My TB-4 Bass Build

[lunaticds]

Thanks for the tips. I found a bolt long enough to get it up a couple of mm, so I knew it worked. I dropped a long but small screw down head first then put the bolt back in and screwed it down and the posts came straight up.

A couple of seconds with a stepper going real slow and the posts are countersunk. Now to see what happens with the strings on...

And... that looks much better. It'd be really nice if I could keep the action that it just restrung at, but I suspect I'll need to come up slightly. So far, much improved.

[lunaticds]

Weights arrived today. I managed to fill the entire cavity and still couldn't balance it terribly well.
In the end I wound up biting the bullet and moving the strap point to behind the neck at the heel. It made the balance much more improved. It's less inclined to take a dive by itself, though its a bit cozy with the strap. It still feels "too light" in the body and I there's still a little too much weight in my left hand, so I'll still add some weights in.

Next thing will be to find something interesting to do with the original hole for the strap holder. I've debated just finding a black screw and shoving it in there, but that seems kinda lame.

[lunaticds]

Well, it's time to call this one finished.
The pickups arrived yesterday.

There's a few minor tweaks to make.. little getting the pickups to sit level and filling the old strap lock hole, but otherwise its good to go.



When I put the pickups in I was fighting an interesting earthing issue - any time I'd touch anything earthed around the guitar it would buzz. Especially if I dropped the volume down. Finally dawned on me that it could be the cable that I haven't used in years. Ditched that and problem went away.

I may revisit the weight I've added to it and see if it's still necessary with these pickups in there. It's still not overly heavy, but it's now magically sitting exactly where I want it. I've had some left shoulder issues, so trying to juggle weight vs playability is a thing.
I might do a little more to the back of the neck just to help make my hands move across it a little easier, but it's generally acceptable.

Next on the list to consider (when I can afford it) is: https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...bra-wood-copy/
I'm inclined to hit this with a green or red colortone and see what happens. Not entirely sure on the colour yet, Finish will probably be TruOil again.
Go with the rosewood fretboard, black hardware. Maybe upgrade the tuners to some Grovers or Gotohs. I don't care much for vintage style. I tolerate them on Fenders.. because.. Fender. Pickups I'll go away and think about. Not sure what the kit PBG pickups are really like.
I'll eventually need to make a decision on that but I really need to put in some time with what I've got before I know what I'm chasing. Between putting some time into the Thunderaptor and doing some work on my old Yamaha and changing its pickups for my Aerodyne's stock set, there's potentially a whole lot of new tone to explore there before I know what I have. I never truly appreciated the impact different pickups have until I swapped the stock PJs out of the Aerodyne with a set of EMG GZRs. That took a pretty versatile bass and transformed it into something that was awesome for hard rock/metal that needed to be hot and aggressive but didn't need a really clean and smooth bottom end, so I'm getting to a point where I need to get a little more focused on what it is that I'm chasing.

[Trevor Davies]

Looks good Lunaticds.

How heavy is it with the weights?

[lunaticds]

Looks good Lunaticds.

How heavy is it with the weights?

Cheers.
Looks to be a smidge over 4kg, so not light. Wouldn't mind trying without the weights to bring it down a bit, but more concerned about trying to get it balanced first. With the weight at least it sits pretty well and no dive.