so a long time ago i began to build a bass, didn't know what i was doing, wasted money, and measured wrong, so, a yr. later i come back a new man with determination on my face.
The beginings:
materials purchased: strings, tuners, bridge, large roll of paper, mech pencils, various measuring/drawing devices, how to book
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj002.jpg

then the drawing begins and progresses:
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj001.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj003.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj004.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj005.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj006.jpg

stay tuned!

headstock drawn
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj008.jpg

with tuners (hipshot ultralites)
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj007.jpg

Looks good so far. Keep us posted.

You don't know what you just got into. Next thing you know you'll have spent a crapload of money and you'll be broke ;)
:D

Looking good so far, good luck

Damn good headstock shape. Aggressive, sharp and pointy, yet completely functional.

If you do wind up angling the tuners like that you will never be able to turn them with any ease. You might have some luck with less of an angle, though.

Damn good headstock shape. Aggressive, sharp and pointy, yet completely functional.


thank you very much

If you do wind up angling the tuners like that you will never be able to turn them with any ease. You might have some luck with less of an angle, though.

didn't know that, thank you

additionally, i have decided on woods:
body: black limba (black kornia)
neck: wenge
fingerboard: pau ferro
what do u think?

fret placement done:

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj009.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj010.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj011.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj012.jpg

next comes designings the neck pocket(bolt on) and body
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj.jpg

nice id think about the jack in that dip or a switch

will do, thanks for the suggestion
additionally, i have know idea what picksups to use, what do you think suits this basses "personality"?

mm and j

mm @ the bridge and a j@ the neck

if you are going active i suggest this pre http://www.albertkreuzer.com/pics/el/pre/schem/onboard_sch.gif

its for use in a vol vol tone setup

As far as the tuner angle being uncomfortable, this is a matter of opinion. With them angled, you do sometimes have to bend your fingers around the E tuner to reach the A, etc.-- problem for some people, not for others-- this is commonly done with smaller-head machines, but this is the first Ive seen it with large cloverlead knobs.

thanks for the suggestions, but, having never had a j, i went with a j setup:

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj001-1.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj002-1.jpg
placing them:
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj003-1.jpg

Any reason you don't want to use a pre-slotted fretboard?

Dan K.

Damn good headstock shape. Aggressive, sharp and pointy, yet completely functional.

headstock is cool...it's like 80's Ibanez meets Carvin...better than both....

thanks for the complements, i decided to slot it myself because a) i dont think gallery hardwoods does that, where im most likely getting my wood, and B) this way, ive put more work into the bass, which makes the completion all the more forfilling:)

Ahh the TI-83 Plus graphing calculator that thing sure got me through Algebra. Turns out it can make you bass too, who knew?

bridge placement drawn, now all thats left is figuring out this whole electronic things, a daunting task considering i have no knowledge of it, after that, i order wood!:hyper:

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj005-1.jpg

*Subscribed!*

Love the design so far, but I might watch the point near the top of the bridge - depending on you palying style, you might find yourself trying to lean your arm where the wood is missing, or worse, where the point is.

is it possible to have a jazz wiring setup with only a voulume control?

also, a wire goes to the bridge right, what is that (ima total noob at wiring)

is it possible to have a jazz wiring setup with only a voulume control?

also, a wire goes to the bridge right, what is that (ima total noob at wiring)

yes, and yes. just take the hot wire from one pickup and connect it to where the hot wire from the other is.
the wire that goes to the bridge is the string ground wire. that's why most basses are quiet(er) when you touch the strings.

bridge placement drawn, now all thats left is figuring out this whole electronic things, a daunting task considering i have no knowledge of it, after that, i order wood!:hyper:

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj005-1.jpg

to keep the same line, but improve the ergonomics...why don't you extend the upper bout around that point, and just carve an indent to match the top line?

yes, and yes. just take the hot wire from one pickup and connect it to where the hot wire from the other is.
the wire that goes to the bridge is the string ground wire. that's why most basses are quiet(er) when you touch the strings.

