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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evanforbass
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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by evanforbass » Fri May 27, 2022 5:23 am

I'm not opposed to the finish, but I have another crazy idea for you... add another pickup in the middle position ala Bass VI form 8)

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Zork
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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Fri May 27, 2022 10:36 pm

evanforbass wrote:
Fri May 27, 2022 5:19 am
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?
I got mine from a random French ebay shop. They are really hard to come by, aren't they? I had to look around quite a bit too.

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Sat May 28, 2022 7:31 am

Probably not the neatest job in the world but the wiring is done:

Image

Finally all the controls do what they are supposed to. The pot for the low cut could have a different taper, but it's okay.

Almost ready to rock!

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Sun May 29, 2022 1:43 am

So I haven't picked up the bass in quite sometime and when I got back at it, I wondered why it had a tune-o-matic bridge instead of the wilkinson roller bridge. Today I found out why I did that change: The 6th string is considerably more silent and has a total different attack and sustain than the other strings. So I put the TOM back on and voilà, solves the problem 100%.

I think the rollers are to small for the thick string, so it has not a defined point to sit on, resulting in a different behaviour of the string compared to the others.
The Wilkinson is also not the correct radius, it's more 14" than 12".

Obviously the TOM is the correct bridge here. All the different parameters match the guitar perfectly fine. Only problem: I don't like how it feels. At all. What should I do? Is there any bridge out there with the exact measurements of a tom but without the sharp edges everywhere? I've looked up and down and couldn't find one.

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Nudger » Sun May 29, 2022 6:07 am

Zork wrote:
Sun May 29, 2022 1:43 am
So I haven't picked up the bass in quite sometime and when I got back at it, I wondered why it had a tune-o-matic bridge instead of the wilkinson roller bridge. Today I found out why I did that change: The 6th string is considerably more silent and has a total different attack and sustain than the other strings. So I put the TOM back on and voilà, solves the problem 100%.

I think the rollers are to small for the thick string, so it has not a defined point to sit on, resulting in a different behaviour of the string compared to the others.
The Wilkinson is also not the correct radius, it's more 14" than 12".

Obviously the TOM is the correct bridge here. All the different parameters match the guitar perfectly fine. Only problem: I don't like how it feels. At all. What should I do? Is there any bridge out there with the exact measurements of a tom but without the sharp edges everywhere? I've looked up and down and couldn't find one.
Have you considered a solid bridge?
I think this would look cool.
Ive used these "teisco" bridges on a couple of 12 radius guitars. 52mm spacing.
Image

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Sun May 29, 2022 8:40 am

Hm, I think I have one or two of them. I should give it a try... 🤔
Excellent idea!

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Wed Jun 01, 2022 8:29 am

So I went to a locksmith today and he's going to craft me a longer arm for the göldo trem! :w00t:
Will be done in a week.

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Tue Jun 14, 2022 1:02 am

The last bit is finally finished!!

Before:

Image

After:

Image

I'm super stoked! :w00t:

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by s_mcsleazy » Tue Jun 14, 2022 4:24 am

i dunno why but this thing screams 00's dischord records to me since a lot of those bands were using baritones/bass vi's but not your mainstream options. i almost wanna try playing deformative - the black eyes on it.
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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Tue Jun 14, 2022 12:42 pm

s_mcsleazy wrote:
Tue Jun 14, 2022 4:24 am
(...) since a lot of those bands were using baritones/bass vi's but not your mainstream options. (...)
Sounds pretty cool! Can you name a few bands off the top of your head? Always looking for inspiration...

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by s_mcsleazy » Tue Jun 14, 2022 1:21 pm

Zork wrote:
Tue Jun 14, 2022 12:42 pm
s_mcsleazy wrote:
Tue Jun 14, 2022 4:24 am
(...) since a lot of those bands were using baritones/bass vi's but not your mainstream options. (...)
Sounds pretty cool! Can you name a few bands off the top of your head? Always looking for inspiration...
everyone goes right to the evens for baritone use but a lot of later q and not u stuff was done with a baritone/bass vi
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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by javier-san » Tue Jun 14, 2022 3:07 pm

I love that body shape! Also, I back baritones v hard. They are real fun.

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by Zork » Sun Nov 27, 2022 1:34 am

Project update: For some reason, really both the e strings still sounded weak and noticable quieter. I tried about everything but ultimately decided it must be the pickups. So I went to ebay and bought a set of very affordable Wilkinson P90s. They came in a few days ago but yesterday I found the time to get at it.

I used masking tape and measured a lot, then drew a few lines. The old pickups were always a bit crooked which bugged me a bit. So I made sure this time to have it all nice and straight.

Image

I used files to open up the existing holes in the pickguard:

Image

Testfit:

Image

And here we are, all set and ready to go. As you can see, I also had the Wilkinson roller bridge installed again. It has a slightly narrower string spacing than the TOM which suits the neck better.

Image

Since I got my sunburst VI as a backup for the green one, the Musima stays at home and I use it for practicing, songwriting or to just noodle around and try out different ideas for the band. So usually it hangs out with this crew here:

Image

…but of course I had to play it with the big amps, right? So I went to the practice room and it got to meet its siblings/rivals, the evil Squier Twins:

Image

Aren't they lovely all together? :-*

So, what about the pickups, you ask? Well, first of all I think they look awesome in that bass! It's even more Eastern Bloc esthetics than before and it reminds me a lot of that old yellow Jolana Galaxis I had.

The problem with the e strings actually got solved with the pickup swap. I don't know what is wrong with the old pickups. Maybe the magnets got demagnetised with age and the field was just not strong enough to pick up the outer strings? However, the P90s pick up the strings evenly and I can finally use the bass seriously. What do you want with a bass with a weak low e string? Now it's all good.

The pickups sound very loud and beefy. It's a mighty and full sound, much like a humbucker but more aggressive. There is a lot more bass and lower mids compared to the Squiers but they still retain that sparkly top end. It's a lot of fun to play! Unfortunately, the pickups are much more prone to feedback than the Squiers and they are quite noisy in comparison, too. They are reverse wound/reverse polarity, though, so in middle position it's okay. Still quite happy with the overall outcome. I actually left the Musima in the practice room and took the sunburst Squier back home because I want to give it a shot with the band next practice. Can't wait, even more so since we have a brand new member on keyboards in the band and it's very exiting times!

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by repoman » Sun Nov 27, 2022 7:11 am

Awesome work!

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Re: Musima Elektra Bass VI Frankenstein Project

Post by shigginpit » Mon Sep 04, 2023 11:10 am

Zork wrote:
Tue Jun 14, 2022 1:02 am
The last bit is finally finished!!
Image
I'm super stoked! :w00t:
Hey, I know this topic is rather old but can I ask about the construction of the longer trem bar? Did the locksmith somehow remove the end piece from the original bar and add the same cap onto the new bar because that's what it looks like.

I thought they were threaded on, but I've been trying to figure out how to get my end cap removed and I'm starting to think with these goldo DG style that it must be pressed onto the end. I was wondering if the person had to use a gear puller or something along those lines to get it to come free?

This is a really cool project by the way, have you been enjoying it with the new pickups and the longer vibrato arm?
offset since 1994.

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