Rounding off a 55+ year old project

[sandy_r]

 

Over half-a-century ago, in my financially-challenged teens and never having seen a professionally-made bass, i made my own for about £12

 

I bought a couple of bits of unplaned mahogany (one for the body, one for the neck&head), a strip of ramin for fretboard, some fretwire, and the cheapest set of machine-heads and strings you could buy (at Bell's Instruments, Tolworth)

 

Couldn't afford a decent pickup, so i bought 4 alnico ¼" rod magnets and raided an old solenoid for wire to wind them as individual poles

 

 

Scratchplate was some off-white kitchen formica sheet, 'truss-rod' was ⅜ steel bar, threaded at one end (what was i thinking?!? I'd never seen a truss-rod)

 

Didn't have a workshop, or any fancy tools, so on an old outdoor workbench, armed with a couple of saws, files, and chisels, a mallet, a bench-plane, an electric drill, a screwdriver or two ...and a misguided sense of not knowing what i didn't know, i set to

 

To cut a longer story shorter, i actually completed it

 

miracle #1 - it looked almost like my exercise book cover design;

miracle #2 - it sounded like i imagined a bass might;

 

 

And now, miracle #3 - it looks like it's going to outlive me

 

We've been through a lot of musical adventures together, and a few years ago i treated it to a fretless board and a new bridge, courtesy of a local Luthier

 

I had long ago replaced its rather fetching 60s kitchen-vibe formica scratchplate with a DIY transparent perspex one - the only problem being that everyone could see my bodged attempts at routing the control and pickup cavities

 

Temporarily (for *cough* number of years), i hid the routs using black masking tape on the underside of the perspex.  It looked… er, funky

 

 

Edited March 17 by sandy_r

[sandy_r]

 

So, as a long-overdue, and final gift to the 'Washboard' (expertly named by an old skinny-stringer friend, with whom i used to jam in my student days), i decided i should finally finish this 55+ year old 'project' by covering its modesty with something hopefully more appealing than formica

 

I sourced a couple of sheets of 0.6mm mahogany veneer which i'd have to glue together to cover the full area of the perspex scratchplate

 

 

The edges needed to be cut to fit and, while i managed to do a successful 'overlap-and-cut', i wasn't so successful at taping and folding the joint to glue it - maybe the veneer was too thin for this approach?  ...maybe i'm just making excuses!

 

 

 

Anyway i finally found a way to get glue (mostly) on one edge of a veneer sheet and press the 2 sheets together - it worked out ok

 

 

A couple of coats of water-based varnish, and a bit of sanding, later, i was able to find an area which seemed to be the best match for the grain on the body of the bass, and i traced round the outline of the scratchplate and its cutouts. I cut out the outline with some mean-looking scissors and the cutouts with a craft blade. For days before, i had nightmares about possibly cracking the veneer while cutting, but the varnish was my friend

 

 

After a little bit of trimming, i loaded the veneer and hardware onto the perspex and finally… took a breath

 

 

The Washboard just has a few battle-scars now - but hey, after half-a-century, who hasn't?

 

Veneer in place

 

And, finally, sporting a 3D-printed pickup plate, kindly donated by Rob @rwillett of this parish...

 

 

Edited April 13 by sandy_r

[sandy_r]

 

For some obscure reason, i always preferred the 2x2 basic headstock style (shop only had LH machine heads, so i had to ease open the gears on two of them, flip the winders, and cut the covers a new one!)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 13 by sandy_r

[sandy_r]

 

.

2 biggest regrets in the build:

• gluing & screwing the neck joint (as well as using a horizontal Dove-Joint ...overkill, or what?!?), although i'd never seen any professional (solid) guitars close-up to know any different;
• thinking that 3/8" steel bar was a good idea for a truss-rod - it works, but mostly by gravitational-pull

 

 

Edited March 13 by sandy_r

[sandy_r]

So - here it is, in all its ... er, glory - built like a tank - unfortunately the similarity doesn't end there...

 

 

 

If i had a 3/8" steel bar rammed up my spine, maybe i'd be as upright after all these years

 

 

 

'Do not use until converted' - a little injoke there, to me, from my student self

 

 

 

My 55+ year DIY bass case, also in better shape than me now

 

 

That's all, folks

 

Edited March 13 by sandy_r

[Richard R]

Photos of the whole bass please! Before and after!

There are no photos on your posts, should there be links?

[sandy_r]

25 minutes ago, Richard R said:

Photos of the whole bass please! Before and after!

There are no photos on your posts, should there be links?

 

Woah - ease up on an old duffer, please!  😥

 

Apologies, i only realised i hadn't compressed the image files until i was about to load them - then got interrupted by a phone call

 

The TBC placeholders are for photos of the rest of the bass - but i need to go and lie down for a day or two first! 😉

 

Edited March 12 by sandy_r

[Owen]

The long game. I can respect this.

[Richard R]

36 minutes ago, sandy_r said:

 

Woah - ease up on an old duffer, please!  😥

 

Sorry. I'm just really excited to see the bass, as it's such a great story. 

