Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein (new pickups pg.4)

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.

Rock as is or refinish?

Rock as is
19
73%
Refinish
3
12%
Lace fake paisley
4
15%
 
Total votes: 26

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MayTheFuzzBeWithYou
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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Tue Nov 24, 2020 9:54 am

That looks really great, Zork!
The Horseshoe fits it well - and the headstock design (font) is wonderful! :-*
I still can't believe those 30-40 € PitBull necks area thing and up to the task of rock'n'roll... Maybe I'm reconsidering my Telemaster project in favor of a Baritone....

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Wed Nov 25, 2020 7:18 am

Sythi wrote:
Mon Nov 23, 2020 12:18 pm
VERY nice!!
I have had for ages an old Hohner body from a 30'' bass. A Bass VI would actually be a great project and I happen to have Egmond pickups also lying around.
Also (!), I have been very interested in the DG tremoloes. It's actually how I came across your project. I'd be very interested to see a picture of the cavity you had to rout for the Horseshoe model and have your feedback on how it actually works. I'd like to use the so-called 'shorty' version on another project but I'm not sure how much I'd need to rout and there is no information handy about that from Göldo... Other than the JM/Jaguar model and - of course - your project, I couldn't find pictures of those installed on an instrument... Concretely, I wonder if the plate hinges down to the body level or if it would be safe to rout a smaller cavity that would stay fully hidden by the trem plate itself?
Thanks and congratulations for your project!
epizootics wrote:
Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:08 pm
Dang, that's bloody amazing!
As others have said, the hand-painted headstock looks great. Same with the pickguard and, uh, the whole thing, really :)

It's hard to tell from the pictures of that Gôldo trem, but it seems it uses pivot screws at a 90 degree angle with the bent portion of the top plate? In any case it looks great. The only Göldo unit I've used so far as a Les Trem II coupled with a Staytrem bridge and it was a fine piece of machinery. Everything I'd ever wanted a Bigsby to do but better than any modern Bigsbies I'd tried.

Looking forward to seeing it completed :)
Thank you for the compliments. The DG Trem is actually a very simple construction. You can see it pretty good on this pictures here:
HUGE PICTURE 1
HUGE PICTURE 2

One part is screwed to the body of the guitar. A second part is pressed against it and pulled forward by the tension of the springs. A long screw is attached to the second part and pressed against the first part to counter the pull of the strings with a spring. You can then adjust the spring tension very similar to the Jazzmaster trem we all know and love. Both systems are actually very similar, but the DG is kind of an upside down version and doesn't use a pivot, but only two points were the movable part is pressed against.
You don't need to route a cavity, you only need to drill a hole (25mm diameter, 33mm depth) for the spring.

I hope I explained it reasonably well, it's a bit difficult to go deep into technical details in a foreign language.
MayTheFuzzBeWithYou wrote:
Tue Nov 24, 2020 9:54 am
That looks really great, Zork!
The Horseshoe fits it well - and the headstock design (font) is wonderful! :-*
I still can't believe those 30-40 € PitBull necks area thing and up to the task of rock'n'roll... Maybe I'm reconsidering my Telemaster project in favor of a Baritone....
Thank you very much! The PitBull neck I got is really good. Good quality woods, nice fretwork, very stable. I didn't even need to adjust the trussrod after I strung it up. But there are a lot of additional costs: I paid 38€ for the neck, 15€ for the shipping and 23€ taxes and fees. Also it's unfinished. I had a bottle of Tru Oil, but if I had opted for nitro laquer, it would have been about another 45€ for sealer and tinted laquer. Still, it's a very affordable neck and at least for 30" scale the only available option on the market as far as I know.

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Thu Nov 26, 2020 4:27 am

The parts came in! :w00t:

Installed:
Image

Knob layout ( looks a bit random, but the cavity is a really weird shape):
Image

...and the wiring diagram:
Image

4 way switch (series, neck, parallel, bridge), high cut, low cut and volume.

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Sun Nov 29, 2020 2:06 am

So, I finished the wiring, put it back together and the copper tape shortens out the circcuit on the output jack. Also the resistor parallel to the treble- and basspots is bullshit and needs to go.

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Sat Dec 05, 2020 5:23 am

After sorting out some errors with the wiring, it's finally done:

Image

It sounds a lot more like a bass than the Squier.

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by bodhi » Sun Dec 06, 2020 12:44 am

Zork wrote:
Sat Dec 05, 2020 5:23 am
After sorting out some errors with the wiring, it's finally done:

Image

It sounds a lot more like a bass than the Squier.

Really really cool and wonderfully unique. I'd like one :D :?
Jazzmaster project (got a body, placeholder neck, some pickups and ideas)
Tokai Telecaster Thinline with Creamery Pickups Filtertron and Tapped Tele
Blake Mills-inspired Strat project w/ Gold Foil and slide pickup

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by s_mcsleazy » Sun Dec 06, 2020 7:52 am

ooof. i'd love to play some blonde redhead on that.
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'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Sat May 21, 2022 1:34 am

It's back on the bench!

