Classical drop-D extension focused build

[JIO]

Hey, in my idle browsing today, I came across this invention called a "String Drop". I know you've started creating your own, but it's another interesting one. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

That's one approach - in the classic 'capo' mold. Thanks for posting

Hola, JIO...not sure if you've seen this: Paul Jackson - The Headhunter
look under "galleries", "new bass". Mr Jackson had ESP build him a custom bass w/custom extender system, a lot like the Kubicki design.
As you're poking around for designs, thought u might want to see this if you haven't already, good luck!
MJ

Oh wow! That is right up my alley! His capo is very Kubicki-esk which I could do but I want something less manual. (lift and shift as the Ex-Factor) I'm focusing on a push button - automatic flip open/away and push down to re-lock type of capo. Otherwise very similar with the ramp/extension and 1x3 tuners! Very cool! Thanks so much for sending this - I was not aware!

 

[Bruce Johnson]

It's looking cool, JIO. That headstock design is looking practical and interesting.

I have to question whether you even need to add a built in capo to it. Since you've made it easy and comfortable to reach the E and Eb on the extension, why not leave them available for use, all the time? How often do you need the low E where it must be played open? I think it's cool as it is, and the capo would just be in the way.

 

[JIO]

It's looking cool, JIO. That headstock design is looking practical and interesting.

I have to question whether you even need to add a built in capo to it. Since you've made it easy and comfortable to reach the E and Eb on the extension, why not leave them available for use, all the time? How often do you need the low E where it must be played open? I think it's cool as it is, and the capo would just be in the way.

Thanks! That is a real consideration Bruce - and interesting that Phil Kubicki didn't entertain it. (although we'll never know) I just ordered a basswood blank for a body for it and my first focus will be to set it up to make sure it works as-is. I still want to explore the capo but right now it's more of an extended development project.

 

[JIO]

Waiting for the blank to arrive - I'm wondering about what type of body to cut for it. Now that I have an actual Fender Performer I could use it to trace from. It would be 1-1/4" compared to 1-3/4" thick, so a thin Performer-like body.., (could be cool) or I can cut another Teisco Del Rey body which is pretty near a perfect design IMO. Going from the Performer body - the 32" 21 fret neck would put the bridge right at the butt/end - with the Del Rey, it lands 2/3 of the way down. (lower than a ss Teisco DR and higher than my 2, 34"scale Del Rey/T-bird hybrids. As much as I like the Performer - another Del Rey clone body may prevail. I like many things about it - it's classic/vintage, nicely ergonomic, and will be visually comparable with the hs I designed for this XD neck. (extended to D) If I go with the Del Rey clone body - I need to then determine what pu(s) to use. I have a number of humbuckers, singles, soaps, and P pu's in my parts bin, and I like the 1 pu Teiscobirds I've made. May continue to keep-it-simple with one pu, and V/T only. Also may go with a (black) Hipshot Kickass bridge again, as it's a good design and fairly priced. Pu placement will be determined after stringing it up and finding the "sweet-spot" harmonic between the neck and bridge. Colour to be determined...

 

[JIO]

So, I've decided to go with another Del Rey clone and what better pu to install than a '65 Teisco Del Rey single-coil & 500k V/T harness. I bought it a while ago once I found these hot singles to sound so good. This one is exactly the same as on my short-scale Del Rey EB-200, and was most likely from the 1 pu EB-100. Luckily the poles are wide enough to work with this neck, especially as the bridge will be 2" closer to the 32" scale neck butt. (as in, the strings won't 'flair out' as much) FTR, the ss/30" scale Tiesco neck butt width is 1-1/8", the 34" scale T-bird style Epi neck butt width is 1-1/4", and a standard Fender P neck butt width is 1.5" , so as long as the pu placement is closer to the neck than the bridge (which would be where I would prefer it) - it'll work.

 

[JIO]

Ordered a 1ply creme pg blank, and have a matt black remnant for the control cover. (like on my Teiscobird) Also ordered individual black bridge units and black neck screw collars. (nixed the KA) Considering something... brown for the body colour. I've always liked Fender International colour "Sahara Taupe" and this may be the bass where it happens. Possibly with the addition of gold 'glitter-blast'...

I saw another colour that looked more like the Fender Sahara Taupe but opted for this one- "Khaki" anticipating the effect of the gold glitter-blast. Just shot this so it will dry a bit darker. It looks good with the creme pg material and is not strictly a 'wood' colour even if it is taupe-y tannish. The Sahara Taupe is sorta' cosmetic by comparison - like some sort of skin-blush product. I still may opt for it depending how this sample looks w/the gold GB. I like the Krylon Dual Superbond product - it's what I used on the Teiscobirds.

It looks a bit more warm gold than this pic shows, more like the pic above. Same with the creme pg material - it looks parchment in this pic and is actually more yellow in person. I dig it though, very understated, like a classic Shoreline Gold.

 

[JIO]

Sexy sparkling headstock/fingerboard/neck looking to hook up with thin, curvy sparkly body - ready to PLAY!

fb position markers ala Del Rey - in this pic, the extension haasn't been sprayed (lacquer) yet

 

[JIO]

mock-up

 

[Matt Liebenau]

That is soooooooo cool. Can't wait to see this one done.

Did you spray the fretboard markers then clear over them?

 

[JIO]

That is soooooooo cool. Can't wait to see this one done.

Did you spray the fretboard markers then clear over them?

Thanks! Yes, the whole neck got a couple light coats of (Stew Mac) clear satin lacquer w/fine sanding between coats.

