An odd parts build!

Stilettoprefer · #1 11-06-2012, 10:48 PM

So, I've had this loaded plywood strat-ish guitar body laying around for a long time and a fretless P bass neck sitting in my closet. And an ibanez bridge sitting in my drawer along with some flats.

I'm putting them all together!

Look at those ply's!

And some sloppy factory routing...

I forgot to take pictures of me expanding the neck pocket, but here it is with the neck mounted:

I'm gonna have to refinish this thing when I make sure that it sound alright....

That is all for tonight! I should have the bridge mounted tomorrow, then I'm just waiting for tuners.

__HM__ · #2 11-07-2012, 12:40 AM

Are you going to fill the trem cavity when you refinish it?

Looks odd as hell, but hey, this is a "parts bass" in its own league.

Good luck

JoZac21 · #3 11-07-2012, 01:07 AM

I have a good feeling that you are going to have some serious neck-dive issues there...

Stilettoprefer · #4 11-07-2012, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoZac21

I have a good feeling that you are going to have some serious neck-dive issues there...

Shouldn't be that bad. My paulownia bodied P hits the floor when I let go of the neck and it's my main bass.

Stilettoprefer · #5 11-07-2012, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by __HM__

Are you going to fill the trem cavity when you refinish it?

Looks odd as hell, but hey, this is a "parts bass" in its own league.

Good luck

I plan to fill it in. It'd bug the crap out me having a gaping hole in the back of the guitar:P

lowfreq33 · #6 11-07-2012, 06:13 AM

It won't intonate. You're putting a 34" scale neck on a 24-25" scale body.

iiipopes · #7 11-07-2012, 06:26 AM

It might depending on how far back he can mount the bridge. But it will be tight. Usually only a 30 inch scale can fit on a Strat-style body.

PlungerModerno · #8 11-07-2012, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowfreq33

It won't intonate. You're putting a 34" scale neck on a 24-25" scale body.

It's fretless. The lines and markers will be off by quite a bit I'll expect - but the bass will have a midpoint along the fretboard with which to set the action and intonate. It may be tricky to get the saddles matched just right. It will be short of 34" scale unless you go off the end of the body.

lowfreq33 · #9 11-07-2012, 06:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlungerModerno

It's fretless. The lines and markers will be off by quite a bit I'll expect - but the bass will have a midpoint along the fretboard with which to set the action and intonate. It may be tricky to get the saddles matched just right. It will be short of 34" scale unless you go off the end of the body.

Ah, missed the fretless part.

Stilettoprefer · #10 11-07-2012, 12:07 PM

The bridge is mounted at the right distance. I'll get a pic up tonight when I get home.

EDIT: and it's long enough for a 34" scale. The G saddle is at 17" from the 12th fret marker. The bridge is pretty much as far back as it'll go, though:P. And the bridge pickup is roughly in the right place for a P pup.

PlungerModerno · #11 11-07-2012, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stilettoprefer

The bridge is mounted at the right distance. I'll get a pic up tonight when I get home.

EDIT: and it's long enough for a 34" scale. The G saddle is at 17" from the 12th fret marker. The bridge is pretty much as far back as it'll go, though:P. And the bridge pickup is roughly in the right place for a P pup.

Yowza! Looking forward to seeing it! is it 34" to the bridge with the saddles fairly centered? (stupid question, I know).

SUUUBD!

pilotjones · #12 11-07-2012, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlungerModerno

Yowza! Looking forward to seeing it! is it 34" to the bridge with the saddles fairly centered? (stupid question, I know).

SUUUBD!

It should be at 34" with the saddles full forward, not centered. With them at 34 when they're centered, it will be unlikely that you can intonate the E string.

Stilettoprefer · #13 11-07-2012, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotjones

It should be at 34" with the saddles full forward, not centered. With them at 34 when they're centered, it will be unlikely that you can intonate the E string.

^^ he's got the idea. And yes, the saddles full forward is 34"

Stilettoprefer · #14 11-07-2012, 05:28 PM

Here's the bridge mounted with temporary ground strap (I can't find a drill long enough). And a tape measure showing 34" for the people curious about how it's possible to have the spacing right. There's actually more room behind the bridge:P

Edit: that saddle still has some forward movement left BTW. So it'll be in the right place when I get to setting intonation.

Stilettoprefer · #15 11-07-2012, 05:37 PM

Checking alignment....

E string taught:

G string taught:

I'm happy with that!

Now to order some tuners. I think I'm gonna do rounds on this bass since the G string in the set of flats that I found is too short, and I've never tried rounds on a fretless.

Stilettoprefer · #16 11-07-2012, 05:50 PM

Aaaaannnnndddddd balance isn't too bad. It quits falling at about parallel to the ground when I have some junk tuners mounted to it.

PlungerModerno · #17 11-08-2012, 03:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stilettoprefer

^^ he's got the idea. And yes, the saddles full forward is 34"

Cool stuff - I always assumed you might need to intonate by moving the saddles forward and back - adding to and subtracting from the standard scale measure to be correctly aligned with the frets (or fingerboard centre point).

Perhaps you only need to go one way? I've never built so I don't know. If you only need to go one way then yes, centred on most bridge designs will stop you intonating thicker strings as they will need more compensation than half the saddle adjustability to achieve.

P.S. coming along nicely. Rounds on a fretless is supposed to bring the 'mwah' up several notches. paint the board with something tough and mwaaaaaaaaaaah . . . .mwwwaahh mwah . . .

PlungerModerno · #18 11-08-2012, 04:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlungerModerno

Cool stuff - I always assumed you might need to intonate by moving the saddles forward and back - adding to and subtracting from the standard scale measure to be correctly aligned with the frets (or fingerboard centre point).

Perhaps you only need to go one way? I've never built so I don't know. If you only need to go one way then yes, centred on most bridge designs will stop you intonating thicker strings as they will need more compensation than half the saddle adjustability to achieve.

P.S. coming along nicely. Rounds on a fretless is supposed to bring the 'mwah' up several notches. paint the board with something tough and mwaaaaaaaaaaah . . . .mwwwaahh mwah . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmKP6AiT9UI

pilotjones · #19 11-08-2012, 07:33 AM

Aside from the fact that in theory you should only have to intonate by increasing the length from ideal bridge line, several years back I did a thread asking all the luthiers here. Their experience was that, yes, life agrees with theory. No need ever to move the saddles up from the line, only back.

PlungerModerno · #20 11-08-2012, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotjones

Aside from the fact that in theory you should only have to intonate by increasing the length from ideal bridge line, several years back I did a thread asking all the luthiers here. Their experience was that, yes, life agrees with theory. No need ever to move the saddles up from the line, only back.

Good info to have. I made the assumption without thinking about it - I'm not sure if I would have come to a better understanding without experiments or examples being built.

I am interested in building some instruments in the future (when I get equipment and time). I'll be making mock ups in cheaper wood first to get the setup and such spot on. I've a lot to pick up before then, including the facilities to start the task!