Since the new body was really coming along quickly, it was time to make some descisions as to what pickup and control system that I would use in it so it would be a bit more versatile than just a standard Ray. While alot of people prefer the vintage two band preamp system, II actually like having a midrange control,, so I figured out a way to keep the original three band eq system, and add a 3-way rotary pickup selector for the pickup without drilling an extra hole, or cluttering up the control plate.
The pickup selector will provide:
position 1- both coils on in series
position 2- both coils on in parallel (stock sound)
position 3- split (neck coil only)
So, the control plate will be: master volume, 3- way rotary pickup switch, middle (with center detent), stacked treble and bass controls with center detents.
Okay, so back to the body. Here's a pic of it right after it was sealed, slightly tinted amber with two clear topcoats. (it's just about the same color as the neck now).
After applying the final coats, the finish (2 coats of sealer and 8 coats of lacquer) ended up adding 3.5 ounces to its weight, so the body, with finish weighs 3 lbs 7.5 ounces now. it may lose a tiny bit of weight when it cures and then gets wet sanded & buffed, but i'm completely happy with having an under 3 1/2 pound stingray body w/finish. i mean, it's a whopping 2lbs 1.4oz lighter than the original one.
Once the finished dried a bit, it gave me a chance to lay the parts together and get an idea of what it'll look like:
It's been a week now, and it's time to get the electronics prepared to put in the bass in the next few days.
As mentioned, iI wanted a series/parallel (stock setting)/split switch for the pickup and didn't want to drill any holes in the control plate to do it, so this is what i ended up doing.
here's two pics of the stock control plate assembly:
Here's a of pic of the modded control plate assembly with the stacked treble/bass control, the 3 way rotary switch, and solderless connectors:
I shielded the cavities with nickel print conductive paint to keep the unwanted hum/noise level as quiet as possible
While the 3-way switch really helped in giving the bass more tonal options, I still found the stock 3 band preamp to be too harsh in the mids and high end, so I built my own vintage style Stingray 2-band preamp using the exact same component in a pre-Ernie ball bass.
While the 3-way switch really helped in giving the bass more tonal options, I still found the stock 3 band preamp to be too harsh in the mids and high end, so I built my own vintage style Stingray 2-band preamp using the exact same components used in a pre-Ernie Ball bass. I find the 2-band to be so much smoother and punchier, and it doesn't have the clacky harsh midrange anymore.
So there will be absolutely no hum when in the split mode, I replaced the pickup with a Nordstrand MM4.4 quad coil. This pickup sounds very close (just a tad darker) to the original pickup, but since it's has two side-by-side coils wired opposite polarity in series, for each single coil pickup, it is absolutely silent (humfree).
I nitro'd the neck a few years ago, so now this is a 100% nitro Stingray. The pictures below were taken when it still had the three band preamp, but it now has (and is staying that way) a 2 band. When people see it, they think that it's just a stock 4 knob Stingray. Little do they know that it weighs only 8 lbs and has a 2 band preamp with the series/parallel/split switch. ;-)
