Dom in Dorset Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 (edited) having played a lot of music festivals as an "also ran" I have come to the conclusion that lugging my expensive and heavy Fender around through muddy fields is too much like hard work. So I'm building a new bass. Light weight Cheap relatively disposable Fairly compact I've come up with this body shape: I started with a precision shape, lopped off the lower horn, cut off anything beyond the bridge, took a 2-3" strip out of the center line then trimmed the upper horn. I'm using plywood (my fretless has a plywood body and I have no complaints) because I have some sitting around. Eventually I will rout out the centre of the body to reduce the weight and to enable me to mount all of the electronics on the scratch plate. I'll probably go for jazz pickups at first but I intend to make a series of scratch plates with other pick up configurations. Edit: it's just occurred to me that I have a piezo bridge, the first scratch plate might well be a faux acoustic one. Edited July 13, 2012 by Dom in Somerset Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom in Dorset Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 I've done some routing and contouring. I'm going to paint it black. the body cavity will also have a screw connector so that I can quickly disconnect the earth or piezo bridge should i wish to change the scratch plate/pickups. The weight of this body is 1.5kg or 3 1/4 lb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom in Dorset Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 I tend to play with my right fore arm flopped over the back end , Entwistle style, this will eliminate just about any neck dive + I have done a test (before routing) with the neck in place with a strap and it did hang nicely. I think having the upper horn , thus moving the centre of balance out to about the 12th fret seems to take care of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom in Dorset Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 (edited) Things have moved on a little; I still haven't made any scratch plates for it yet, the fist one will just have a sound hole and output for the piezo, I'm going to try to use an eq pedal as an outboard pre-amp.You can see the choc block inside that will allow the change of scratch plates , the earth (and piezo) connects through that. It won't see much action until next year so the P bass scratch, the Jazz will have to wait. I'm going to try to sneak it into the car for this year's holiday. I can't find my Newton's spring scales thingy so no weight for you just yet. Edited July 30, 2012 by Dom in Somerset Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Nice work, looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Amazing! Are there pics of the build? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apa Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I realy like this one mate. Those cut outs and the chamfers with the matt black realy works Nice job. Self contained scratch plates with diff pickups is a nice touch. Nothing to plug in as such, just fix in place and off you go. Maybe 3 twist clips to hold it in place and for quick swap? A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom in Dorset Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 (edited) [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1343672399' post='1753521'] Amazing! Are there pics of the build? [/quote] Er... I thought I already showed them? The only thing of any significance I haven't shown were modifying the headstock to make it a 3+1 and hours of faffing about with sandpaper and spray paint. Apa - nice idea, if I can think of a neat way of doing it without too much fuss I might go for it. I only envisage changing it a couple of times a year, jazz bass in summer and P in winter (it's nice to have a P to hand in the studio or for pit band stuff.) I must admit the pictures are quite flattering, I could have done a better job but the whole idea was to be cheap and disposable , I reached a point where I didn't want to spend any more time and money on something that will be played until it falls apart then recycled as a future project (or lost in festival mud) Edited July 31, 2012 by Dom in Somerset Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 (edited) I made a bass pre using this circuit: [attachment=114529:6-band-graphic-equaliser-circuit-using-741-op-amp-bass-treble-control.jpg] The 330K resistor needs to be substituted for a 10k(ish) and you can take out the bands that you don't want - I just used 500Hz, 1.6K and put a switch between the caps to add 7KHz too. Fits on a tiny piece of overboard too. Also, you can sub the 741 op amp with a TL071 for MUCH less noise and improved frequency response. Have fun. Edited July 31, 2012 by paul_5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apa Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 There are lots of different types of quick release clip type things, just google it. However Im thinking press studs . They will look quit cool instead of screw heads. Low profile for slipping the plate under the strings. You can screw the male bit onto the body etc etc. You can get them in various sizes and strengths. If you want the low strength clips then go for the habidashery type ones but if you want the full strength, break out in a sweat with your foot for leaverage, type then go to a Chandlers for the type they use on boat covers. They come in pretty colours to A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom in Dorset Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Thanks Apa, I'll check them out. Thanks Paul, I'll keep the diagram for future use, however the cheapo Behrigner EQ pedal works a treat! It dosen't sound much like an acoustic bass but might well be very useful as it is now. i'll try it with the band ASAP. This is the wiring scheme that I went with for this incarnation of the MFSAFB: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 (edited) [quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1343733583' post='1754266'] Er... I thought I already showed them?[/quote] That's not a build! That's a pic of a piece of wood and then a pic of the finished bass! More or less. [quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1343733583' post='1754266'] The only thing of any significance I haven't shown were modifying the headstock to make it a 3+1 and hours of faffing about with sandpaper and spray paint.[/quote] That's the build! That's what we wanted to see! We're geeks! Edited July 31, 2012 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom in Dorset Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 (edited) Sorry mate! Lets try a visualization exercise : "close your eyes, relax...imagine a headstock, now take the machine heads off, saw a chunk off the end, neaten it up with a surform and sand paper, dismantle one of the machine heads and re-assemble it so that it turns in the opposite direction, agonize for hours over where exactly on the headstock to drill the new hole, drill the new hole,paint headstock, fit machine heads...." Maybe it is better with pictures. I hope the wiring picture makes up for it. As for the body that was about it, cut it out , rout, sand and paint. Edited July 31, 2012 by Dom in Somerset Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 [quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1343753284' post='1754674'] Sorry mate! Lets try a visualization exercise : "close your eyes, relax...imagine a headstock, now take the machine heads off, saw a chunk off the end, neaten it up with a surform and sand paper, dismantle one of the machine heads and re-assemble it so that it turns in the opposite direction, agonize for hours over where exactly on the headstock to drill the new hole, drill the new hole,paint headstock, fit machine heads..." Maybe it is better with pictures. As for the body that was about it, cut it out , rout, sand and paint.[/quote] Hnnnngggg!! (Makes huge effort) ...Bah! No, it's no good, I can't see it. Bum goblins! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommorichards Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 so hows this bass worked out for you then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom in Dorset Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 Sorry I missed your last comment... it's had a fair bit of use, the only downside is that the strings are quite high above the body (but not the neck) it's a little heavy going to play. It's being recycled, see "Drunken Ebay Purchase thread" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommorichards Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Ahh. Just to let you know, that i too soon plan on making a bass along these lines, as i have too many pickups and i wanna try them all. Did you end up making several scratchplates for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom in Dorset Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 I only made a precision plate in the end, I think if I'd made the body thicker and thus reduced the height of the strings I would have persuid it further. If I did it again I'd start with a standard bass body , chop bits of and rout stuff out., looking forward to seeing your take on this idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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