First time making a bass, Singlecut NT 5 string

[Si600]

Where did you get the tuners? You may have already said of course and I'm just being lazy 😉

[spacecowboy]

15 minutes ago, Si600 said:

Where did you get the tuners? You may have already said of course and I'm just being lazy 😉

They're Warwick tuners from Thomann ☺️

[HazBeen]

What’s the weight mate? Also, if you haven’t sorted the electronics yet, drop me a pm.

Well done!

[spacecowboy]

15 hours ago, HazBeen said:

What’s the weight mate? Also, if you haven’t sorted the electronics yet, drop me a pm.

Well done!

I haven't weighed it yet... however it feels very light, lighter than I thought it would be, I picked up my Marcus Miller last night for the first time in ages and it felt like a boat anchor!! I have some digital scales so I'll get a weight done soon! 

Thanks re. Electronics, I'll be doing them tonight so no doubt you'll have a message coming!

[spacecowboy]

Updates!

It's finished! It's taken 6 weeks but I'm done! I've called this design Aberffraw after mine and my missus' favorite beach.

I got the bass all setup last night, new Elixir strings, intonation spot on, and final fret tweaks and polishing done. Back to the "what do Carbon Fibre rods do...?" question, I can say that the neck on this bass hasn't moved a mm throughout, straight as a straight straight thing. Downside is I haven't plugged this in to play yet because of work, but I'll be doing this tonight to hear, I'm happy to post some sound samples when I get some. 

Had a slight nightmare at the end thinking I'd done something disastrous with my pickup wiring as I had no output at all... but it turned out to be some copper shielding shorting the circuit! So that was quickly sorted out.

"When did you do the pickup covers?!..." Well! An actual disastrous occurrence did happen... I had to route my pickup channels 4mm deeper as the pickups were bottoming out too soon. Of course the router decided this was a perfect time to ruin things by catching on some timber and taking a chunk out of my routed pocket, of course it was the top wood... cue launching the router across the garage and lots of swearing. What this did mean was I could make some pickup covers, and I'd have to route new housings for those and because they're bigger than the pickup the problem would go away... luckily they look much better than the bare pickup so this was a blessing in a very frustrating disguise. Seriously though... Routers... bastards.

I also have my headstock logo finished having this produced as a metallic brass transfer but just need to wait for that to come! It's my surname signature.

So spec wise the bass is as follows; 

• 35" Scale
• 5 String
• 24 Medium Jumbo Silver Nickel Frets
• 7 Piece laminated neck through of Wenge & Ovangkol
• 3 Piece Body laminates of Swamp Ash, Wenge, Spalted Sycamore Maple top
• Wenge Headstock Laminate
• Tung Oil with Wax Finish
• EMG Active J5 Pickups with passive VVT electronics
• Magnetic cavity cover and truss rod cover
• Dual Action Truss Rod
• 2x Carbon Fibre Rods
• Warwick Tuners 3+2
• Warwick JANIII Nut
• Schaller 3D5B Roller Bridge
• Harley Benton Strap Locks
• Harley Benton Black Dome Knobs
• Switchcraft Barrel Jack
• Elixir Nanoweb Strings
• MOP Side dot inlays

 

Thank you for everyone for feedback, comments and support, you're all a credit to this forum. 

B

 

 

 

[songofthewind]

Crazy cool! And a great recovery from the routing disaster. I hope we can hear sound clips soon!

[Andyjr1515]

That is simply superb.  Top drawer

Wow!

 

[spacecowboy]

20 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

That is simply superb.  Top drawer

Wow!

 

Thanks Andy! One day hopefully I'll be doing work as good as yours! 

[HazBeen]

1 hour ago, spacecowboy said:

Seriously though... Routers... bastards.

I feel you ..... great tool, but you know they will bite you on occasion. Absolutely great build mate, I am well impressed.

[Jabba_the_gut]

Very nice - I think those pickup covers work better with this design rather than the standard EMG look. Every cloud has a silver lining!!

[eude]

Wow, that is something else!

Amazing work buddy!

[Daz39]

Laahhhvvely

[BassBus]

Some people might think you've done this before. Mighty impressive.

[eude]

5 hours ago, spacecowboy said:

Updates!

It's finished! It's taken 6 weeks but I'm done! I've called this design Aberffraw after mine and my missus' favorite beach.

