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

[metalinthenight]

All I can say is wow. Such a cool a build and so many cool tricks and innovations. I've learned alot! Can't wait to see it done!

[pilotjones]

Got a bit more done tonight.

First I glued in the saddle rails. Here's the first one ready to go, along with the piece of 1/8" bar that I used to gauge a uniform spacing between the anchor posts and the rails.

I used CA in the (rather wide) grooves, dropped in using an old string core to transfer drop by drop from a puddle of CA off to the side. I'm told you can get something called a whip tip to do a fine application; something like that, or a hypodermic needle would have made things a lot easier.

All five in.


And this is how it looks with some saddles.





Next was getting the tuners in. The holes have already been sized, and I had decided on the layout with the shafts harmonizing with the fan. i like the look, and the tuners are comfortable to manipulate.

So I laid them out with the B and G tuner shafts collinear, and all the others parallel to that. This puts them parallel to roughly the first fret.
Here they are all screwed in.

I used wax on the screws. I don't like the idea of soap getting into the wood, especially before it has any finish on it. I know that wax can come off fully with acetone.

To make the little pilot holes for the screws, I used this. A great tool for a delicate job.

I love old tools. Especially when they were used by my grandfather.




So this is the current state. Tomorrow I will hopefully be able to cut the string separator grooves, and put some strings on it!

[Thumpin_P]

WOW!!!! So much left, but, I absolutely love what I see so far! Outstanding work!!!

[DriesG]

Simply amazing work for a "practice" build... You, sir, are an artist!

[tZer]

Beautiful!!

A couple questions; Is it an optical illusion because of the fanned frets, or is the nut end of the neck wide?

Also, regarding the Dingwall style bridge screws - since they are mounted in the padauk blocks, are you concerned that the downward force of the strings onto the rounded head screws will act like two mini levers and possibly split the sliders?

It's GREAT to see such a complete looking instrument!

[pilotjones]

Thanks!




Re neck width: it's a normal spacing, about 9-9.5 mm at the nut, and only slightly narrow at the bridge, about 17.5-18 mm IIRC - which is not uncommon for a more than four.

Re saddle stress: yes I was concerned with the wedging effect also, but I did a test piece originally in maple and then in padauk and bore down on them with no problems. Padauk is pretty strong, and empirical results trump theory. If I end up breaking a saddle, I have a few spares; if the design is just not up the the application, I'll have to make something in metal.

If you think about it, a string under fifty pounds tension might produce maybe five pounds downforce in this geometry; then that might produce maybe 2-3 pounds side force based on the slope of the screw head.

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Looks awesome PJ! I'm gonna have to track down some of those screws you have for the saddles. I always thought they were excellent on my Dingwall basses.

[joeyl]

Originally Posted by pilotjones

I used this. A great tool for a delicate job.

I love old tools. Especially when they were used by my grandfather.

An old friend of mine gave me one similar and I use it every once in a while, it's great for tuner holes on guitars and pickup screw holes. It's not getting much use now that I have a drill press though

[tZer]

Originally Posted by pilotjones

Thanks!




Re neck width: it's a normal spacing, about 9-9.5 mm at the nut, and only slightly narrow at the bridge, about 17.5-18 mm IIRC - which is not uncommon for a more than four.

Re saddle stress: yes I was concerned with the wedging effect also, but I did a test piece originally in maple and then in padauk and bore down on them with no problems. Padauk is pretty strong, and empirical results trump theory. If I end up breaking a saddle, I have a few spares; if the design is just not up the the application, I'll have to make something in metal.

If you think about it, a string under fifty pounds tension might produce maybe five pounds downforce in this geometry; then that might produce maybe 2-3 pounds side force based on the slope of the screw head.

I figured you'd have thought of that. I know that padauk is nice and strong - I've used it to make a nut and it held up just fine, but I had the nut-grain perpendicular to the string specifically to avoid splitting on the grain.

I am sure yours will be just fine.

It's a great looking instrument that is filled with many mini instances of brilliance! This thread is gold!