thanks for the answer, also, how can i tell which pup wires are which?

to keep the same line, but improve the ergonomics...why don't you extend the upper bout around that point, and just carve an indent to match the top line?

i dont follow

on a side note ive changed the bass body to padouk

thanks for the answer, also, how can i tell which pup wires are which?

hot is usually either white or red. black is always ground (negative); ground to pot casing, hot to left lug (from top view), middle lug to tone/output/wherever you want it to go next. rarely have i seen any electronic thing where this is not the case. you should also always use black for ground/negatives in all future wiring to save some hassle.

bridge placement drawn, now all thats left is figuring out this whole electronic things, a daunting task considering i have no knowledge of it, after that, i order wood!:hyper:



For starters, kudos to the TI-83... it reminds me that my friend has burrowed mine for originally the fall semester and he had it for all of spring too... I want mine back... especially if it can make a bass! :cool:

Also, if you can design a bass (and not just sketch it, I mean seriously design it) then you can install the pickups and electronics easy! Awesome choice in pickups by the way, I've only read good reviews bout nordstrand. I'm subscribed, can't wait to really see this take shape (in actual wood) :smug:

heh, the ti-83 should have a "bass" button now lol

ok, so here is a pic of the pup wiring; notice how it has one thick black, one thick white, and one skinny black, which black is the ground, and what are the others then?
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassproj-1.jpg

yes, and yes. just take the hot wire from one pickup and connect it to where the hot wire from the other is.
the wire that goes to the bridge is the string ground wire. that's why most basses are quiet(er) when you touch the strings.

this vauleable, thank you, however, do both black ground wires for both pickups go to the bridge?

this vauleable, thank you, however, do both black ground wires for both pickups go to the bridge?

I would suggest you contact Nordstrand (through their website information). They are very helpful and easy going. Looks like yours are the inline humbuckers, but some of the stacked humbuckers have a third wire that you can connect to a switch to ground the lower bobbin making the pickup a single coil with only the top bobbin active.

i went there but under wiring diagrams it says this area coming soon, so no help there

It sucks that as popular as those pups a getting they still don’t have the wiring diagrams up yet! My best guess would be, of the 2 grounds one would be for cavity shielding and the other for pots or output jack. They probably have a ground going to a copper strip on the pup. More than likely the 2 which are twisted together (thick white and black) will be for pots/jack and the skinny one that’s standalone would be for the cavity.

I imagine the thin wire is the shield of the pickup which can probably be checked with an ohm meter to the copper plate on the bottom (assuming there is one). The thick black is the (-) side of the coil, which if you're not going to have a phasing switch can be connected to the same place, probably the case of a pot (ground).

You do have a DMM right?

Edit: ok now I see you're saying they're split coils? So forget what I said above...

Hey, pretty nice job!!! It looks cool!!
You're courageous! Hope it will work well!! (string tension, dead spots, etc)
Keep on posting!

ok, let me get this strait; i have split coil pickups, so i will need 500k ohm pots (like http://www.warmoth.com/hardware/parts/parts.cfm?fuseaction=include_potentiometers right?) for volume, so i can have 2 volume (500k) pots one for each pickup, and a tone pot can be made by taking a 500k ohm pot and add a 20 nf (.02 mf) capacitor (like the second one on this page http://www.warmoth.com/hardware/parts/parts.cfm?fuseaction=include_capacitors right?) on it? i think im getting the hang of this:smug:

Sounds good, 2 volumes 1 tone pretty much fail proof. I always use 250k pots with single coils. (I.E. jazz pups) Lots of people say it adds a more "vintage sound" Im really not sure about your split coils but I wouldnt think there would be a terrible amount of difference between 250k or 500k..

i say 500k cause the book im using says that amount for split coils, and the tone is inanutshell wired to control both pickups right, and what i said was correct right?

