neepheid

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140245661955"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=140245661955[/url] Good luck.

[quote name='tauzero' post='230632' date='Jul 1 2008, 04:17 PM']Could you loop an end back on itself and then use some button thread to tie it into an eyelet? Alternatively, go to a decent motorcycle shop (preferably one run by old blokes in brown coats) and ask about screw-on (solderless) cable nipples. Or see [url="http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/motorcycle/controlcable.php"]Vehicle Wiring Products[/url] for them (halfway down the page). NOTE: these are [b]NOT[/b] the same as nipple clamps and it will avoid considerable embarrassment all round if you avoid using the term. [/quote] That's a neat idea. That would negate the need for bolts/washers - I could simply drill four holes through the wood block and pass the strings through that with these on the end to anchor it. Hmm, a little trip to one of the local bike shops is in order.

I will say that playing it bass finger style gives you a serious speed advantage over people who twang the thing with their thumb. I had a go at New Year - my mate got me to do all the difficult ones

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='230447' date='Jul 1 2008, 12:20 PM']I may have found a buyer for him. I've got a mate who's in a band called the Wildcards and their logo is the ace of spades. [b]I've told him I'll do the work on it to get it up to spec[/b]. That scratchplate has to go for a start.[/quote] Well, you can add a new neck, looks a bit twisted doesn't it?

Thank you for all the encouragement, it really helps to spur me on knowing that people here are liking what they see. As a self confessed perfectionist, some things really irritate me. Misaligned through body stringing holes is one (Wishbasses make me cry particularly in this respect), but I just don't see what's so damn difficult about putting things in the middle. Measure it and half it. I'm having to make a big fat truss rod cover to compensate for the fact that the recesses are about 3mm off centre with respect to the headstock (yes, 3mm in 54mm is a big deal. I'm guessing most people wouldn't like a bass neck to be 3mm off centre.). Just as well I'm trying to make it almost invisible. I am not looking forward to cutting this part out of the veneer - zebrano veneer is very easy to split. In this case both parts need to be pristine. Usually when you cut, one piece is being discarded. Oh well, guess I'll just have to snap myself a fresh blade on the knife and take my time.

The supposed long scale Roto flatwounds I put on my project bass (through body stringing) only just made it over the nut and no more before the wrapping kicked in. It can be a close run thing.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='230118' date='Jun 30 2008, 10:22 PM']Ha ha dude you crack me up. Have got 4 diff thicknesses of 36m long?[/quote] Aye - 0.105", 0.095", 0.080" and 0.065". Only the 0.105" is 36m long, the others are 15.2m long - 36m was all the guy had in the 0.105"

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='229842' date='Jun 30 2008, 04:38 PM']My bad, buddy. :blush: What are thses string? Got a link?[/quote] Stihl strimmer line [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260145716690"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=260145716690[/url]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='229786' date='Jun 30 2008, 03:36 PM']As long as the ball-ends are prevented from passing through then it'll be fine. If these plastic strings of yours don't have a ball-end then tie a grannie knot. [/quote] No ball ends, and as I said they don't knot - too tough and springy. Hence the need for concentrated friction.

Yeah, well I've had a few days to calm down and collect my thoughts. I'm thinking about a block of wood attached to the bottom of the tin/end of the neck which then has 2 bolts through it facing towards the front . A pair of strings passes underneath a washer either side of the bolt and tightened with a nut of some sort (wingnuts for that truly homemade look (but tool-free) or regular). I thought about sandwiching all 4 between 2 bits of wood, but because they are of different thicknesses, it would be tough to guarantee uniform clamping across all four.

This is how my first custom build turned out. Trouble is I have no idea what wood it is - I inherited the body from a half finished project! Colron French Polish on some top of some sort. If I had to guess, I'd say walnut, teak or something car dashboard-like. I think it counts as "staining" as it has certainly coloured the wood - this was it sanded down to bare wood: No, I wouldn't do it again if I didn't have to: took forever, was a lot of hard work and ultimately had to cheat to get a finish I liked.

Welcome to the forum

Quick update - the headstock has a new, less fussy profile:

Good, one less bass with gold hardware

The strings are plastic, so there be no soldering. I'm thinking that some kind of sandwich, friction based design is called for. Mmm, wingnuts!

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='227262' date='Jun 26 2008, 12:12 PM']Sounds like you had a rough one mate. What kind of strings are you unsing?[/quote] Stihl mowing line of various thicknesses (.065", .080", .095" and .105"). It isn't very pliable. It goes round the tuner posts OK though. I'll decide what to do tonight. It kind of hinges upon me coming up with some kind of tailpiece. Got plenty rosewood to experiment with. It was making some vaguely musical noises if I held strings down. The bridge isn't glued down yet. Glueing down the bridge will almost certainly necessitate the creation of a new soundboard if I decide to retrace some steps. I was just disappointed with how it's going so far.

