Finished! A Bridge Too Far?

[samhay]

If you are really tight on space, you could split the control cavity.
You could put the controls on the other side of the bridge (so you could see them with the bass on) and run the wires to the 'existing' cavity, perhaps via the pickup route.
As the buffers would go before the controls, these would be low impedance, so shouldn't pick up much/any noise.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='samhay' timestamp='1491307833' post='3271974']
If you are really tight on space, you could split the control cavity.
You could put the controls on the other side of the bridge (so you could see them with the bass on) and run the wires to the 'existing' cavity, perhaps via the pickup route.
As the buffers would go before the controls, these would be low impedance, so shouldn't pick up much/any noise.
[/quote]
An interesting thought...

Thanks for your interest and input, samhay

[samhay]

No problem - it's easy to come up with ideas when you don't have to implement them yourself!

[Andyjr1515]

And here's a first go at the cross-section to work out the constraint parameters in terms of top and back curvature:



What it confirms is that there is only room for two pots plus a barrel jack socket. BUT, Artec do a mini-pot concentric so this can cover blend, master volume, master tone and jack in the three positions above.

It also does confirm that the machining and carving is going to need to be sub-mm accuracy

Note that the inset fretboard is the same radius as the body at 20"...in fact [i]is [/i]the body....I have ideas whirring around in my head Never a good thing

[Andyjr1515]

Well....all being well, sawdust will be starting within the next week or so. My workspace is almost sorted and...I have all the wood:




It's a bit sobering that you could buy a very nice Classic Vibe or Epi Thunderbird for the price of the raw timber in this picture....



....especially if it does indeed end up on the barbecue

Last design issue to solve, now I have the body thickness sorted, is the hidden magnetic p/up.

[JPJ]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1491399722' post='3272723']

It also does confirm that the machining and carving is going to need to be sub-mm accuracy

[/quote]

and don't forget the extra millimetre or so for sanding

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='JPJ' timestamp='1491403753' post='3272765']
and don't forget the extra millimetre or so for sanding
[/quote]
Yes - I think it will be a case of doing the major stuff and then sanding [i]down[/i] to the sub-mm target

There are truly so, so many things that can go disastrously wrong on this build... It's great - just my kind of project

[Andyjr1515]

Well, still loads of design things to sort but wood has started to be cut and glued!

I got some excellent quality maple and ebony inner splices from David Dyke. Here they are being glued up:





I only have a thicknesser, so squaring up - easy on a planer-thicknesser (which is designed for that job) - has to be done first by handplane to square it all up and then skimmed back through the thicknesser to get the finish and flatness. I've taken especial care on this one because, if I can, I'd like to get a second (smaller) neck out of the billet - decent quality timber is eye-wateringly expensive!

I'm pleased with the result - it's like this on both sides :

Edited April 9, 2017 by Andyjr1515

[Andyjr1515]

First real test of the new bandsaw (The 250 sized Axminster Hobby one. Would love to have gone to the next one up - a leap in precision and capability - but this one was the largest I could find that would fit in my very limited cellar work-space. Having said that, it's MUCH better than the trusty old entry-level Clarke I've been using) - cutting out the neck profile:



The flat datum is the length of neck that the fretted part of the fretboard will sit on. The 'wobble' you can see is where the frets end and the neck will be gently radiused to allow for some string/body clearance at the playing position - quite important as it is a thru-fretboard. The fretboard will be bent and clamped just aft of the 24th fret position...

[Andyjr1515]

This is where the two body sections will fit:




There is a huge amount of offcut waste on an offset shape, especially when you are also bookmatching the figuring. Mind you, it means plenty of sycamore blocks to try to cut out a decent control chamber cover

[Andyjr1515]

With the magic of Photoshop, it will fit something like this:

[W1_Pro]

Challenging build that Andy. In the immortal words of David St Hubbins 'I'm sure you'll pull through with great aplomb'
Looking forward to seeing this develop.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='W1_Pro' timestamp='1491762850' post='3275222']
Challenging build that Andy. In the immortal words of David St Hubbins 'I'm sure you'll pull through with great aplomb'
Looking forward to seeing this develop.
[/quote]
Thanks, Stuart Are you sure he didn't say, "I'm sure you'll produce a bass that plays a bit like a plum!"

[mixingwithtom]

AJR ... the Netflix of Basschat, totally addictive builds! Can't wait to see how this turns out!! 😄

[Andyjr1515]

[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'

[Andyjr1515]

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....

[Andyjr1515]

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!

Edited April 13, 2017 by Andyjr1515

[Stylon Pilson]

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.

Edited April 13, 2017 by Stylon Pilson

[TheGreek]

I [s]stole the idea[/s] was inspired by the Ritter Concept basses - there doesn't seem to be any reported issues with them. I'll let you know.

[Andyjr1515]

[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

[Andyjr1515]

[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

[TheGreek]

Strangely enough I was just checking this while practicing. The bridge on my Bass Collection sits too far back to be level with my hip so, as Andy says, it's well clear.

Saves on the surgery...

Edited April 13, 2017 by TheGreek

[Andyjr1515]

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!

Edited April 13, 2017 by Andyjr1515

[Andyjr1515]

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!

[Paul S]

Good for players with small hands.