Frankenstein bass - Page 2

floodwatchbass · #21 12-01-2012, 08:26 AM

VinLreepo - love the dog idea! I'm undecided about neck alterations! I'm trying to decide if I want to go with the original neck screw layout, which leaves a gap between the end of the fretboard and the neck pocket (which I could shim, leave gaping, fill with refuse, etc.) or if I should butt the end of the 'board against the body end of the neck pocket (make sense?) and drill brand new holes. I'm favoring the former due to existing cutaway access. However, I need to do a little research on where in a bolt-on the primary vibration transference is happening. My gut says it's through the two pieces bolted together (obvious?) but I want to research how much impact the "walls" of the pocket have.

Re: the headstock... fire might be an option...

floodwatchbass · #22 12-01-2012, 10:57 AM

I just pulled the trigger on a Gretsch Filtertron to go in the neck position to "compliment" the Musicman-style clone I already ordered... Frankenstein, indeed...

VinKreepo · #23 12-01-2012, 11:04 AM

Wall transfer is important, too. The better contact/surface area, the better sustain, punch, and crisp highs will be. I'd fashion a u shaped piece of wood. It would be easy; just find a p neck route template and a Gibson one. Mark your lines and route it out.

floodwatchbass · #24 12-01-2012, 02:10 PM

The treble side is wide open. Maybe just a glued-in shim on the bass side? I'm going to hold off until my pickups come in in case the neck pickup route will be in the same real estate. Why do the work twice, right? I had also thought about filling the gap with epoxy. Not from a laziness standpoint, but for the sake of getting a really close joint. I dunno...

ctmullins · #25 12-01-2012, 02:36 PM

It's my opinion that the easiest way to improve a bolt-on neck joint is by installing threaded inserts into the neck and using stainless machine screws. I doubt the pocket walls have much to do with it.

floodwatchbass · #26 12-01-2012, 05:44 PM

While I'm waiting for pickups, I've carved up part of the new pick guard to fashion a matching truss rod cover. It's a little rough, but I'm okay with that:

And I've distressed the rest of the pick guard to match the body's destruction:

Since I really don't care for the feel of the super gloss finish on the back of the neck, I had at it with some steel wool... mmmmm... smooth...

floodwatchbass · #27 12-01-2012, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctmullins

It's my opinion that the easiest way to improve a bolt-on neck joint is by installing threaded inserts into the neck and using stainless machine screws. I doubt the pocket walls have much to do with it.

Do you have to remove the fret board to do that?

ctmullins · #28 12-02-2012, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by floodwatchbass

Do you have to remove the fret board to do that?

Nope. I use these inserts from Rockler (the 8-32 ones):

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=362

and stainless 8-32 machine screws to match. You'll have to measure to determine the proper length screws, but that's easy.

floodwatchbass · #29 12-02-2012, 09:19 AM

Done! Order placed! Thanks for the advice, ctmullins.

floodwatchbass · #30 12-08-2012, 07:45 AM

My Filtertron pickup came in... still waiting on my Wilkinson Musicman.

Meanwhile, I installed the Epi Les Paul Special bridge and my destroyed pickguard, and also test-fitted the neck (temp until my Rockler inserts come in).

Splods · #31 12-08-2012, 03:56 PM

Looking cool.

I'm still not quite sure what you are planning to do for the electronics though.

slappa_dat_bass · #32 12-08-2012, 04:04 PM

Cut a piece of osb plywood in a rough half egg shape, drill your holes in it for the pots and jack, then buy some small cabinet hinges and spot weld em 90 degrees open. Then mount your electronics and use the spot welded hinges as brackets to mounth the osb bout half way down the thickness of the body. Run the wires up and around into the body and presto! Rat-bass. I saw that body btw and had momentary visions of a trashed build also, but I'm not that brave lol

floodwatchbass · #33 12-10-2012, 05:34 PM

Splods - I'm not going to lie... I'm still working on that. I was originally just going to do a Musicman pup, a volume knob, and an output jack. I had a plan with that setup. However, I've added a Gretsch Filtertron into the mix... and figure a tone control might be handy... and a series/single/parallel switch for the mm.. so, we'll see once the mm comes in.

