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Build II - Paradox MJ5 - New design!

#1,305
Thanks JIO!

Where my previous build was a joy to build and great to look at, it plays just okay. But this one.....

I received the strings today, made the basic shape of the nut and put the strings on to see where I will file the slots (evenly spaced or evenly centered). Looks great with the strings on! :smug:

Couldn't resist getting my amp from the attic though (those string slots'll have to wait)... plugged it in and, all the controls and pups worked right away, tone, balance, volume, nice! Frets seem to be in tune very well. And the greatest thing is, it plays f** sweet!!! And it sounds awesome too! Exactly what I had in mind. I just looove that wide fingerboard all the way up to the 24th fret. Feels so good, honestly, this is amazing!! So happy :hyper:

Furthermore, it's sooo quiet I cannot believe it - if you let go the strings, it's dead quiet. All the grounded wires, copper tape and grounding the bridge really did its job; although I think the quality of the pickups play the biggest role in this. The neck feels great, smooth and plays very well. It's a flat D, so wide but thin (not super thin, but on the thin side). I like how it turned out. The 20" radiused fingerboard feels better than the flat one of my previous bass, round enough for me, but just a bit more comfortable. The balance is good, it's not neck heavy and stays where you put it, although the balance is shifted more towards the neck than on a larged bodied jazz bass. The frets (not yet dressed) do not rattle at all, maybe on one or two spots on the whole fingerboard. The sound of the pickups is amazing too, a nice pop, lots of low, but very well defined. The tuners are close, I knew that, but I like small headstocks; but it turned out well, because you can tune it just fine, I didn't hit other tuners than the one I was aiming for.

:hyper: :bassist:

So I need to do lots of fine tuning on bridge, frets and nut, but I feel this thing is going to play wonderful. It's a huge step up from my first bass. :bassist:

Pics and sound clips follow when the nut's finished!
 
#1,306
roberthabraken said:
Thanks JIO!

Where my previous build was a joy to build and great to look at, it plays just okay. But this one.....

I received the strings today, made the basic shape of the nut and put the strings on to see where I will file the slots (evenly spaced or evenly centered). Looks great with the strings on! :smug:

Couldn't resist getting my amp from the attic though (those string slots'll have to wait)... plugged it in and, all the controls and pups worked right away, tone, balance, volume, nice! Frets seem to be in tune very well. And the greatest thing is, it plays f** sweet!!! And it sounds awesome too! Exactly what I had in mind. I just looove that wide fingerboard all the way up to the 24th fret. Feels so good, honestly, this is amazing!! So happy :hyper:

Furthermore, it's sooo quiet I cannot believe it - if you let go the strings, it's dead quiet. All the grounded wires, copper tape and grounding the bridge really did its job; although I think the quality of the pickups play the biggest role in this. The neck feels great, smooth and plays very well. It's a flat D, so wide but thin (not super thin, but on the thin side). I like how it turned out. The 20" radiused fingerboard feels better than the flat one of my previous bass, round enough for me, but just a bit more comfortable. The balance is good, it's not neck heavy and stays where you put it, although the balance is shifted more towards the neck than on a larged bodied jazz bass. The frets (not yet dressed) do not rattle at all, maybe on one or two spots on the whole fingerboard. The sound of the pickups is amazing too, a nice pop, lots of low, but very well defined. The tuners are close, I knew that, but I like small headstocks; but it turned out well, because you can tune it just fine, I didn't hit other tuners than the one I was aiming for.

:hyper: :bassist:

So I need to do lots of fine tuning on bridge, frets and nut, but I feel this thing is going to play wonderful. It's a huge step up from my first bass. :bassist:

Pics and sound clips follow when the nut's finished!
Click to expand...

I know how you feel - enjoy!
 
#1,308
bigbadbuck said:
The flat sawn neck is cool.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I picked it up at a local carpenter / cabinet-maker for only 10 bucks.. :smug: I went there to thickness my highly flamed maple blank, but it didn't work out (lots of tear), so he said I could buy some stock from him. It was just sitting in the corner looking dirty and rough.. after planing, thicknessing and shaping this wonderful neck seemed to have been in there all the time :D
 
#1,309
Rob-

Really happy it turned out so well! I know it's been a bit of a chore getting there but it will all be worth it when you get out to your first gig and take the new bass out of its case and hear all the oohs and ahhhs from everyone around you!

Lonnybas
 
#1,310
Lonnybass said:
Rob-

Really happy it turned out so well! I know it's been a bit of a chore getting there but it will all be worth it when you get out to your first gig and take the new bass out of its case and hear all the oohs and ahhhs from everyone around you!

Lonnybas
Click to expand...

Thanks Lonny! Yeah, the finishing process in particular was a bit of a chore indeed, but it was worth every minute. I just love the color and the feel of the varnish satin finish. The woodworking had its challenges as well, but things were much more under control.. while finishing was new to me and I basically 'learned on the job', which proved to be a bit stressful on such a subject. Looking back I wouldn't have opted for such a difficult finish (for a newbie), but I'm happy with what I learned and how it turned out. I learned more than the finishing itself though (coping with set backs, perseverance, staying calm when something goes wrong, adaptability). It was a cool journey and I should thank everyone in this thread for their help and encouragement, especially the regulars!!
 
#1,313
There's just something so... pleasing about the way that bass looks, I don't know what, but it's definitely got whatever it is in spades. Just a fully realized cohesive work. Really nice, can't wait to hear it.
Congrats!
(Now get on with the next build... ;) )

wraub
 
#1,315
We're getting really close now. Time for another small update.

I soldered the circuit earlier, but didn't post it yet. It's a passive volume / blend / tone circuit with a ground wire to the bridge using grounded wire for everything in an isolated control cavity with copper tape. It's a simple circuit, but very effective and I like the controls:

424-electronic-circuit.jpg


Then, last night I fixed the pickguard. As some of you mentioned it didn't sit flat against the body, which was caused by some wood and finish coming up around the screw hole, pushing the pickguard up. I removed the pickguard and shaved the wood and finish around the screw hole off and re-mounted it. Looks better like this:

Link Removed

Then, I finished the nut:

Link Removed

You can see the string paths over the headstock look nice and straight, I like it this way:

Link Removed

I then tuned it up and found out I got pretty low action, still without any fret leveling. There's only one string on one fret that causes a severe buzz (G string second fret, when pressing the first fret), the rest is almost perfect already.

I have some other minor things to do to dot some I's, but generally there's only fret dressing left, together with the fine tuning.

:hyper:
 
#1,316
I love how the nut sits inside the binding on the neck. I don't know if that is common practice with bound necks (never built nor owned a bound neck), but it looks great having one continuous white stripe all the way to the head stock.

I'm in love with this bass!
 
#1,317
Neek said:
I love how the nut sits inside the binding on the neck. I don't know if that is common practice with bound necks (never built nor owned a bound neck), but it looks great having one continuous white stripe all the way to the head stock.

I'm in love with this bass!
Click to expand...

Thanks!! That makes two of us ;)...

Funny thing is, I never did a bound neck before and the ones I own have their nut at the end of the fb, not in it.. but this seemed the nicest solution to me. Now I Google a bit due to your remark, I find that most people just cut their binding with the nut slot.. and I must admit it was a bit of a pita to make (you have to make a recess in the nut for the binding and you also need to remove the glue inside the nut slot in the very corner of the binding and the nut slot, without damaging the nut slot itself). Nonetheless, I'm gonna keep this feature :smug:
 

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