5 string Ricken-Musicman Bass.

[TerribleTim68]

This feels about right for the belly curve.

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I find that an additional feature of the comfort carve is exposing some interesting grain patterns. As you start carving it over you'll find it just gets more appealing visually. I tend to go a bit heavy just for that reason, the grain looks better than not carved.
Also, I'm a bit larger in the middle than I once was.

 

[Videojunkie]

One thing I discovered as I was cleaning up the sanding marks is the mahogany is almost perfectly quartersawn!

I also have discovered that a utility knife blade makes a pretty decent scraper, and that I am getting finish levels on the wood that I've never been able to achieve with sandpaper. It's taking quite a bit of work to get below all the scratches, but wow!

 

[definenredefine]

Those inlays...

 

[NKBassman]

Should I be concerned about this?

Running a straight edge between my saddles and the nut, the B and G strings will wind up just on the inside edges of the poles on the neck pickup.
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I realize this post is a few days old already, but in my experience I wouldn't be concerned unless the string is falling towards the outside of the pole piece. Then you'll start hearing dropout on the attack of the note as the string excursion wobbles in and out of the magnetic field. My Supro Huntington was bad for that and I ended up selling it because of that.

 

[Videojunkie]

I realize this post is a few days old already, but in my experience I wouldn't be concerned unless the string is falling towards the outside of the pole piece. Then you'll start hearing dropout on the attack of the note as the string excursion wobbles in and out of the magnetic field. My Supro Huntington was bad for that and I ended up selling it because of that.

I haven't mounted or routed anything yet, but changes at this point get exponentially more challenging.

I'm more concerned about the G string than the B. First off, more mass in the B. It looks like it's going to be right over the edge of the pole piece.

Somewhere along the way I missed that the bridge is 16.5mm and the pickup is 17.5mm spacings.

 

[NKBassman]

I haven't mounted or routed anything yet, but changes at this point get exponentially more challenging.

I'm more concerned about the G string than the B. First off, more mass in the B. It looks like it's going to be right over the edge of the pole piece.

Somewhere along the way I missed that the bridge is 16.5mm and the pickup is 17.5mm spacings.

But at least you’re still between two adjacent poles, as opposed to falling off the edge of the pickup towards the outside.

And if it isn’t ideal at the end of the day, Nordstrand makes MM pickups with blade poles which should help.

 

[Reedt2000]

Maruszczyk sells basses with the same difference in saddle and pole spacing. They state its just cosmetic and functions just fine. I'm pretty sure you have nothing to worry about.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I always love when people stress over pole piece alignment. and then Eddie Van Halen was all....

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I always love when people stress over pole piece alignment. and then Eddie Van Halen was all....

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I always understood that he turned the bridge pickup so one pole of the narrower Gibson humbuckers he was using at the time would be under each E string so, depending on how you want to look at it, kind of the same thing actually…

 

[Videojunkie]

More progress,

Carved the comfort curve. I don't remember which one of you excellent folks demonstrated this technique, but dang it's awesome!

With the marked curve, it was easy to use my hand saw to cut some kerfs to match the cutout.

Then using a draw knife and chisel, the kerf just breaks away.

A quick touch up with my band file sander and some hand work, and done!

Custom fit!

I also finished up the control cavity this evening (I still have to route the battery box, but we'll get there...)
Routed the front, and then added the hole for the jack plate.

I dry fit the electronics, and it's super cozy, but they do fit (and come out again! ) the only issue is that the push/pull potentiometer is about 1/16" too tall, but redoing the mounting nuts moved it up just enough to clear. The knob is off the plate a bit, but I'm pretty sure I can live with that!

 

[Videojunkie]

Today's efforts were to clean up the heel of the neck.

I marked the new edge with a pencil. And the using my precision router, I trimmed the edges to the line.

Sandpaper, files and scraping later, and I'm pleased with the results.

 

[Flamingo21]

Is this comfortable to play? It looks a little "edgy".

 

[Reedt2000]

Today's efforts were to clean up the heel of the neck.

I marked the new edge with a pencil. And the using my precision router, I trimmed the edges to the line.
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Sandpaper, files and scraping later, and I'm pleased with the results.
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It looks cool, though I have to wonder if it would feel weird when you're playing up there. Are you gonna soften it at all?

 

[Videojunkie]

It's comfortable in the sense that it's not in the way. By the time you hit the lower bout, my hand has shifted to this position:

And the edge conforms to my meat pillows with sausages for hands. The edges are rounded over just a bit (and when I do my finish sanding I will probably do some more...)

One note, while this is a 24 fret instrument, you really can't play much above the 22nd fret without reaching over the top. I could do some scallops on the top to facilitate reaching the upper frets.... I'll have to think about that.

Not an issue for me, because I usually am a "stay at home" bass player and most (99%) of what I play is below the 12th fret.

 

[Reedt2000]

It's comfortable in the sense that it's not in the way. By the time you hit the lower bout, my hand has shifted to this position:

View attachment 4892595
And the edge conforms to my meat pillows with sausages for hands. The edges are rounded over just a bit (and when I do my finish sanding I will probably do some more...)

One note, while this is a 24 fret instrument, you really can't play much above the 22nd fret without reaching over the top. I could do some scallops on the top to facilitate reaching the upper frets.... I'll have to think about that.

Not an issue for me, because I usually am a "stay at home" bass player and most (99%) of what I play is below the 12th fret.

I was thinking you could blend it in, sorta like Ken Smith does with the volute

 

[NKBassman]

I was thinking you could blend it in, sorta like Ken Smith does with the volute

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What a wonderful little detail.

 

[Videojunkie]

I was thinking you could blend it in, sorta like Ken Smith does with the volute

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That's awesome!

I was considering lowering the heel about 1/8 - 3/16 to make it look even more like a set neck. It would also define the constant arc between the horns better.

The biggest problem in reaching the 23rd and 24th frets is that almost right angle joint between the neck and body. If I build another one of these, I would move the neck joint out to either the 20th or 21st fret or just make it a 22 fret bass. - which would allow me to move the neck pickup forward an extra 3/4"...

 

[Flamingo21]

I was considering lowering the heel about 1/8 - 3/16 to make it look even more like a set neck. It would also define the constant arc between the horns better.

I think it would be awesome to emphasize the constant arc.

 

[Videojunkie]

I think it would be awesome to emphasize the constant arc.

I was trying to emulate this feature of the Rickenbacker 4003.

 

[Videojunkie]

Had some time today to play in the workshop.

Started on the battery box. I decided to hide it underneath the bridge. Which may or may not been smart. I probably should have made a quick template for this, but A, it's on the back, N B, it's pretty close.

I also routed the pickup locations. These are very tight and very well fitted. I don't plan on any rings for these, so close fitting was the goal.
No pictures of that, but the end results I'm pretty happy with.

Next up on the to do list:
Binding the body
Staining the burst
Finishing

Much of this has come together faster than I anticipated, so I need to figure out ordering the second pickup. I also need to get on my friends calendar for doing the finishing work.