Cepheid 5: Ripthorn Builds a Bass

[Reedt2000]

The bocotes is hard, heavy, and coarse textured, but the grain pattern when carving a curved surface is worth it

Yeah it is, look at that thing!

 

[postalflunkie]

Very trippy!
That made one heck of a neck

 

[Gary_M]

That neck is bonkers! Looks amazing!

 

[Ripthorn]

I did a ton of sanding and got the neck and fretboard to a finish sanded state. That being the case, I put on a coat of oil on the back of the neck, and it really comes alive!

While the oil was drying some, I also started in on pickup bobbins. I have some .09" translucent acrylic left over from a previous project, so I made some up and drilled some very precise holes in the milling machine. Different spacing for bridge and neck pickups. These will get mounted like P90 pickups with the two small screws between the outer string poles.

Magnets and eyelets should be here tomorrow, so I can start winding probably on Monday, if all goes well! In the mean time, I am going to oil the fretboard and start working on pickup covers. Once the covers are done, I can work on routing templates and route for pickups.

 

[Dark Horse]

Subtle grain on that neck. You might want to try something that pops a little more ...

 

[ctmullins]

Oh

My

G
O
S
H

 

[Ripthorn]

Subtle grain on that neck. You might want to try something that pops a little more ...

I know, but I decided that this should be a case study in subtlety and understatement...

 

[Jon Clegg]

I know, but I decided that this should be a case study in subtlety and understatement...

I just blew a cup of coffee through my nose.

 

[Dark Horse]

I know, but I decided that this should be a case study in subtlety and understatement...

cool.... you're definitely achieving that goal with this build.

 

[skycruiser]

Never seen a neck like that. Interesting feature!

 

[Ripthorn]

Not a lot done over the weekend due to house projects, but on Friday I managed to get the fretboard polished up and hit with two coats of oil. It really pops the color on the inlays and brings up the birdseye figuring:

I also played around with pickup covers and figured out the dimensions and layout. No pictures there yet, but I will make up the covers and templates for routing the body, route the body, work on winding the pickups, and fret the neck. It's coming along. I just might get this done by the deadline... Or not... We'll see...

 

[Scoops]

Ahhh....A dental pick I see.

When I lived in Milwaukee, there was a store call American Science and Surplus

They had all sorts of things from test tubes to microscopes, to military tank periscopes, to diodes, and what have you.

I picked up a bunch of dental picks. They were like $0.10 each. They are very valuable tools

 

[5tring]

This is looking superb

 

[Ripthorn]

Ahhh....A dental pick I see.

When I lived in Milwaukee, there was a store call American Science and Surplus

They had all sorts of things from test tubes to microscopes, to military tank periscopes, to diodes, and what have you.

I picked up a bunch of dental picks. They were like $0.10 each. They are very valuable tools

They see a lot of use in the shop and on the electronics bench, for sure!

 

[Ripthorn]

I thought it would be a really cool way to accent the instrument, tie it all together. Cherry on top, if you will.

This might give you some ideas, would be easy enough to do a two piece knob with the wood insert


Just would take a little bit of planning.

Well, crap. This idea won't get out of my head. I'll be prototyping it soon, and putting my own twist on it, which naturally will only make it harder. Oh well, this is what I do in the name of art.

 

[BioWeapon]

Well, crap. This idea won't get out of my head. I'll be prototyping it soon, and putting my own twist on it, which naturally will only make it harder. Oh well, this is what I do in the name of art.

If there was ever a set of sentences that has plagued every builder ever, that's gotta be it.

 

[Dark Horse]

Well, crap. This idea won't get out of my head. I'll be prototyping it soon, and putting my own twist on it, which naturally will only make it harder. Oh well, this is what I do in the name of art.

do it !!!

 

[Ripthorn]

I got my eyelets and magnets in for the pickups, so I had a go at putting them together:

And of course you have to have covers for pickups. I have a shallow groove on the inside to allow the magnets to get a little closer to the strings.

I also created a template for routing the cavities and got that done. A little oil on the covers, and a little mockup:

Next up: determining whether to go with two or three knobs, prototyping the aluminum and maple knob, and winding the pickup coils.

 

[Ripthorn]

Ok, so quick mock up with mismatched knobs that only represent size. Here is a three knob layout:

And here is a two knob layout:

The three knob layout would be blend, master tone, master vol and the two knob layout would be blend and a dual concentric pot with master tone and master vol. I kind of like 3, but I'm not sure it if looks too crowded. What do you guys think?

 

[Jeff Siddall]

3 works best with the point on the body. I have never been a big fan of concentric, especially for things like volume where you want them to both go to zero, but of course you need to do what makes sense for you.

I must add, this thing is turning out unbelievably awesome!