New 6 string neck-through!!!!

[James Banner]

EDIT: pics of the actual bass are on page 3 (scroll down halfway)

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of building my 6 string and thought I'd share it with TB. I have never built before but I'm lucky that I have a professional woodworker to help me for free! Anyway, here are some pictures of the design. I've already glued the neck laminates and two dual-action truss rods (Hot Rods from stew mac) are coming tomorrow (airmailed in 2 days by DHL (very fast!!!).











Here's the specification:

Maple and Bubinga 5 piece neck

Sapele stripes between neck and body wings (not pictured)

Flame Maple fretboard

Maple body

Dual truss rods

26 frets

Hipshot Ultralites

Hipshot A-style brass bridge

Delano quad-coil pickups

Glockenklang 3 band EQ with active / passive switch and mini-toggle switches for coil-switching

Neutrik locking jack socket etc.

Let me know what you guys think and I'll keep this thread updated.

Thanks,

James

[JC Dillon]

Looks good on paper. Kind of a Warrior inspired body type, IMO. I like it. Keep us posted.

[James Banner]

Yeah, it was inspired by Warrior basses, except the horns are less curvy. One of my favourite bassists is Adam Nitti and I liked the look of his signature bass (AN-6). Hopefully, the bass will fulfill its main aim, versatility.

James

[callmeMrThumbs]

Looks awesome! Very organized drawings...always a great thing, haha. I'd recommend just being very aware of your truss-rod placement. If you place them too far apart, you'll end up with trussrods hanging out the back when you shape the neck. You might want to consider putting them slightly closer together just to make sure you have room to shape the neck the way you want without carving away to metal. Keep us posted on progress!

-Josh

[Foxworthy925]

The sketches you drew look very nice. It looks like it'll be a beautiful bass. Definitely keep us posted.

[James Banner]

Originally Posted by callmeMrThumbs

Looks awesome! Very organized drawings...always a great thing, haha. I'd recommend just being very aware of your truss-rod placement. If you place them too far apart, you'll end up with trussrods hanging out the back when you shape the neck. You might want to consider putting them slightly closer together just to make sure you have room to shape the neck the way you want without carving away to metal. Keep us posted on progress!

-Josh

Yeah, I was thinking of putting them closer together. But is it OK to route into the inner laminates? The reason the drawings are organised is because at school, we have to do a portfolio with research/designs/specifications etc. Boring!

Thanks

[callmeMrThumbs]

Originally Posted by James Banner

Yeah, I was thinking of putting them closer together. But is it OK to route into the inner laminates?

Of course! As long as you make quality joints, then there's no problem.

[James Banner]

Originally Posted by callmeMrThumbs

Of course! As long as you make quality joints, then there's no problem.

OK, I'll bear that in mind. I would say my joints are of a high quality; the joins between the neck laminates are invisible. I used titebond for glue, it's great.

James

[callmeMrThumbs]

Wait...so you've already started??? Post some pics!!!

-Josh

[James Banner]

Originally Posted by callmeMrThumbs

Wait...so you've already started??? Post some pics!!!

-Josh

I will post pics but you'll have to wait until at least the 30th October because my project is at school and we are on half-term break! It's not that impressive, just the neck laminates glued together.

Now I have to take a camera into school, camera phones aren't allowed, damn!

I will post pics of truss rods tommorrow to let people know what they're like.

James

[Yvarg]

Originally Posted by James Banner

I will post pics but you'll have to wait until at least the 30th October because my project is at school and we are on half-term break! It's not that impressive, just the neck laminates glued together.

Now I have to take a camera into school, camera phones aren't allowed, damn!

I will post pics of truss rods tommorrow to let people know what they're like.

James

No, that just means you have to be sneakier with the camera phone. Not that I'd ever do that . . . *walks away from his own thread, whistling inconspicuously*

[pilotjones]

You might want to do a detailed front or rear view, and a section view, of the cavity area, so you can take into account the roundovers, the wall thickness, the cavity cover overlap, and the size of the pots. Then you'll know whether your knobs are too close to the edge or not.

[James Banner]

Originally Posted by pilotjones

You might want to do a detailed front or rear view, and a section view, of the cavity area, so you can take into account the roundovers, the wall thickness, the cavity cover overlap, and the size of the pots. Then you'll know whether your knobs are too close to the edge or not.

They probably are too close to the edge, that's fine, the drawing was ideally just to get the dimensions of the body etc. I'll just move them up a touch when it comes to routing cavities (a long way off yet )

James

[James Banner]

The Hot Rods arrived today, here are some pics for those who are interested:

(by the way, I know the rods are installed vertically, I just couldn't get them to stand on edge )







I can't believe I have to wait so long until I can start work again! I'm getting withdrawal symptoms for wood

James

[DigthemLows]

You're going to go right through the truss channels when you shape that neck.....They are too close to the outside edge. Make sure to take into account the carving, with two rods you aren't going to be able to have a very thin neck considering the dimensions of the hotrods.

[Brado]

Yay on the Delano Quad coils!. I have a pair of 'em in my 6 string BEE bass. They sound great with a BEE PRE. Glockenklang has a great sounding preamp too. The Bartolini is a nice preamp/ but a bit noisy if you boost the treble much. The BEE PRE & the Glockenklang are dead quiet (especially with quad coils). Those are my top pick. The only reason I mantioned is because I saw the ? beside the Bart pre on your specs.
Hope that helps.

[James Banner]

Originally Posted by Brado

Yay on the Delano Quad coils!. I have a pair of 'em in my 6 string BEE bass. They sound great with a BEE PRE. Glockenklang has a great sounding preamp too. The Bartolini is a nice preamp/ but a bit noisy if you boost the treble much. The BEE PRE & the Glockenklang are dead quiet (especially with quad coils). Those are my top pick. The only reason I mantioned is because I saw the ? beside the Bart pre on your specs.
Hope that helps.

Yeah Mr. Muckelroy, that helps but I know you love your Delano's .

I've emailed Delano to check if all my wiring options are possible, I will post the reply when I get it.

So, do you think I should make the truss rods angle more towards the center of the neck? How thick does the back of the neck need to be?

James

[James Banner]

Originally Posted by DigthemLows

You're going to go right through the truss channels when you shape that neck.....They are too close to the outside edge. Make sure to take into account the carving, with two rods you aren't going to be able to have a very thin neck considering the dimensions of the hotrods.

BUT I LOVE THIN NECKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[T2W]

with those rods? at least 15mms.

[James Banner]

Originally Posted by T2W

with those rods? at least 15mms.

Crap. The truss rods are 11mm deep, the neck I drew is 16mm deep at the thinnest, is that OK? It's really only the neck towards the headstock end that is the problem, as the neck gets thicker towards the body (obviously).

James