neepheid Posted November 30, 2008 Author Share Posted November 30, 2008 The progress I alluded to is that the neck is now attached to the body. Couldn't get out the road because of the bad weather so I just carved the neck pocket out by hand. I was a little overzealous so I had to shim the sides of the pocket with veneer and I had to level out the bottom with veneer because it was bloody concave. The problems you inherit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 As a little diversion, I decided to have a first go at cutting out a recess for my logo to do an epoxy inlay. It wasn't easy - the veneer breaks at the thin parts, but this might have been to do with the first veneering attempt I ever made and being a little stingy with the glue. I also broke one of my carving chisels I'll still do the test inlay, but I don't know if I'll do this on the actual bass, it's risky and difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh3184 Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 keep with the updates, this is amazing work! Inspiring, but also annoying as now I want a go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 What a bruiser of a bass. Definitely one to play while sat down as my shoulder hurts just looking at it. I bet it will sound great though. Keep us updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 It looks really meaty!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 2, 2008 Author Share Posted December 2, 2008 Started to mock up some of the nuts and bolts of the bass: 1. Machine head positioning 2. Initial nut shaping/slot marking 3. Mocking up string spacing And because I haven't fitted the machine heads yet, I had to conjure up a way of keeping the strings in place while I puddled about. Yay for scrap ply/MDF and clamps. Don't think this approach will be replacing machine heads any time soon... It's looking like I'm going to achieve that "Precision with an extra string grafted on" feel that I wanted. Once I get the back of the headstock veneered then I'll be able to bore the holes for the machine heads and get to work on some nut slotting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Cool! This may be a stupid question but.... Is it hard to get the intonation right on a bass? IE did you have to work out where the bridge goes, and where to cut into the nut etc etc all with complicated forumals? Or do you just stick them on in a straight line and try to set it up after? Perhaps there's a beginner's guide I would be better looking at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wotnwhy Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 it's getting closer! looking great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 2, 2008 Author Share Posted December 2, 2008 [quote name='cheddatom' post='343098' date='Dec 2 2008, 03:33 PM']Cool! This may be a stupid question but.... Is it hard to get the intonation right on a bass? IE did you have to work out where the bridge goes, and where to cut into the nut etc etc all with complicated forumals? Or do you just stick them on in a straight line and try to set it up after? Perhaps there's a beginner's guide I would be better looking at.[/quote] It's not too hard as long as you measure correctly. For bridge placement, you usually set your bridge saddles to nearly their maximum forward position (90-95% of total travel before they ping off the adjustment screws) and place the bridge such that the saddles sit at the appropriate scale length. To set intonation, the saddles will invariably need moved back from that point as the string thickness increases. Of course, nothing has been straightforward about this project - because of pre-drilled holes in the body which needed hiding I had to fit the bridge first, then I measured where the 24th fret would be from the bridge saddle and enlarged the neck pocket to suit - basically working in reverse As for nut spacing, the simple way is to simply put the outer strings a few mm in from the side then subdivide the remaining space for the number of strings. However this does not take the thickness of the strings into account and will feel (and look) uneven. You therefore compensate for the string lengths. As you can see in the pictures, the edges of the strings have the same space between them, the centres are not equidistant from each other as a result. There probably is a formula for it but I have a template that I use which I obtained from this ebay seller: norman_1957. He doesn't seem to have been active for a while though but you could contact him and see if he'll do another run of nut spacing templates - it's just a laminated card with diagrams for 4 and 5 string bass on one side, 6 and 7 string guitar on the other which show the spacing at increasing widths. Simply lay the nut blank at the appropriate width then mark on the positions indicated. Guesswork invariably leads to errors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Interesting! Ta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 9, 2008 Author Share Posted December 9, 2008 I've been working sporadically on this over the past week: 1. Maple veneer applied to the back of the headstock I got around the curve of the volute by using the foam out of an EMG box in a roll then squishing it down with a scrap of ply and a g clamp 2. Installed the machine heads Not happy with how the veneer turned out. You can't really see the problems in the photo above. I was impatient and only gave it a cursory flatten with a steam iron and due to running out of clamps (and not having one at the time which was deep enough, some ripples occurred in the veneer in the middle. I will try to slit them and re-glue them now that I have acquired some deep clamps. 