Thank you. Mostly it's a product of patience and keeping myself from rushing things.
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6 string Fretless with Ebony Neck
- Thread starter Slidlow
- Start date
The fingerboard is glued on.
Access holes for the truss rod adjustment. Can't see the titanium anymore.
Lastly checking the allen key fit into the hole and engaged with the truss rod.
Access holes for the truss rod adjustment. Can't see the titanium anymore.
Lastly checking the allen key fit into the hole and engaged with the truss rod.
Prepped a nut for this bass. Its made from a graphite composite runner for a piece of industrial unit. Slippery to the touch but real hard. It also nearly matches the ebony as a bonus.
New nut laid in place. I have a few operations to do before attaching it and cutting the string slots.
New nut laid in place. I have a few operations to do before attaching it and cutting the string slots.
Attachments
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So getting close to mounting the tuners. I selected Schaller M4-2000 as they had a different button then most available units. I was looking at keeping the overall headstock look small. Looking them over I noticed something else. While most of these compact tuners use a nominal 9/16" (14mm) mounting hole these Schallers use a 1/2" (12mm) mounting hole. The weight is 58 grams which is reasonable. The M4-2000 is the black one in the photos shown next to a gold Gotoh and typical chrome (ala earlier Gotoh and Grover units). Just thought the info might be useful to others contemplating tuner options.
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Some of my slow progress is this little doll getting in the way. Sometimes there are too many distractions.
So I chose tuners with pin anti-rotation instead of the typical screw as I wanted a cleaner look. So I have to make a quick jig to locate a hole accurately for the pin. Started with a scrap piece of maple and drew some center lines.
Then drilled a hole for the tuner bushing. In this case 12mm.
Mounted the tuner with the bushing and washer to make an impression of the pin location being careful to keep it on the centerline.
I removed the tuner and drilled same size hole as the pin all the way through. After that I glued a piece of 12mm dowel (I made it on my drill press) into the hole for the tuner.
Now I have a jig that lines up into the hole in the headstock, I can then drill the hole for the pin at the desired location. This can be made to fit other tuner sizes and also ones that mount with screws. Better then eyeballing it or drilling with the tuner in place.
Then drilled a hole for the tuner bushing. In this case 12mm.
Mounted the tuner with the bushing and washer to make an impression of the pin location being careful to keep it on the centerline.
I removed the tuner and drilled same size hole as the pin all the way through. After that I glued a piece of 12mm dowel (I made it on my drill press) into the hole for the tuner.
Now I have a jig that lines up into the hole in the headstock, I can then drill the hole for the pin at the desired location. This can be made to fit other tuner sizes and also ones that mount with screws. Better then eyeballing it or drilling with the tuner in place.
Tuner locations marked.
Set-up and drilling on the drill press.
All six holes drilled.
Tuners fitted.
All is well.
Set-up and drilling on the drill press.
All six holes drilled.
Tuners fitted.
All is well.
Gratuitous full body mockup shot. Can't wait to get the body together, rounded and some oil on the madrone.
They have been available for several years. +++UPDATE+++ Schaller has since discontinued this style tuner.
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Not all distraction today. I did finish the cavity for the preamp and lined it with copper foil. I need to prepeare to glue this wing on next then prep the opposite side.
So on to some electronics. I am using a six channel Richter piezo buffer for this bass. I don't really use volume and EQ onboard (set it once and leave it) and was initially going to run the buffer output straight out. Well since I have to have access and a cover for the Richter buffer I have planned to incorporate EQ into the cover. I still am not going to have an onboard volume as I will set up a custom pedal with volume control and power supply to the bass. After much deliberation and indecision I decided on a Seymour Duncan 2 band EQ. A few reasons: I can easily switch out the 100K pots for slide pots, it is small, the EQ bands are reasonable and the treble EQ band has two selectable points.
So to facilitate this I first needed to make a little PCB for the pots and wiring to the EQ.
Etched the board and drilled the holes. Then I mounted the pots to the board and wired the board to the EQ (after removing the one pot from the EQ (I bought the unit with separate pots so I just used the existing wires for the second pot.
Makes a nice little package.
The next trick will be setting up a harness to have a connector under the bridge (for the peizo pickups to plug into) to bring the six signals up to the buffer and for the buffer to connect to the EQ. Then another harness for the output jack to bring power in and the signal from the EQ out.
So to facilitate this I first needed to make a little PCB for the pots and wiring to the EQ.
Etched the board and drilled the holes. Then I mounted the pots to the board and wired the board to the EQ (after removing the one pot from the EQ (I bought the unit with separate pots so I just used the existing wires for the second pot.
Makes a nice little package.
The next trick will be setting up a harness to have a connector under the bridge (for the peizo pickups to plug into) to bring the six signals up to the buffer and for the buffer to connect to the EQ. Then another harness for the output jack to bring power in and the signal from the EQ out.
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Still on the electronics binge. First up is modifying the output jack. I bought some of these thread in jacks and used my small lathe to remove the inner stop (they are actually for acoustic and have a built in strap holder). This way I can thread it all the way in flush with the edge of the body.
Original vs modified.
And all three components ready. I just need to figure out what I want to use to interconnect as I would like to have everything plug in. I have some miniature connectors somewhere.
Original vs modified.
And all three components ready. I just need to figure out what I want to use to interconnect as I would like to have everything plug in. I have some miniature connectors somewhere.
Attachments
Started a little blending of the control panel. The pencil lines are for the back relief.
A bit slow today. Dowelled the wings to mount to the neck and started the upper horn. I've been sinking my straplock mounts since 1985 and this one is no different. I drill, mount, pencil around and then shape the end to form around the mount.
Shaping started.
Shaping started.
So its -25 celcius (-13 for you guys south of the border) so it's a stay indoor day. I decided to work on the inside of the upper horn as this area is difficult to get to once this side is attached to the neck. Put a little oil finish on it to give an idea of the end result. I think it will be nice.
Still a ways to go for finish sanding yet.
Still a ways to go for finish sanding yet.
Still pretty cold out today so I figured I will spend some quality time shaping the body wings. Working on the upper side. The burl madrone cuts like butter.
I'm starting to really like the rengas I have for the back of the body. Takes a rasp or file real well and sands out pretty smooth. It's hard and not very porous so will shine up nicely. Feels a little waxy though. I still have quite a chunk of this left and I think I may relegate it to fingerboards. I should get 8 to 10 boards of various sizes and a couple for extra wide and extended fret basses if ever required.
I'm starting to really like the rengas I have for the back of the body. Takes a rasp or file real well and sands out pretty smooth. It's hard and not very porous so will shine up nicely. Feels a little waxy though. I still have quite a chunk of this left and I think I may relegate it to fingerboards. I should get 8 to 10 boards of various sizes and a couple for extra wide and extended fret basses if ever required.
