fleabag Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 6 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said: Is it trick of the photo, or are those pickups slanted a tad ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Share Posted February 1, 2019 27 minutes ago, fleabag said: Is it trick of the photo, or are those pickups slanted a tad ? Trick of the photo. It's a wide angle lens and I'm just at 'standing on a chair' height vertically above it. They are properly square. The frets on the piccolo, however, ARE supposed to be slanted It's multiscale from 25" treble to 26" bass 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 Yep, i clocked the slanty frets. Too pronounced to be a trick photo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Share Posted February 1, 2019 Look a bit squarer in this shot? Still with a wide angle but zoomed a bit more 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 Yup - square as me That fingerboard figuring is sublime ...what is it ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Share Posted February 1, 2019 18 minutes ago, fleabag said: Yup - square as me That fingerboard figuring is sublime ...what is it ? It's snakewood. The raw timber cost the equivalent of a very decent new bass... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 Ouch. So, how much to build a whole bass from Snakewood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz39 Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 You know what they say: ‘If you have to ask how much it costs...’ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 Probably the same as a small house 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrumpymike Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 ... or even a big one! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 Happily, snakewood isn't generally available in big planks Making progress with a small baby temporarily in the house is challenging. When she's awake, it's all hell let loose. And in the (very) short snaps of sleep time, grandpa isn't allowed to make nasty noises in the cellar! Still, less than a week before normality descends and major step done - full-size drawing with all join points and scale lengths, etc confirmed: Again, it's a wide angle lens so is a bit distorted, but I have it at the same total length as a F Jazz (46"), the horn joining at the 12th fret, the 20th fret at the lower cutaway join, the total body width 10mm narrower than a F Jazz, bridge saddles pretty much in P / J bass position. This looks a better proportioned bass to me and the extra thickness of the Sapele/mahogany should give me plenty of leeway to fit the deeper pickup likely to be going in 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrumpymike Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 That looks just right to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 Looking good enough to eat already, Andy bloke 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 (edited) Well, I'm banking on MrsAndyjr1515 taking eldest daughter and tiny grand-daughter for a (pushchair) walk this afternoon - I want to use the extractor-linked thicknesser in the cellar to slim down the (now) two pieces of mahogany/Sapele - AND IT MAKES A HELL OF A LOT OF NOISE THAT SHAKES THE FOUNDATIONS But I've made myself useful in the short spells between this morning's baby chaos. For the bridge height/neck angle, etc I always draw everything full size nowadays. Such stuff is absolutely critical with a set neck...and this build really does end up being a effectively a removeable set neck . Basically, I draw a string line from the nut at 'normal' action above the last fret and also another line assuming the string was sitting on the frets. From the latter line, I then mark the positions that the bridge bottom would set at, assuming the saddles are at their lowest point. On @fleabag 's Schaller bridge, because there is an optional 3mm spacer, there are actually two possible positions. From these measurements, and knowing the thickness of the walnut top and the purpleheart middle splice, I can then work out whether the neck should sit on the top of the Sapele, or on top of the purpleheart above the Sapele or somewhere in between the two. It works out that if the heel of the neck sits flat on the Sapele, with then the purpleheart and walnut surrounding the heel, then the bridge without spacer should have the strings just touching the frets with the saddles at their lowest point. Here's my to-scale side view drawing with both the neck end and the scale saddle position marked in actual positions vs the plan view above. Should work out OK. So I now can work out the thickness of the Sapele and hence waiting for my moment to start up the Makita and shake some foundations! Edited February 3, 2019 by Andyjr1515 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Shake 'em baby, shake 'em real good. Sounds like a song ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 Hooorah! Thanks to a bright dry but cold day - ideal for pushchairs... The Sapele is thicknessed down to 15mm: Just need a similar fresh air excursion arranged tomorrow and I can joint and join the two pieces to make the back blank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Oooh nice. ! So what , in the end, will be the final thickness ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 Just now, fleabag said: Oooh nice. ! So what , in the end, will be the final thickness ? I'm presently thinking a very traditional 35mm but with loads of chambering to keep the weight down... It's thicker than I generally do nowadays but will mean no issues with the custom pickup depth and suchlike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 (edited) Sweet as I know we chatted about what Aaron needed in pup cover depth, but of course, ( which i forgot ) the pickup always sits proud to some degree, of the body, so routing depth doesnt have to match pup cover depth. I'm a bit slow sometimes Edited February 3, 2019 by fleabag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 Well, it took all day (6 hours of waiting for the moment and 6 1/2 minutes actually doing it) but got the opportunity to straighten up the join lines. These are just pushed together: And actually, I can't remember who said it, but been thinking about a join strip. Join the two back halves with a 6mm middle strip of purpleheart? I reckon so! Shouldn't be as much noise involved in doing that, so should be able to cut that purpleheart strip and join it all up tomorrow... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 That sounds like a great idea AJ. Stuff that strip in sir. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 And the back blank is now joined with a 6mm strip of purpleheart in the middle. Once the glue is fully cured, I'll tidy it up with a cabinet scraper and cut out the body shape from it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 Cleaned up. The purpleheart (and Sapele to an extent) will deepen significantly in colour but this is broadly how the back is going to look: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 How to turn a bass body into a piece of fruit. What a peach ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Looks more like a pear to me!! 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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