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The little rascal!


Andyjr1515

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Well, @scrumpymike and I have been discussing this for months and, based on the fact that the best way to accelerate progress is to kick off a build thread, here is the thread.

Do you remember this?  @scrumpymike's Rascal:

7Pa3n4Rl.jpg

...that he wanted me to re-body?  Mike loved the sounds and the switch options and the neck...but couldn't get on with the sheer bulk of the body shape.

So, using timber from the last tree that his life-long-lumberjacking friend Merv cut down before he retired, I rebodied it to produce this:

jAppiQil.jpg

..which, happily, he loves.

Now, although the mod was made to be fully reversible, Mike tells me that there is no way that he is ever going to do that.

So what to do with the left over body...

nFD1Qwul.jpg

 

Indeed.

And that's where this project comes from. 

 

There's not a lot more to add

- yet  :D

 

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1 hour ago, wrinkleygit said:

Ready for early April ?

Hopefully before that... :D

A bit like buses, a few more potential projects have all come at once.  So, even though the winter hibernation instincts are beckoning like the sirens of legend, apparently I have to get off my fat a**e instead and get into the cellar cutting wood!  ;)

 

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Well, the plan was a simple one.  Aren't they all 9_9  :

- buy a 30" 21 fret neck

- buy some Fender lipsticks

- reshape the body

- refinish

- send back to @scrumpymike with suitable demand for a king's ransom

 

The reality started hitting home when we started looking more closely.  

1.  See discussion in the similar thread here 

(remember me taking about buses?)

The above is a fascinating parallel project but, if you read into the detail, you will see the general agreement that 21 fret 30" necks are as rare as hen's teeth.

So, unless someone reading the thread has one they want to sell, I'll be making a neck for this project.

2.  The 'Fender lipsticks' are, in fact. Seymour Duncan 6-string electric pickups.  And they are expensive (we are talking at least 1/2 a kings ransom for a set) and - for those of you familiar with Stratocaster pickups - the centre pickup has to be a 'RWRP = reverse wound, reverse polarity'.  This arrangement gives you humbucking in positions 2 and 4 of the 5-way switch.  But finding a 3-piece full set in the UK was looking challenging, let alone the cost! 

In that the cost would have blown Mike's preferred budget sky high, I've taken a punt on these:

taqLKbAl.jpg

It is an Artec set - including the all-important RWRP centre one.  A full set at less than half the cost of ONE of the Seymour Duncan ones. And - accepting this might be the one to break the rule - to date, I have never come across a bad Artec product.

 

So that's where we are so far.  Mike has given me a bridge and some tuners that might be able to be used and also an initial sketch of the body reshape and tomorrow, I will be ordering the neck wood and starting to strip the finish off the Rascal body to see what's underneath. 

Mike and I have discussed the neck.  We will go for a fender-ish shape headstock - maybe 3+1 if the tuners are reversible.  My strong preference is an angled headstock (iconic as it is, I think the dogleg concept of the fenders are a bit compromised with ref to the string break angles) and we'll go for a zero-fret on, probably, a maple fretboard.

So that's everyone up to date.  Time to get out of my winter nightgown...

:)

 

 

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4 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

So that's everyone up to date.  Time to get out of my winter nightgown...

 

6225814173_342e57ec22_o.jpg

(Yes, I know I've used it before, but it's funny and that's good enough for me 🙂)

Edited by Si600
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39 minutes ago, durhamboy said:

Andy, just in case this might be an option? Coronado bass necks, 30 inch scale, 21 frets currently on ebay. From China of course.

 

s-l1600 (5).jpg

Hmmm...I did see something like this but China can be quite variable and wasn't entirely sure it was worth the gamble. 

I'll maybe have another peep before I pull the trigger on the wood.  Thanks for flagging :)

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OK, been away this weekend but I'm on-board now - and excited to be responsible for another Andyjr1515 build diary (I really need to get out more 🙂).  Truth is I am so delighted with Andy's original 'Rascal Mervyn-Lyte' that I decided having a 'Rascal Lyte Mkll' as my back-up gig bass was the only way to go.  At the time it also seemed like a fairly straightforward project, what with already having the original Fender body plus a few other nice bits and pieces.  As Andy has pointed out though, it's not quite so easy since the other parts are more elusive/expensive than expected.  On the other current Rascal topic Andy referred to, essentialtension posted that the Rascal neck was nicked off the Coronado, which seemed spot on.  Durhamboy has picked up on the same idea but it's interesting to see from his pic that the truss-rod adjustment is at the headstock (on the Chinese copy at least) compared to the bottom end on the Rascal neck.  So maybe not worth taking a punt on that one in case it is different from the Rascal neck in other respects too.

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Looked at the China products again - some look ropey, some look fine.  But, while I have bought many things direct from China and I wouldn't have any issue with bodies, I still think necks are a bit of a gamble.

I looked through my past notes of where I've bought components in the past and came across Eden in USA who I have bought from and they do, indeed, do short scale 21 fret necks!  Now, I have no doubt whatsoever that a lot of their stuff is made in China, but the items I've bought from them in the past have been all reasonable quality timbers and accurate build spec. 

