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3 Wood Challenge: headless, multiscale, fretless 4 with Aussie timbers
- Thread starter reverendrally
- Start date
Got em all glued in...
and made 2 important discoveries.
1. sticking your fingers together is MUCH easier than you think
2. superglue should used in a well ventilated area
Anyhow, all done, so let the sanding begin.
Which was when I discovered the third thing.
3. superglue dust is just as toxic as the fumes
and made 2 important discoveries.
1. sticking your fingers together is MUCH easier than you think
2. superglue should used in a well ventilated area
Anyhow, all done, so let the sanding begin.
Which was when I discovered the third thing.
3. superglue dust is just as toxic as the fumes
Mostly sanded and wetted down so you can see the grain POP!
It's not as perfect as I would like, but I don't have time to fix it. However, the upper register is spot on, so I know what to do for next time...
It's not as perfect as I would like, but I don't have time to fix it. However, the upper register is spot on, so I know what to do for next time...
Got a few things done the other night...
With the D extension glued on I cut the grooves for the markers. At the same time I also re-cut and re-inlaid the 4th fret marker. It was pretty ordinary the first time and I wanted it to look better. Just got to trim and sand it back now.
I also figured out where I'd need to put the strap hanger. I wanted to test this before doing it, so I attached the bridge and pickup (clamped) to the body along with two other clamps. One in the bottom strap button position and the other on the neck. I then used to ocky straps and put it on. I moved the clamp towards the fingerboard a little at a time until it stopped neck diving...
Hey presto!
Guess which fret it ended up at?
The 12th!
So maybe I'm not so innovative after all. hehe. Oh well.
Now to make a strap hanger...
With the D extension glued on I cut the grooves for the markers. At the same time I also re-cut and re-inlaid the 4th fret marker. It was pretty ordinary the first time and I wanted it to look better. Just got to trim and sand it back now.
I also figured out where I'd need to put the strap hanger. I wanted to test this before doing it, so I attached the bridge and pickup (clamped) to the body along with two other clamps. One in the bottom strap button position and the other on the neck. I then used to ocky straps and put it on. I moved the clamp towards the fingerboard a little at a time until it stopped neck diving...
Hey presto!
Guess which fret it ended up at?
The 12th!
So maybe I'm not so innovative after all. hehe. Oh well.
Now to make a strap hanger...
Are you sure that will be an accurate way of checking strap button placement? Those clamps are adding a buttload of weight that would otherwise not be there.
Actually those clamps are mostly plastic and weighed less than I expected. I can check it again, and the neck is yet to be thinnned down, but even still, I think that's about right.
P.s. how much is a "buttload"?
P.s. how much is a "buttload"?
That pin position is guaranteed to work against neck dive, specially in a headless design. It could even be that the headstock goes too high. I´d go for fret 14 (considering that the body pin is higher than the middle line)
More progress last night.
Dot markers.
Bridge installed.
Now to try and decide where to put the pickup? It's all a bit nuanced with strings going near pole piece here and there. Maybe I'll get the strings on it first and then go from there.
Dot markers.
Bridge installed.
Now to try and decide where to put the pickup? It's all a bit nuanced with strings going near pole piece here and there. Maybe I'll get the strings on it first and then go from there.
Progress...
Home from 2 weeks hols this arvo and back into it so I can get it finished for the Sydney gtg.
PU cavity
tailpiece recessed into body
then a screw broken off. So I had to chop it out and glue in a new piece...
Then onto the bridge itself
That's it for tonight. More breaking and gluing stuff...
Home from 2 weeks hols this arvo and back into it so I can get it finished for the Sydney gtg.
PU cavity
tailpiece recessed into body
then a screw broken off. So I had to chop it out and glue in a new piece...
Then onto the bridge itself
That's it for tonight. More breaking and gluing stuff...
More...
I've got a local bass forum get together day on saturday so the plan is to get it playable for that. So the rush is on!
I've got a local bass forum get together day on saturday so the plan is to get it playable for that. So the rush is on!
Progress.
I wanted to have the bass ready for people to try at a bass get together here in Sydney. So I went hard last week and got it going...
All strings on and nut cut
Pickup test fitted
Tru oiled (3 of 5 coats), assembled and pickup hardwired to socket.
My initial impressions were thus;
EPIC. BEYOND EPIC. There are NO dead spots on this neck! I mean NONE what so ever! And sustain, oh the sustain! How long can you hold it? Coz that's how long it lasts. And then there is the TONE. Dark brooding mids with just enough "moahw" on top to cut through anything. It is the best sounding fretless I've ever played and it still doesn't have any electronics beyond a PU and a socket. Heck, it's so good it may just get a kill switch and that's it. Ergonomics are another thing altogether, but it's better than I expected on a bunch of levels. The neck is much more comfy than I imagined and the "fanned-fretness" (if that's what you call it) only catches me out a little. There are some things that don't work, but I'll let you discover them for yourselves. I'd advise everyone who comes tomorrow to have a try. It's totally outside the norm, but it's really fun. Even if you hate the look and the ergonomics, it's worth it for the sound. I also played the bass at church on Sunday (while singing too) with an acoustic guitar. It seemed to work really well there, but it does not sound like an upright at all, so on that goal, it's a fail. However as a fretless it's a total winner.
