Andyjr1515

[quote name='JPJ' timestamp='1492617388' post='3281694'] That tuner assembly is just crying out for a nicely carved piece of neck laminate in behind it 'wedge' fashion [/quote] [quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1492617519' post='3281698'] I wish you hadn't said that...planted all sorts of ideas in my head...I think you may be right. [/quote] I'm ahead of you both....already planned

Mick has sent me the neck profile measurements of his favourite player so that, as far as possible, I can replicate the general 'feel': Ahead of gluing anything together, I've also done some sketches to get my head around how the single-cut transition of the neck will work: In the meantime, I've done a bit of work to the neck - routing the truss rod slot and band-sawing the taper. Single cuts throw an interesting challenge ref the taper, more of which later when you see what I'm planning with the fretboard

Sims Custom have a pretty comprehensive price list on their web site that is useful for seeing where the pro shops are likely to see the cost / value. Shopping around over the years, pro jobs seem to be usually in the £200 - £350 range, for a standard job starting with a body pretty much ready to spray. Spray canning yourself can easily top £100 (plus the essential respirator PPE) if you are using decent supplier's products.

Ref your comments that weight has been an issue with a number of your previous builds, have you got any thoughts how to keep this one light?

[quote name='Joebethell' timestamp='1492525154' post='3280926'] Just a thought and might not be a good idea but have you seen the round individual coil pickups that were used by Gordon Smith(think it was the gypsy bass) so you could adjust each strings response. Maybe someone could replicate a version of this to give you adjustment with the coils closer to the string? [/quote] Yes - good thought and I did look at something like this as a fallback option. My conclusion was that, if I could get close enough with conventional I would go with that, but if I couldn't, then something of that nature would have been a worthy option to investigate. I think with the distances I am able to achieve, then conventional [i]should[/i] be fine.

The sound of steel on wood : ...and all of a sudden we have something that looks like a bass :

[quote name='Jabba_the_gut' timestamp='1492465004' post='3280543'] I've put the first coat of oil on, I'm quite pleased with how the colours have come out so far. [/quote] That is flippin' gorgeous!

Teal with no pickguard would be my choice. I love teal guitars and basses

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1492448477' post='3280336'] With my last build from Andy I couldn't wait for the next update...with this one I know that the more I wait, the closer I am to the finished product, whether it's because he's solving potential problems or manipulating wood... You boy!!...yes, you with the smutty mind!!...back of the class now!! [/quote]

OK - hidden magnetic pickup proven. Forgive the tatty softwood prototype, but this is broadly how the mini-humbucker would fit at the back, with a flush cover matching the neck splices: ...and then from the top without the fretboard fitted - and remember that the real one will have screw poles: Then for the fretboard - to cut a channel for the pole pieces to screw out without breaking through the fretboard top - the old carved archtop trick: Which means, even in this soft knotty pine, I can cut a slot within 1.5mm of the radiused fretboard top: So now imagine the pole-pieces have been raised 2-3mm, nestling in the slot just cut : ...and we have:[list] [*]A fretboard flush with the body carve [*]The main coil c. 7mm from the strings [*]The coil slugs c. 4mm from the strings [/list] I reckon that will do it

Final thing to sort before I start gluing and cutting properly is the hidden magnetic pickup. The challenge here is that the body is very thin to start with and gets thinner very quickly as you move away from the centre-line. Add to this the challenge of getting the coil as close to the strings as possible and you can probably see where I'm coming from. The original concept was this: I did some experiments with various metal bits (slugs and bars) laying across the top of the pickups of my fretless and came to a number of conclusions:[list] [*]Built-in adjustable slugs are better than close proximity metal as pictured above [*]If it IS separate, then a rectangular iron bar across the top of the pickup is better than individual slugs [*]All of the above do increase the volume, but you still need the coil itself to be as close as possible to the strings to get the tone as well. [*]The ideal pickup therefore needs to have adjustable slugs, be narrow and be slim [/list] So Mick's MEC, nice though it is, is probably not the one. Here's how wide and deep it is compared with, say, the mini pickup for an EB-3: It extends way past the width of the fretboard, reducing the maximum pickup height by a few mm, it is 28.5mm deep against 19.5mm of the mini humbucker (the body depth at the centre is likely to be 30mm max) and doesn't have adjustable slugs. My fear is that any advantage of a nice pickup would be lost - and some - by the extra distance it would be from the strings. My thoughts at the moment, if I can't find anything else, is to use the adjustable slug version of the above mini & that I fitted to Pete's EB-3 style build last year: The curve of the body top in the drawing below is exaggerated for illustrative purposes but I think it explains what I mean....: I'll do a bit more thinking and research and then bounce the options off Mick. And then it's SAWDUST TIME, FOLKS!!!!

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1492340273' post='3279479'] Just as a point of note, I'd make sure that the screw threads on the tuners are well lubricated, I used a copper grease. If it's anything like the Steinberger licenced ones on the Hohner Jack bass, they can get stiff and wear out eventually failing. I've fixed a few now using 4mm Helicoil type inserts into the sliders. These are stainless and will last forever. I'd consider doing this as a preventative measure, unless your bridge is very high quality like ABM where the sliders are brass. [/quote] Yes - good tip. One of the tuners is already suspiciously stiff when tightened any distance and I may need to run a die or tap along it in any case (I think it's a bit of powder-coat on the thread), but I'll grease them as you suggest

Back to your original request, the Les Paul style models that hit way, way above their weight are Harley Benton, Epiphone and Vintage. I would happily play those alongside many Gibsons, and definitely against some of the budget Gibsons I've owned and tried.

