Cepheid 5: Ripthorn Builds a Bass

[Ripthorn]

I have been wanting to build this bass for a long time, so I've had plenty of time to think about it. I'm mostly a guitar builder and player, but we all need at least one bass. This will be my second. This will also be my first build thread here.

I've been doing a lot of drawings and such, so I feel ready to jump in, but this will be a longer build due to the fact that I will be machining the bridge hardware, winding the pickups, and it is very much a concept build. However, let's introduce the Cepheid 5:

- 5 String bass
- 34-37" multiscale
- Dingwall style bridge
- Hipshot Ultralite tuners
- Hand wound pickups
- Two band preamp/EQ
- Birdseye maple drop top
- Roasted alder or cherry back (haven't decided yet)

Anyway, here is the design drawing. It has been slightly tweaked since this, but it gives you the gist:

I printed this out, made the body template, and used some scrap 2.7mm plywood from a house project to mock up the neck, mostly for ergonomic and logistical purposes (such as knob locations).

I won't be able to really get started in on this for a little while, but stay tuned, it should be a pretty wild ride!

 

[bholder]

Nice design!

 

[TerribleTim68]

Did you map your fretboard using FretFind? I'd be interested to see your layout, for comparison's sake.

 

[Ripthorn]

Did you map your fretboard using FretFind? I'd be interested to see your layout, for comparison's sake.

I did use it. It is a 34-37" scale, 8th fret perpendicular, with .125" on each edge.

By the way, I love Tacoma. My grandma lived there for years and my wife is from the Kitsap peninsula

 

[TerribleTim68]

What was your string spacing at each end?

I'm originally from Texas, but been in Tacoma since the late 80s. Not a horrible place to be, certainly better than Seattle.

 

[Ripthorn]

I'm copying the spacings from the Dingwall prima artist. I think it's 18mm at the bridge, but I don't remember the nut off hand.

 

[Ripthorn]

So I started to do some testing out of some ideas. First up, I wanted to do a thin aluminum pinstripe "veneer". This is 1/32" thick. A little wipe of oil on the far side just to see what natural is like, but I'm thinking dyed blue.



I'm also liking the contrast with the cherry, so I'm thinking a cherry back:

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[Beej]

Cool! What are you using to glue the aluminum?

 

[Ripthorn]

Cool! What are you using to glue the aluminum?

Good old epoxy. I'll have to be careful with the shaping, because just a little bit of heat and the epoxy loosens. I wonder if there is a more heat resistant adhesive I could use...

 

[dwizum]

There are tooling epoxies that will withstand much higher heat, but the downside is you need to bake them to cure. That is a really cool look though, I've never seen anything like it. I wonder how it'll handle changes in temp or humidity though if the wood tries to move? Does the sheet run the whole size of the panel or did you just let it in around the edge?

 

[Ripthorn]

There are tooling epoxies that will withstand much higher heat, but the downside is you need to bake them to cure. That is a really cool look though, I've never seen anything like it. I wonder how it'll handle changes in temp or humidity though if the wood tries to move? Does the sheet run the whole size of the panel or did you just let it in around the edge?

It is a solid sheet. This test piece was done specifically to see what happens with changes in temp and humidity.

 

[Ripthorn]

Well, with covid going around and being around the house all the time, I have started moving back to this mentally. I figured I would update the couple of minor things that I have done.

First up, after doing the test piece above, we got some cold/heat cycles and the epoxy failed. So, I did some research and found a glue called Weld-Bond that claims to bond anything. I reassembled the parts and it has held quite well for several months throughout the winter and such. So I am confident it will work quite well for this.

Another thing I did was look at the Dingwall Prima Artist bridge and created my own drawings for the same thing. I then decided I needed to test out the drawings to see how it would all work. I'm rather pleased, though this is just a painted MDF prototype. With how it came out, I think I'm ready to move on to fabbing these out of aluminum.

Next up is to glue up the body blank along with aluminum and bookmatch the birdseye maple for the top. I don't think I have neck wood on hand, so this will obviously be a long project, but I've been thinking about it and wanting to do it for like 9 years now, so it's just one of those projects.

 

[charlie monroe]

Somebody send ripthorn a neck blank ASAP

 

[skycruiser]

Off topic tip - avoid changing font color. I'm using the dark theme and here's what I see in your post above:

 

[TerribleTim68]

I didn't even know there was a dark theme!

 

[Ripthorn]

Off topic tip - avoid changing font color. I'm using the dark theme and here's what I see in your post above:

Sorry, I wrote this on a different forum and copied/pasted here. I also did not know there was a dark theme!

 

[skycruiser]

Sorry, I wrote this on a different forum and copied/pasted here. I also did not know there was a dark theme!

It's called "Style" option under preferences. Probably pasting in text from another site carries color that overrides the color theme. You might be able to avoid that by pasting the text into a text editor and copying from that into TB. But that's a lot of extra work.

The bass design looks awesome by the way. Watching thread...

 

[Ripthorn]

So I had some time in the shop and the other guitar projects all literally have finish drying, so I guess this means that it's officially on like Donkey Kong. Some cherry:

The plan was always birdseye maple top (dyed blue) and birdseye maple fretboard (left natural). However, the neck is not completely finalized, but I did find a bocote board that will do the trick unless other inspiration strikes:

I also need to order material to make the bridge pieces...

 

[Jon Clegg]

Slick design! I love your use of aluminum as a veneer.

 

[ctmullins]

Nice build! You got me thinking about using alternative materials for veneer. Construction paper, obsolete currency, slivers of brick, bacon... The possibilities are sorta endless!

Better on the font color, but still not great.