There are things about it that I will not do again. The strap hanger off the neck for instance. I could not come up with a good solution on that that was cost effective and didn't effect the feel of the neck or get in the way of your hands. I understand why designers use bouts/horns. The lack of horn has also removed a lot of good that the neck back angle adds sadly. And... the upper curve of the body also hits my ribs and is uncomfortable occasionally. Fanned frets? Well, I've got used to it, but playing chords is even harder than it usually is on a fretless and I like a few chords. Maybe the issue there is that it's a 4" difference across just 4 strings. I know Dingwall go 4" too, but that's across 5 strings (I got to play one the other day). It does make for nice string tension though I have to say. So next time maybe just 2" would make it a lot less radical and easier to play in upper positions. It will make pickup placement easier too.
Here's a short sound clip of the bass. It's not great and I'll do another later but you get some of the idea...
http://soundcloud.com/simpleinnovation/simple-innovation-balance
Now I don't consider it finished, but I'm really not sure what to do with the electronics because as it stands, the one sound it does is just so amazing. So what do you all think? Killswitch only? Volume only? Should I fit a tone dial or what. I'm really not sure what to do with it at all. And it still needs a few more coats of tru-oil too.
I wanted to have the bass ready for people to try at a bass get together here in Sydney. So I went hard last week and got it going...
All strings on and nut cut
Pickup test fitted
Tru oiled (3 of 5 coats), assembled and pickup hardwired to socket.
My initial impressions were thus;
EPIC. BEYOND EPIC. There are NO dead spots on this neck! I mean NONE what so ever! And sustain, oh the sustain! How long can you hold it? Coz that's how long it lasts. And then there is the TONE. Dark brooding mids with just enough "moahw" on top to cut through anything. It is the best sounding fretless I've ever played and it still doesn't have any electronics beyond a PU and a socket. Heck, it's so good it may just get a kill switch and that's it. Ergonomics are another thing altogether, but it's better than I expected on a bunch of levels. The neck is much more comfy than I imagined and the "fanned-fretness" (if that's what you call it) only catches me out a little. There are some things that don't work, but I'll let you discover them for yourselves. I'd advise everyone who comes tomorrow to have a try. It's totally outside the norm, but it's really fun. Even if you hate the look and the ergonomics, it's worth it for the sound. I also played the bass at church on Sunday (while singing too) with an acoustic guitar. It seemed to work really well there, but it does not sound like an upright at all, so on that goal, it's a fail. However as a fretless it's a total winner.
There are things about it that I will not do again. The strap hanger off the neck for instance. I could not come up with a good solution on that that was cost effective and didn't effect the feel of the neck or get in the way of your hands. I understand why designers use bouts/horns. The lack of horn has also removed a lot of good that the neck back angle adds sadly. And... the upper curve of the body also hits my ribs and is uncomfortable occasionally. Fanned frets? Well, I've got used to it, but playing chords is even harder than it usually is on a fretless and I like a few chords. Maybe the issue there is that it's a 4" difference across just 4 strings. I know Dingwall go 4" too, but that's across 5 strings (I got to play one the other day). It does make for nice string tension though I have to say. So next time maybe just 2" would make it a lot less radical and easier to play in upper positions. It will make pickup placement easier too.
Here's a short sound clip of the bass. It's not great and I'll do another later but you get some of the idea...
http://soundcloud.com/simpleinnovation/simple-innovation-balance
Now I don't consider it finished, but I'm really not sure what to do with the electronics because as it stands, the one sound it does is just so amazing. So what do you all think? Killswitch only? Volume only? Should I fit a tone dial or what. I'm really not sure what to do with it at all. And it still needs a few more coats of tru-oil too.
That does sound really good! To be honest, I read the diatribe above and was skeptical the same way one is skeptical about a person's story of their kid's amazing whatever, but when I listened to it I was honestly struck by the tone. Nice work, even if the ergonomics aren't 100%...
I was thinking to myself earlier today if a fretless multi scale was possible, apparently so. Good job!
reverendrally said:
Personally, id say throw a vol on there and call it a day. I really like the tone already, I don't see a need to alter it. My opinion of course. But its your bass at the end of the day, so do what you feel is best.
Hopkins
Commercial User
+1 on passive with just vol.
Nice build, I like basses that are a bit different than the norm
Cheers
Tore
Nice build, I like basses that are a bit different than the norm
Cheers
Tore
