Rexel Matador

Ok, we basically have a body. It's very rough around the edges (literally) right now, but it's nice to have reached a milestone of sorts. I still have another pickup to build, not to mention a neck. This build has barely begun!

Coming along. The offset body necessitated asymmetrical f-holes and I need to do a fair old bit of shaping to get them looking right. I pretty much messed up by not setting the lower one a bit further back towards the bridge end, but it comes pretty much up to where the control cavity starts so we're stuck with it. I'm not massively happy with them, but I'm not taking the top off and starting again, so I'll work with what I've got and get them looking as nice as I can But the grain on this top is better than I could have hoped for. It almost feels like a shame to add pickups and a bridge and that

Short scale necks tend to be a bit thinner at the heel, would that be a possibility? I guess if it already has holes for bridge screws that would be an issue as they wouldn't be in the right place.

I agree - kind of Giger-ish! Admittedly F-holes are not the most metal thing to add to a bass, but I figure Lemmy's had a nice carved walnut body and what's more metal than Lemmy? Even if he did play strictly "Rock n' Roll".

Which should I go for? Or none of the above?

Top in place. It's looking a bit rough right now but I can already tell it'll look lovely once it's finished. Progress has very slow, so, even though there's loads left to do, it's nice to see it beginning to look like an actual bass body. I still have to cut the soundholes before the back goes on. I probably should have done it before gluing it on but I still haven't decided exactly what they should look like.

A channel to connect the two pickup cavities - made with drill and chisel because I couldn't be bothered to get the router out, but it'll be hidden under the top and serves its purpose just fine. And the top (or back, I haven't decided yet) joint drying - more soon...

A maple layer that will serve as "binding" once the walnut top is glued on and rounded over:

I would go with black I think, but then will you be able to get a black switch?

This bass is only going to have one control knob. I bought a maple one as I figured it would look nice with the pickups, but it's really small and would just look weird and sad sitting there on it's own. So I decided to make one: It's not finished yet, so will be a bit shinier, but I think it'll go nicely with the pickup covers. I've also done a bit more on the body but there's nothing to see yet. The top and back are waiting for me at the post office, so I'll make some real progress soon. I haven't even started on the neck, but I've got some fun time-consuming plans for that too 😆

Where do I go to learn? I only really use overdrive, but I'd love to make my own one day!

Tube Driver - brilliant 🤣 Re printing in colour - I quite like it in monochrome - looks kind of punky. Damn you basschat - now I really want to build a pedal in addition to everything else!

Interesting! I'll give it a try

Beautiful! What do all those switches do?

I don't understand how you'd cut a round bottomed slot with a scalpel - what am I missing?

That's pretty much my current method, but as I've done a few now I think it's probably time to make the investment!

I'm starting to regret the offset body shape because I'm really itching to go multiscale - it would be great for the absurdly low bottom string in the new metal band - but don't want to have one of the little bridges practically hanging off the back. Oh well, I guess that just means I'll have to build another one 😀 Apologies that this update is just a general musing as opposed to evidence of some actual work! More pictures soon, I swear.

Thanks! I didn't actually know they did them in bass sizes. I've never actually bought anything from them, having been put off by the idea of shipping stuff from the US, but they seem like a great option.

What do people here use for cutting nut slots? The Hosco double sided file set appears to be the only available option - I was just wondering if there's anything else out there to consider because it's quite an expense and I want to get it right!

Thanks! So far so good...

I was a little concerned about that, but it's pretty thin so hopefully it'll be ok - scooping is always an option of it comes to it! My first attempt had holes with the pole pieces poking through, like a normal J pickup, but it was very delicate and I ended up breaking it and didn't want to risk it happening again 😆

Yeah, I've read that in a few places - seems counterintuitive but then again I have pretty much zero understanding of the physics involved so who am I to question it!

Magnetised poles - also from ebay. Just used a compass to check the polarity and stuck them in. I'm still trying to figure this whole pickup business out. When the magnet and the pole pieces are separate entities, is the pole piece just a bit of non-magnetised metal that's in contact with the appropriate pole of the magnet?

PS, I'll be looking out for that build diary for the winder!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/42AWG-ENAMELLED-COPPER-GUITAR-PICKUP-WIRE-MAGNET-WIRE-COIL-WIRE-250G/371205210150?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649