I got the bass all setup last night, new Elixir strings, intonation spot on, and final fret tweaks and polishing done. Back to the "what do Carbon Fibre rods do...?" question, I can say that the neck on this bass hasn't moved a mm throughout, straight as a straight straight thing. Downside is I haven't plugged this in to play yet because of work, but I'll be doing this tonight to hear, I'm happy to post some sound samples when I get some. 

Had a slight nightmare at the end thinking I'd done something disastrous with my pickup wiring as I had no output at all... but it turned out to be some copper shielding shorting the circuit! So that was quickly sorted out.

"When did you do the pickup covers?!..." Well! An actual disastrous occurrence did happen... I had to route my pickup channels 4mm deeper as the pickups were bottoming out too soon. Of course the router decided this was a perfect time to ruin things by catching on some timber and taking a chunk out of my routed pocket, of course it was the top wood... cue launching the router across the garage and lots of swearing. What this did mean was I could make some pickup covers, and I'd have to route new housings for those and because they're bigger than the pickup the problem would go away... luckily they look much better than the bare pickup so this was a blessing in a very frustrating disguise. Seriously though... Routers... bastards.

I also have my headstock logo finished having this produced as a metallic brass transfer but just need to wait for that to come! It's my surname signature.

So spec wise the bass is as follows; 

• 35" Scale
• 5 String
• 24 Medium Jumbo Silver Nickel Frets
• 7 Piece laminated neck through of Wenge & Ovangkol
• 3 Piece Body laminates of Swamp Ash, Wenge, Spalted Sycamore Maple top
• Wenge Headstock Laminate
• Tung Oil with Wax Finish
• EMG Active J5 Pickups with passive VVT electronics
• Magnetic cavity cover and truss rod cover
• Dual Action Truss Rod
• 2x Carbon Fibre Rods
• Warwick Tuners 3+2
• Warwick JANIII Nut
• Schaller 3D5B Roller Bridge
• Harley Benton Strap Locks
• Harley Benton Black Dome Knobs
• Switchcraft Barrel Jack
• Elixir Nanoweb Strings
• MOP Side dot inlays

 

Thank you for everyone for feedback, comments and support, you're all a credit to this forum. 

B

 

 

 

Where did you get the brass transfer from?

I need to get some graphics printed for a custom pedal, I tried vinyl but it wasn't great...

Eude

[Si600]

I really like the armchair and the TV unit!

If I did arty photo's there would be piles of stuff shoved out of view.

Edited September 18, 2020 by Si600

[songofthewind]

16 hours ago, eude said:

It's finished! It's taken 6 weeks but I'm done! I've called this design Aberffraw after mine and my missus' favorite beach.

Aberffraw, eh? I used to go windsurfing at Rhosneigr just up the coast. Wild and wooly.

[spacecowboy]

2 hours ago, songofthewind said:

Aberffraw, eh? I used to go windsurfing at Rhosneigr just up the coast. Wild and wooly.

Yeah? That's excellent, I have family who live in Malltreath and we go paddle boarding and dipping all around the island, Newborourgh is another personal fave! 

[spacecowboy]

18 hours ago, eude said:

Where did you get the brass transfer from?

I need to get some graphics printed for a custom pedal, I tried vinyl but it wasn't great...

Eude

Yeah these are vinyl's mate I couldn't find much else, I'm hoping they will survive! 

[AlexDelores]

What a great thread and a beautiful bass! 
 

Fantastic work! Such an inspiring build 👌

 

[DarkHeart]

Stunning!

[eude]

5 hours ago, spacecowboy said:

Yeah these are vinyl's mate I couldn't find much else, I'm hoping they will survive! 

Don't worry, it's not the longevity that was my concern, my design was quite fiddly, which made it tricky to print and apply, so it ended a little wonky. Anyway, I had to get yet another enclosure as the drilling wasn't right. Got a gold one this time, but I still reckon black graphics would look best...

Cheers, Eude

[ezbass]

I reckon that the offending router did you a favour, those new, wooden covers finish the look perfectly.

[4000]

On 31/08/2020 at 13:00, prowla said:

🙂 I do see it sometimes, but if the carbon rods are rigid then I don’t know what the rod is for, unless there is some give and it needs tweaking. 
(I’m thinking/musing out loud, btw...)

The rods aren’t so rigid that you can’t move the neck. Even modern Status full graphite necks have a truss rod. 

The idea is mainly to make the neck stiffer, as opposed to completely rigid, and to help with movement, twist etc. Doesn’t always work though. My first Sei, a 6, had twin graphite rods and the neck moved so much I eventually sold it.