So the neck was way too hefty for my taste eventually. So I took it to the tech and he reshaped it to resemble the neck of my Squier VI as close as possible. It feels awesome already! Can't wait to put strings on and play it!

While he was at it, he wax potted the pickups. I hope they go well now with loud distorted amps...

I got the bass back from the tech last week and yesterday I found the time to put a set of klusons on:

Image

Image

The cheap tuners I collected from the parts bin didn't only look like shit, they didn't hold the tuning well, too. So off they go. I initially started with the project with the idea to use as many parts I already had as possible. Now it's time to upgrade! \m/

Next I painted the edge of the pickguard in a nice ivory color:

Image

This method was used on many Eastern Bloc guitars I've seen and it really fits in the theme of recreating a Musima guitar that never was.

I also replaced the rotary switch with a toggle:

Image

Next up is soldering it all back together and then I've got another special trick up my sleeve. Stay tuned!

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Sat May 21, 2022 6:31 am

That looks fantastic!! I really love it.
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Tue May 24, 2022 8:54 am

Haven't done the soldering yet but decided to string it up so it all can start to break in a bit. I will slowly adjust the truss rod over the next few days but I think I won't have a hard time setting it up.

Anyway, here it is hanging out with a few friends. The one to the left is also made in East Germany, probably a Marma, but I'm not sure. I got it on a flea market in Berlin before the rise of ebay for 20 bucks... good times... Also pictured behind the fake Musima is a Klira which was built just a few kilometers away from its homies but on the other side of the Iron Curtain. So close yet so far away...

Image

The white line around the pickguard makes it so much more visually attractive to me! Great success! And the neck feels great after the reshaping. Very "fast" and comfortable. I still need to experiment with the vibrato a bit more, though. I'd like it to have a wider range.

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Wed May 25, 2022 8:39 am

Look what I got in the mail:

Image

What could it be?
8)

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Wed May 25, 2022 9:02 am

Zork wrote:
Thu Nov 26, 2020 4:27 am
Image

4 way switch (series, neck, parallel, bridge), high cut, low cut and volume.
You said you're changing some of the electronics. Are you keeping the 3 pot setup? I've got a treble cut AND bass cut on my Jag bass, but the bass cut doesn't do much for me, and I want to change the capacitor value.
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Wed May 25, 2022 11:12 am

Yes, the lowcut didn't work very good in the original version. This is because in the RC highpass filter network as seen here, the volume pot is the relevant resistor. I had used a 500k volume pot, so with a .0022uF cap the cutoff frequency is at roughly 140Hz. With a 250k volume pot (like they use it in the G&L PTB wiring) the cutoff frequency will be at about 290Hz, which will be far more usable/audible. I don't fully understand it yet, but here's someone who does:
https://guitarnuts2.proboards.com/threa ... ptb-system
Hope this helps.

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Wed May 25, 2022 12:07 pm

Zork wrote:
Wed May 25, 2022 11:12 am
Yes, the lowcut didn't work very good in the original version. This is because in the RC highpass filter network as seen here, the volume pot is the relevant resistor. I had used a 500k volume pot, so with a .0022uF cap the cutoff frequency is at roughly 140Hz. With a 250k volume pot (like they use it in the G&L PTB wiring) the cutoff frequency will be at about 290Hz, which will be far more usable/audible. I don't fully understand it yet, but here's someone who does:
https://guitarnuts2.proboards.com/threa ... ptb-system
Hope this helps.
It does! Thanks for the reply and the link too! I'm at the point where I like to experiment a little because I'll have an idea of what I want, and then my pot and cap values don't sound quite like I had hoped. I'm planning on adding a solo/blower switch that bypasses all volume and tone knobs, so when I first put something together, I can try different component values before committing to solder. Then, once I have it the way I like, I can still use the switch for a bit of a volume boost or just another different setting.

The Jag bass messed with me because it's got a Nordstrand MusicMan humbucker made as an 8-conductor, so I can choose a full MM humbucker sound, straight single coils like a Jazz Bass, or split coils like a P-bass. So technically, in some modes it's a humbucker, and others it's a single coil. So it could need a 250K or a 500K. I figure a little experimentation is needed :)
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by evanforbass » Fri May 27, 2022 5:19 am

Zork wrote:
Thu Nov 05, 2020 8:32 am
So here's where I'm at:

Image

Image

The Göldo Trem came in and it looks awesome. I like it a lot together with the Wilkinson bridge. Hope they work together as good as they look.
Looks awesome, great work! I am desperate to get a Goldo DG Shorty trem but can't find one anywhere, you have any leads of where to find one?

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