Ou7shined

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1380024107' post='2219623'] Very nice Dremel work, Rich! [/quote] Mostly chisel. To my surprise I'm actually ok at carving.

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1380020329' post='2219531'] How's the balance of it working out at the mo? Unless the body wood is a lead derivative it looks like it'll be rather neck-divey? [/quote] I do not anticipate this being a problem.

Thanks everyone. Not much to add today as I've been working on proper basses the last couple of days, ones that look like fenders and gibsons not something that looks like Aleister Crowley's banjo. What I have done though is I've rebuilt the neck butt (scrapheap challenge style) and done a test rout so I can install the LEDs which actually better than I thought... less cheesy if you like.

Doesn't seem to have the raised centre line. Custom made?

NIce colour - I have a WEM bass in the same.

A quick footnote. I've decided against a string through bridge as (and I'm only surmising here) it may add unnecessary twisting forces to that lonesome horn the bridge will sit on. If I go for a top loader the forces should only be from one direction only... I think. If anyone has info to the contrary please let me know.

State of play, end of day 3. Lots of work with rasp, file and chisel followed by a bit of Dremeling to pick out the horn striations (sorry for the crappy pics - it's late) * the dark bit between the horns is a glue and Utile dust mix where I filled back in and re-shaped an area I'd over zealously routed out yesterday

[quote name='henry norton' timestamp='1379874624' post='2217683'] I reackon if you keep the body thick enough you won't have any problem with the gap between the bridge and the rest of the body. My question is, are you going to carve the details into the body or paint them onto flat surfaces? I'm hoping you'll carve so it really does look like the real thing. [/quote] Yup I'm carving... or rather Dremeling I agree.

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1379873478' post='2217664'] That is impressive Rich, can't wait to see the finished job. Great work as usual. [/quote] Cheers man

[quote name='tommorichards' timestamp='1379872633' post='2217648'] did you use a 1/2 curved router bit for the back? [/quote] Aye

Hey that's why it's crazy

OK been chipping away at it today but I've come in to watch the grand prix... Been busy with the router (all freehand except the pup routs) and also finalised the design of the shortened neck end. It looks more bass-like now Right, that's the clunky stuff out the way, now the hard part - carving the detailed relief work.

Cheers. It probably will. But like yourself I wear my bass low and with a relatively straight right arm so it shouldn't be too bad. With a crazy design like this there will always be compromises. I'm actually more worried about eviscerating myself on it.

OK here's what I'm starting with... Also I've settled on the neck. The Fender headstock isn't working for me with this design so the 2x2 neck I have was best. Unfortunately it's a 24 fret job and this body is designed specifically for 20/21. The problem being that the 24 fret heel is smaller and in a different place than what I had drawn up the design to fit with. Redesigning the body to fit a 24 fret neck would result in a smaller body and I wasn't prepared to do that. So before I could start work on the body I had to make sure that I could make the neck fit. First off shorten the neck and reform the heel. Tentatively I sawed off what I would need to, not knowing if I was going to hit the trussrod at any point. Not wanting to knacker my expensive luthier saws I went at it with a hacksaw. Dense maple cuts well with a HS. Luckily I didn't find the tr, although I did hit some locator pins. The chunk I removed will be set back in at the other end of the heel. I decided to leave the overhang for now as it will give me more options come the fit. Happy that I can remodel neck I set about routing the body. Owing to the unusual size of the body I couldn't get the whole thing to fit the timber in a oner, so some jiggery pokery had to be done with the vertical horn. This suits me fine as I didn't fancy having the grain running sideways through it leaving it susceptible to impact damage - jointing it in like this I was able to have the grain running end to end thus adding strength. Looks very un-bass-like like this. More tomorrow....

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1379770449' post='2216609'] Well I NEED to see this one before you leave! [/quote] Deal [quote name='woodyratm' timestamp='1379772167' post='2216630'] No rest for the wicked eh? [/quote] I had my rest last night... no gaming though. [quote name='tommorichards' timestamp='1379776822' post='2216681'] you could probably sell it to tenacious D once youre done with it. You not worried about the gap between the bridge and head (of the demon)? [/quote] The Bass of Destiny I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about it (and the upper horn horn too). We'll just have to see how it goes. It might be strong enough or I may have to get creative.

We're off on a 10 date UK tour in a couple of weeks and I thought I'd build something eye-catching to take along. I'm going to attempt a spot of relief carving.... which is something I've never done before. I don't have specific tools for this so I'm just gonna see what I can get out of my Dremel. Got a big chuck of Utile earmarked for the job. As it's just a bit of a laugh I'm not going high end with this build and I'm just going to use the odds and sods I have lying around - although knowing me this could all change the more involved I get into the project. For convenience sake I'm thinking of possibly using a pre-built lefty neck I've had knocking about as representation of the bass' [i]sinister[/i] nature... but I have a few 2nd hand factory made necks to choose from and might even go for 2x2 head (I even tried headless but it reeeeally didn't suit it ). Got this horrid looking, mega chunky 70's through body bridge (Hondo I think) that I can't see going in anything else - it looks suitably evil for the job though. Although I've used a P pup in the drawings I have decided to go for obliquely angled J pups in a series humbucker configuration - I have a Status 4000 pup and a stray Bart, both suitably dark, looking for a home. Not planning to go over board on the controls and may just go straight to the jack. I have however found a wee EMG PA2 preamp booster circuit doing nowt in my parts box which may find it's way into the Goat in case I need to pull any face-melters. Oh and there will be one last switch.... for the flashing red LED eyes. As for paint I dunno, maybe a sort of black and gold distressed bronze look. Who knows. The sketch... the development... the drawing... Let the games begin.

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1379707735' post='2216106'] Nice [/quote] +1

Which one sounds the best?

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1379678798' post='2215602'] Kind of , but not quite . Depending on who you talk to and what you believe , active basses( generally speaking , as not all are equal) with the preamp engaged buffer the signal that comes from the bass , even without any EQ treaking , so even the flat sound of an active bass has a slightly different character to the unaffected sound of a passive bass . Allegedly .... [/quote] It's a fact. ... and in some cases (thinking of the mighty JE for eg) it's not so slight.

If you can't hear your battery dying before it finally goes then you shouldn't really be bothered by the tonal nuances of passive or active.

I play both but have more love for passive as it reflects the personality if the bass itself. Go putting an active pre in there and it takes on the characteristic of the active circuit and is often quite hard to get back the bass' natural tone. The big exception is the Stingray which sounds rubbish with anything other than what "god" intended.

If you have a high fret then taking it down to the level of the others would mean just reworking the single fret, however if you have a low fret and you chose to stone rather than replace then all the others have to come down to it's level. It would be unfair to quote you for one fret only to find out you have a low one or that the you have a considerable amount of worn frets. Levelling the whole lot ensures that you've got the best out of your neck in a oner. However it's not as easy a job as you may think - quite a few things can go wrong in the wrong hands and you'll end up worse than you started out. £70 sounds fair to me... although I've had no personal dealings with this outlet and don't know if their standard of work reflects the price... I presume it does though.