DeArmond Jet Star - mod time

[neepheid]

10 hours ago, Mediocre Polymath said:

I do simple routs like this with forstner bits and chisels – I could easily adapt one of my existing humbucker cavity drill templates if you want to go down that route. Just give me the dimensions.

 

That's very kind of you to offer, thank you. I think I'll give it another go myself and see if I've learned anything from my first go. If it's another mess then I'll be in touch.

[Hellzero]

You can do it perfectly with your router and simple guides locking the motion on the left and right to the desired length of the said router, in just six passes.

[neepheid]

2 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

You can do it perfectly with your router and simple guides locking the motion on the left and right to the desired length of the said router, in just six passes.

 

Reading your message, I just realised my mistake - I was operating the wrong way round.  I should have had my rails/fences/guides on the opposite side, so if I wandered, I wandered into the material I was removing anyway, not the stuff I wanted to keep.

 

FFS!  What a moron.  I really am living up to my username.

[neepheid]

I think I've redeemed myself.  Start again then...

 

 

Made a better jig which actually works the correct way round...

 

 

First cuts...

 

 

And then changed the jig to do the short sides, et voilà

 

 

That's more like it!  Crappy first attempt above for comparison.  Then I guess when you write on it with a Sharpie, it becomes official...

 

 

The only thing I have to consider is that my top bearing router bit is a bit fat for the corners of the pickup (it's OK for the mounting lugs), had to cut them out after the fact on the template, so going to have to figure out how to solve that.  But progress is progress, and I'm much happier with this second attempt at the template.

 

One final piece of paranoia - I checked that the neck fits when the pickup is mounted - it has a 21st fret overhang...

 

 

Phew!  That is approximately where the neck pickup of a Peavey T-40 goes with regard to scale length.

[AndyTravis]

[neepheid]

Found an old plank in the shed to practice on.  Also found a potential solution for the corners - got a 1/4" cutter, if I poke it far enough out of the collet then there will hopefully be enough shaft (stop sniggering at the back, you!) poking down below the baseplate of the router then it should not cut into the template but follow it as if it had a bearing.  Dunno if the radius will be small enough, but it'll be closer than the 1/2" cutter I'll be using for the initial routing.

 

 

That's tomorrow's fun though - got a band rehearsal now.

[SpondonBassed]

Things don't always go right the first time.  Well done for keeping at it!

[Paul S]

47 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

Things don't always go right the first time.  Well done for keeping at it!

 

Exactly what Mrs S said to me a couple of nights ago... 

[neepheid]

So I found a nicer piece of pine to practice on than that scabby old thing I found.  It went... OK.

 

 

A few wobbles (including setting the depth of my cutter a tad low at the beginning.  But lessons learned, and praise be, the pickup fits (using the 1/4" cutter in the corners).

 

 

I thought about having another test run, but I thought "F it" and decided to proceed directly to the real thing...  First off, remove the bulk of the hole with the drill and forstner bit.

 

 

Then deep breath and get out my most hated power tool, the router.  Took my time this time, double checked everything.  Did the main shape with the 1/2" cutter, then swapped to the 1/4" cutter for the corners.  Howzat?

 

 

The wee deeper holes in the corner are because I had to poke the 1/4" cutter down sufficiently so that enough plain shaft was below the baseplate so it would not cut the template.

 

IT FITS, YAS!

 

 

I am very pleased with my afternoon's work.  This is the first pickup route I've ever routed in my life.  Glad it went well, but won't be sorry if I don't ever do it again, lol.  It most certainly has not "given me the bug" - it was stressful and horrible work, but I am very pleased with the results.

 

Next job - figuring out how to make a dirty long hole from the control cavity to the pickup route without ballsing the entire operation up.  I might need a bit of professional help with that so I might pay the Engineering Workshop at work a visit on Monday and see if I can cadge a disgustingly long drill bit at the very least.  Or they might take pity on me and do a "give it here" - I won't complain!

[Richard R]

This already looks better with the additional pickup. 

[SpondonBassed]

That's a job to be proud of.  It looks tidy, especially the clean edges to the paint.

[Jackroadkill]

Nice work, Neep.  You're making great progress on a very cool project, young man.

[AndyTravis]

I’m over the moon for you with that - great work mate. 
 

