Andyjr1515

Well, @scrumpymike and I have been discussing this for months and, based on the fact that the best way to accelerate progress is to kick off a build thread, here is the thread. Do you remember this? @scrumpymike's Rascal: ...that he wanted me to re-body? Mike loved the sounds and the switch options and the neck...but couldn't get on with the sheer bulk of the body shape. So, using timber from the last tree that his life-long-lumberjacking friend Merv cut down before he retired, I rebodied it to produce this: ..which, happily, he loves. Now, although the mod was made to be fully reversible, Mike tells me that there is no way that he is ever going to do that. So what to do with the left over body... Indeed. And that's where this project comes from. There's not a lot more to add - yet

I prefer 'round the contour' if I'm likely to be adjusting things on the fly, particularly if there are more than 3 knobs - maximum space and least chance of getting the wrong knob! If you are not likely to adjust on the fly it's just down to personal preference.

Stunningly good

No difference at all between two piece or three piece or even five piece.

I've done both. In some cases I've played them and then split them up to use bits in other projects. In other cases, I've sold them complete. In other cases I've resold the sellable components and scrapped my bits So it depends, really. Worth bearing in mind that 'homebuilts' don't command good prices, however good the components that are in them. A good neck is a good thing to have. If it was me, and I was ready to move on from the build I'd already done, I build something even better with it.

You beat me to it, Paul. It doesn't look like any that I've used (which include both the modern Model P's but also 1970s/80s versions). Of course, doesn't mean they are no good.... Andy

That's looking really nice. When the final finish is on, that colour is going to look fabulous. I also think the pickup position looks fine...

That is so, so good @honza992

OK. No probs Let me know the vital stats of the VI and I'll check it against the Rascal. Having said that, the answer to your original question I'm pretty sure is yes - it is unlikely, given a bit of work and ingenuity, that you couldn't make one out of the other. In the meantime ref our own project..hmmm...Bronco bass neck...that might work...

Or...if you are replacing the Squier VI neck, we might be interested...

@Dosi Y'Anarchy - ref your original post...they look identical. Do you have a bass VI? If so, take some measurements and I'll check them against @scrumpymike 's actual Rascal body that I happen to have in the workshop You talk about Squier Bronco replacement neck...have you ever seen those around for sale? We are looking for a 21 fret 30"scale neck to fit onto the Rascal body but they are like finding hen's teeth!

Calling @scrumpymike. Want to join the discussion?

Very neat work. Looks the business.

Beautiful

Only just spotted this (I know, I know...) Yes - count me in

No experience in either metal guitars (although I did used to be in the aluminium industry) or ABS, @GisserD , but, from a strength point of view, this would be more than strong enough. Significantly so. With this type of sandwich, as long as you could stop the ABS / Ali laminations sliding across each other and allowing the whole structure to bend, 3mm aluminium sheet or even thinner would, I suspect, be more than adequate. Are we talking pure aluminium or an alloy? Worth bearing in mind that the body and wingskin of a modern airliner is less than 2mm. I also would have thought that this would be exceedingly heavy, but if your CAD says that for the finished body, then presumably it's going to be there or thereabouts. I don't know what the strength of ABS is compared with, say, nylon, but I suspect that alone would be strong enough. All you need, to be honest, is enough rigidity between the neck joint and the bridge (and a decent way of firmly fixing the two to the body) and the rest is just a convenient place to hang the pickups and controls. Fascinating - watching with interest

Osmo is great as a satin finish - and yes...they indeed do tinted versions, but I would be tempted to stain it with a proper spirit stain and then put a clear finish over that (Osmo, Tru-oil, nitro, poly - they will all go over OK. Reason for me saying that is that tinted finishes tend to having the colour sitting on top of the wood and it is difficult to get a depth of colour or, sometimes, evenness. With a proper wood stain, you can experiment until you are happy with it and then seal it in your chosen clearcoat finish. I would recommend the trial pack of Chestnut Spirit Stains (the wood colour ones - they also do a poster-colour pack but they won't be any good for what you are after) available from Axminster here: https://www.axminster.co.uk/chestnut-spirit-stain-trial-packs-ax24498 Used carefully, each small bottle would easily do a whole guitar so this pack will last you years of multi-coloured builds! There are a number of colours amongst them that would do what you are after. You can also mix them, either together, or by doing a coat of one and then overlaying a coat of another. Bear in mind that the actual colour will be majorly affected by the colour and porosity of the wood so it's useful to have a colour spectrum to get the right effect. When staining, the colour as applied and still wet is a useful guide to how it will look when the clear finish has been applied. When it dries it will look a different shade. To double check the final colour once it has dried, just wipe over with a damp (not wet) cloth. For what you have described, on Maple, light oak and light mahogany will give the brownish/pinkish tinges and yew the yellow/orange tones - but there are plenty of other colours.

Looks the business. Immensely useful thing to have.

Wowzers!

That's come up nicely

I'm pretty sure that will work just fine

I'm no expert, but I would have thought so. What's the bass? In most/many cases with basses, the pre-amp is actually just a powered EQ and the pickups themselves are passive.

As Paul says in the original thread, it produced a really good sound in this instance but yes - probably, in general. Trouble is, presumably the concept is very low output with the EQ amplifying the sound to give the classic MM tones. If so, going passive is going to be a bit of a compromise whatever. But - and it's a big but - the SBMM might be completely different. I fitted a MM lookalike for someone another time and that was pretty high output - more like 10k. I suppose you really can't make assumptions. Let us know how you get on. Andy

That's going back a bit now, Paul @MoJoI spotted this because I had a vague recollection of there being an output strength issue with the EBMM pickup when converting the bass to passive. Now - I must say - the Ernie Ball and Music Man sites are very, very light on the technical (I suppose they don't want people fiddling with their admittedly excellent products) so I have no idea if this also applies to the SBMM version. If you want the full blow by blow, the thread is here: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/294193-paul-ss-sterling-5/#comments The issue was compounded by Paul's request to add a powerful Aguilar P-pickup into the equation but the MM pickup had an exceptionally low resistance (from memory less than 3kohm). I believe that it is basically a noiseless single coil and has a dummy coil to counteract the hum but that is only going from a hint on their website. Nevertheless, I had to wire the MM in series (it is in parallel when running through the active EQ) and that got the output to a level where a blend arrangement could be used to balance the two pickups in the middle position of the three way switch. I'm sure it was a bit of an offense against the original EBMM pickup design concept but, I have to say, it sounded brilliant! The SBMM might be completely different in all respects but the wiring convention to put the EBMM into series turned out to be: Red is hot White and black joined Green to ground Hope this helps

It might do - although probably scrapable off with a razor blade if it does. Also - although I've never tried it - I've seen people mask unstained areas with a carefully brushed coat of shellac which apparently acts as a decent barrier and which, itself, is easily removed with a blade or fine sandpaper.