Andyjr1515

Yesterday an exciting package arrived from Portugal. It means I can steam ahead on the build next week : The 20" templates for my G&W radius jig; a template for the G&W fretcutting mitre jig (the last couple of shortscale boards I've done I marked the positions by hand, but I am increasingly asked about short and medium scale basses so it was worth getting the template); finally, a piece of maple strip put into the package to stop the template getting bent...and which will make @Fishman very happy! The other thing that @Matt P and I have been discussing is the neck to body transition. Of the various options, Matt's preference is a mix of this, below, his present 5-er (no pressure, then, MrAndyjr1515!!!!) : ...and this, a stock Bing photo that I can't remember who the builder/maker is so apologies and thanks if it's you!: So basically, a continuation of the neck thickness until it meets the body at the lower horn cutout, and probably a continuation of the neck profile curve along that length, as with the bottom photo, rather than flattening off from the neck spline to the upper body as in the top photo. Should be a good week I will also be ordering the SimS 5-string Superquad during next week, so everything is starting to get pretty serious

Lovely job. Interesting concept exceptionally well executed

Looks great - very individual How does it sit when playing? I'm guessing that it is very comfortable Any chance of a shot of the body more face on to avoid the lens distortion? I stand on the dining table for some of my shots. MrsAndyjr1515 is always delighted, as you can imagine

Lovely job

The radius templates from G&W in Portugal are due later today and this morning is an important stage in the build - it is where is starts looking like a bass It's too early to cut the taper, but while I still have a flat profile to act as a datum on my bandsaw, it is the ideal time to cut the side profile of the neck: The pencilled line is where the heel will be on the treble side; the cut is where the heel is on the bass side - and we have a few choices how we handle this. I'll find out from @Matt P offline what he prefers before outlining what it will be like. Then I looked at the options for the orientation of the back oak wings which are cut from one piece and so grain-match either side of the neck: And concluded this would work best: So back to the bandsaw, and making allowance for the c2mm purpleheart separation strips cut them out a few mm oversize: And so, as I said at the beginning...it's starting to look like a bass

I like the sound of this, @Merton Will be watching with great interest. And somehow, I'd missed @MattW 's build. It's lovely

That's gorgeous!

It's this: From Guitars and Woods (G&W) in Portugal. The basic set-up with one set of radii (to your choice) is a reasonable cost although the additional radius plates are quite expensive. The new Mk 4 with the bearings is better than this one which sticks a little, but this is still pretty good. Ends up quite expensive if you don't own one of the 3-4 types of palm router that it fits already, of course... You still need around 10 mins sanding with a block to take out the rout lines and you do get loads of ebony chips...but not the dust except for that last 10 mins.

It's only a bit more practice that separates us... @Matt P is going for 20" radius and - based on that hand radiusing ebony is a quick very slow way to insanity - I've ordered a couple of extra radius templates for their wonderful radius routing jig. In the meantime, I routed the slot for the trussrod: And, based on the fact that for all the 'nice-to-haves', the one 'must-be-able-to', is that it must be able to fit in the Hiscox case, a quick check: Phew! I will be pondering a while to make sure I haven't forgotten anything before I cut anything, but I'm pretty sure I can cut the side profile of the neck now...

That looks splendid @3below

Lovely!

Normal stuff - as I can't think of anyone else who builds like this, don't assume it's the way it should be done! I cut the notch in the neck blank using the router in a home-made thicknessing rig: So I end up with a rebate like this: Which, relatively shortly, will be glued to the top like this: ...and eventually will be covered by the fretboard like this: Time for a cup of tea, I reckon

Lots of 'measure 6 times, cut once' bits today Having worked out the best orientation for the neck blank, it was a case of: positioning the top; marking where the top will be sunk into the neck blank and thus where the rebate needs to be cut; establishing the bridge position on that top; measuring and marking where both the front edge and back edge of the nut is going to be. Next was measuring the headstock angle from the back edge of the nut: Then, after checking the measurements 5 more times...cutting it Mockup number 2, checking that I've got it right: And yes - it is in the right place, giving me a flat surface for the bottom of the nut when the time comes. Next job is routing (yes - I know. I mightily hate routers - but this is one job where they are darned hard to beat!) the rebate in the neck blank that the top will drop into, leaving it flush with the top of the neck. All going well, that will be this afternoon As always, thanks for looking, folks

Excellent! Well done @andyonbass

^ What he said x2

The purpleheart has been trimmed so the top is pretty much ready to fit - although there is a great deal to be done before that. These are the three dampened woods - walnut, purpleheart and oak: And here is the first of many mockups