Waiting expectantly CNC engraving....this could be interesting

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1492186499' post='3278580'] For those reading the http://basschat.co.uk/topic/303895-euromillions-l86m-tonight/ thread, Andy DOESN'T CHARGE £7M PER BASS!! [/quote] Yes he does if the customer's just won the Euromillions

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1492173189' post='3278470'] I knew this wasn't it - it's fretless and I wanted fretted...you won't outsmart me that easily. [/quote] That made me laugh out loud

Back to reality - on something like this, it is well worth prototyping. You get to understand the best way to go about things and can 'design on the hop' way before allowing chisels, drills or routers anywhere near the precious body or neck wood. I was fully expecting for a 'back to the drawing board' moment but actually this[i] seems[/i] to work extremely well. Stringing up is a breeze - quicker than stringing up a standard bass:[list] [*]Feed the string through the back fretboard hole [*]Capture the ball in the tuner block with a couple of turns of the tuner [*]Feed string end through the headstock hole [*]Pull tight and clamp with the allen grubscrew [*]Bend over 90 degrees [*]Pop the double clamps on [*]Trim the excess string [*]Couple more turns of the tuner brings it up to pitch [/list] The other thing is how strong this arrangement seems to be:[list] [*]The strings simply pull the tuner block tight against the body blocks in line with the force - no vector angles involved [*]Likewise, the strings are simply trying to pull the back block through the headstock. [/list] The final advantage is that the headstock can be absolutely any shape at all. If all the above is true, I'm well chuffed. If you see the fatal flaw I've probably missed, please do let me know before I start cutting maple!

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1492168017' post='3278408'] Good for players with small hands. [/quote] That as well I reckon it's pretty close to Mick's original design brief. I always said to him that there may need to be compromises for practicality reasons but heck, it's: offset; white; light; eye-catching... What more could he possibly want? Miracles??

And out comes the hacksaw again : And we have two strings strung up! I would have been 4 but my pretend fretboard was too narrow Here's the tuner block: ...and here's the double clamp at the pseudo headstock: ...and here's the whole thing: So, just need to pop on a couple of strap-locks and a quick wipe-over with tru-oil and ship it off to Mick: job done I'm quite pleased and am sure that Mick will be. Didn't think I'd be able to get this close to Mick's original shape...and it's soooooooooo light!

Just to clarify (in that a picture is worth a thousand words), the ends of the tuner block here: Butt up against the blocks here: ...and these thus take up the whole of the string tension. This is much more secure and less strain on the fixing screws than most bass bridges... ...so at least [i]one[/i] thing on this build shouldn't fall off!

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1492102003' post='3278002'] If I've got it right (yes, quite!), then the way the bass hangs on the strap should mean that the block is well clear of Mick's hip [/quote] ...and if I haven't got it right, it's nothing that a bit of surgery on Mick couldn't cure

[quote name='Stylon Pilson' timestamp='1492097985' post='3277956'] With those tuners sticking out of the back of the body of the bass, are they going to be poking the player in the hip, or are they far enough to the edge that they are out of the way? S.P. [/quote] If I've got it right (yes, quite!), then the way the bass hangs on the strap should mean that the block is well clear of Mick's hip

Next step on the trial was shortening the tuner plate. Out came the junior hacksaw and this was the result: Then I recessed one of the pretend body 'wings' on the joining edge: You can probably see now why the tuner plate needed to be shortened - the upper surface of the wooden block represents the top of the body! What this does, though, is allow the body wings to become the end-stops for the bridge, and therefore the screws are then simply there to hold it in place and not the things that are holding the sting tension. Gluing the 'wing' to the neck assembly, this is how the tuners will sit (at the back of the bass): As can be seen here, there is still plenty of access to the ball-end pullers for stringing up and to the tuner fixing screws: On the same rig, I'm going to put the headstock clamp and a pretend acoustic saddle and 'string it up' After that - and I can probably use the same rig, is working out how to install a hidden magnetic pickup. Then I can start cutting and gluing wood and make Mick a bass! Watch this space!

In between some 'domestic' duties, I did a quick rig of the tuners arrangement to understand better the geometry, angles, access and fixing screw length restrictions. If you remember, the tuner block will be fitted at the back: I got a neck-width lump of wood (at this stage without any 'wings') and fixed the angles as drawn: Here it is from the top - once the wings are on pretty much 7/8ths hidden: Here is how it sits in cross-section: ...and here is the access to the fixing bolts or screws (yet to be decided) and the string ball-end carriers, two of them shown fully extended as if you were about to string up, and two in the playing position: I don't think I can bury the block any deeper because of the rapid reduction of fixing screw length that would result. Strung up (which I will try over the next few days), I think it would look OK, though. Bit more thinking to do and some hacksawing to come....

[quote name='wwcringe' timestamp='1491982730' post='3276865'] AJR ... the Netflix of Basschat, totally addictive builds! Can't wait to see how this turns out!! 😄 [/quote] Haha I'm in a 'thinking' phase at the moment. I'm pretty sure I have worked out the sequence of what needs to be done when,but best to let that simmer and come back to it in a couple of days to make sure there are no 'oh f**k' moments In the meantime, I will do a prototype of the tuner fixing and also a few 'little jobs on other things that have been waiting around'