So - in that even with shipping and duties it is still cheaper than the raw timber would cost me here - I have taken a punt on one of their shortscale, paddle-headed, unfinished necks.  It, too, has a headstock adjustment but my view - which I've bounced off Mike to make sure he's OK with it - is that there is no sonic or performance impact from that option.

So while I'm waiting for that to arrive, I'm going to start having a look at the body shape.

Mike sent me a 'this sort of thing' sketch, overlaid on the Fender Rascal drawing:

7QVN1ACl.jpg 

So there would be nothing functionally affected and the proportions would end up much closer to the Lyte that is then pretty close to the walnut modded bass he likes so much.

At the moment, all looks good :)

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This is where @scrumpymike says, "Just saw your post, Andy.  No - those lines aren't where I want it cut - that was just marks on the scanner glass." and then I say, "Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!"  ;)

Because this is how interpreted the lines:

Wi4Kh6jl.jpg

 

Which, with a quick visit to the band saw became:

M5jvSfhl.jpg%20

 

with this left over:

ASa1pfyl.jpg

 

Don't worry Mike.  It'll glue back.  Bit of David's Isopon I'm sure you won't be even able to see it...

 

:lol:

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This is where experience really comes into its own.

Someone doing this the first time might naively think that the original finish has been removed :D 

But not so.  The experienced know that there are eons of tortuous sanding sessions after which your fingers have been worn down to stumps and everyone refers to you as The Dust Man in your vain attempt to actually reach bare wood through the fiendish sealing coats that guitar and bass manufacturers put on for the express purpose of deterring maniacs such as Andyjr1515 who wish to attack their beautiful products.

Or in short...quite a bit more to do but at least the green is off ;)

 

 61QL773l.jpg

 

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7 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

I looked through my past notes of where I've bought components in the past and came across Eden in USA who I have bought from and they do, indeed, do short scale 21 fret necks!  Now, I have no doubt whatsoever that a lot of their stuff is made in China, but the items I've bought from them in the past have been all reasonable quality timbers and accurate build spec.

Hey Andy, is that THE Eden as in David Eden of amplifier fame?  If so then even if the necks are made in China they should be subjected to a pretty good quality control regime in the US before being shipped out to customers.

Great to see the body trimmed down btw - exactly as I wanted it!  With band-sawing skills like yours you're in the wrong job mate.  Ever thought of a career in brain surgery?  I think the the trans-black body finish with replacement ebony scratchplate (or even a combination of part ebony/part pearlescent?) will be the game-changer in terms of how the finished bass looks.

Yeeee-haaaa 👍

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I don't know if it's the same Eden, though those necks, bodies, etcetera, had been available over the years from China under the Eden name. There's plenty of feedback on the US bass form, largely positive when factoring in the price. I've been looking at their short scale fretless necks, just to experiment with that combo without investing to much time and money first time. (Always been a 34" scale player, but fingers and the rest of me are getting seriously old now....   😕  )

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7 hours ago, durhamboy said:

don't know if it's the same Eden, though those necks, bodies,

I'm pretty sure it isn't the same Eden but, as you say, the online feedback is generally reasonable.

I'll know within 5 minutes of receiving it whether or not I can use it so no great shakes.  It will be useful if it is OK because I am asked quite often about short scale builds and custom built necks do add a significant cost hit, which often knocks the project out of the running.

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A cancelled visit has given me a few hours I wasn't expecting so I've been sanding!

To be honest, not bad at all.  Ibanez's are the worst - the last layer is like armour plate!  But this cleaned up relatively easily.  A little more to do to get rid of dinks and dints, but this is looking pretty good:

DleJVTWl.jpg

 

I had assumed that I might have to veneer or cap the top but - even though this is a 3-piece body, the grain matches so well I don't know that you'd tell it from a one-piece, especially once the scratch plate is on it.

This afternoon's job is more web searching.  I'm going to put a cut-away plate on it if I can find one (and take more of the corner off than this example) to aid the upper-fret access:

x1EJVAgl.jpg

I'll also look at how large sheets of ebony stretch to - Mike wants an ebony scratchplate if that's possible.  I'm not sure that Ebony sheet gets to that size but have a few ideas up my sleeve if not ;)

I'll probably wait until the neck arrives, but I also have a cunning plan about what to do with the cutaways that the original Rascal bridge needed and which will probably show in front of the bridge that Mike's sent to me or any other suitable design.

It's good to be back in the dark cold cellar again! :D

Edited by Andyjr1515
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1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

I had assumed that I might have to veneer or cap the top but - even though this is a 3-piece body, the grain matches so well I don't know that you'd tell it from a one-piece, especially once the scratch plate is on it.

Agreed - I am pleasantly surprised too.

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3 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

 

To be honest, not bad at all.  Ibanez's are the worst - the last layer is like armour plate!

You are not wrong, sir. When I stripped my black Gary Willis, I almost wished I’d left the clear layer on and tried to polish it up. 

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11 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

Just found the Eden necks online - look good.  I see why they're called 'paddle' necks - presumably that enables any type of head-stock design.

Or to get you out of trouble when in 💩creek without a means of propulsion.

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