Yeah, in the 3 pot setup the tone controls both pups. If you want to make things a little more interesting you can also put a parallel switch to put both pups on in parallel. This basically runs both pups together as one and will put out a different tone when the switch is on and when off it goes back to the standard setup. I prefer the pots that have a built in push pull switch for this. Its pretty simple to do and adds a little more fun to such a simple setup. Heres a diagram,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/scottyd/j_series.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/scottyd/JazzSeriesParalllelDiag.jpg

nah, ill stick to the simple vol/vol/tone setup for my 1st bass

nah, ill stick to the simple vol/vol/tone setup for my 1st bass

you can add it later...when you do, you'll be glad you did

i dont follow

connect the point to the body by continuing the main curve around...create the point by carving a cavity into the top...

think in 3 dimensions...

you can add it later...when you do, you'll be glad you did

this is a just checking question, but with two vol.s i can turn one pickup completely off right?

this is a just checking question, but with two vol.s i can turn one pickup completely off right?

yes sir

im a little late to this thread, but i cant wait to see the finished product, and i love the way u meticulously designed the bass completely beforehand!

thank you! update: ordered electrical components from warmoth today, then i get a-circit makin'

still waiting...

sorry it took so long, ive been on a mission trip for a week, but, i am back today and the electronics arrived in the mail!

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/ele.jpg

Ahh the TI-83 Plus graphing calculator that thing sure got me through Algebra. Turns out it can make you bass too, who knew?

Yupp, I have a TI-84+, and if you know enough assembly, it can run any small country single handedly for you (for countrys with more than 100 milllion inhabitants, you'll need the silver edition with more memory)

Ahh the TI-83 Plus graphing calculator that thing sure got me through Algebra. Turns out it can make you bass too, who knew?

It can do ANYTHING.

need a couple more wiring thingies to control treble loss on the vol pots so i dont have 3 tone knobs, but i can still figure out the wiring without them, at this point i need to pick out some mdf and make templates

ok, ive been busy with alot of other things this past month, and when i haven't been busy ive bee nreally lazy. At any rates, ive made copies of my scale design, and once i get them back (from kinkos) the template making begins

got copies/cut out body
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bass001.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bass002.jpg

Interesting. (And I like "interesting".)

You may find that you've removed to much material at the area where your right forearm drapes over the edge, forcing the arm downward towards the point when playing standing. It might be worth making a prototype to check the ergonomics.

The bridge pup looks a bit close to the bridge, compared to standard position, but I may be wrong on that.

The treble side cutaway is not deep enough for a player to comfortably reach the last frets.

the bridge pup may be a little to close, but i dont forsee any problems that that would cause, even so, i am making a prototype out of pine, so any future ergonomic problems can be fixed then. Also i dont find myself resting my forearm at all when i play, so most likely that wount need to be corrected

too bad my TI-83 has a smashed screen, otherwise it could build a bass for me!

progress has been slow, but im moving foward dont worry, im not gonna give up on this when its so far ahead (not to mention awesome fun and forfilling)

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassprogress.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassprogress002.jpg

update: well, after realizing that i forgot to cut out holes for the pickups and bridge placement and tuning holes in my template, upon closer inpection of my design, i wasn't happy with the precision of my bridge and pickup placement, so, i redid them:
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassprogress003.jpg

also, i have a few questions; in the book i am pretty much following for this bass, it recomends beech plywood for templates, i however used mdf particle board, is this an issue at all? Additionally, would the preferred method of cutting be bandsaw very close (but not touching) to the line and then beltsand to the line, also, when you cut out the body (not the templates) the templates should be doublestick taped to the wood right, what is the purpose for this if so, does it have to do with another method for cutting the body?

on another note, i was planing to have the fingerboard extend to the body, and then route a bridge pocket, is this advisable or should i just forget the extended fingerboard idea?

A lot of people here use MDF. Not sure about particleboard, though.

