Chris Squire Electra Evolution

[xilddx]

Right, I've always loved Chris Squire's Electra, so I decided to build one that looks a bit like it. My mate at work is a part time luthier and has a nice piece of mahogany that's perfect for this. Luckily he's agreed to make the body and mirror pickguard for me.

I bought a Warwick Rockbass Streamer quite cheaply and stripped it. I'll sell the body and some other parts but I've decided to keep the MEC pickups as they sound ace. It's not at all in keeping with the Electra with the result that it looks a little like a cross with the Music Man Big Al, which I also like the look of. EDIT: Meant to say, the Rockbass neck is lovely!

Today I did a drawing of the body shape. WHTwat had no graph paper so I drew it on card using my graphic designer's eye, a ruler, pencil and eraser. I used a lot of eraser

I really like the result, here it is. Although the bridge and tuners will be gold, black pups, white body. Class

Edited November 7, 2010 by silddx

[eude]

Very nice dude.
This is going to be cool

Eude

[waynepunkdude]

Personally I'd use wood instead of paper

Nah man looks like a corker.

[xilddx]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='886397' date='Jul 5 2010, 03:57 PM']Personally I'd use wood instead of paper

Nah man looks like a corker.[/quote]
I wanted a nice lightweight body Wayne.

[xilddx]

[quote name='eude' post='886391' date='Jul 5 2010, 03:53 PM']Very nice dude.
This is going to be cool

Eude[/quote]
Thanks man, I reckon it will too! I want it to be my main stage bass.

[EBS_freak]

It's a cool looking bass.

But... What are you using for the body? It's going to have to be seriously weighty to get that thing anywhere near balanced.

[tino]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='886472' date='Jul 5 2010, 05:12 PM']It's a cool looking bass.

But... What are you using for the body? It's going to have to be seriously weighty to get that thing anywhere near balanced.[/quote]
Noise cancelling Lead....???

[xilddx]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='886472' date='Jul 5 2010, 05:12 PM']It's a cool looking bass.

But... What are you using for the body? It's going to have to be seriously weighty to get that thing anywhere near balanced.[/quote]
That's my only worry.

The body is being made from mahogany, 5cm thick I believe. Not sure how heavy but it's probably African and pretty dense, so I'm assuming it will have some weight to it. The neck is maple and quite lightweight, and I'll be getting ultralite tuners. The strap button is over the 16th fret. Apparently the Electras are pretty neck heavy. I hate neck dive so I am going to have to engineer a way to minimise it.

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='silddx' post='886519' date='Jul 5 2010, 05:45 PM']That's my only worry.

The body is being made from mahogany, 5cm thick I believe. Not sure how heavy but it's probably African and pretty dense, so I'm assuming it will have some weight to it. The neck is maple and quite lightweight, and I'll be getting ultralite tuners. The strap button is over the 16th fret. Apparently the Electras are pretty neck heavy. I hate neck dive so I am going to have to engineer a way to minimise it.[/quote]


Remember Bernie's trick on how to balance a bass?

[xilddx]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='886525' date='Jul 5 2010, 05:53 PM']Remember Bernie's trick on how to balance a bass?[/quote]
No I don't, what did he say?!

EDIT: something to do with the female form?

Edited July 5, 2010 by silddx

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='silddx' post='886531' date='Jul 5 2010, 05:58 PM']No I don't, what did he say?!

EDIT: something to do with the female form? [/quote]

I wasn't there for Bernie's talk but I would wager a guess that he said that the top horn needs to be over the 12th fret.

Edited July 5, 2010 by EBS_freak

[arsenic]

That is going to look nice - I particularly like the choice of pickups, and the placement of them.

[xilddx]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='886651' date='Jul 5 2010, 08:41 PM']I wasn't there for Bernie's talk but I would wager a guess that he said that the top horn needs to be over the 12th fret.[/quote]
What I reckon(ish) too.

14th on my Warwicks is no issue, they balance perfectly, but 16th may well be a step too far.

I really don't want to change the shape much though. It's aesthetically very beautiful in my opinion.

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='silddx' post='886747' date='Jul 5 2010, 10:17 PM']What I reckon(ish) too.

14th on my Warwicks is no issue, they balance perfectly, but 16th may well be a step too far.

