1986 Yamaha Motion MBII bass [8.0 lbs] :: setup

View fullsize

I'm lucky to have a great bassist that is always bringing me interesting basses he picks up.  Here is an 80's Yamaha 4 string in for while-you-wait setup.  The player likes super-low electric guitar action so it's always a fun challenge to see how low you can go.  Working with this player has made me totally rethink my approach to bass setups.

View fullsize

Check out the round over on the treble-side horn - the pearl white finish flashes slight pink in certain light.  Really subtle and very cool.  Also the bridge is a unique design that I have not seen before, but the head stock really got my attention.  I don't know why, but this folded head stock looks killer!

View fullsize

#eb3mystery Semi-restoration :: 1970s Gibson EB-3 [7.7 lbs]

View fullsize

A poor 1970's Gibson EB-3 that was crudely modified at some point.  The mods included adding a P pickup, active preamp, moving the rotary switch, plugging some of the controls, etc.  I ended up removing the preamp and rewiring the guitar as close to stock as I could.  The rotary switch was returned back home along with adding back one of the volume controls.  The tone choke was also long gone so I replaced it with one courtesy of Curtis Novak.  The original 2 point bridge didn't allow enough adjustment to lower the action, so a new Hipshot 2 point Supertone bridge was installed.  I will eventually group this project into one blog post, but in the meantime you can follow up here:  #eb3mystery

View fullsize

New saddle, bad pickup & no relief :: 2008 Kinal Kompact Bass [4.5 lbs]

View fullsize

New saddle, bad pickup & no relief  :: 2008 Kinal Kompact Bass [4.5 lbs]

Here's a 30" short scale acoustic bass that came through the shop recently for a setup.  The low E was having some low-output issues that I tried to correct with a new properly fit bone saddle (the original was way too loose).  I tried every trick I know but ultimately could not improve that string's output.  Ultimately I found that the B-Band undersaddle pickup was damaged under the E string (pickup was delaminated) and needed to be replaced.

The player strung this bass with super-low tension Thomastik-Infeld Acousticore strings #AB344 (0.041" -0.086").  These soft-feel strings did not have enough tension to pull the neck into a favorable forward bow (relief) and the neck needed to be heat-pressed into relief.

Heat pressing a straight neck :: 2008 Kinal Kompact acoustic bass

View fullsize

Heat pressing a straight neck :: 2008 Kinal Kompact acoustic bass

The combination of a 30" short scale and low-tension light gauge strings was not enough  to pull this neck into a forward bow (relief).  The neck was dead straight with the truss rod backed off and needed some relief in order to get away with lower action.  Here I'm using my temperature controller along with a fingerboard-sized heat blanket to warm the glue joint between the neck and fingerboard.  Strategically placed feeler gauges arranged along a rigid clamping block gently flex the neck into a forward bow while the glue softens.  This forward bow now allows the truss rod a usable range.

Bass week! :: left to right:

Bass week! :: left to right:

1969 Gibson EB-1

1966 Gibson EB-3

1978 Guild B-301

1982 Rickenbacker 4001

2007 Gibson Les Paul Doublecut “Money Bass”