Well, now I've had a taste of the way great inventors must feel (40 attempts to invent WD-40, for example). I had a go at stringing up. There are problems. 1) The neck exits the top of the tin too far down (we're taking like 3/16", but it would make a big difference) from the lip, resulting in a rather high action 2) The bridge is therefore not tall enough to give a reasonable break angle over the "saddle" 3) I tried to anchor the strings to a couple of partially screwed in screws into the tin/bottom of the neck and I can't knot even the thinnest of my strings, it's bloody tough stuff 4) Tried to make a loop by doubling back the string on itself and melting it together. That didn't work, it didn't stick together and eventually the string just burned through. Tried making the loop by taping it with insulating tape - one pinged out overnight. Next idea would be tape + superglue. Or maybe epoxy. So, it looks like you might get your wish of ditching the Celebrations tin quicker than I expected. Tin #2 is a rather fetching pink old skool Quality Street tin. Oh, and I siliconed down my soundboard too, so I might need to make a new one of those too if it doesn't come away cleanly (my F-holes, sob). I think string anchoring will be my own personal WD-40. I'm hatching plans to make some kind of tailpiece. I'm also thinking of ditching the tin altogether and making it into an EUB. Got quite p'd off last night, but the old advice to "sleep on it" has made me feel a little better and got some perspective on the situation.

Welcome to the forum

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='226608' date='Jun 25 2008, 12:10 PM']I don't know if you remember the fruit bowl on my coffee table (actually I think it's a salad bowl) looks kind like [url="http://www.woodturneddreams.com/DREAMS%20018.jpg"]this[/url]. Well I'm looking at it and thinking that's what I'd use instead of a sweetie tin. Whack one of these on and while sticking to the ethos you elevated it's stature right off.[/quote] I don't know if that specific one would be deep enough to make a decent acoustic sound, but something of that nature would look pretty nice. Like I said, I'll get it working with the sweetie tin first, then see how it can be improved.

[quote name='Galilee' post='226510' date='Jun 25 2008, 10:21 AM']Lovely job on that headstock and neck. It seems a bit sad and incongruous now that it's all attached to a Celebrations tin (although I guess that is kind of the whole point). How theoretically feasible would it be to attach the neck to (say) the body of an acoustic guitar or similar?[/quote] Heh, he's done that too: [url="http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/practice.gif"]http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/practice.gif[/url] Personally, I think it looks daft though. I know what you're saying about the aesthetics though - I have looked at various alternatives for the "body". The version #3 one that the original guy made was with a big saucepan with the handles removed. A metal bowl of some sort would also be an alternative. The good thing about it is that the neck can easily be taken off and transplanted into something else - it's only held to the body at the bottom by a single screw. I'll get it working as is just now, but I suspect that it won't be all that loud acoustically. I've got an old skool Quality Street tin which is the same diameter but an inch or so deeper, which might help. I could always paint the tin... If the acoustic sound isn't up to much, I might just ditch the body entirely and make it an electric stick bass.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='226366' date='Jun 25 2008, 12:26 AM']Matt, I can totally see you sittin' on your front porch a playin' thayat thang. Ah yes I can [url="http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/07/36/39/image_339367.jpg"]see[/url] it now. [/quote] Yeah, with Cletus on drums and Billy-Bob on git-tar

Yep, that's my bass, I done gone branded it: So, this is the story so far: Next jobs - round the back of the neck, decide how to anchor the strings at the bottom, fabricate the bridge (rosewood blank is cut) then string it up and it should be acoustically finished. Flourishes after will be finishing, fitting an endpin and making it electric with piezo transducer pickups.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='225654' date='Jun 24 2008, 09:43 AM'][b]EssentialTension[/b] mentioned going through eBay [b]and/or [/b]PayPal. Is it possible to do both at the same time?[/quote] They're one and the same as far as I'm concerned - I am in the middle of a goods not received dispute at the moment - started it in eBay, but now I have to go to PayPal to see the updates. I suspect that if you pay for stuff with PayPal, the dispute ends up in PayPal.

That's the neck tapering done, shaping the back comes next but I think I should get hold of something useful like a spokeshave or a surform - I'll be sanding for the rest of my life with sandpaper alone! Tonight I went back to my youth for how to put my logo on the Doodle-bass. In keeping with the whole "home-made" vibe, I'm going to burn the logo into the wood with a soldering iron. Just like branding steers, eh? Yeehaw!