Finished! Tom's African Build 2

[Andyjr1515]

Although this is going to have the wenge pickup rings and so a close fit of the chambers isn't critical, it's nevertheless decent practice to pretend that they are needing to be close fitted.

Each to their own, but regular viewers of my builds know that I don't generally use templates.

As always, this is just the way I do it - not that this is the way it should be done.

I draw round the pickup directly onto the top, then get a drill of the right radius to get the four corners, and an appropriate drill size if there are lugs like these humbuckers have to do the same to mark the lug positions:

 

Then I use a Forstner to hog out to the edge of the line, around 3mm shallower than the final depth:

 

I then chisel away the wave peaks up to the line and to at least the depth of my router bit bearing:

 

 

Then my most-used router bit - this diddy bearing-guided one to firstly clean up the sides, and then to reach the final chamber depth:

 

And I then have the two chambers:

 

Into which, happily, two humbuckers fit nicely into :

 

 

 

 

[Andyjr1515]

And when I say I have a long drill bit for the cable runs, I mean a LONG drill bit!

 

It performed better than I had expected.  The second run - from the jack connection point to the rear chamber - will have to wait until I've done my experimenting...

[Andyjr1515]

So - the jack.

This is one of those areas where Tom and I will be PMing in the background to bounce off the ideas.  But the concept is something along these lines:



ie, cable round the strap and then in at the back, from the top and at an angle.  Could be an actual upside down strat jackplate like above, or it could be a carved piece of timber with that kind of shape - not sure yet.

Why not use a strat plate in the normal position?


Because the body is so slim, the jack would poke through at the front!


Using an actual reversed strat plate, then I would use a conventional jack.  If I did a carved solution, then I would probably use a cylinder jack:



Anyway - that's the concept.  The actual solution will develop anon

[SpondonBassed]

7 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

screw a bridge through a wire-filled passage

No.  Just no.  I'm not touching that one.

5 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

the simple theory of multiscale

That is an excellent guide.  Thank you.

[SpondonBassed]

4 hours ago, Daz39 said:

Think piano as opposed to guitar for string length.

Piano strings have an additional feature that used to be commonly available in sets of bass strings.

They have no windings over the saddle.  This means that it is just the core wire of each string is fixed at the saddle thus leaving the strings a little more free to vibrate.  With these you can get close to piano tone with careful adjustment of technique and eq.

Combined with multi-scale, you could get even closer to piano tone.

Piano wound or Superwound bass strings, as they are sometimes called are not so commonly available now.

Edited March 1, 2020 by SpondonBassed

[Si600]

@Andyjr1515 @Daz39

Thank you for that very helpful explanation.

Someone needs to make me a jazz neck sized reverse headstock multiscale Fenderbird.

(I saw The Darkness a fortnight ago and want a Thunderbird but they AFAIK don't come as a V, and the Gibson headstock is hideous.)

[Stub Mandrel]

15 minutes ago, Si600 said:

Gibson headstock is hideous.

But excellent for smiting down ravening hordes of goblins...

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, Si600 said:

Someone needs to make me a jazz neck sized reverse headstock multiscale Fenderbird.

(I saw The Darkness a fortnight ago and want a Thunderbird but they AFAIK don't come as a V, and the Gibson headstock is hideous.)

And for a mere king's ransom....  

  

[Si600]

59 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

And for a mere king's ransom....  

  

Oh god yes, the price would be horrendous. I may see what I can get off the Bay of Fleas. An Epiphone body and LH Jazz V Neck. Even that will be a bit frisky on price I fear.

Anyway, enough derailing, back to the cellar with you Mr. Jr1515 😉

[Andyjr1515]

And today's challenge.

Can I make something like that on the left with something like this on the right?

[Stub Mandrel]

I would rout a groove into the back,  to about 2" in from the edge then fit a cylinder jack - this would remove the risk of a protruding jack catching and splitting the body.

[Andyjr1515]

35 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I would rout a groove into the back,  to about 2" in from the edge then fit a cylinder jack - this would remove the risk of a protruding jack catching and splitting the body.

Yes - it's an option, but it means a control chamber cover that I'm trying to avoid.  While I don't think that there is much chance of splitting the body - trust me, the jack would bend before this wood split! - I understand where you are coming from and, normally would probably opt to do it like that.  However, this present option is a concept that Tom and I talked about quite a lot and think maybe it could work.

I have the prototype done.  I'll post it shortly. 

[Andyjr1515]

So prototype 1 is done and - other than a bit more thought about the fixing (the block will be also the access point) - this concept would work.

 

But @Stub Mandrel has got me thinking.  I could actually mirror this to become more like a conventional strat / Ibanez, but with more body to it.  So still a carved block, but incorporating the type of scoop @Stub Mandrel refers to.   I'll have a play and see if I can get prototype 2 done along those lines  

[Si600]

Something like a Barchan sand dune...

[Andyjr1515]

So, Prototype 1:

 

And Prototype 2:

 

In both cases they will be sunk into the body by a couple of mm.

