Thanks for the compliments chaps. In answer to Brian, it is a zero degree neck / body angle and the "fretless board" is 6mm thick above the body. The bridge is 12mm high, but on this type of instrument normal action rules aren't really that applicable. Those dimensions are good guidance.The neck angle is 12 degrees or so and that keeps the strings bedded into the nut if the usual "last wind to the bottom of the post" is followed.
I made the bridge and pickup on this myself, as there was a parts famine at the time and I was getting itchy fingers. The bridge block is ebony and the pickup 4 piezo chips in a 4mm wide brass channel encapsulated in epoxy. Damned fiddly to make but very rewarding when it works!! The saddle is like a shorter version of the nut, epoxied onto the pickup and the whole thing is set in a slot in the bridge block with silicone, just like a proper Ash pickup. Output is not quite as powerful as the factory pickup, but I'm thinking of putting a tiny extra preamp inside. I've got one in a seperate box for outboard use and it gives it a nice bit of boost. Actually if I adjust the trim pot it gives it an awful lot of boost, but also distorts a bit, so it's a matter of getting it just right.
The bridge saddle is 22" from the nut and parallel to it, same principle as the factory Ash though 4" longer in the scale. I've said previously that in my opinion compensation isn't that necessary as the thing's fretless and you play it in tune by ear. You can't see them on the photo but there are fret markers (black dots in the white binding) down the side. The 5,7,9,12 etc are slightly larger dots.The Precision type has plastic strip let into a 45degree slot in the bass edge, with thicker strips at the same positions as the Ric.
Hope that helps. And the next one will be..................you'll just have to wait and see!! :-D :-D
Mike