 

[rwillett]

If you want me to 3d print some surrounds for your pickups for free let me know.

 

Would tidy up the gaps.

 

Massive respect for this. 

[rwillett]

I'd be honoured to be able to contribute 

[Richard R]

1 hour ago, sandy_r said:

 

 

I like that a lot. It's got character.

Edited March 12 by Richard R
Typo

[Mykesbass]

Cracking story and a cool looking bass. 

[3below]

What a great bass, more pics please. I built myself a short scale tele body bass aged 14/5  or so (51 yrs ago). Now long gone, lost when mother moved house and I was at University.   Luckily one picture of me in my first band exists with it. I am reminded that like yours, my scratch plate was kitchen formica.  All built with hand tools, the body was one piece elm coffin boards - given for free  by the local coffin maker.  Happy days. 

[sandy_r]

20 minutes ago, rwillett said:

If you want me to 3d print some surrounds for your pickups for free let me know.

 

Would tidy up the gaps.

 

Massive respect for this. 

 

Man, that's very kind!   My future is a bit uncertain at the moment, hence my rush to get these 2 unfinished projects ** completed and written up

(** this and the CNC PCB for the Sinsonido)

 

Could i take a conditional rain-check on that offer?  (And i must pay!)

 

Spookily, i had been thinking a little while back, before current developments,  about the possibility of commissioning you to 3D print a replacement bridge (original is something like PVA or flexible nylon) for my Aria Sinsonido - i am very conscious, however, that you have more than enough on your plate with your own projects at present

 

[sandy_r]

6 minutes ago, 3below said:

What a great bass, more pics please. I built myself a short scale tele body bass aged 14/5  or so (51 yrs ago). Now long gone, lost when mother moved house and I was at University.   Luckily one picture of me in my first band exists with it. I am reminded that like yours, my scratch plate was kitchen formica.  All built with hand tools, the body was one piece elm coffin boards - given for free  by the local coffin maker.  Happy days. 

 

Oh that was a tragedy!  These projects were our 'rites of passage' into the world of music - they were labours of love.  I bet there are a good few stories out there, like yours and mine. Don't lose that photo!!!

 

[rwillett]

3 hours ago, sandy_r said:

 

Man, that's very kind!   My future is a bit uncertain at the moment, hence my rush to get these 2 unfinished projects ** completed and written up

(** this and the CNC PCB for the Sinsonido)

 

Could i take a conditional rain-check on that offer?  (And i must pay!)

 

Spookily, i had been thinking a little while back, before current developments,  about the possibility of commissioning you to 3D print a replacement bridge (original is something like PVA or flexible nylon) for my Aria Sinsonido - i am very conscious, however, that you have more than enough on your plate with your own projects at present

 

The printers are silent at the moment as I'm waiting for a pillar drill. Until I've sorted out the backbone for the bass, and making sure the flex has gone, no more printing.

 

This is actually a good time to do other jobs.

 

Not sure about the replacement bridge though. There's a lot of load through the tension of the strings. Let me know what you are looking to do. 

 

Rob

[sandy_r]

5 hours ago, rwillett said:

The printers are silent at the moment as I'm waiting for a pillar drill. Until I've sorted out the backbone for the bass, and making sure the flex has gone, no more printing.

 

This is actually a good time to do other jobs.

 

Not sure about the replacement bridge though. There's a lot of load through the tension of the strings. Let me know what you are looking to do. 

 

Rob

 

Phew - work multiplies! - I admire your stamina!  I don't think i could hack the endurance aspect now

 

I think you're right about the bridge, although it's more of a string separater there are obviously large lateral forces for them to have shed bits over time

 

I don't remember considering pickup surrounds before - looking at my pickup er, 'design' i see that the whole thing is very rounded and tapered towards the top, so the gap around it changes by, say, 1 to 3/16" as the pickup height is adjusted (hence the existing gap around it in the scratchplate)

 

I think that a surround plate would need to allow the same range of gap, just vertically displaced somewhat, so i think a surround may just be re-locating the original issue it was intended to fix?  It's definitely one of the areas of the bass which i'd do differently now (the other main ones being the neck/body fixing method, and the steel 'rebar' truss-rod!)

 

I'm following your 3D-printed bass thread with much interest, and willing you through each new hurdle - i hope you manage to solve the 'backbone' flexing issue quickly (ideally, without needing a pillar drill)

 

Edited March 13 by sandy_r

[sandy_r]

 

..more photos compressed &  added near top of thread - will have to take a full-length photo of the bass with new plate veneer and post later...

 

Edited March 13 by sandy_r

[rwillett]

1 hour ago, sandy_r said:

Phew - work multiplies! - I admire your stamina!  I don't think i could hack the endurance aspect now

 

Says the man with a 55+ year bass guitar project

 

1 hour ago, sandy_r said:

I think you're right about the bridge, although it's more of a string separater there are obviously large lateral forces for them to have shed bits over time

 

There's a lot of load through the bass strings. Enough to bend a quality piece of 15mm plywood by 2-3mm. Unless you can spread the load, I'd be surprised if any printed material can handle it short of proper carbon fibre layups.

