Jabba_the_gut

Done a bit more on this build. Fretboard has been radiused and the fretslot ends filled with offcuts from the board to give a neat finish to the edges. I've also done a bit more sanding but also made a logo for the headstock

I've radiused the fretboard using a block and sandpaper - it's welcome exercise during these times! I started with 180 grit then worked through 320, 500 to 1000 to finish. Next, I cut the fretwire to length. I bought 5m of Japanese nickel silver wire a while back and this is the first build I've used it - prior to this I have always used Jescar stainless steel fret wire. I will trim the tangs from the ends of the frets so I can fill the fret slots at the edge of the fretboard to keep things looking neat. I've got a set of tang nippers that make this really easy I've got a small arbor press that has been adapted to press the frets into place. There is a wooden cradle (not shown) that I made for this to prevent the neck getting damaged during this process. This press has made life much easier for this task! So, I fitted the zero fret no problem (that is a slightly different size and is Jescar stainless steel wire) but the first fret just wouldn't push into the slot and stay still to allow me to apply pressure from the press. I tried a few tricks to get it started but it wasn't having any of it. I got the calipers out and measure the fret tang, 0.6mm. I then measured the Jescar fret wire and my saw 0.5mm!! Next task was to go onto the web and order some more Jescar fret wire....... New fret wire arrived a couple of days later (great service from Touchstone again), was cut to length, the tangs removed at the end and fitted to the fretboard without any fuss!! I used some ebony dust and superglue to fill the slot ends and sanded flush. These will be barely noticeable once lacquered. Next tasks are to dress the frets and then to carry on with the binding on the body. Cheers

That is very nice!

This is something that I really enjoy - cutting cavities with a router. It doesn't take very long to cut the cavity but it can take quite a while to make an accurate template. I remove the bulk of the cavity with a Forstner bit then finish the edges with a router using a template cutter. As the cutter uses a bearing to guide it, any errors or inaccuracies n the template will just get replicated in the final piece. I wouldn't be surprised if I spent an hour making a template for a square cavity that then took less than 5 minutes to route out!! There are a couple of templates for this build; one for the main outline and this one for all the cavities. I drilled a number of holes to just short of the final depth to clear the bulk before star And a few minutes later this is what results The control cavity needs to be deep enough for the switch that will be used to select between coils on the mudbucker. When I make a body, I plan out where the cables are going to go and drill holes for them in advance. Then when you route the cavities (if you measuring was accurate: measure twice, cut once...) the holes will be in the right place making the wiring easy and not risking putting a long drill through the front of a body when trying to do if afterwards (he says from learning the hard way!!) Next task are to radius the fretboard and sort some frets and to sort the binding out on the body.

As it was actually a bit warmer this weekend, I've spent a bit of time in the garage and got on with this build. I have actually done a bit of work since my last post - made a template for the pickup routing, the controls, neck pocket etc., cut the neck pocket, fitted side dots on the neck and a few other things but just hadn't posted it on here! One thing I had spent some time on was fitting some binding. That took quite a long time to do and I just wasn't happy with it so out came the router again and removed it - something you will see in the photos. That will be a task for another day - at least it is something I can do inside when the garage gets too cold!! I had done a bit of shaping of the neck near the headstock but needed to complete the rest of the neck. I also got a set of Wilkinson tuners for the build so I dropped them in place which presented me with the problem that the backplates were a mm too big! I had tried a set of black Schallers prior to ordering the chrome Wilkinson ones and turns out the backplates are different sizes. I'm not going to redrill the holes are different centres so a different set of tuners will be required. I have mounted a set of basic ones for the time being that I might replace later with some better quality ones. I clamped the neck to the edge of my bench and shaped each side using my Shinto rasp and a mini rasp. I like necks to blend into bodies but I'm also trying to be a bit traditional with this build, so I shaped the heel of the neck to make the transition flow a little. This is where the mini rasp comes into its own. The holes for the neck plate and screws were drilled and the neck attached so I could check everything lined up. Next task is the pickup and control cavities.

I’ll always make a template and use a router for neck pockets but that’s just me!! Router template cutters are great but the quality of fit of necks into pockets or pickup cavities etc will only be as accurate as the template. Forster bits are great and leave a tidy edge if you are doing a side mounted socket. For sand paper, I always buy the stuff from Halfords. I’ve just found it works for me a as I’d Halfords is close to home!!! Cheers

This might be worth a look for filter type preamp. facebook.com/Lusithand

Out of interest, what are the plans for controls on this. From earlier posts it was the 3 way SIMS switch and an on/off for each pickup (so six switches total). What about about volume/tone controls - will everything else remain passive? I'm guessing the pickups combinations will provide enough different tones!!

The front pickup is quite close to the fretboard so it's not for slappers. How about the 'Virtuous' bass then?.... I'll get my coat.....

Yeah! Don't you just love predictive text!! Not as bad as the time a while back when I was writing a technical document and describing a 'shut down' sequence. U and I are next to each other on the keyboard and the spell checker didn't pick that typo up.....

I did try a couple of experiments originally with pieces of perspective and fibre optic cable but didn't get the effect I wanted. I couldn't get the focus and brightness I was looking for. I'm going to continue looking at ideas along these lines but for the moment individual LEDs works for me (but they are fiddly!).

Yay! I'm off to slowly build myself a trophy...

