spacecowboy

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So getting the garden done with the only access through my bass manufacturing workshop (...garage) means I haven't been able to get in and work on the bass for weeks now, but the job is almost done and with their being no more need for wheelbarrows and muddy boots to be traipsing back and forth means the workshop can finally open again (...garage door can be closed and all my tools can put back on the shelves)

There were a couple of jobs I was putting off so I started on those first, biggest one being the sanding of all machine marks and getting the bass and parts up to 400 grit ready for finishing.

I'm just continually wiping this down with white spirit to see where more sanding is needed...

The grain is coming up lovely and the ash really shows off the curves, you can probably see the dent in the bottom curve here 😣 looks much worse on the pics but will need to be filled at some point probably with a couple of slurry coats... really wish it wasn't there though!

Lower horn with it's final sanding complete

On the back all the cut aways are complete, the groove for thumbs and fingers to remove the access cover is done, maybe a little bit too big but at least it's obvious  I have the magnets installed in the cover cavity and on the cover itself and it sits nice and makes a very satisfying clunk when installed, my efforts to try and line up the grain hasn't been too terrible. 

Next is getting the bridge sorted out I've made about 4 so far but none of them have been good enough, so got a gut feeling the next one is the one. 

The disappointing bit is after waiting 2 weeks for my new Newtone strings I got an email to say they're self isolating and won't be opening again until the 12th... so no idea where my order is in their list but they'll get here eventually, just means I can't work on the bridge and nut saddles just yet but all in good time! 

Thanks for looking guys, hopefully we're not too far away from it being done.

Lovely job!!

54 minutes ago, mixingwithtom said:

This is lush!!

Thank you! I'll have updates soon, just getting some work done at the house and waiting for strings so it's not moving at the moment

I'd be interested in the Cab if someone else wants the head? I already have a Marcus 500 watt

Brilliant! 🍻

Brilliant work mate

So if we took the company I work for, which designs and manufacturers products and sells them through direct to consumer channels and 3rd party retailers; 

The product cost you - £390

The retailer takes 50% of product value so it cost them - £195 to purchase from the manufacturer

The manufacturer takes 50% of product value so it cost them - £97.50 to make

£97.50 generally covers parts, labour, overheads, and you'd do the same cycle for all the parts that make up the guitar, i.e pickups, someone makes the pickups, sells to a retailer, bought by your guitar maker. £97.50 isn't going to get you too much especially in the QC department. 

The consumer in every market is always shafted by the final RRP, we pay the upward cost for everything, which is why I'm always skeptical about 10% off sales, that's 10% off RRP which was inflated by 50% by the retailer in the first place, so imagine a product at £390 reduced by 10% now costs you £351, bargain right? well no not really, the guitar is still only £97.50 to make, the retailer still pays £195.00 for the product, They sell it with a 10% discount for £351, the retailer is taking the hurt, but they're still turning profit, that 10% might have attracted a 25% uplift in sales negating the 10% drop hurt anyway.

This is a very loose general overview and every retailer / manufacturer has different margins, we have some products that retail to consumers for £5.00 that cost us 0.01p to make so work out the value uplift on that if you can stomach it! There's very little real value anywhere.

Today was pickup cover day, glad this is done and out the way! 

Routed the cavities for the Bart's...

Lovely snug fit...

So snug intact they don't come out and need to be teased out with tools!! I'll sand the inside edges a tad.

Router also decided to go awry on my bridge so I've had to remake that and it's currently gluing up... Of course it's the last bit of routing I needed to do and the first time I've messed up routing on this whole build! Grr!

PM sent

More importantly look at this trooper!! You'd be quids in if you took the bet! 

It's back! Racing stripe is a go! And now I see it I might agree it looks better this way! 

I made these tiny guys too, I need to round the ash off to circular profiles but I've basically just sandwiched wenge between the ash and put a 45 degree angle on one side, at some point I'll file in the groove for the string and hopefully these will work better than the last design...

If they're anything they're bloody cute

Started taking meat out of the pickup cover too ready for routing! 

Need to get the strings ordered soon but I think it'll be the most complex Newton's order I've ever done... We'll see! 

Let's give the people what they want, I've re made the pickup cover and bridge so the grains match up, it's a small thing but I really think it's worth the effort. Tomorrow I'll be able to cut them down to size and the bass will have its "go faster stripe" once again! My missus agrees with you all by the way so she'll be happy too!

Also let's place bets on this guy lasting the night... 6-1 odds on it not dripping off! 

1 hour ago, binky_bass said:

A better picture of the top...

Wow! That looks killer

I have some brass bar that I could cut instead of the wood...

Very interesting!! Wonder how I can avoid that then? He makes it sound fantastic but it's not what I'm after!

Do I need to just have a sharp break angle for the string to bend over?

31 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Beware with this kind of "flat" saddles as you may end up with a (very interesting) fretless sound à la Dominique Di Piazza.

Like this :

 

 

Is that all from the saddles?!

17 minutes ago, Merton said:

This is bloody great! FWIW I prefer the original pickup cover and bridge matching the neck-thru

Looks like I need to go back to it! 🙂 Watch this space!

Time to start on the bridge! Made a guide for my router to quickly cut the slots to depth and ensure they were square. Drilled out what I could before the router did it's thing.

Everything routed out it was now time to make the saddles, if you have a look at the mid right of this pic you'll see Dr circular saddle tests I did, this was so I could rotate the saddle to ensure the string ran true from bridge to nut...

I ended up opting for these rectangular shapes with chamfered edge and groove for the string to sit in.

Idea here is the strings hold the saddles in place, they're a tight fit so they're not sliding around freely but do move with a nudge, I'm hoping I'll be able to set the intonation by moving them and tightening the string to pitch, the force from the string should be enough to keep everything happy... Something I have to test for sure though.

Decided to "string" the bass (literally) to make sure that the holes lined up with the bridge, nut and tuners, thankfully it all did, don't recommend these strings however, very little tension and they sound a bit wooly.

Installed the machine screws and made sure that the bridge raised and lowered as required and again it seems to work like a charm, will be very easy to quickly set the action at the bridge, my worry is the balance of the strings and ensuring they don't sit at different heights, will need to finish the slotting on the bridge when the final strings are here to ensure they sit well.

Really cool to see it with strings on! 

The endless sanding starts soon enough!

Wow that Ash is crazy! That'll be an amazing looking bass!

2-2!!

Well! That's two in favour of how it was! 

11 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

I prefer the original.....

Oooh... interesting I'll be keeping both I'll see what they both look like and see how I feel 😊 knowing me it'll be purple heart in a week! 

Changes are afoot! I made the bridge with the neck through detailing running through to match the pickup cover but really didn't like it so made the blank again in Ash and then made a new pickup cover from the same piece and really love the look of it being just ash, looks a lot less "try hard" 

At least for the next one I can plan all these pieces to ensure they all sit seamlessly with each other, but they still don't look bad as they are! 

1 hour ago, fiatcoupe432 said:

That looks awesome

Great job

If very successful will you take orders? 😉

Funnily enough I do already have someone who wants the same bass making once I've made this one 🙂! Different woods but the same. I am going to build his for cost of parts only and I'll open that up to anyone else on here who wants this model too 👌