Slappa - cool idea! Not sure how much material I want to add to the bass...

floodwatchbass · #34 12-16-2012, 07:31 AM

Goods, bads, and uglies...

So... still waiting on my Wilkinson Musicman pickup. However, I've been tinkering as I wait. With very mixed results.

I took ctmullins' advice and got Rockler inserts. Long story short, one of them stripped out the wood when I was re-installing the neck. I had to make a plug out of some scrap mahogany... which got stuck (pre-gluing) while I was checking to see if it would fit. I ended up wicking in superglue to seal it in. While doing so, I had the genius idea of wicking superglue in around the three successfully-installed inserts... and ruined one of them completely when superglue gummed up the interior threads (insert laughter of experienced luthiers...). However, the glue around the insert worked beautifully... so beautifully that I couldn't remove the buggered insert and actually gouged out a little of the neck heel in attempting to do so. So... I now have a re-installed neck with two well-installed Rockler-insert bolts, one re-done neck screw into a superglued mahogany plug (I didn't dare re-Rockler it), and one re-drilled neck screw going though the unremovable superglue-buggered Rockler. Whew.

On the good news front, the neck seems shockingly solid and I test-strung the bass with some used normal-scale strings I had laying around... and IT SOUNDS AND FEELS AWESOME!!! By sounds, I obviously mean acoustically, but that has always been a big test for me with electric instruments. I'm VERY excited to rip on this thing!

Further good news... I figured out the electronics situation. I kept wracking my brains about the original one-knob/one jack plan, and my desire to alter the body as little as possible, other than the pickup routes. VIOLA! Vintage Jazz Bass stacked knobs!!! So... I will now have a "single" knob. The output jack will be drilled into the inside wall of the original half-missing electronics cavity, with a Les Paul-style jack plate. Pickup toggle and parallel/series/single-switch for the MM pup.. well... I have a blue painter's tape placeholder for the MM (real outline will be done with the actual pup). Based on a proportionate placement of the pup, part of the old p-bass pup route will still be there, so I'll be mounting Switchcraft on-on-on sliding switches side by side (end to end) in that cavity. Ugly? You bet! That's how I like it...

floodwatchbass · #35 12-26-2012, 03:20 PM

Well, mixed in with the holiday schtuff, I have pretty much finished the bass, but for the wiring, which has been a headache.

I have it all figured out, despite the dearth of information about the correlation between blade switches and sliders. I finally found this:

All was well until my soldering iron started acting wonky and I melted something internal in the MM slider (you know... when one of the solder posts gets wiggly?). I'm just waiting for my new slider to come in.

In the meantime... I think I've stumbled across a major error in a much-cited (well...) wiring diagram:

This was one of the big wiring hurdles... translating the 3-way blade switch to my 3-way slider (there are online comparisons between blade switches and various toggles... none that I could find about blades vs. sliders...). I believe SD's diagram is incorrect - I think their A1-A2-A3-A0/B0-B1-B2-B3 layout is wrong. I've re-drawn the diagram for each switch position and come up with errors. Anyone else want to take a stab at it?

grisezd · #36 12-26-2012, 03:39 PM

I was worried about this until I saw the upright. Very nice work. And the mockup with the cut pickguard looks great too.

I've had good success with an accidental pot placement, I got carried away reducing the size of a body I made and ended up with noplace traditional for the pots. I ended up putting a pot in the lower horn, turns out it's exactly where I want it to be from now on! Also, I'm considering placing the output jack on the back of the body, above the strap peg from now on. I always wrap the cable up there anyway, why not have it there in the first place and be done with it?

grisezd · #37 12-26-2012, 03:40 PM

Regarding the switch output, if you have a multimeter (or a battery, a light, and some wires) you can figure out the paths. I often screw up using the diagrams and have come to rely on just my own checking.

floodwatchbass · #38 12-26-2012, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grisezd

Regarding the switch output, if you have a multimeter (or a battery, a light, and some wires) you can figure out the paths. I often screw up using the diagrams and have come to rely on just my own checking.

I hear you on that, I was just trying to figure out where and why SD had included the resistor, and in my zeal to figure it out (without a blade switch to mess with) I uncovered what I believe to be the errors in the SD diagram.

I'm SO excited about this bass! It just... feels right, sounds right... you know?