Are you talking about the having the fingerboard extend clear to the bottom of the bass? If you've got a good board to do that with, it can look really nice.

not all the way, just a few inches, usually the fingerboad/neck should extend 3/8th in. above the body, but with the fingerboard needing(wanting) to extend on to the body, the fingerboard will obv. need to touch the body instead of being slightly higher than it, to counteract this i was thinking i could set the bridge deeper into the body with a routed bridge pocket, either that or have a really thick fingerboard, which i think would look goofy

For the electronics, you should to consider using .047uF for the tone, rather than .02. That lowers the affected frequencies and makes it more useful for a bass. I believe .02 is commonly used on guitars.

will do, anyone have answers for the questions at hand?

templates redone correctly (the neckpocket will be cut off when it is taped to the mdf and the body is already traced)
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassprogress005.jpg
the pic is of poor quality sorry for that

well after 3.5 hours of tweating and design alterations i now have this:
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassprogress006.jpg

Ahh the TI-83 Plus graphing calculator that thing sure got me through Algebra. Turns out it can make you bass too, who knew?

Amen to that, its a fine machine ;)

subscribed

body template complete:
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassprogress007.jpg

before i get a-cuttin', do i have to do anything with the wiring placements, i realize i need knob placements and control cavity size, and routing channels for various wires, but that can all be done when the body is cut out am i correct?

also, in the book im using, it gives specific plackes where to mount the pickups in the "strongest harmonial" places, however, one sees pickups in all different places, so as long as pickups are relatively where pickups should be, theres no problem right?

still waiting on the pickup answer:help:

sick. it reminds me of a cort curbow mixed with an 80's bc rich wave bass. tom araya used to play one way back in the day.
sick stuff

still waiting on the pickup answerThere are some good threads if you search on "pickup position(s)". It's not a black-and-white issue.

It can reasonably be said that there are no perfect/ideal positions.
It is also generally considered that the position certainly has an effect, but that micron accuracy placement is not crucial.
It also may be that in a two-pup setup, the distance between them is more important even than the position of the pair, due to the phase interference/comb filtering effects.

That same search will likely bring up references to lists of standard positions, if you haven't found them already.

thanks pilot, so really than "standard" jazz pickup placements aren't necessary, along as they are relatively correct, i suppose this means that my current placement (which was put in without thinking of how exact they needed to be) will be fine?

also, i was planning on using that mdf as the template for (besides body shape obv.) bridge placement, pickup cavities placement, and neck pocket placement, as you can see they are put on there, would it make sense to route out those cavities on the mdf template and then use the mdf template as the template for routing the cavities into the actual wood, before i rough cut the body? this means that once i start rough cutting the body shape i have the neck pocket and pickup cavities routed as well as the bridge placement drawn.

so really all that boils down to, is it commonplace for one to route the pickup cavities and neck pocket (and for the mdf template, the bridge placement as well needs to be routed out in order for it to be traced onto the wood) by hand?(and by hand i mean with a router but with no other ways of guiding other than the penciled lines on the mdf template) and if it isn't, what method should i use in order to route this template?


:help: :help: :help: :help:

bump

Where is the progress?

I know you're taking your time so everything's just as you want it, but for the sake of us watching this thread, I wish you would just be crazy and impulsive like this guy:

http://talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=311124

I think you should just start cutting already - it's just a bass!

(chanting) CUT IT! CUT IT! CUT IT!

sorry guys, ive been swamped with other things (like starting 10th grade, im only 15 lol, as well as marching band, which in texas is quite the work) i started another thread with wood pics, but screw that one since this one has gotten so huge, so im post em here
black limba from exoticwoodbrokers.com

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassprogress009.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n73/airrick123/bassprogress008.jpg
as far as cutting goes, i first need to cut out the mdf, then i need to get the wood down from 2in to 1.75in thick, suggestions for this, plane/ thickness i dunno (?)

edit: i just wanted to tell everyone thank you very much for helping me and for supporting me in this endevor!

maybe a thickness planer is what you need. or like I did, an expert sawsman, the guy that cut my wood (a buddy of my dad's) is unbelievable, he cut my zebrano to rough thickness on a bandsaw by eye, and it was dead straight. no guides used... anyway that was sawn to rough thickness and then pulled through a thickness planer and a jointer.

(chanting) CUT IT! CUT IT! CUT IT!