I really don't want to change the shape much though. It's aesthetically very beautiful in my opinion.[/quote]


I really can't remember now.

[xilddx]

[quote name='arsenic' post='886681' date='Jul 5 2010, 09:16 PM']That is going to look nice - I particularly like the choice of pickups, and the placement of them.[/quote]
Thanks mate, I was going to go for the Electra style P in the middle and mudbucker type at the neck, but TBH the MECs sound great, and they look pretty cool too. They're also rather expensive new and I need to keep costs down so they are definite keepers.

The electronics are going to be interesting to design on this. I love loads of knobs and switches

[xilddx]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='886750' date='Jul 5 2010, 10:20 PM']I really can't remember now.[/quote]
Knob.

[xilddx]

Ok, here's a redesign to try to address the balance issue without compromising too much on the aesthetic principles of the original design.

Edited July 6, 2010 by silddx

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='silddx' post='887250' date='Jul 6 2010, 01:13 PM']Ok, here's a redesign to try to address the balance issue without compromising too much on the aesthetic principles of the original design.[/quote]

It's beginning to remind me of the MM Big Al! Horn position of that is 12 1/2 fret (but that is with heavy tuners on the headstock). You'd be able to get away with moving the horn position if you switched to ultralites at the headstock.

Anyway.... Looks good although the lower horn looks a smidge too fat compared to the other now (to my eye anyway)

You may help address the balance issue by lowering the position of the back strap button. Are you routing for a battery box? Again, moving this towards the rear of the body will help the bass balance. I notice that the thickness of the bass is quite thick. 50mm is quite some width for a bass... I think a jazz bass is 44mm? Alot of more modern basses push this in to 40-41mm. I think this is why your Warwicks balance - I'm guessing that they are quite thick and help alleviate the moments by enable the balance point being over the 14th fret. Have you got a measure handy to give an idea of the thickness of those basses? If you are leaving the body that thick, the body mass will help in keeping that head up.

What are you doing with the headstock? Leaving it as per the shape of the Warwick Rockbass?

Edited July 6, 2010 by EBS_freak

[xilddx]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='887294' date='Jul 6 2010, 01:48 PM']It's beginning to remind me of the MM Big Al! Horn position of that is 12 1/2 fret (but that is with heavy tuners on the headstock). You'd be able to get away with moving the horn position if you switched to ultralites at the headstock.

Anyway.... Looks good although the lower horn looks a smidge too fat compared to the other now (to my eye anyway)

You may help address the balance issue by lowering the position of the back strap button. Are you routing for a battery box? Again, moving this towards the rear of the body will help the bass balance. I notice that the thickness of the bass is quite thick. 50mm is quite some width for a bass... I think a jazz bass is 44mm? Alot of more modern basses push this in to 40-41mm. I think this is why your Warwicks balance - I'm guessing that they are quite thick and help alleviate the moments by enable the balance point being over the 14th fret. Have you got a measure handy to give an idea of the thickness of those basses? If you are leaving the body that thick, the body mass will help in keeping that head up.

What are you doing with the headstock? Leaving it as per the shape of the Warwick Rockbass?[/quote]
I know what you mean, I really want to go with my original, maybe extend the top horn. The Big Al is still significantly different though. I'm not happy with the lower horn either.

The electronics will almost certainly be passive. I weighed the neck, it is 2lbs without the tuners. It feels quite light.

My Warwicks are 41mm. Even the lighter fretless body balances really well although the neck is lighter than the fretted.

I think I will leave the headstock as it is, it's a nice design that will fit with the overall theme.

Thanks for your comments, they are very helpful.

[EBS_freak]

The lower horn is nearly there in my eyes, it just seems a little "thick"?

Hmm, passive means you can't use the batteries for balast. Damn, that would have been quite helpful to you!

Warwick Corvette being at 41mm surprises me. Must admit, never measured any of the Warwicks up. The Thumb and the Streamer seem a lot thicker than that... maybe it's a psychological thing. Mind you, that was in the day of bubinga bodies too!

Another trick in the book (if you aren't going to change your bridge) is to use heavy knobs on your pots. Hipshot O-Rings are a good starting point if you find that the body is a bit light once the thing is build.

[xilddx]

I think this is is a pretty good compromise. Almost gets to the 15th fret. I like how it looks actually.

