carlsim Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 I have recently acquired a Sterling Ray35 (big SR5 fan, had plenty over the years) and this new has a particularly nice quilted top - see pic! It has also been routed nicely around the pup so that just leaves the control cavity to cover if I wanted to leave the scratchplate off. Any ideas? A chrome cover? Would need to get this made... or maybe a thin aluminum sheet or something which is then powder coated? I'm open to ideas... a black 3 ply small cover would probably look a bit naff... something quite statement-ey?? Anyone else done this? 4 string players are lucky, they can just take the plate off. 5s need a bit more thought.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsim Posted May 10 Author Share Posted May 10 Clear plate is the obvious idea... it just struck me! Any other ideas...?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 (edited) Yep, clear all the way, or even clear with a coloured tint for a bit of intrigue. Edited May 10 by Doctor J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulhauser Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 I personally would go for a clear plate that is the exact replica of the existing pickguard ( I have a jazz with clear pg and love it the way it is, pic below for reference) Then I would choose an inverse self adhesive tape / paper/ whatever it is called (where the color / design / motif is on the adhesive side) that I would cut to a shape that looks cool and covers the cavity and put that to the underside of the guard facing outward so it blocks the view of the cavity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsim Posted May 11 Author Share Posted May 11 21 hours ago, Paulhauser said: I personally would go for a clear plate that is the exact replica of the existing pickguard ( I have a jazz with clear pg and love it the way it is, pic below for reference) Then I would choose an inverse self adhesive tape / paper/ whatever it is called (where the color / design / motif is on the adhesive side) that I would cut to a shape that looks cool and covers the cavity and put that to the underside of the guard facing outward so it blocks the view of the cavity. Yeah my atelier z jazz has a clear plate and clear control cover, exactly as the pic… luckily, my work has a laser cutter so gonna have a go at making one myself by scanning in and vectorising the image… hopefully if the scan is accurate, it will match up perfectly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsim Posted June 6 Author Share Posted June 6 (edited) So... this is how it turned out. I'm not sure how I feel about the control cavity to be honest... Thoughts anyone? Luckily my work has a laser cutter so the clear plate cost me £1.30... just the price of the perspex. So I can make more if needed. Maybe I should start up a sideline?? I like the clear plate allowing the quilted top to show through, but the control cavity.... not so sure. I wondered if there was something I could put underneath / on top of the cavity maybe? Any ideas anyone? Edited June 6 by carlsim 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazed Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 (edited) You could paint the under side of the Perspex or stick some vinyl cut appropriately to cover the cavity. The clear really works well with the bass itself. Edited June 6 by Dazed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 Print pictures of sardines in a tin/badger/miniature city/death star/pac man/lava/outer space/pazuzu/hot dog/soup/etc. Cut to size, insert under scratch plate but above preamp. Change as mood suits. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazed Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 Similarly to the suggestion above, a photo of the body wood, possibly edited in photoshop to look like the body and inserted under the clear cover. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsim Posted June 6 Author Share Posted June 6 26 minutes ago, Dazed said: Similarly to the suggestion above, a photo of the body wood, possibly edited in photoshop to look like the body and inserted under the clear cover. I like that idea. Might give that one a whirl! Perhaps not the Pacman or Star Wars route though!🤣🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 Do a similar thing to a Jazz bass - cut out a piece of thin stainless sheet that will cover the control cavity, then cut away the portion of scratchplate that it overlaps. As long as your laser cutter is up to the job... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowB_FTW Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 5 hours ago, carlsim said: I like the clear plate allowing the quilted top to show through, but the control cavity.... not so sure. I wondered if there was something I could put underneath / on top of the cavity maybe? I really like the green circuit board showing, it's the other part of the cavity that lets the whole look down for me. Perhaps use the body wood photo under that section? Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 5 hours ago, Doctor J said: Print pictures of sardines in a tin/badger/miniature city/death star/pac man/lava/outer space/pazuzu/hot dog/soup/etc. Cut to size, insert under scratch plate but above preamp. Change as mood suits. Pazuzu 🤣🤣🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 https://www.theonion.com/beaver-overthinking-dam-1819568416 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsim Posted June 7 Author Share Posted June 7 (edited) so... a temporary solution which I don't find too insulting... basically copper shielding tape stuck on the underside of the clear plate. I precut a nice curve in one piece to give it some shape. Will do for now until I consider a better option and have the time to look at a picture of the wood stuck on the underside or something... Edited June 7 by carlsim 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocco Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 56 minutes ago, carlsim said: so... a temporary solution which I don't find too insulting... basically copper shielding tape stuck on the underside of the clear plate. I precut a nice curve in one piece to give it some shape. Will do for now until I consider a better option and have the time to look at a picture of the wood stuck on the underside or something... This looks great to me. The shape of the copper foil gives an interesting Rickenbacker 330 vibe to the whole thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazed Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 That’s exactly what I thought @cocco Has a Ric vibe about now. Looks good 😎 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 On 06/06/2024 at 15:28, Dazed said: You could paint the under side of the Perspex or stick some vinyl cut appropriately to cover the cavity. The clear really works well with the bass itself. Definitely vinyl. And maybe shape it as an homage to the SR4 control plate? I know the footprint of the original won't cover that cavity, but you could get close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 The copper tape looks good - you might be able to improve on it a little by using wider tape so there isn't a seam and maybe using some sort of small roller to make it absolutely flat (possibly, not sure if that would work), but that's pure nit-picking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonK Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 I think either a mirror or a piece of black metal matching the knobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 Clear perspex, circuit board showing... Find some way to get an LED in there to light it up. A guitarist I played with for a while had this on his strat, looked quite cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsim Posted June 10 Author Share Posted June 10 2 hours ago, uk_lefty said: Clear perspex, circuit board showing... Find some way to get an LED in there to light it up. A guitarist I played with for a while had this on his strat, looked quite cool. Ooh!! I like the LED idea... I didn't mind the circuit showing, it was the parallel / series switch I didn't like. Will have another think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 Hardcore geekery. I can respect this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsim Posted June 12 Author Share Posted June 12 (edited) A slight amendment, I like the circuit showing so cut a shape of copper tape to shape around the circuit and rest of the cavity. Looks a bit more interesting this way I think. it’s not perfect but a lot better in my view! Maybe add an led strip a bit later! Edited June 12 by carlsim 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinB Posted June 12 Share Posted June 12 That looks cool! 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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