• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Building a blueprint for 4 String Electric

Steve Burke

Commercial User
Mar 12, 2020
95
223
I am making a blueprint in Inkscape for a build I am considering. I tried to make sure that all the dimensions that I would need to do the actual build would be on the plans.

This has also helped a great deal on laying out the various cavities, angles, etc. before ever touching wood or a ruler.

Any input appreciated.
Print PRS Bass small 25.png
 
Nice job on this drawing. You've put a lot of work into this. One thing that I notice is, your neck and headstock are both angled from the normal top/bottom viewing planes, but you don't have perpendicular views of those. So while the body dimensions should be accurate in these views, the fingerboard and headstock are foreshortened. To have accurate views/prints of those, you'll need to develop views that are perpendicular to those surfaces.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Max Bogosity
Nice job on this drawing. You've put a lot of work into this. One thing that I notice is, your neck and headstock are both angled from the normal top/bottom viewing planes, but you don't have perpendicular views of those. So while the body dimensions should be accurate in these views, the fingerboard and headstock are foreshortened. To have accurate views/prints of those, you'll need to develop views that are perpendicular to those surfaces.

Yes, I think I understand. The planes will measure ok but measurements like the total length of the neck from the top view are understated due to headplate plane slope (and the neck slope). Is this what you mean?
Thanks
 
Hello Steve;

It looks good overall! It's a nice looking design bass, and you've obviously put a lot of thought into it.

A couple of suggestions from the engineering perspective:

Like 1n3 said, you need to do a perpendicular projection of the headstock, while you are there working in the computer. You want to be able to print that out and use it as an actual pattern. A full size print out, carbon paper and a pencil.

I would add a small volute on the back of the neck, right behind the nut. Just an 1/8" high smooth lump will make a big difference in the strength of that spot. Your scarf joint looks good, and will help the strength out on the headstock. But you could use a little more thickness at the joint.

Your neck/body joint is marginal in strength and stiffness. It isn't long enough, to my eye. It probably won't break apart, but it's going to be springy. That's going to affect your tone, making the bottom end mushy. I recommend that you extend the fingerboard maybe 1/4" back from where you have it shown, and bring the heel of the neck back to that same point. Move the two inner screws inboard 1/2". Make the neck pocket contact area longer.

Also, this bass design would benefit from adding brass heel bars, like I do on almost all of my basses. The folks around here call them BruceBars. They are brass (or aluminum) blocks set into the top of the neck before the fingerboard goes on. They have threaded holes to take 10-32 machine screws as the neck bolts. Much more clamping force between the body and neck than the conventional wood screws. Stiffening up the neck/body joint like this will significantly improve the deep low frequency range and the clarity of the deep lows. It doesn't make the bottom end louder; it makes it clearer and more defined.

I'm assuming that your body wood is going to be fairly soft, like mahogany? With a flame soft maple top? I'll recommend that you add a bridge block. An aluminum rectangular block, about 3/8" thick, that's set into the body right under the bridge. Set in flush with the top surface, in a bed of epoxy with a couple of wood screws down into the body. The top surface of the block is flat with tapped holes. Small machine screws bolting the bridge right to it. A bridge block will improve the high end clarity. It doesn't make the high end louder, just clearer and cleaner.

By eye, it looks like this bass might be a little neck heavy. Particularly if you go light on the body wood. You may have to add a little weight at the back end for balance. Or, extend the upper horn forward maybe 1/2"?

Other than that, it looks great. I think it's a good shape and structure and a good combination of pickups.

Carry on.
 
What wonderful input. Thanks so much.
Yes, it is proposed to be mahogany body and flamed maple top, maple quartersawn neck.
I was planning to put a soft volute as suggested, I had not taken the time to draw it in, just made myself a note.
For the neck pocket, I like your idea of making it longer for more strength. I didn't think about "springy"
For the neck attachment, I was going to use screws with brass inserts but I do like the idea of the "brucebar". Is that something that you make or is such a thing available off the shelf? I have never seen one.
Same with the bridge bar. Do you make these or are they available somewhere?
Thanks again for your time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Beej
Is that something that you make or is such a thing available off the shelf? I have never seen one.

They're not that difficult to make as long as you're handy. There are a number of places people show how to make them. (Mine are in the SCP build thread...)

The bass looks really nice. My only comments are the inside of the lower cutaway, you're probably going to want the deepest part of that shaping closest to the fretboard so you can comfortably access the top frets.
 
Excellent! Most woodworkers know the old maxim about measuring twice and cutting once, the object being to be very sure about what one is doing before making any move which cannot be reversed. So I am always amazed at how often woodworkers will do some or all of their design work while making cuts. It is a far better strategy to work out all of your design on "paper", before ever thinking about committing to wood. And there are some other advantages to having a detailed plan up front as well. One is the ease with which you can generate templates for components like the body, fretboard and headstock. Another is the ability to elicit detailed feedback on the design, as is well demonstrated by the excellent feedback already offered in this thread.

As far as specific feedback on this design goes, I'll echo what others have said about the need for explicit templates for body top, fretboard, and headstock in the drawn plans. From reviewing ever so many submitted plans to American Lutherie and from drawing so many of my own, the most common way to do this is to simply incorporate those into your top view drawing. What this means is the top surface of the body, fretboard, and headstock all appear in the top view drawing as if they are all coplanar to the viewing plane. If you do it this way, there should be a note in the plans that specifically states that the top view is drawn this way, so no one assumes that the top view drawing is a projection. Of course, the alternative is to draw the top view as a projection (and denote that it is so) and then provide separate templates for body, fretboard, and headstock. But for guitars and similar instruments, the neck angles and headstock angles typically used are so small that a top projection view is really not all that useful for visualizing the finished instrument in a 2D drawing. Different story for instruments like the lute and oud that have very acute headstock angles of course. And of course different story if you are doing your design using solid modeling software.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Beej and Flamingo21
They're not that difficult to make as long as you're handy. There are a number of places people show how to make them. (Mine are in the SCP build thread...)

The bass looks really nice. My only comments are the inside of the lower cutaway, you're probably going to want the deepest part of that shaping closest to the fretboard so you can comfortably access the top frets.
Good input. Thanks