Some important little pieces arrived today so I can get on with a bit more this weekend. These are the LEDs for the fretboard that are stopping me rounding the edges of the body. I need the LEDs, soldered and installed before I can fit the fretboard to the neck which I can then trim to fit in the neck pocket so I can then take the thickness off the back of the neck (by using the body as a template) so I can then round the body edges..... If I round the body edges now, I can't use it as a template! I'm not sure how these LEDs will look. I've gone for orange LEDs for a padauk fretboard - not sure how that will look so will try it first but I am thinking of making two necks at the same time in case I don't like one of them!! If they both go well then I'll have a spare neck for another build. Not the biggest things these LEDs 1.25 x 2.00mm....

I'm afraid not. I started this build in 2013 and still haven't finished it. The title is mine!! Scratch Built Bass #4 - now with LED markers..... - Build Diaries - Basschat

Blimey, that's really nice and will look superb next to the satin black body. Have you decided on a pickup yet? I've only ever built one P bass and that had an active Schaller pickup in (which is lovely). I bought a Delano P bass pickup off here for use on a passive bass at some point as I've used a couple of other Delano pickups before and really liked them. I also used a passive Bartolini soapbar for the first time recently and that was superb too!! So many good pickups out there........almost too many choices!!!

That satin black is really classy. Really like that.

Not everything goes smoothly..... I hadn't drilled the hole for the battery to control deep enough to fully reach the cavity but I was lucky in that it was only 3mm short which I could drill from the cavity end!! Anything more than that and I would have been drilling more holes to route the battery wires through the pickup cavity. It also makes life easier having a bolt on neck as that allows for some adjustment if needed but if it went completely pear shaped, you can just build a new neck. I'm trying a set neck on the 4 string I'm building at the moment as that wouldn't be too big a loss if it all went wrong.

Watching this with interest. I like the body shape - always nice to see something that looks a bit different. I've built a couple at this scale and I find them really comfortable to play - will be really interested to see what you think. Cheers

Made the cut outs in the template for the two batteries, removed the bulk with a forstner but then tided up with a router. There's two templates for the battery box; one for the main body and one for the rounded top (as I'm recessing this as I think it looks much better that way). Same process is used for the control cavity. I find it useful to have a selection of template cutter bits of differing diameters and lengths for routing these cavities. You can get away with one template cutter and a chisel if needed as the cutters can get pricey (£25+ each). I kept an offcut of the ash from the body and cut a slice off to use for the cavity cover. I've tried to match the grain as much as possible. Next task will be to cut the cover to shape.

This bass is going to have an EMG 40TWX pickup fitted. I used an EMG MMTW on one of the 4 string version of this bass and I quite like it as it can be used as a single coil or humbucker so provides a few more options for a single pickup. I already had made the template for the body with neck and bridge cut outs so i added another for the pickup and then I would route all of them in one go. I used my usual method of making the template - I use some straight pieces of wood to make the outline of the pickup, cut the centre out then tidy up the edges with a template cutter in the router. I clamped the template securely to the body and made sure everything lines up (measure twice, cut once - definitely!). I remove most of the wood using a drill and a forstner bit before changing to template cutters in the router. I use a few different diameters of cutters to suit each radius of the pickup corners, bridge corners and neck. Before I join the two body halves together I drill holes to allow for the wring later. Just seems easier for things like the battery box and pickup cables. The holes are set at depths that should be correct when the pockets for the control cavity, pickup etc. are routed out. The hole for the pickup has ended up perfectly in the corner of the pickup pocket - quite pleased with myself!! Next job will be to cut the pockets for the control cavity and battery boxes. I think I'll put two batteries in this - one for the pickup and one for the neck LEDs.

And the holes drilled for the tuners. I'm using a set of Schaller tuners I was given on this build - (sorry, can't remember who it was on here but thanks again!). The holes are in a slightly different position to the Gotoh ones I've generally used with this shape of headstock as the string posts are different diameters.

I've had a look at the side dots for this and I want to keep the colour simple. White obviously doesn't go on maple, black dots just don't look right and I don't think alabone would look right either. I decided to make some dowels from an offcut of the neck wood. I used a piece of metal sheet with a 2.5mm hole drilled in it then cut some wooden rods to roughly the right size. The wooden sticks are then hammered through the hole in the metal sheet to make them round. These are then fitted into the holes drilled in the neck and sanded flush.

The only shame with this is that the main body wood was from a pew and has some holes in it that were dowelled. One of the dowels can still be seen on the back of the body. Not a real issue and just part of the story of the wood used. The neck is made from two pieces of wood cut from a piece that @Rich gave me a while back. I glued it so the grain runs mirror image on the two halves of the neck - I quite like how it has turned out so far. I'm also quite please with the contrast of the woods used, especially as this bass is a bit of a wood recycling job. And a rough try out of where the controls will be - just a volume and tone on this one.

Decided to go for an EMG MM pickup so next job was to route the pocket for that as usual starting off by removing the bulk with a Forstner bit (there is a plastic film on this to save the veneer on the from from getting scratched which can be seen in the picture): Once the bulk is removed then the router can be used to tidy everything up using a template to get some nice sharp edges to the pocket. After that I started rounding the edges which clearly shows the maple veneer layer producing a light coloured line around the shape if the bass. More rounding: I've decided I'm not going to have a forearm carve on this as it will take away from the veneer line I think but it will have a tummy carve. Out with the Shinto and other rasps to remove the bulk and to shape - something really satisfying about this.

Hi Eude, Ive used these gauges on the 4 string versions and like how they feel tension wise. Anything in particular you’d like to know? (I’ll explain if I can!). I have also got another set going down to .125 for a low B but not properly explored that yet. Cheers