[pilotjones]

Originally Posted by Geoff St. Germaine

Looks awesome PJ! I'm gonna have to track down some of those screws you have for the saddles. I always thought they were excellent on my Dingwall basses.

As long as McMaster ships to Canada, you're good. M3 x whatever length button head socket cap screws.

They vary in the head diameter by a few thousandths of an inch, and maybe in concentricity, too. To deal with this I measure a bunch and pick the ones I want. Sheldon has said that he chucks them up in a lathe and skin cuts the periphery to get them perfectly consistent.

[pilotjones]

Originally Posted by joeyl

An old friend of mine gave me one similar and I use it every once in a while, it's great for tuner holes on guitars and pickup screw holes. It's not getting much use now that I have a drill press though

This was perfect for the tuner screw holes, which would have been a PITA to do on a drill press, given that it's a compound-tiltback neckthrough with fingerboard mounted.

[pilotjones]

Strung up!!!!

Here are the brass washers inserted into the string anchors.


Saddles had their grooves adjusted to allow full contact of the saddle with the body, without rocking.

I cut the grooves in the end of the fretboard that act as string spacers. No sense in a pic until they're finalized.

Strung it up with a used set of strings. Here's the bridge end,


and the whole thing.

For some reason the bass side lower bout looks kind of lumpy in that photo, but trust me, it isn't.


Observations:
- Plays well. Action is fairly low, with no buzzing. I haven't really checked for relief curvature and action height, too busy playing! The string pull has apparently put in enough bow for a good action, without having to crank the rod either direction for now.
- There's a click when I play one string. Swapped saddles, stays with the string, so I imagine the guide rail fret may be loose. Requires further investigation.
- No problem playing on the multiscale board. Whew! I was worried about that. Slight effort when looking, and pretty much none when not looking - as others have observed.
- No apparent problems so far with the flat (non-radiused) board. I hope this continues to be comfortable, as I think it's likely to be a good solution for boomy B-strings.
- I haven't played it with a strap yet, there being no strap lugs! So a playing position change will surely bring different perspectives.
- I was afraid of intonation setting being a pain in the ass. Instead, this is the easiest bass I've had to intonate. Lift up on the string some, slide the saddle, done. Repeat as necessary to your heart's content.
- It's reasonably light. Will see how it is once the pups are in.


Celebration time! On a night such as this, no brew has a more appropriate name.

[natw42]

Just so damn awesome!

[Big B.]

One of my favorite beers. The bass is looking sharp.

[bassingeorge]

Been waiting soooo long for that body shot...

[HaMMerHeD]

Congrats pj. Its looking brilliant.

[Smilodon]

As others have said, it looks fantastic.


I don't know if you have thought about this, but you should probably give the finish on this bass a long and good drying period before stringing it up. (If you are finishing with a lacquer) If you string up too soon the saddles will leave a pretty nasty indentation in the finish which could give you problems with intonation later on. (And it will look nasty)

[MarkA]

And, suddenly, there it was (almost). After following this build for I'm not sure how long, and enjoying its stately, unhurried, occasionally meandering progression and digressions, there is now this real and imminent danger of this thing turning into a bass! Like carving on Pinnochio for two years and then realizing one day that you're a couple of chisel strokes and some Minwax from him coming to life.

I mean this all in the best way. I've enjoyed your build tremendously. I mentioned before that my woodworking experience doesn't go past framing a wall or two and building a very ugly bookshelf in college but, someday, I will build a bass. The inspiration and perspectives gained from this thread will be part of that.

Cheers! Looking forward to the maiden voyage.

[chriscrob]

it really is impressive. I tend to want to be ambitious when I try to DIY things---but I normally end up just overstepping my ability and ending up with a long, sometimes-expensive learning experience rather than the long, expensive learning experience plus an amazing bass that you will have. it looks really awesome!

[whodom]

This continues to be an amazingly awesome build.

NOW comes the really fun part- finishing. Judging by the incredible amount of non-standard/innovative construction so far, I'm sure it'll be damned interesting.