This thing went together pretty easy, even for me. All the screws went in nice and easy, stuff lined up the way it's supposed to...for the most part, and I did a great job on the finish. Aside from a wiring misfire (wrong grounding setup) the bass is rocking, and sounds beautiful! I wired the pickups exactly like a 60's Jazz bass - Volume/Volume/Tone - I just find the conventional Ric setup overkill, and personally have a thing against toggle switches. I could have done a slightly cleaner job on the pickguard's neck pickup cut out, but you really don't notice it. I really didn't dig the 24 fret board going that far into the pickgaurd at first, but I'm used to it now, and I can't argue with the sound, the neck pickup sounds amazing where it is.
I created the "Sethenbacker" nameplate/truss rod cover by handcutting a piece of plexi, then sanding and buffing the edges. Then, using a hi-rez photo of a real Ric truss rod cover - TRC - I created my own Sethenbacker logo in Adobe Illustrator, basically tracing over the actual size Ric TRC photo. once that was done, the Sethenbacker logo was printed on super high quality semi gloss photo paper using my inkjet printer. I also added "MADE IN COSTA MESA" in the early 60's TRC "made in the USA" position. After some truss rod tweaking (the single rod Carvin neck adjusts beautifully, by the way), a little filing/fret dressing, and a few different sets of strings, I finally got the bass set up to my liking. Ended up using some Labella flats I've had for a few years, the action is nice and low, and the 60's jazz like neck feels great.
Right now, I don't know what to say, I'm spent, I'm stoked, I acheived my goal of totally ruling, I did the namesake justice, and I have a bass that I love to play and sounds amazing. Enjoy the pictures.
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I wouldn't personally be happy with the extra frets or bass pickup placement .. primarily 'cause it just looks 'wrong' to me eyes. . . .but my GOD what a fantastic job you did!!!!
ReplyDeleteI can 100% guarantee that it sounds miles better than McCartney's original bass! It must play like such a dream! I'm with you. . .Ricky necks just don't quite do it for me. I love the look and sound, but the feel ain't where it's at so much. I'll be attempting my own soon, but I'll be doing a Natural finish. . . as I could NEVER match your awesome Fireglo. Man, did you ever Nail It!!!