3. Strung up and filed the nut slots I cut one slot too low, but the old superglue trick worked for now. I'll probably get another Tusq blank and redo it at some point. 4. Glued the filler into the control cavity Remember the cavernous cavity? This filler, carefully chosen to match the wood surrounding it will mean that the exposed bridge screw is covered and allow me to drill the holes for the through body stringing. 5. Made a truss rod cover Just like a flower press eh? It's a 3-ply cover made from zebrano/maple/zebrano veneer. This will make it approx. 1.8mm thick and ought to make it strong enough to do the job. I've tried to get a similar grain pattern in the top veneer to the headstock at that point, but it's a bit of a lottery so we'll see how it turns out. The poly pocket is to stop my caul from sticking to the piece - wood glue won't stick to it. So, things are progressing. It was a bit of a downer taking the bass to bits after it has been made up but needs must. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 9, 2008 Author Share Posted December 9, 2008 Couldn't resist finishing the truss rod cover off tonight. I think it's cute. Didn't manage to get the veneers to match up, but I'm not too bothered. Screws are temporary until I find some suitable countersunk ones. Yes I know they're off centre, that's because of the daft recesses for the truss rod nuts being off centre too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Nice going! I'm encouraged to see that you're forsaking the facilities of a professional luthiers bench worktop for your sitting room sofa! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh3184 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 looks pretty flippin decent to me! Good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 Cool!! It's looking great - my kind of bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashevans09 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Looking absolutely awesome mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 [quote name='josh3184' post='350310' date='Dec 9 2008, 11:43 PM']looks pretty flippin decent to me! Good work![/quote] +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 13, 2008 Author Share Posted December 13, 2008 (edited) Thanks a lot for all your kind words. I've been pottering around with some random things: 1) sanded flush the zebrano filler and test mounted the BTC system 2) mocked up knobs and pickups As you can see, I've been experimenting with different knobs (fnar) - the standard plastic EMG ones (the singles) and a gloss black metal dome (the concentric). To be honest, I don't like either The black metal one is too shiny and the EMGs just look a bit cheap. Maybe some dark wood ones instead? Edited December 13, 2008 by neepheid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 13, 2008 Author Share Posted December 13, 2008 Also I decided that I dislike the way the neck heel pokes out of the body by about an inch - the perils of bringing together parts which were not designed for one another) Therefore I decided to reprofile the neck heel to suit: It's still rough - the bulk of the excess material is removed but it's a case of sanding it down to match the rest of the neck. Right now the amount of sawdust I'm creating is the reason it's called the "dusty end" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 13, 2008 Author Share Posted December 13, 2008 The knob conundrum is complicated by the concentric pot, the choices of stack knob out there isn't exactly awe-inspiring. 1) Matt finish Fender 2) Fender Deluxe Jazz 3) Hipshot O-ring 4) Standard Black Barrel 5) Mini barrel I'm thinking that rosewood knobs would look great, but most of them seem to be push fit (no good) and I haven't found anyone who does wood stack knobs. Bah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Roger at THG Knobs [url="http://www.thgknobs.com"]www.thgknobs.com[/url] will make stacked knobs out of a choice of woods. I have a set on my Jackson and they're just the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 I like those hipshot o-rings! Great work so far mate! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 15, 2008 Author Share Posted December 15, 2008 [quote name='7string' post='353894' date='Dec 13 2008, 09:33 PM']Roger at THG Knobs [url="http://www.thgknobs.com"]www.thgknobs.com[/url] will make stacked knobs out of a choice of woods. I have a set on my Jackson and they're just the job.[/quote] Thanks for the link, that's just what I was looking for. Could be pricey though, might have to stick the EMG supplied ones on for now while I mull it over. In other news, I bored out the holes for through body stringing last night. In order to save a tiny amount of weight on this rather heavy body, I bored them the width of the ferrules top to bottom instead of boring from the top the width of the fattest string then boring the recess for the ferrule from the back to the depth of the ferrule. Minuscule difference, but a difference nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjb Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 (edited) I vote for the hipshot O-Rings because...well, why not? Great work. Edited December 15, 2008 by rjb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh3184 Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 anything more? enjoying this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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