Yes, although I will probably make that a mm or so thinner

Spent a happy morning making lots of noise with the Makita thicknesser. First was slimming and narrowing the through-neck blank to thickness and width for the next steps. After that was slimming down some purpleheart splices that will become the demarcation between the walnut top and the oak back wings. The main pieces of purpleheart were then cut, oversize, ready for gluing. The final couple of pieces of purpleheart will be cut when the rest are glued on so I don't end up with any cumulative dimension changes once they are all glued: And the gluing of those pieces is underway...what was that old adage about clamps...hmmm can't quite remember. It's on the tip of my tongue

I'm pretty sure it's a welded one. That said, I would give it 1/4 turn loosening first, just in case it's gummed up, and then tighten back up and carry on to the adjustment you are aiming for. Then you know it's free and working. Given that the photo shows a definite flat, you should be able to use the same modified key in the future.

It's out of the clamps and with a quick scrape to get the glue off, it's ready to go through the thicknesser in the morning once everything is at its full strength. This is the other side to the above photo - quite pleased that the sections, held flat against the bench clamp supporting tubes are lined up nicely...and it's actually square to the sides! : The other side is a bit of a dogs dinner at the moment (no - I'm not going to post the photo...think Pal with a bit of Winalot and a few spoons of last night's left-over gravy ), but with this side being flat, square and straight, a couple of passes through the thicknesser in the morning will get me the ready-to-use blank The purple of the purple heart will come out properly once the light has got to it and the finish is on (when you cut and scrape it, it actually starts off brown). Good job there's a lot of timber to be cut away from this - the blank is currently 7lbs 6oz...which is heavier than the final bass is going to be

I glue the splices one face at a time - I find there's too much floating around of wood on glue to do all 6 faces (or even 2!) at a time First one - I am using the two thicker outer sections of maple as my main clamping cauls (they are also protected from the clamps by some plywood packers) and the name of the game is to have squeeze-out all along the length. I'm using the two bench clamps either end and then as many G or screw clamps as necessary in between: ...and a few hours later, the last one is curing in the clamp: I will leave this all to fully set overnight, then in the morning start cleaning and squaring it up ready to rout the slot in the top surface where the walnut top will slot.

Hi @andyonbass I can't be sure, but that looks like the type of trussrod where the nut is welded to the rod and so can't be removed. In fact, it looks a bit like this type, where the adjustable nut itself is inside a fixed outer metal cylinder: The good news is that there are still distinctly visible facets and so an allen key shape, if it was the size of the slightly enlarged hole, will have enough purchase to turn the nut. While the Torx option is often a good thing to try, I agree - you need something allen key shaped to get into that very restricted space, so I think the filed-down allen key is a decent option (incidentally, if you do have a set of imperial sized allen keys, often they are a few 1/10ths of a mm larger or smaller than the metric ones and sometimes you can hit lucky with one that is just enough bigger...) You don't need to be super accurate with the faces - you just need it to be small enough to get into the chamber and jam itself against one of the flatter faces when you turn it. Start with an allen key 0.5mm bigger than the original one. It takes a bit of patience - the metal is HARD, especially the outer layer - but I use just a fine needle file (the diamond one shown is from Hobbycraft - a set is dirt cheap and they are remarkably good!). Here's one I've done that way that I use for a similar problem. This is about 0.1mm bigger than the next 0.5mm smaller key in my set :

Hooray....Mafeking has been relieved....the wood's arrived! And the gluing of the sections will start this very day This is how it should look when it's all together: Purple heart in the middle, walnut stringers either side, maple everywhere else So by the weekend, we should have a neck glued and cut and the top demarcation purpleheart bonded, ready for the top to be glued to the neck

@Hellzero is absolutely right about this, @bagsieblue. Holding a wire against a contact just doesn't cut the mustard with bass and guitar electrics. I know, because I've tried that myself in the past It is also correct that the contacts 2-3 bridge is essential and that on the original circuit board this will be happening within the board. It should be a 2 min job to solder the contact bridge, @bagsieblue . If not already done, it's worth doing it because I'm pretty sure that, all else being correct to @Hellzero 's description, it should work. The series /parallel switch, by the way, often doesn't produce a huge amount of a tonal difference, but you should hear a volume difference through an amp or see it through a DAW wave-form. In terms of split coil, tapping the poles lightly with a steel screwdriver or similar when the bass is plugged in should tell you which rows of poles are connected and which are shorted out.

While I rate most of Artec's products highly, the DiMarzio Model One is the kiddie - and some -in terms of sound. I fitted one on Pete's EB-3 tribute and it blows your pants off when he plays it.