Finished Pics! Ultra Modern Bass

Andyjr1515

Luminlay installed:


That's the garden chair you can see at the bottom...not the lower horn

Legionreturns

You sir are a true craftsman! Had I a hat marking suitable breeding, I would doff it in your general direction post haste! Can't wait to see this finished! 

paulnb57

Those Luminlays look cool, whole thing is fab, but the faux headstock shape jars a bit for me, the rest? Awesome!

Andyjr1515

paulnb57 said:

Those Luminlays look cool, whole thing is fab, but the faux headstock shape jars a bit for me, the rest? Awesome!

Yup - it's a bit of a marmite one.  But that's the vibe the owner wants and there's still a bit of refining to finish it off.

paulnb57

If thats what the customer wants.......

DartmoorHedgehog

DartmoorHedgehog said:

 How did you drill those angled holes? 

Andyjr1515 said:

I used a brad point drill, .......

So short answer "really carefully" then

Andyjr1515

DartmoorHedgehog said:

DartmoorHedgehog said:

 How did you drill those angled holes? 

Andyjr1515 said:

I used a brad point drill, .......

So short answer "really carefully" then

Yes - indeed.  Same goes for the whole build, to be honest!

Today has been some final-ish sanding and shaping before the frets go in - hopefully in the next day or two.

Andyjr1515

First dozen frets installed   :

In the 'hammer them or caul them' debate, I do a bit of both. 

I put them in 4 at a time, using the 'fret radiused tighter than the fretboard, tiny bead of titebond on the tangs, then tap one side, tap the other side, tap the middle' method to make sure the tangs are properly locked in. I then clamp the appropriate radius block on the four I've just done for half an hour or so.

Note I've finished the ends on the bass side before installing. I will do that also on the upper frets where the slots are blind due to the upper horn. 

Sporky

Andyjr1515 said:

tiny bead of titebond on the tangs

Dang it - you're so much smarter than me!

I spend ages injecting titebond into the slot with a syringe and blunted needle.

I feel really stupid now. Light the lamp, not the rat...

Andyjr1515

Sporky said:

Andyjr1515 said:

tiny bead of titebond on the tangs

Dang it - you're so much smarter than me!

I spend ages injecting titebond into the slot with a syringe and blunted needle.

I feel really stupid now. Light the lamp, not the rat...

I have those moments often - where I see how someone else does a common task and think 'Ah...hmmmm' .  

But, in my case, I then change the crazy way I've been doing things for years and simply pretend I always used to do it the better way

Sporky

My way looks more cleverer though, right?

Andyjr1515

Sporky said:

My way looks more cleverer though, right?

Oh absolutely...absolutely

Andyjr1515

Now it really IS starting to look like a bass

WezV

Andyjr1515 said:

Now it really IS starting to look like a bass

A seductively melted bass.   Kinda like an M&S ad for some kind of white chocolate dessert

Gagaryn

Looks like Dali drew a Jazzmaster. Superb!

Andyjr1515

Thanks, folks

Next big task is the control chamber and cover. This is a bit chicken and egg and will need me to make up some routing templates. Looking at the John East pre-amp circuit, there are optional connection points for master vol, piezo / magnetic blend, piezo tone and magnetic tone. So hang it - may as well try to get ALL of those in, if I can

To get the above in full, I need one more pot - Artec do a mini concentric pot that I could use for the two tones, but in terms of footprint, this is basically how it would fit (and also these are not the final knobs):

If the concentric tones is a no go, actually the above would work with a dual gang pot, one wired to the piezo and one to the magnetic and then just use the blend to get the right vibe...

Either way, with a bit of squaring off of the two chambers, it will fit. The usability is also OK - you would just reach down and roll the knobs from their sides.

I do need to get the dividing wall quite a bit thinner - the two pots John recommends for the blend and master volume are only available in short thread. With care, though, it should be fine.

Once the shape of the chamber has been tweaked, I can then rout the rebate for the cover...

Oh - and ignore the ragged corner of the tuner block chamber - haven't got there yet! 

Sporky

Instead of thinning the wall, could you use threaded bushings to mount them? A bit like how tuners are mounted.

Andyjr1515

Sporky said:

Instead of thinning the wall, could you use threaded bushings to mount them? A bit like how tuners are mounted.

Hmmmm - that's a thought... The spindle itself might not be quite long enough, but it would be an elegant solution . Thanks for the thought

Gagaryn

I'm no woodworking expert but I would worry about making that wall too thin - cack handed knob twiddlers or a jolt to the cable could be a disaster waiting to happen.

Andyjr1515

Gagaryn said:

I'm no woodworking expert but I would worry about making that wall too thin - cack handed knob twiddlers or a jolt to the cable could be a disaster waiting to happen.

I know what you mean, but the tops for many guitar control chambers are just as thin - it's simply that you don't see it.  

Having said that, I've been looking at @Sporky 's suggestion and I think it may well be a go-er.  I couldn't find M7 internally threaded bushes or inserts anywhere (M6 yes, M8 yes but M7 no) but I think there's JUST enough meat on a standard machine head threaded bush to bore out to 6.5mm (done successfully) and cut a M7 thread internally (M7 tap in the post).  It doesn't need much welly because I will use the pot tabs to prevent the pot twisting so even though the modded inserts will be super thinwall, it should still be strong enough.  I'll let you know, Sporky