Playing air guitar with one of my test bed guitars, they both actually work pretty well and with the jack actually well out of harm's way.  So I'm going to pass it over to Tom for whichever he prefers.  Then I'll make the final one, just tweaked a bit to get the look and the angles a touch better.

By the way, this walnut (recognise it @scrumpymike ? ) will darken nicely with any finish applied.  This is the same wood:

[Andyjr1515]

OK, Tom's preference is Prototype 1.

So this is the final version, ready to fit:

 

The base plate will be sunk the 2-3mm flush with the body and be securely held in place with a fixing screw in the centre of each curved wing.

I know the angle and broad positioning that Tom would prefer but - before I cut the chamber - am going to pop a couple of strap buttons on (it will eventually have the Dunlop insert straplocks so when those are fitted, I will just use the screwholes as my drilling pilot holes) and strap it up to make sure that the jack is going to end up in the right place an inch or so right of the player's right hip.

But tomorrow's main job is probably going to be making a start with carving the neck profile

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by Andyjr1515

[Andyjr1515]

I'll creep up on the neck over a couple of days.   I'll probably go entirely by feel rather than templates and also there are a couple of areas (especially the volute, re the multiscale and the heel join) where I want time to sit and ponder before removing wood that can't be put back

I prefer, where I can, to carve the neck fixed to the body (most of my builds are through necks anyway so it's probably just what I'm used to).

Having marked the centre line so I know not to carve into this area, for the rough shape I start with the spokeshave to take the corners off:

 

Then fairly quickly moved onto the micro-plane rasp blade, drawn down the whole length of the neck like a scraper (wearing gloves!):

 

And this is where I'll leave it for today to finish it to shape over the weekend:

 

[HazBeen]

Loving this build diary yet again  proper job!

[Andyjr1515]

Bit more work on the volute and heel, but the profile is pretty much there:

While the neck is on,  I'll pop a couple of temporary strap buttons on and check out the positioning of the rear jack access.  If I get time, I'll have a go at that this afternoon. 

[mixingwithtom]

Yay!!!!!!!

[Andyjr1515]

Onto the jack socket.

This (I hope @wwcringe  ) is broadly where Tom wanted the jack socket to be.  Before I made the cut, I strapped it up to see how much clearance there is between the jack itself and the player's side - there is plenty!  So the chamber was cut

 

So this is how it will sit, with the lead in the standard secure "once round the strap and into the jack socket" position:

 

"But surely, you're going to knock the jack with your hip????!!!"

No, actually.  Stood up or sat down, it's miles away.  And, actually, much, much safer than the jack into the front of the jack plate of many Fenders.  Here's the jack in playing position - the blue's my shirt, the grey is my leg:

 

So yes, @wwcringe - you chose a good position

 

 

 

[SpondonBassed]

There is something very satisfying about how you've embedded that carving.

I find a similar advantage with my two paddle basses.

If you use an inline jack plug the location of the socket (at the lower edge of the paddle) puts the plug in the way of your thigh sometimes.  A recipe for instant crackling, if not the sort you'd get in a bag of scratchings.  If however, you use a right angled jack, the body of the jack swivels nicely behind the paddle's body and the cable runs neatly up to the strap from behind.  Tidy.

[Andyjr1515]

While I still make monumental c**k ups every now and again, there is no doubt that the exposure to perfection from other builders round here is making me a touch more accurate at times.

To get a cable channel from the jack socket, I have to get a hole to the bottom of the rear pickup chamber from the edge, intersecting the jack socket cutout.  Basically along this line:

 

With a standard length brad-point drill, where it was easier to ensure I was going at the correct angle in all planes, I first drilled from the edge to the jack chamber.  It's a 6mm drill so a standard neck dot will fill the hole at the edge :

 

Then got the big b*****d out and went the distance.  It came out at the right place and height!

 

And I'm not sure I could do that again if I tried!

 

[SpondonBassed]

All hail the driller killer!

It's funny how drill bits can steer a curved path.  Even with high tech bits, the the timber can have little areas of dense grain that pull on the cutting flutes and cause deviation.  I'm betting that's the case with African Drum Wood too.

Well done.

[Andyjr1515]

Hi

Back from daughter's at Aberdeen (borders not closed yet; was there ahead of the 'don't visit relatives' advice; even more ahead of the 'don't even phone people you know' edict that I'm sure is only a few days away ) so back to the project.

The pickup rings and headstock plate will be using some wenge constructional veneer - 2mm thick.  Strong along the length but very brittle crossgrain.  It'll be fine for the headstock plate - this will be similar to Tom's original African bass.  This is a photo of his original with maple wings added in anticipation:

 

For the pickup rings - these will darken when they are sanded and finished - I probably need to add an underlayer either of crossgrain wood or maybe even pickguard material to give it a bit more underlying strength:

 

When I've done that, I will probably also slim the ring around the neck pickup a touch to match the slimmer pickup itself.

But that's a job for tomorrow. 

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by Andyjr1515