New year, new build

[Rexel Matador]

Just now, Stub Mandrel said:

I'll be glad when the neck replaces that wonky stick 🙂

Me too!

[Rexel Matador]

Ok, no more wonky stick, it's done. It's a lovely looking thing but I bit off way more than I could chew with this one. I'm going back to basics for the next one for two reasons - a) to get a real sense of my progress since the first one and b) because I actually need another solid giggable bass!

Edited March 13, 2020 by Rexel Matador

[Pea Turgh]

Looks awesome!  What don’t you like about it then?

[Pea Turgh]

The headstock is brilliant - love that.

[Rexel Matador]

Just now, Pea Turgh said:

Looks awesome!  What don’t you like about it then?

Despite endless measuring and checking the strings weren't aligned correctly. As I couldn't really move the neck pocket, I had to move the bridge. You'll see it now I've pointed it out.

Secondly, the homemade pickups don't sound great (to be expected, I suppose, but I was lulled into a false sense of security/hubris, having made a P-Bass pickup that actually sounded quite good - beginners luck perhaps.

Also it's a bit buzzy - I have read everything there is to read about shielding, grounding etc, but it really seems to be something of a crapshoot for me - sometimes they turn out absolutely fine!

It's a strange feeling - I should be very proud of what I've achieved (and in a way, I am) - this is only the fourth bass I've built - but as you can imagine, I was really hoping to be happier with what I found when I plugged it in 😆

[durhamboy]

OK, not suggesting that you should aim to fool yourself, but this is a unique design with some experimental features. Consider it more of a prototype (it often takes a lot of tweaking, or several attempts to refine a new model) and take all the positives from it you can and all the things you regard as failings are things to learn from.

Yes, you should be proud, but also recognize that realizing the shortcomings of the build is important. It means you have a critical eye and approach. Which means your builds and skills should improve.  

[Rexel Matador]

2 minutes ago, durhamboy said:

OK, not suggesting that you should aim to fool yourself, but this is a unique design with some experimental features. Consider it more of a prototype (it often takes a lot of tweaking, or several attempts to refine a new model) and take all the positives from it you can and all the things you regard as failings are things to learn from.

Yes, you should be proud, but also recognize that realizing the shortcomings of the build is important. It means you have a critical eye and approach. Which means your builds and skills should improve.  

Thanks, I really needed and appreciated that 🙂 You're absolutely right of course, it's all part of the ongoing experiment that this bass-building rabbit-hole is and always will be!

I have learned so much from this project and there are aspects of it that are miles better than my earlier builds.

[durhamboy]

Some of the things I tried in my first few years building electric guitars and basses included the following. Please feel free to laugh as appropriate, I do.

Brass and aluminium strips in necks. (yeah brass? I know, but it was the late 70's, brass nuts, bridges, knobs control cover plates, everything was brass! The aluminium works OK though. Brass really offered nothing but weight, at least to my ear...)

Quarter sawn and flat sawn sections in laminated necks to improve stiffness and resist twisting. (I'm sure that wasn't a unique idea, but back before computers and the internet and working in Tasmania, I was piety much on my own.)

30 and 36 fret necks.

Fretless six string guitar necks.

Tuner bridges and headless necks.Though I borrowed that idea from an local Aussie muso who made one for his own bass. I first saw it in 1971, didn't ask him when he made it.

Many of these "experiments" were less than successful, made little appreciable difference, or had unforseen side effects. But they all taught me something, even if it was only not to do that again!

Lots of native timbers trialed. (Tasmanian Blackwood, Myrtle, Sassafras, Celery Top Pine, Queensland Maple, and several others are excellent.) That was worth doing. I believe opposing tensions in necks is worthwhile too. 

[Stub Mandrel]

13 hours ago, Rexel Matador said:

It's a strange feeling - I should be very proud of what I've achieved (and in a way, I am) - this is only the fourth bass I've built - but as you can imagine, I was really hoping to be happier with what I found when I plugged it in 😆

Clearly it's an embarrassment for you and upsets you every time you look at it.

This is a normal reaction.

Luckily there's a simple solution, just pop it in a decent hard case and send it to 'Luthier's Anonymous' c/o mythe address I will send you in a pm...

[Andyjr1515]

This is a wonderful build.

Like when you are decorating a room, your eye will, at first, be drawn to things you are not happy with - but bring someone in and even tell them there are flaws, they won't see them.  They just see the overall job.

Now, I'm well pleased with many of the things I've built but, trust me, I'd be as happy as a pig in s**t if I'd built this.

[Andyjr1515]

Ref the sound - try wiring the two pickups in series.  It can often transform the sound a bass and should need only a couple or so of resolders...

Edited March 15, 2020 by Andyjr1515

[Rexel Matador]

35 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Ref the sound - try wiring the two pickups in series.  It can often transform the sound a bass and should need only a couple or so of resolders...

It has a series parallel switch already. Parallel mode isn't doing much for me but I might find a use for it one day!

Since my earlier posts I've re-done the shielding and the fret dressing, both of which have improved matters greatly. And as far as the sound goes, I'm used to p pickups so I think it was just a matter of figuring out the new amp settings I needed. They need a little more help from the eq controls - far too middy with everything flat, but I've got it sounding pretty good now.

[Stub Mandrel]

On 13/03/2020 at 20:30, Rexel Matador said:

Also it's a bit buzzy - I have read everything there is to read about shielding, grounding etc, but it really seems to be something of a crapshoot for me - sometimes they turn out absolutely fine!

You wound your own PUPs didn't you?

Did you make sure the magnets in each PUP were opposite polarity? One north up, one north down?

Check they are as it is part of the humbucking effect.

[Rexel Matador]

6 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

You wound your own PUPs didn't you?

Did you make sure the magnets in each PUP were opposite polarity? One north up, one north down?

Check they are as it is part of the humbucking effect.

I did indeed. Now I've reworked the shielding, it's definitely improved.

[itu]

I have put some 16 prototypes together from ready parts, mostly. They are far behind from my fretless 4, that a local young luthier built to me. We were drawing the shape for one month, and when he found out what I was after, he made it real. His ability to read my thoughts was the key to a succesfully designed instrument for me. And definitely one very hard task.

She is one bass I will never part. And she signs like a dream. Can be seen in my pictures.

Keep going. You are making great progress all the time and the next may already be your key to success.