CUT IT! CUT IT! CUT IT!CUT IT! CUT IT! CUT IT!CUT IT! CUT IT! CUT IT!CUT IT! CUT IT! CUT IT!CUT IT! CUT IT! CUT IT!

i will cut the template next tomorrow or at the latest a week from now, sometime this week i will aquire a large planer

CUT IT! CUT IT! CUT IT!CUT IT! CUT IT! CUT IT!CUT IT! CUT IT! CUT IT!CUT IT! CUT IT! CUT IT!CUT IT! CUT IT! CUT IT!

:hyper: :hyper: :hyper: CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT:hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :hyper: (seriously though, don't rush it because of us - you want to take your time and do a good job:) )

sorry about negleting this thread, truth is i postponed this project until summer comes round again, h.s. is a bitch as you all know:hmm: but this isn't going to be left unfinished! by summer it will be done. right now i need to get it planed.

midterms? i feel your pain...

me too, i should be studying for AP us history right now...
i too am in the middle of a project, except i'm reviving a beat up benavente prototype, rather than building my own from the ground up, keep up the good work, but i think you may want to extend the lower cutout around and carve the point out like a reverse belly cut kind of thing, so its not so painful when you slip and it goes through your arm... :D

ahh i took ap history last year...that was a ridiculous class

agreed w/ ap comments, currently taking world history ap (only ap at sophmore level) chem preap (faking bi tch) latin pre ap, most notable for hardness for me

chem was the worst class i've taken lol, thats why im going to college for mechanical engineering and not chem.

amen to that sh*t

i love chem, & it was either AP US or AP Human geography, the teachers happened to be married to eachother, (but the human geo teacher is a B****)
keep up the work after midterms!

lol! we have that here, except the two bio teachers are married, but they're both awesome. and senior year for me means after midterms im done with school, then its just all aps, ap physics b, calc ab, comp sci, and literature ugh...

What does AP means?

ap means advanced placement, in high school, an ap course is the equivalent of a college course

chem was the worst class i've taken lol, thats why im going to college for mechanical engineering and not chem.
Hope you're not assuming ME is easier.

Im in my 4th semester of ME, and I must say, it comes easier to me than chemistry did. Not to say that ME is easy (not in the least) but it is easier than chem.

Each has his own strengths.

Once you get to your fifth semester, the fun interesting (but still difficult for most) stuff starts.

i actually flow with physics better than with chem. =D

by summer it will be done.

so um... any progress on the bass?

right now im trying to get the board thickness planed to 1.75'', is this something i can pay someone to do or rent a planer to do this? is there any easier/simpler (more time consuming but i get to do it) way?

Do you have a router? if yes, there is a very easy way to do it. You can fix your router onto a 1/2" piece of plywood or MDF, about 12 inches by 20, with 2 strips of whatever wood on the 20 inch lenghts, one on each side, but on top (these are only to solidify the MDF or Ply). This is the 'sled'. then you get a very flat surface that you can fix your board on (preferably with double sided tape) and screw in two other strips of whatever wood on each side of your board (on the flat surface though, not the actual board), make them 1/4 inch taller than the board, and about 6 inchs longer than the board. keep at least an inch between the board and the strips. so then your 'sled' can move around freely on those two strips, you obviously gotta make a hole in the MDF for your router bit. you can also put two strips on the underside of your MDF, the 12" lenghts, to avoid the sled slipping off one of the strips on the flat surface. Then you calculate exactly how much you wanna take off your board, adjust the depth of your router and route away my friend. This is a good trick if you wanna plane a piece of burl or quilted wood, since you cant really put those through a planer without getting tear-out.

I hope I explained that alright. its hard to explain this without a drawing or something. PM me if you dont get it. Ill explain better.

You can also show up at a cabinet makers shop with a six pack and your piece of wood and they could thickness sand it for you. Id do it for a six pack. In fact id do about anything for a six pack. Good luck.

at the moment i dont have a router, but its very likey i will have to aquire one, assuming i cant get to one, how else would i go about this?