Rexel Matador

I've made a scratchplate from some nice matt black perspex and and everything seems to fit. I think it goes with the modern style of the thing. I was going to use a regular Tele/Precision-stlye knob, but I'm going to experiment with a bigger one and see which I like best. Have to wait for it to arrive first though. I'm going to wait until the neck is screwed on before attaching the bridge pieces because I want to get it right first time. The metal band tunes to B flat on the lowest string and on my 34" scale basses, the saddle has to go way way back. These single string ones have a bit less travel so I need to make sure it's in a position where it can go back far enough. It seems to me that having the foreward-most point of travel placed exactly at the scale length is pointless because it's always going to end up further back. What would the effect of the longer (35.5") scale be. Would it intonate closer to the actual scale length? Further back? About the same? Started sanding the body today. It's far from perfect but I have to keep reminding myself that four and a half basses ago I'd barely used a drill, so I'm definitely going in the right direction. I just can't wait until the day when my plans to move to a bigger place can be resurrected and I no longer have to do all this with out a bandsaw, table saw, jointer, spindle sander and god knows what other free-standing tools are generally considered essential in this game! I guess I'm currently a reluctant member of the Brian May school. Still undecided on the colour. I originally wanted to stain it dark red, but I think for that to work it would need a matching headstock and I'm not confident enough that I can mask and scrape my way to clean enough lines. So I might leave it natural. One of the guitarists in my band has asked me to build him a guitar so I must be doing something right. It's quite a ridiculous project - too bad I won't be able to write about it here! 😂

Long day... I really hate doing neck pockets. I'm definitely going back to neck-through for the next one!

I cut a (thankfully reasonably modest) belly cut, stood back to admire my handiwork and realised I'd cut it in on the front of the body. So now the upper body is "contoured". Sometimes I wonder if it's safe for me to be around sharp tools.

I took the writing off with nail polish remover! It doesn't bother me so much these days but it did at the time. As an aside - while looking into a guitar build for a friend, I discovered that the EMG81 has a choice of 10 different covers! Guitarists don't know they're born.

EMG GZR is a great pickup - solderless too! They only come in black though and you can't change the covers

Re pickup covers: check the "ears"! I bought some white ones from ebay and didn't realise until I got them that the semicurcular protrusions where the screws go stuck out way too far to fit in the scratchplate. Then I found another set that were fine. I love cream/white pickups on a p bass just because they're a bit more unusual but still kind of classic looking. I also found that a standard sized set of covers was too small for a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder (I'm not just talking about the pole pieces - the whole thing was a bit too small, but it might not be the case for other models. Re colour combinations, you can always use this to visualise things: https://www.yajimastringworks.com/kisekae/CNV_PB/Kis90105_w1300.asp

I really wanted my current mutliscale build to be headless but was put off by the lack of decent affordable hardware out there. It seemed like the choices were either ABM - super pricey despite mixed reviews - or the ones from ebay that are so cheap I daren't even try. What are you thinking bridge/headpiece-wise? I have also wondered about the possibility of a multiscale fretless. Would it not be particularly hard to play? Re the depth of the pieces for the neck - could you stick another shorter piece on at the body end to up the thickness? Maybe a darker/lighter veneer in between?

Is the grain going to be perpendicular to the strings as well? In theory a good joint is as strong as the wood right? None of my amateur scarf-jointed headstocks have failed yet, so I wouldn't be too worried about it. You could always put some kind of rod through the length of it, just to be on the safe side.

Cut out the body shape today - the holes are from where I attached the template, but they will be obliterated/obscured but the forearm contour, scratchplate and neck pocket respectively.

The neck is starting to take shape. My last couple of builds have had very thin necks, so I thought I'd leave this one a bit chunkier and see how I get on with it. It's hard to tell as it's only roughly carved and has no strings on, but I think it'll be pretty comfortable.

Having never actually played a multiscale instrument before, I had no idea what my preference would be! I saw that Dingwall do it at the seventh and figured they seem to know their stuff when it comes to fanned frets, so why not. Secondly I liked the idea of mitigating the slant at the nut and lower frets - I play mostly (though certainly not exclusively) down there and figured it might make it easier to get used to. It all remains to be seen.

Frets are in - so much easier on an unshaped neck! The first few on the low string feel very far apart - it'll take some getting used to.

It depends on the tuners - usually 18mm for Fender style ones I think, but they can vary. Best to measure the bushings and drill accordingly.

This - everything felt easier when I switched from regular flat picks to stubbies - never looked back. Also, re Rancid, maybe give Time Bomb a go - it's nice and slow and a lot of fun to play. Plenty of tabs out there - just start slow.

Damn your right - I can hear it now! Still great though.

Agreed! Todd the Rod made them. Their original bassist's tone was truly horrible:

My two pennies' worth. both songs tart with a guitar riff and then the bass comes in and makes it something really special: Matt Freeman - P-Bass pick perfection: Jonathan Gallant - Stingray I think - I'm not usually a fan but I love what this guy does with it:

I'm building a multiscale 4 string bass to be tuned to drop B flat (Bb, F, Bb, Eb) with a scale length of 900-850mm (approximately 33.5"-33.5") Usually, using such low tunings on a 34" bass, I find that the saddle for the lowest string has to go way back to intonate properly. The single string bridges I'll be using only have about 10mm of movement, so naturally I'm keen to get them in the right place. And I'd rather avoid having to plug and redrill the bridge screw holes if at all possible. What effect will the longer scale have? Will the saddle need to be even further back, or will it mitigate the need for such an extreme adjustment to achieve correct intonation? Are there any tips or tricks for determining bridge placement? Thanks in advance for any advice you might be able to provide!

Cut with the scalpel then widened with a knife so the saw bites (but that's for another day) Whether I've been accurate enough for this thing to actually play in tune remains to be seen, but I'm pretty happy to have got this far!

That pink fretboard has been abandoned on account of its flimsiness. I'm using this maple one instead. The heel end looks like that because I'm stealing the Framus idea again - screws going in the opposite direction under the scratchplate. It worked nicely on my first build so I thought I'd try it again. I've also radiused it. I was originally going to go for a totally flat board but decided against it. I don't really know why, it just sort of happened.

Lovely stuff. If you've come this far I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. Carving a neck is nowhere near as difficult as you might expect.

I've had good results with the Crimson Guitars finishing oil. From what I remember, they reverse engineered Tru-Oil and tweaked it a bit for guitar purposes. I forget the details. I'm not affiliated by the way, I just find it to work pretty well, and it's good that there are lots of demonstrations on their youtube channel.

I've totally lost the motivation for this, which is a shame as I've got so much more time on my hands. For one thing I feel bad buzzing away with powertools when all the neighbours are stuck at home! Hopefully I'll find some inspiration over the weekend and get back to it.

Stingray scratchplate and control plate. For such an "iconic" design they look like a rushed afterthought to me.