Waddo Soqable Posted February 1, 2023 Author Share Posted February 1, 2023 57 minutes ago, Richard R said: Sorry to hear you only have one, Waddo. As long as it doesn't impair performance. At least I haven't got the little Charlie Chaplin moustache and the funny walk.. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 On 01/02/2023 at 13:01, lemmywinks said: That's a really interesting project btw, is the bass still going? Long-gone. I only bought it on a whim because it looked cool, kept it for a couple of months then popped it on Ebay. Quite enjoyed the experience of making a half-decent player. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 4, 2023 Author Share Posted February 4, 2023 I had a look at a mate's router earlier ,which I have the offer to borrow ( I've also been offered loan of another from one of the generous folks on the forum too! ) This thing was a bit of a monster and tbh having seen one in action, in context, I don't fancy attempting the use of one here. I'm going to go back to the idea of doing the slots for the bridge/tuner units manually as demonstrated on the previous page, using a hand operated drill bit and chisel, file, sanding etc. I reckon this slowly slowly approach is going to give me more control and hopefully remove the risk of it all going horribly wrong at high speed ! I've scratch marked round the units as a guide for drilling and chiseling, plus I've plugged the old screw holes with cocktail sticks and glue so as not to have the drill bit go off course by following the holes. My weapon of choice for drilling is my olde hand brace with a suitably sized bit..this looks a bit dramatic but having tried it out ( on the spare chopped off bit of headstock) I reckon it'll work fine and allow me to go gently in stages, measuring as I go for depth etc. I can then trim the slots and file / sand to size, again as suggested earlier. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 (edited) Oops, spelling edit mistake! Edited February 4, 2023 by lemmywinks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 25 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said: I had a look at a mate's router earlier ,which I have the offer to borrow ( I've also been offered loan of another from one of the generous folks on the forum too! ) This thing was a bit of a monster and tbh having seen one in action, in context, I don't fancy attempting the use of one here. I'm going to go back to the idea of doing the slots for the bridge/tuner units manually as demonstrated on the previous page, using a hand operated drill bit and chisel, file, sanding etc. I reckon this slowly slowly approach is going to give me more control and hopefully remove the risk of it all going horribly wrong at high speed ! I've scratch marked round the units as a guide for drilling and chiseling, plus I've plugged the old screw holes with cocktail sticks and glue so as not to have the drill bit go off course by following the holes. My weapon of choice for drilling is my olde hand brace with a suitably sized bit..this looks a bit dramatic but having tried it out ( on the spare chopped off bit of headstock) I reckon it'll work fine and allow me to go gently in stages, measuring as I go for depth etc. I can then trim the slots and file / sand to size, again as suggested earlier. I've always found routers a bit scary so the go slow and tidy up afterwards seems like a safe approach. Do you have a pillar drill you can use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 4, 2023 Author Share Posted February 4, 2023 6 hours ago, lemmywinks said: I've always found routers a bit scary so the go slow and tidy up afterwards seems like a safe approach. Do you have a pillar drill you can use? I have got a very small pillar type drill, the "table" part is only a few inches square and you wouldn't get anything like a guitar body under it unfortunately. I should be OK with the hand drill as I only need to go about 4 or 5 mm down and as long as I start the drill "on target" it shouldn't go adrift. As mentioned I did try an experimental version on the old discarded headstock in order to see how it'd work on the same type of wood, which seemed fairly encouraging anyway, we'll see.. 🤞 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 7 hours ago, Waddo Soqable said: I had a look at a mate's router earlier ,which I have the offer to borrow ( I've also been offered loan of another from one of the generous folks on the forum too! ) This thing was a bit of a monster and tbh having seen one in action, in context, I don't fancy attempting the use of one here. I'm going to go back to the idea of doing the slots for the bridge/tuner units manually as demonstrated on the previous page, using a hand operated drill bit and chisel, file, sanding etc. I reckon this slowly slowly approach is going to give me more control and hopefully remove the risk of it all going horribly wrong at high speed ! I've scratch marked round the units as a guide for drilling and chiseling, plus I've plugged the old screw holes with cocktail sticks and glue so as not to have the drill bit go off course by following the holes. My weapon of choice for drilling is my olde hand brace with a suitably sized bit..this looks a bit dramatic but having tried it out ( on the spare chopped off bit of headstock) I reckon it'll work fine and allow me to go gently in stages, measuring as I go for depth etc. I can then trim the slots and file / sand to size, again as suggested earlier. Probably for the best. The last thing you want is a router unexpectedly kicking back and damaging your project. Even one of our most esteemed BC builders doesn’t like using his router for this reason and is a hog it out and chisel man. The only ‘problem’ with a bit and brace (lovely looking thing though) is keeping it straight, but for such a shallow job, you should be fine, especially as you’re comfortable with this tool. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 4, 2023 Author Share Posted February 4, 2023 2 minutes ago, ezbass said: Probably for the best. The last thing you want is a router unexpectedly kicking back and damaging your project. Even one of our most esteemed BC builders doesn’t like using his router for this reason and is a hog it out and chisel man. The only ‘problem’ with a bit and brace (lovely looking thing though) is keeping it straight, but for such a shallow job, you should be fine, especially as you’re comfortable with this tool. The old hand brace is a very useful tool I've often found and I'm happy enough using it here ( this one I actually bought new back in the 80s! ) the drill bit has a lil' screw in the end that pulls the cutting part into the wood so as long as you start right it should go where you tell it. Like you say the holes aren't deep enough to go wonky really. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 11, 2023 Author Share Posted February 11, 2023 Not done my drilling yet, as had a number of things arise this week needing my attention elsewhere. But I did find this pic (on "that other" bass forum effort) that someone has done.. possibly even to a real Rick or at least one of the older accurate Japanese copies? pic is a bit hazy as it was a screenshot 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 (edited) Drilled and gouged out the slots (the only description really) a bit of a mess unfortunately, with hindsight I'd have just chopped out a square flat recessed platform (I could still re appraise & do this in fact) I've got one of those powerfile things which would be ok-ish for that option, tho too big for the individual slots. All this was not helped by the fact the wood is very cheap, and breaks out easily, the paint ditto, so makes a tidy job rather more difficult The neat individual slots is one for the proper craftsmen and router operators I think, still was worth a try. I'll try the bridge units in and see if they need deeper recess, and take a view then. I could make some kind of surround thing to neaten it up perhaps, hey ho.. Edited February 13, 2023 by Waddo Soqable 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 I'd say that was a respectable effort for a first time. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 1 minute ago, SpondonBassed said: I'd say that was a respectable effort for a first time. Thanks for the encouragement there! 👍 I'll win one way or another I'm sure I'll have another look in daylight and try the units in etc, I'll need to sort something for an earth wire to all of them anyway (and fill in the existing hole) so it may be I'll do the single recess with a wired in Metal plate they can sit on. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralf1e Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 14 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said: I'd say that was a respectable effort for a first time. Agree 100%. Time it was painted and sat under the fittings it might yet be OK 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 Just now, Ralf1e said: Agree 100%. Time it was painted and sat under the fittings it might yet be OK True enough, you would only probably realise it was a bit gash if you studied the bass v. closely in hand anyway ! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 (edited) Once its painted and the hardware in... not gonna be much to see... looks better than a step down platform. Good Darts! I'd still go for a Front pickup bezel someone on here 3D Printed some MM bezels - and Small Control plate ad there is no channel cut in the surface. At least my routing attempt of J to P was covered by a scratch plate... See... you're feeling better about ya job already! Edited February 13, 2023 by PaulThePlug 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Looks tidy enough, I don't get on with the look of Riks at all but quite like 'em headless. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 10 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said: Once its painted and the hardware in... not gonna be much to see... looks better than a step down platform. Good Darts! I'd still go for a Front pickup bezel someone on here 3D Printed some MM bezels - and Small Control plate ad there is no channel cut in the surface. Yep, I'll have a look with the units in proper daylight, I could wangle the earth wire into all the slots no doubt... certainly take your point about the control plate malarkey too, I can cut stuff like that from black plastic card sheet type material , sure I've probably got some 2mm Plasticard knocking around somewhere 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 1 minute ago, lemmywinks said: Looks tidy enough, I don't get on with the look of Riks at all but quite like 'em headless. The rather odd body shape does suit headless somehow.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Looking very promising... 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 (edited) Here's an interesting idea as regards headless Tuner/Bridges... it's an Italian firm apparently, using the depth of the body for the adjustable tensioning movement, rather than straight pull rearwards... The Rick thing might be a bit slim profile for this but it'd be good on a chunkier body Edited February 17, 2023 by Waddo Soqable 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 (edited) Anywaaay.. I've massively over cooked the depth of the recesses for the bridge units.. I screwed them in etc etc, put the strings on, and find they now slap about on the fretboard even when raising the saddles The saddles themselves don't have that much movement upwards before you run out of thread on the l'il Allen screws either, I could just about get a couple of the strings twanging but no good at all really. ( I quite like a low rattly Entwistle action but this is ridiculous! ) So, after a coffee and a couple of Tunnocks choc wafers, I conclude the next step would be to make 4 shaped flat shims or spacers to sit under the units and raise them up a bit (or a lot) These I shall make from Metal, I like metal it's a material I'm happy working with, unlike wood which I dislike dealing with (although it does burn well) I could perhaps bung a few washers under one of the units just to trial how much I need to raise them, and thus how thick my shims need to be. If it fights me further with this I'll prob do the '' chop out a single square recess" plan b thing, with this I could the use a single sheet of metal, drilled appropriately, instead of 4 strips. I'll see what metal I've got lying around and take a view... The pic doesn't really show the above issue too well, but even with saddles right up it's really no use unfortunately edit... I also notice, confirmed by measurement, that the slots are deeper at the front rounded end by quite a bit, therefore making the units tip forward slightly, I'll prob have to level them before doing shims, I'm tempted to just chop the lot out now a'la plan B.. Edited February 20, 2023 by Waddo Soqable 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 If the individual shims work it certainly looks okay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 1 minute ago, SpondonBassed said: If the individual shims work it certainly looks okay. They should do, it'd just equate to shallower grooves, and you could for example fine adjust subsequently with more shims like a lot of things do in engineering. Just a bit of a pain now having to laboriously level the grooves first, hence my temptation to hack out one platform as I could do that with a powerfile! That said it prob looks better with individual slots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 (edited) Like the could a couple of Machine Washers... M3, M4 get you out of trouble, or proof of concept... Edited February 20, 2023 by PaulThePlug 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 8 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said: Like the could a couple of Machine Washers... M3, M4 get you out of trouble, or proof of concept... Yes I'll jack one up a bit with washers as a test, making metal shims afterwards is no prob, like I say I'm happy with bashing metal 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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