Practice build: 5-string multi-scale, HD woods

[iamlowsound]

Too beautiful!

lowsound

[pilotjones]

A bit more work done tonight.

Five frets cut for use as saddle rails, and tangs roughly removed at ends


The first one to have first-round spherical ends put on, and tried in place.



Tonight's selection is the brunette younger sister to Sunday's blonde.

[MarkA]

Originally Posted by pilotjones

Here she is, one step closer to completion.

I looked at this photo and thought that it (the bass) stirred, just a little bit, for the first time. A coalescing consciousness? I just wanted to alliterate.

Kudos to your persistence, and to taking the long view.

EDIT: I just looked back and saw that you started this thread on July 4th, 2010. What are the odds of finishing this up on the 4th of July, 2012, with the one thousandth post of this thread (perhaps a very, very long post)? You'll have to ration your posts carefully (and folks like me will have to limit our fluffy interjections). Perhaps that's too artificial a symmetry for a project that's proceeded organically and at its own pace from the beginning.

My conjecture: June 27th, 1112 posts. Storm King fully armed and operational. Anyone care to place a wager?

[IntrepidCellist]

I forgot; are the saddles held in place merely by string tension, or do they lock to the body at all?

[bassman314]

It just occurred to me, if this is a practice build, what's a REAL build going to look like? WOW!!!!

[mikebpeters]

Pete, your string retainers (and bridge too for that matter) are engineering elegance epitomized.

This has been my favorite TB thread ever since I found it.

[jmorbita]

I love the bridge on stormking!

[Vorago]

Are these saddles attached to the saddle rails in any way? Or are they kept in place by the pressure of the strings?

[tZer]

I have a question about the saddles system. I see how the rails will ensure the string spacing is held properly - what sort of surface are the set-screws for height adjustment going rest on? Are you going to inlay some metal reinforcement along side the rails to prevent the height adjusters from digging into the wood?

[pilotjones]

Thanks for the compliments. I'm getting pretty excited about this now - I am, seemingly suddenly, not that far from being able to put some strings on it!


Not going to shoot for an exact completion date or certainly not a number of posts. While that might make an attractive goal in some ways, it's not in the spirit of this whole thing.


The saddles do not lock down to the body. They do however have an embedded steel slug, and the body will have concealed embedded magnets, so that the saddles will not fly around when changing strings.

Since there are no practical-but-ugly intonation adjuster screws, I expect to be setting intonation by loosening the string somewhat and nudging the saddles as necessary, using a bit of post-it note on the body as a visual aid to mark the movement.


The height adjustment is by the screws variably protruding from the tops of the saddle blocks and supporting the strings on their heads, not by having the the screw ends project out of the bottom of the saddles to lift them up. This is pretty much straight from Dingwall. So, the saddles will be flat on the body, wood on wood; the lower tips of the screws will be flush to recessed.

[IntrepidCellist]

Originally Posted by tZer

I have a question about the saddles system. I see how the rails will ensure the string spacing is held properly - what sort of surface are the set-screws for height adjustment going rest on? Are you going to inlay some metal reinforcement along side the rails to prevent the height adjusters from digging into the wood?

The saddles will remain flush with the body. The strings rest on the groove between two height adjustable oval-head steel screws that barely touch in the middle and that sit in the saddle holes, a la Dingwall.

Edit: sniped!

[tZer]

Originally Posted by pilotjones

The height adjustment is by the screws variably protruding from the tops of the saddle blocks and supporting the strings on their heads, not by having the the screw ends project out of the bottom of the saddles to lift them up. So, the saddles will be flat on the body, wood on wood; the lower tips of the screws will be flush to recessed.

OK, I see how that works. I am a curious how using the screw heads will impact the strings.

I fully expect to be surprised and impressed.

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by tZer

OK, I see how that works. I am a curious how using the screw heads will impact the strings.

I fully expect to be surprised and impressed.

It's the way Dingwall do it, so shouldn't be an issue. Probably works out the same as having a notched saddle, just this notch is variable.

[chriscrob]

sub'd (late) - figure I'll catch the exciting conclusion.

[jbaird]

Originally Posted by bassman314

It just occurred to me, if this is a practice build, what's a REAL build going to look like? WOW!!!!

On the real build he clearly will grow his own tree for the wood and mine any smelt metal for any hardware until he finally assembles an entirely new kind of instrument the world has never seen before.

.. and then drink a beer

[bassman314]

Originally Posted by jbaird

On the real build he clearly will grow his own tree for the wood and mine any smelt metal for any hardware until he finally assembles an entirely new kind of instrument the world has never seen before.

.. and then drink a beer

This is sigworthy....

EDIT: It's too long!!!

[pilotjones]

Lol!

[MarkA]

Originally Posted by jbaird

On the real build he clearly will grow his own tree for the wood and mine any smelt metal for any hardware until he finally assembles an entirely new kind of instrument the world has never seen before.

.. and then drink a beer

This sounds like at least a three-beer job.

[MarkL]

Originally Posted by pilotjones

A bit more work done tonight.

Five frets cut for use as saddle rails, and tangs roughly removed at ends


The first one to have first-round spherical ends put on, and tried in place.

Been enjoying your build tremendously! I noticed you didn't go into detail about how you finished the ends of your fretwire saddle-rails and wondered if you filed those by hand. Was just curious because there's a jeweler's tool I use all the time for the tops of prong settings called a "cup burr" (goes into a flexshaft or rotary tool) that perform that exact finish and thought you might have a look at one if you make these same saddles for your next, "actual build" lol. Cheers!

[pilotjones]

Thanks. My dremel is now DOA, but I'm pretty sure I know the cup burr you're referring to, and I might even have one. Great idea, thanks.