Jabba_the_gut

14 minutes ago, paul_c2 said:

Beautiful - I am getting into mini-basses (for my GF) - what is the scale length of this?

I think it was 23”. Mini basses are great! Ive built a few - details are in the Build Diaries. Really enjoy playing them!

Scarf joints cut, sanded and glued:

The small holes at the edge of the necks are where they were pinned during gluing to stop them slipping when clamped.

Lots of pieces for this ready to go!

These were originally going to use the birdseye veneer for facing the headstock but I'm going to try to source some walnut veneer to match the body instead. 

This project is to make two semi hollow basses, on fretted and one fretless. One of the basses will use the body of a semi hollow bass I made a while back with a new neck. The second bass will be a copy of the first. When I built the first bass I had bought two pieces of walnut at the same time so I should be able to make these look very similar.

The reason for making a new neck for the first bass is to change the scale length from 30" to 32". Both necks will also be made with angled headstocks to do away with string trees.

Both basses will be maple bodies with an American walnut top, have birdseye maple necks, ebony fretboard (with an extended thumb rest), Luminlay side dots, Shadow piezo pickup, East preamp and a satin finish.

On 03/01/2021 at 13:48, Jabba_the_gut said:

It also makes life easier having a bolt on neck as that allows for some adjustment if needed but if it went completely pear shaped, you can just build a new neck. 

That tempted fate didn't it?!!!

Not entirely sure how, but the chuck must have not been tight enough and router bit moved out putting a hole in the back of the neck. Time to build another neck......

I actually needed to build another two necks for another project so I've started making them all at the same time.

After thicknessing all the neck blanks I used a bandsaw to cut the angle for the scarf joint. After lots of very tedious sanding (I really must build a jig to make this easier and quicker) I ended up with these:

It pays to take time and get this right as it makes for a nice, tight joint. These are the three necks prior to gluing:

The worst thing about wrecking the original neck is that I need to make new veneers for the headstock. I bought some ash veneer from different places but it just didn't match to my satisfaction so I made some by cutting thin slices from the offcuts from the body then sanding to thickness. That took ages the first time and now I've got to repeat it!! Oh well, it will be worth it in the end.

Cheers

I fitted this Delano pickup in a mini bass for @owen recently and I like that the two halve are the same size (they're the same size as a standard P if I remember right). Satisfies my OCD for things being balanced/in line, etc.!!!

On 23/06/2021 at 11:12, Frank Blank said:

We’ll have to see what Jez sez.

I'll definitely have one complete and hopefully the second one too. I will be bringing along some mini basses as well.

Really looking forward to this bash and catching up with everyone again.

Cheers

5 hours ago, JapanAxe said:

I finally drilled the small guide holes that I will eventually widen for the self-tapping screws which will secure the cover to the chassis. I have ordered what I hope will be suitable screws. I also drilled a hole for the safety earth bolt and exposed bare metal around this and the input socket hole using a Dremel-type tool.

All the panel hardware is now firmly mounted except for the input socket. It's always satisfying when the valve sockets are in. Next up, a load of soldering.

Really liking this build - it is looking superb.

On 14/06/2021 at 22:07, Richard R said:

I've been following this with interest. Electronics was never my strong suit,  though I still have my battered copy of Horowitz and Hill from Uni days. 

Crikey - had forgotten about that book from my uni days too!

23 hours ago, Waddo Soqable said:

No worries, I just wondered where you, or he, got the 4 string one from in the first place, as it looks to be a decent one to start with !

I'll have a look where I got mine from (on the burgundy SUB5). It would have been off eBay - just need to make sure you get ones with the right hole locations. I made a template to trim the pickup with a router and used this for both mine and Owens scratchplate.

Cheers

I like the white one - looks really nice. If you're thinking of other options I think a white pearloid or a dark blue pearloid might work quite well. Love the blue finish on this.

Oooh!!! That is very sparkly nice...

Excellent. I’ll have a look at that later - much appreciated.