 

1 hour ago, sandy_r said:

I don't remember considering pickup surrounds before - looking at my pickup er, 'design' i see that the whole thing is very rounded and tapered towards the top, so the gap around it changes by, say, 1 to 3/16" as the pickup height is adjusted (hence the existing gap around it in the scratchplate)

 

I think that a surround plate would need to allow the same range of gap, just vertically displaced somewhat, so i think a surround may just be re-locating the original issue it was intended to fix?  It's definitely one of the areas of the bass which i'd do differently now (the other main ones being the neck/body fixing method, and the steel 'rebar' truss-rod!)

 

A pickup surround is pretty easy,

1. If the pickup is rectalinear then I need the outside of the pickup measurements plus a small gap,
2. I can round corners so perhaps a 0.5mm curve on the corner might help or might not. It's about 10 secs per corner to design it. 
3. I need the width of the pickup surround, too big and it looks silly, too small and it may not cover all of the gap. 10mm is not a problem if you want. For my six string printed guitar, the pickguard is the surrond and the P90's fit onto it.
4. I need the height of the surround, 2-3mm should be the minimum otherwise it gets too flexible.
5. I need to know how you want to fix it to the guitar. Thin double sided tape works well, but also I can put screw holes in and you can screw it in.

 

Here's one I made earlier (in the best Blue Peter tradition). It has countersunk holes to fit the guitar, it has a slight flange around the top and enough of a gap for the pickup to fit snugly but not tightly. The person then sadned it down with very fine sandpaper and spray painted it. I thought it looked great.

 

 

Pillar drill is on order, should be here Friday. I've been putting it off for years and thought I needed it now.

Rob

[sandy_r]

1 hour ago, rwillett said:

 

Says the man with a 55+ year bass guitar project

 

 

There's a lot of load through the bass strings. Enough to bend a quality piece of 15mm plywood by 2-3mm. Unless you can spread the load, I'd be surprised if any printed material can handle it short of proper carbon fibre layups.

 

 

A pickup surround is pretty easy,

1. If the pickup is rectalinear then I need the outside of the pickup measurements plus a small gap,
2. I can round corners so perhaps a 0.5mm curve on the corner might help or might not. It's about 10 secs per corner to design it. 
3. I need the width of the pickup surround, too big and it looks silly, too small and it may not cover all of the gap. 10mm is not a problem if you want. For my six string printed guitar, the pickguard is the surrond and the P90's fit onto it.
4. I need the height of the surround, 2-3mm should be the minimum otherwise it gets too flexible.
5. I need to know how you want to fix it to the guitar. Thin double sided tape works well, but also I can put screw holes in and you can screw it in.

 

Here's one I made earlier (in the best Blue Peter tradition). It has countersunk holes to fit the guitar, it has a slight flange around the top and enough of a gap for the pickup to fit snugly but not tightly. The person then sadned it down with very fine sandpaper and spray painted it. I thought it looked great.

 

 

Pillar drill is on order, should be here Friday. I've been putting it off for years and thought I needed it now.

Rob

 

You're a credit to BC, Rob!  

 

If i can get my brain in gear, i'll try to reverse-engineer the pickup case (= actually measure it for the first time) - i suspect that you'll be off and running with the pillar drill before i can produce some semblence of clarity re. the spec (that double-sided tape fixture seems the sensible way to go) ...and the labourer is worthy of his hire, so payment - or a donation to something - is a must!  Many thanks

 

Now - get that pillar drill and start reaming metal!!!

 

[sandy_r]

 

...final round of photos added near top of thread - apologies, not great quality - running out of steam...

 

Thanks all, for your interest, kind words, memories and inspiration

 

Slainthe!

 

 

 

Edited March 13 by sandy_r

[rwillett]

57 minutes ago, sandy_r said:

 

You're a credit to BC, Rob!  

 

If i can get my brain in gear, i'll try to reverse-engineer the pickup case (= actually measure it for the first time) - i suspect that you'll be off and running with the pillar drill before i can produce some semblence of clarity re. the spec (that double-sided tape fixture seems the sensible way to go) ...and the labourer is worthy of his hire, so payment - or a donation to something - is a must!  Many thanks

 

Now - get that pillar drill and start reaming metal!!!

 

 

Send some simple measurements and I'll knock something up. It's not a big deal to print it up and if v1 is wrong, v2 will be better. 

 

I'm hoping just to drill and not ream. 

[SpondonBassed]

3 hours ago, rwillett said:

The person then sadned it down with very fine sandpaper and spray painted it.

 

Don't worry.  I cheered it up after with a wipe of furniture polish.

 

I haven't painted it Rob.   That's the finish you get with 2500 wet and dry.

 

 

Left - Original damaged bezel.  Centre - Printed bezel as received from Rob.  Right - Bezel after rounding edges and corners then finishing with 2500 wet and dry.

[Richard R]

That bass is excellent!

 It has certainly lasted longer than the only thing of note I made when I was 17, which was a Sinclair Spectrum game. We had it published and made some money, but unlike a physical bass you couldn't just pick it up and play it now.