The test run - that’s a step I’d skip (and f*** up thereafter)

 

bass looks mint x

[JohnDaBass]

Great job, looks awesome and it will have a huge Attitude sound😊

[Hellzero]

The easiest way would be to drill a hole from the neck pocket through the neck pickup cavity to the bridge pickup cavity.

 

Fast, easy, clean, invisible, impossible to screw.

[Hellzero]

And super nice job, you can be proud of yourself for a first.

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, Hellzero said:

The easiest way would be to drill a hole from the neck pocket through the neck pickup cavity to the bridge pickup cavity.

 

Fast, easy, clean, invisible, impossible to screw.

Impressive work, Neep. As for the cable run, see above.

[Mediocre Polymath]

That looks great, also I want to just give moral support for a fellow hater of routers. They are the devil's tool, to be avoided as much as possible. And don't don't get me started on table routers, not even once man. 

[neepheid]

Tiny inch forward today (well, I was gigging last night) - but I did a wee bit of pickup route finessing with the Dremel, then screwed down the pickup ring.

 

[rwillett]

On 01/08/2025 at 10:50, neepheid said:

One of the benefits of working in an Engineering school - ready access to 3D printing. Replacement pickup ring for the Peavey T-40 pickup - the original one is a little bent and won't sit flat on the deck so I thought I'd give a homespun replacement a go.

 

 

Top surface is dimpled - I could sand/polish this shiny, but it might match the top surface of the P pickup, so I'll leave that decision for when it's all mounted up.

 

If you want the top surface nice and flat, print it in PLA top down on a smooth plate on your 3d printer. Turn it back the right way on the bass and job done. Print at the slowest speed and at the highest resolution and if you can tell it extrude 5% more for the first layer or two, it'll be a lovely finish and not need sanding.

 

I was going to say that it looks like its printed on a plate for PETG which is not smooth, but the dimpling is too pronounced. I actually like the top surface though.

Rob

 

[neepheid]

It's done!

 

I went to the Mech Engineering Workshop at work today, because I needed some help to get a hole through from the new pickup route to the cavity.  Yes, they had a sufficiently long drill bit to be able to enter from the neck pocket and drill through, into the new route then onwards and into the bridge pickup route...

 

 

Bridge pickup is foam suspended, so the foam will simply deform around the chunky multicore wire.

 

After that, it was pretty much just a case of wiring it all up.  Except it wasn't - because there were a few wrinkles in the plan (isn't there always?).  First thing I learned is that the T-40 pickup, while splittable, doesn't give you access to all four ends of the coils - it only has three wires plus a shield coming out of it, so all you can do is series/single by shunting one coil to ground.  So I had to change from a three way mini toggle to a two way.  Then gotcha 2 happened - the new switch had less of a threaded section on it than the previous switch, so out comes the drill again with the forstner bit to remove a little more control cavity to make the new switch poke through the top of the guitar enough.  With those little issues out of the way it was just a case of wiring it up...

 

 

Quick tap test on the pickups made me suspect that the pickups were out of phase when both engaged, so I swapped the wires of easiest one (the bridge pickup).  Then I tested it for real.  IT WORKED!

 

 

I am delighted with this mod - I've had to learn a lot of new things, and I hope to never have to route an already finished bass ever again

 

[AndyTravis]

That’s amazing.

 

only a suggestion…

 

clover/elephant ear tuners…

 

Might just set off the vintage aesthetic a little more…

[Jackroadkill]

Bloomin' fabulous!  What does it sound like?

[neepheid]

5 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

That’s amazing.

 

only a suggestion…

 

clover/elephant ear tuners…

 

Might just set off the vintage aesthetic a little more…

 

Eh, maybe one day, but only if one of the tuners currently on it die - they are a bit cheap and a bit wobbly when the string tension is taken off.  They're also tiny - so if I do come to replace them, I'll need to ream out the holes anyway...

[neepheid]

1 minute ago, Jackroadkill said:

Bloomin' fabulous!  What does it sound like?

 

Funny you should mention that...

 

 

 

In order: T-40 pickup (series), T-40 pickup (single coil), both pickups (T-40 series), both pickups (T-40 single), original bridge pickup.  All 100% tone control open.  TC Electronic BH250, pre EQ DI, straight to interface.