6 hours ago, HazBeen said:

No issues with rear pickup sensing area btw, phew

Marvellous!!

Very nice!

On 18/05/2021 at 00:03, derreybass said:

Hello Jez did you get the pickup sorted? 

Yep, fitted the pickup but haven't had time to try it out properly yet. One thing I have determined though is the 4 way switch idea didn't work, I wasn't sure what it would do but the two single coils settings are just too quiet and thin sounding. I think I'll replace the switch with a 2 way version for series / parallel only but I'm also considering just wiring it permanently one way or the other.

I'll have some time at the weekend to try it out further and then decide.

I bought a blank Tele control plate anticipating that I might want to change the controls for this or if I decide the pickup is too dull / too bassy that it would allow an additional control for a second pickup.

Cheers

20 hours ago, HazBeen said:

Hi, from a design perspective it looked better for the pickups to align with the flared heel, so they are off-centered ever so slightly, well spotted!

The picture angle makes it look as if the B is a little further towards the edge than it actually is. I could not find too much on the net on the sensing area, but if you look at the Spector Dimension 5, it is also pretty close. Roughly the same as I have it and I had seen examples where it is even closer to the edge (especially on 7/8 string guitars with Fluence pickups, they have the same design as the bass ones).

I did a quick test (screwdriver tapping) and the sensing area appears to run to a few mm from the edge, but it is a bit of a gamble if honest.

Should be okay, worst case I will be creating some wooden pickup surrounds ....

I will let you know!

I looked on the web too but couldn't find anything either. I was looking for something like this that you get for EMG pickups - I guess the Fishman ones won't be too far different.

Look forward to seeing this bass complete. Cheers

Yaay! Looking forward to this

On 13/05/2021 at 21:40, HazBeen said:

 

 

That is looking lovely - beautiful contrasting woods.

Quick technical question with regards to the pickups, what is the layout of the sensing area?  Just wondering as the B string is closer to the edge of the pickup than the G. I couldn't find anything online that showed the layout and I'm curious as these pickups look interesting as an alternative to other soapbars.

Cheers

The pickup is back from being sorted so will hopefully get that fitted and tried out today. I really hope it has fixed the issue of the string balance.

The plan for this one is to be B-G (can always change that later). The low B should be okay for this and it has been done by others before. I'll let you know how it goes with this particular one!!

I am building a 27" 5 string as well but the plan for that is to go E-C. I do have a low B for it and will try that when it's built out of interest.

I've been accumulating bits and pieces over the past couple of years and I'm getting to a point where an idea is emerging...

This build will be a bit later in the years as I've got a couple of others to do first but the plan is for the following:

• 5 string
• Headless
• Delano xtender pickups
• East/ACG EQ02 filter preamp
• Series/parallel switching on pickups
• Poplar burl top
• Maple or swamp ash body (tbd)
• Ebony fretboard
• Neck (tbd)

To be continued.....

I've just started what will be the slowest build ever. So slow it won't be complete in my lifetime. It will have a one piece sycamore body and a neck from the same tree. Here it is so far:

That’s on the job list. I’m just sorting a logo that can be made on a slide transfer to be lacquered over.

The control cavity was shielded with copper tape so that's done. Next was the wiring. The original plan was to have two knobs that do nothing and the other two to be passive volume and tone but I thought it might be an idea to see if the original preamp would work with a magnetic pickup instead of the original piezo. I've seen some preamps whose input is suitable for use with either but I have no details of this one so it was a question of just 'giving it a go'. And it does work, surprisingly well too. I'll chat with Owen to see how he would like it but it had to be tried as it was so simple to refit!!!

Recessing the bridge has worked quite nicely - the strings can now go that little bit lower which makes quite a difference to how it feels.

The strings seemed a little high with the bridge at the lowest so I decided to recess the bridge a couple of mm into the body. That should allow a little bit of adjustment.

That's the woodwork done. Next job is to shield the control cavity then sort the electrics.