Rexel Matador

Yeah , it might well be a viable solution. I do like a string through.

I'd read that that's unadvisable when using flats. Is it different for tapewounds?

It's all been said already but let me add to it - absolutely beautiful piece of work!

I wish I had more to tell you, but I haven't had much free time. Here are some pieces of wood. The slab of walnut on the left will become the wings. One of those pieces of maple carefully resawn in half and planed might just suffice for the two outer laminates, but I'll probably end up using both to be safe, as I don't know how much I'll lose in getting them ready for gluing up. The thinner pieces I cut off can be laminates in a future neck. There's going to be some kind of arrangement of maple and walnut veneer in between as well. I was going to split the purpleheart into two thinner stripes, but I quite like the look of it running down the middle. I think it'll be ok, grain-wise. Purpleheart goes a horrible colour when freshly planed, I found out today. Apparently it comes back over time. And the ebony board came with a big crack in it (bottom left), so I've asked for a replacement. That said, I'm pretty sure I can just about work around it. PS, sadly, that's not flame on the maple, just rough saw marks! I've started the sawing and planing and the next time I get a couple of hours of garage time, hopefully the neck blank can be glued up. Still buzzing (ironically) about not having to do frets this time. It's going to be the smoothest shiniest ebony fingerboard ever. I'm thinking of trying tapewound strings, just out of curiosity. I really wanted gold ones (flatwound or tapewound, purely for aesthetic reasons), but I can't find them in medium scale. And it would be ridiculous to fundamentally alter the design and playability of the bass just to accommodate strings chosen purely for their colour, right? In any case, black tapewounds will look (and hopefully sound) pretty cool. Sometimes I worry my build diaries are too much diary, not enough build!

Interesting! I was just trying to decide what value tone cap to put in the bass I'm building. It never occurred to me I could have them all!

Before I got into building basses from scratch I did a bit of modding. I defretted my old Ibanez SR300 just for the hell of it - turned out pretty well. I don't have it anymore but the fretless itch has returned of late... Also early in my bass journey I got an absolute gem of a MIM Fender P bass in Olympic white. Then decided I needed a Squier Matt Freeman in black as a backup. I bought a Seymour Duncan QP and an EMG GZR, tried both in both basses and ended up having to admit that the stock pickups were absolutely fine. The Fender in particular - that bog standard stock P pickup that came with it is one of the best I've ever heard. After that I decided, how hard can refinishing be? The Squier body was a write off, so the neck is now on a cheap and super light pawlonia body, which is great for long gigs. The fender is now surf green with a mint pickguard and white pickup cover - I love it, but it's way too heavy for me these days.

They just need a bit of discipline, they'll figure it out...

Sounds like the 12th fret might be a little too high. You'll want to check to see if it's just that fret or if the whole lot could do with being levelled. It's a job for a professional really unless you want to invest in a few specialist tools and a lot of practice!

String her up!

Thanks again, much appreciated. I get it in theory now, so as long as my soldering skills are up to the task, it should be all good!

It won't have a pickguard, so presumably I should put shielding in the pickup cavities and have wires running from there to the grounding point in the main cavity too? Does it actually have much effect given that they're not enclosed, as it were?

Yep - ground everything to a single point on the copper shielding. Got it. Much appreciated!

Just edited my post to include it - brain hasn't fully woken up yet!

Hi all, I'm building a bass with PJ pickups. I want it to have a stacked master volume/tone pot and a blend pot (to save space). I have found a wiring diagram, but I'm still struggling to understand where all those grounds are supposed to go. The diagram doesn't include the bridge ground wire. I also intend to shield the cavity with copper tape, and that will need to be connected to ground too, right? If someone could explain it to me like I'm a 5-year-old, that would be much appreciated. If I'm going to keep building basses, I really need to figure this stuff out. I'm determined not to do my usual thing of just using EMGs because it's all done for you! Edit: forgot to post the diagram...

You could go with an old school pickup cover!

That bass puts me in mind of a pig roasting on a spit. Something about the finish plus those weird little teats either side of the bridge.

Doctor said my blood pressure's a bit on the high side. I'm too stressed out and need to fret less. I assume this is what she was talking about. Now that my last build is done and dusted (https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/481418-medium-scale-neck-through-build/), it's time for the next one. I'm making another one the same, BUT... this one will be fretless. The neck will be maple and purpleheart this time, the wings will be walnut and the fingerboard will be ebony. I'm deliriously happy about being able to finish a project without even touching a piece of fretwire. I might add a J pickup too for some fun Jaco tone options. Still waiting on some of the wood, so pics will have to wait sadly, but the ritual of starting this thread mentally commits me to actually doing it! I like the idea of using a different hardware finish for this one (ie gold or black), but I suspect that chrome will look best with the wood choices. I'm happy with the body shape and was hoping to keep it the same so they can be twins, but I might have to rethink it and extend the lower horn. It's will be a long time before this bass sees a stage as I have to actually learn to play fretless first, meaning I'll probably be mostly playing it seated and in it's current shape it just slips off my leg!

I really like the look of the sanded back top and the still finished sides - it looks like binding - you could go dark on the top with stain or paint to emphasise that contrast

An 8x10 cab. Overkill for almost all gigs, hugely cumbersome to move around, and impossible to sell on for those same reasons. I ended up using the speakers to make a couple of smaller cabs though, so all was not lost. All that said, on the rare occasions that I did get to use it, it was pretty epic.

Hard to say, I suppose - they're too far away to make out what they're doing.

I'd definitely go and see that if they put it on without the sh*t soundtrack and what appears to be four very expensive ants dancing around in a petri dish just below the screen.

I did think about having something like this, but I'm pretty set on a totally unsullied ebony fingerboard now. I feel a build diary coming on...

Thanks all, I feel emboldened in my decision now - just the dots it is!

I've found everything I've come across that's been generated by AI, whether visual, audio, written, whatever, to be deeply, deeply, unpleasant. There may come a time where I can't tell the difference, and then I suppose it won't matter. But for now - ugh... no.