[xilddx]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='887391' date='Jul 6 2010, 03:14 PM']The lower horn is nearly there in my eyes, it just seems a little "thick"?

Hmm, passive means you can't use the batteries for balast. Damn, that would have been quite helpful to you!

Warwick Corvette being at 41mm surprises me. Must admit, never measured any of the Warwicks up. The Thumb and the Streamer seem a lot thicker than that... maybe it's a psychological thing. Mind you, that was in the day of bubinga bodies too!

Another trick in the book (if you aren't going to change your bridge) is to use heavy knobs on your pots. Hipshot O-Rings are a good starting point if you find that the body is a bit light once the thing is build.[/quote]

I'm going to use the heaviest hardware I can find on the body! I'll check those O rings out. The Warwick knobs are very heavy too.

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='silddx' post='887448' date='Jul 6 2010, 03:57 PM']I'm going to use the heaviest hardware I can find on the body! I'll check those O rings out. The Warwick knobs are very heavy too.[/quote]

I just reread your original post. If you are changing the bridge you've got it easy. In going with your O rings, get the Hipshot brass bridge. That will weigh things down a bit. With the weight of the thicker body and all that heavy hardware on it, things *should* just about balance.

The shape is looking great, although (again, IMHO) the lowermost lower horn radius (e.g. on the right hand side of the right horn as seen in the picture) doesn't appear to right (compare the radius of the outline of it to the upper horn).

Should look cool with the gold hardware, a proper stage bass! (Although I do have a bit of a thing for piano white basses - even though I haven't got one or ever owned one!) White basses on stages look best... no question (IMHO!)

Edited July 6, 2010 by EBS_freak

[xilddx]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='887569' date='Jul 6 2010, 05:36 PM']I just reread your original post. If you are changing the bridge you've got it easy. In going with your O rings, get the Hipshot brass bridge. That will weigh things down a bit. With the weight of the thicker body and all that heavy hardware on it, things *should* just about balance.

The shape is looking great, although (again, IMHO) the lowermost lower horn radius (e.g. on the right hand side of the right horn as seen in the picture) doesn't appear to right (compare the radius of the outline of it to the upper horn).

Should look cool with the gold hardware, a proper stage bass! (Although I do have a bit of a thing for piano white basses - even though I haven't got one or ever owned one!) White basses on stages look best... no question (IMHO!)[/quote]
Thanks mate

Yeah, the horn ends will both be slightly flattened off and the same, I was just hastily mocking it up in photoshop to get the overall aesthetic right and couldn't be bothered drawing in the ends properly. The original is more "golden" though. And what is encouraging is that the centre of balance on the Rockbass Streamer (without any hardware attached) seems to be around the 17th fret, as it is on my Corvettes. This might persuade me to stick with the original and take the risk.

I love white basses too! They look uber cool.

EDIT: The weigh in results with the original body design ..

[b]Neck with tuners - 2.5 lbs

Body with hardware - 7.0 lbs (est.)

Neck length beyond top horn - 70cm

Body length - 41cm[/b]

Now, how the bloody hell do I calculate the CoG from that

Actually my black Corvette (with a heavier neck) weighs 9.4lbs and the CoG (balancing the top horn on my finger) is around the 17th - could I be in with a chance of no neck dive with my original design? Or am I missing sommat?

Edited July 6, 2010 by silddx

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='silddx' post='887626' date='Jul 6 2010, 06:32 PM']Thanks mate

Yeah, the horn ends will both be slightly flattened off and the same, I was just hastily mocking it up in photoshop to get the overall aesthetic right and couldn't be bothered drawing in the ends properly. The original is more "golden" though. And what is encouraging is that the centre of balance on the Rockbass Streamer (without any hardware attached) seems to be around the 17th fret, as it is on my Corvettes. This might persuade me to stick with the original and take the risk.

I love white basses too! They look uber cool.[/quote]

Could could be worth a shot. At least you have some options with heavy mass hardware. (lead in the control cavity?! )

Found this picture to have a look at what mass bridge it has got on it originally......



Pretty chunky then... and horns seem to be around 14th fret. Those tuners look to be pretty heavy too... so you could balance yours with lighter/heavier as needed.

Looking good though, keep us posted on progress.

Edited July 6, 2010 by EBS_freak