After sanding I used a small brush to brush stain into the problem areas, which did not require more sanding to correct. I moved onto the black for the back and sides and oh my lanta it turned out great! It's a very rich, glossy black color, I couldn't be happier. I'm going to give it several days to dry and then apply some of the gold highlight coat I used on the front to add a gold glossiness to the back and sides. The neck will get the same treatment once it's ready to go. I'm thinking Tru-Oil over the body and neck once it's all complete, I think the colors will really pop.
I've been looking for upgraded pickups to put in this build as I want a nice rich, vintage tone for this bass. I just came across these Bartolini pickups yesterday evening (Bartolini 6RC). These are listed as a replacement or upgrade to Rickenbacker pickups. Based on some videos I found, I think these are going to give me exactly the sound I want, but may require some upgrades to the control panel as both pickups are split coil. I'd have to do some more research on that part though.
No need for any upgrades on the control panel if you just use the bridge pickup in humbucking mode and the neck as it is, a single coil. pickup. It's only if you want to add a coil split or a parallel mode for the bridge humbucker that you'll either need to add another switch or modify the control panel to make one of the existing switches to the same job (but lose some of the current functionality). Maybe the solo switch? Though with the vintage control panel it looks like you could swap out a pot for a push//pull switched pot without too much of a problem (though you'd need to check there's enough available depth for a switched pot - looks like it but always measure to be sure).
Whilst the neck pickup is split coil, its split like a P-bass, so one coil for two strings and a RWRP coil for the other two strings. single coil sound, but hum cancelling functionality. The neck will probably have a 1 conductor + shield cable, and the humbucker a 4-conductor + shield cable.
I would be careful about ordering the Bartos without doing some very careful measurements. OEM Hofners have a pickup that is slightly about 7mm wider across the body and 5mm skinnier than a Rickenbacker pup. My guess is that the pups that come with the kit are standard mini-humbuckers that are closer to the Ric size, so they may fit, but I'd check first.
I am not sure what sort of control panel the kit comes with, but I am curious. Here's what the OEM panel looks like...
It has a kind of unique array of caps and resistors, that I am guessing are optimized for the Hofner pups.
From what I can make out of the kit, the panel is a simplified version of the OEM. One volume for each pup. One switch to turn on/off each pickup. One switch to engage/disengage a tone cap. That should work pretty well with the Bartolinis. You may want to try different tone cap values, but aside from that you shouldn't have to change the panel.
...Which reminds me that you may need to consider swapping to a 500k volume pot for the bridge pickup with a humbucker Bartolini to keep it bright sounding.
FWIW I have tried the parallel/mod on P-bass and on side-by-side humbuckers (specifically DiMarzio J's), and don't really recommend it. It just sounds thinner and quieter than the series mode, and doesn't add anything particularly good or interesting.
I am also not sure that adding a single coil mode to a pup that close to the bridge will give you much that you will like. More treble, less booty, and less volume than the humbucking mode. I have a bass (admittedly not a Beatle bass...) that can do that, and I pretty much never use the single coil setting on the bridge pup.
If it were me, I'd be tempted to leave the controls pretty much stock, and just play with the cap values a bit to get one I liked on the switch. I tend to think that Hofners *should* be a bit boomy, but if the bridge pickup doesn't have enough high end for you, you could also consider swapping the bridge volume pot for a 500K, which would be more conventional with a humbucker.
Not forgetting that Musicman bass humbuckers are normally wired in parallel, as series wiring on them can be rather overpowering. The more powerful and thick/muddy sounding the pickup, the better they often sound in parallel. But I’d start with standard connections and modify if necessary.
Thank you both for the helpful and thorough information! Pickups are something I am definitely a novice in, so everything you've listed has given me a lot to consider.
I had been considering a 500k push/pull pot for the bridge pickup, but based on fender3x's recommendation I may leave the bridge pickup as a humbucker to get a full sound rather than mostly treble with low volume. The only issue I see trying to take the control panel apart is it seems like the pots are soldered into the circuit board. Would that be as simple as desoldering the joints holding the pot in place and then removing it? I can add a picture later if that helps
As far as the measurements go for the Bartolini's, they are definitely different sized than the pickups that came with the kit, but I think they could still work. The pickups from the kit were mini humbuckers, but the cavities were routed for full size humbuckers. The length on the Bartolini's is perfect, but the width is a little narrow. I would probably need to create new pickup rings, but I think I could make it work.
Fender3x, thank you for providing that wiring diagram! I've found a few online that people had sketched together, but that seems like a very versatile sound, especially when adjusting tone caps as you mentioned. The control panel that was provided with the kit is much more basic, but I purchased a vintage style control panel with nothing wired up yet. Below is a picture of the original one provided with the kit, along with a picture of the wiring diagram from the Pitbull website.
Last edited by c0ffinspire89; 14-10-2020 at 02:57 AM.
O.K. I used to own a Hofner violin bass back in the 70's.
I don't remember touching the controls other than volume.
Looks like all the controls do the same thing...either turning one or both pickups off or turning either down.
Therefore you could wire up a control plate with just 2 pots and one 'mustang' 3 way switch.
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