 

[JIO]

A very nice slab of basswood arrived today - and a thought about the capo (more musing on different tacts) ... I'm not sure if they make a bass version, but I saw a guitar drop-D unit made by Sperzil. If they make a bass version - you could tune the open string to D, and once the capo engages, the open string would be E and the 2 ramp frets would be F & F#, and first position would be G. Still need to transpose on the fly, so in my book not ideal, but another option to get an open D/E at the flip of a switch.

 

[JIO]

Had time to work on the body for my XD neck - started by routing the neck pocket, cut out the body, round-over routed the edges, and began creating the bevels. I also rough-cut the pg and control plate. So far so good. I'm getting a bit more into sculpting this body ergonomically than the other Del Rey clone I made and it's fun working with basswood again as it's very conducive to being 'worked', as in; a stable/consistent material, smooth surfaced, and easy to sculpt and file/sand/finish. Even still, at the end of the day my hands are sore - "hand-crafted" means exactly what it implies. Aside from that - it's resonant and light - my recent (great sounding) builds using it are both around 8lbs assembled.

Tomorrow I'll finish the bevels, drill neck attachment holes/install the neck, install the individual bridge units, test string it up, determine optimal pu placement based on harmonics, fine-tune/shape the pg/control plate, and rout the pu & control cavities. Pics soon, forgot my camera today.

 

[JIO]

So I've posted such before, but here's a step-by-set of how I make my bevels. First I draw the perimeter and depth of the area, and then I cut plane guides from top to bottom lines. The closer the better - each was about 1/4" on top.

I've done it a few different ways, but next step is removing slats one-by-one.

I cut off a slat, use my rasp to roughly level it, file and sandpaper.

As I got to the longer wedges, I switched to a chisel because the thin jig-saw blade "wasn't cuttin' it" (besides, it snapped!)

sorta hard to read, but here's two finished areas - upper horn bevel

Belly bevel - as you can see, it's further up the horn for riding the body closer to the headstock - it makes the 1st position reach more accessible (and comfortable) than a mid-body bevel.

Routed the pu cavity w/a router/guide but used a big forstner-bit/chisel for the control cavity. I had no choice but to position the pu at the neck as the pu poles are more for a short-scale narrow-necked bass. (from Japan in the 60's!) The pole/string alignment should be close enough there, and it will be a good position anyway. These pu's are hot and tend toward treble, so slammin' the neck-butt will make for ballsy "bass-city".

And done for the day - bevels done, neck holes/collar recesses done, neck test-attached, bridge units positioned and installed (still needs minor tweaking), cavities routed, and pg/control plates refined and installed. Tomorrow I need to rout an opening for the pu in the pg, drill the pot/jack holes in the control plate, put it together and string it up for initial set-up. Once all set-up details are addressed and it's playable, on to finishing.

 

[JIO]

Finalized much of the build today. No natural light left to document - no energy left to... do much else. As Randie Rhodes sez' ..."it's Friday yah' bastas"

 

[JIO]

As I tend to get obsessed in my focus sometimes, after dinner I put in one more running-on-fumes effort last night to get the bass assembled. I'd much rather have been jamming with my improv buds on a Friday night, but finding a drummer who's free and willing is always the key to making that happen and yesterday we came up short. BG's drummer is currently 'carless' and he lives in the East Bay (we rehearse in SF) so it's been hard enough for him to attend our 2 rehearsals a week using public transportation and his bike. He's a trouper though and he gets big points for making the extra effort. We have 5 gigs in the next 4 months and just lost our lead guitarist so our horn player (who is a good guitarist as well) is stepping up to the plate and developing his version of all the lead parts. He still plays horn and mellodica on a couple songs, switching back & forth with guitar in the same song. (!) Luckily I just play the bass.
If anyone reading this lives in the Bay Area and knows of a lead guitarist who would be interested in playing in a James Bond/spy band - please let me know!

Anyway... back to the build... once together I weighed it and like the short-scale Japanese basses of the 60's where it draws its inspiration - it is light. How light? (wait for it...) 6lbs/13oz, a whole pound lighter than the last Del Rey/T-bird hybrid I recently made. I forgot to weigh the basswood body before assembling it but will do so when it's ready to finish. I need to shim the neck pocket to bring down the action and intone the bridge, but otherwise it's playable. I only played it quietly for a little bit last night, but it has a sound unlike the other two Del Rey/T-bird builds. The first has the Darkstar single parked closer to the bridge and the other has the T-45 bucker in the classic T-bird mid-body position. This one is definitely tubby/bassy but as predicted can still bring in treble definition to the tone.

Here it is so far -

 

[RBS_Johnson]

I am intrigued by this idea. I'm not a fan of drop D(specifically the shifted notes like you talk about) but we've got a couple songs where that low D is required. The fact that you're starting with a standard Fender style neck is cool. What nut width is it? Just curious.

I love your Teiscobird bodies too. In fact, this would be a tempting combo to get ahold of for me! The super light weight is major bonus too.

-Jake

 

[JIO]

I am intrigued by this idea. I'm not a fan of drop D(specifically the shifted notes like you talk about) but we've got a couple songs where that low D is required. The fact that you're starting with a standard Fender style neck is cool. What nut width is it? Just curious.

I love your Teiscobird bodies too. In fact, this would be a tempting combo to get ahold of for me! The super light weight is major bonus too.

-Jake

It's a 32" scale neck with a 1-7/16" nut. My capo idea that I am developing will be a spring-loaded string-stop behind the nut-fret which will be activated by a button that will release the stop upwards and off the string. Resetting it would only require pressing it back down - locking it back into place. Think a small thin spring-loaded door hinge attached on the side of the hs with the other 'plate' being the capo/stop.

I just found another of the Teisco pu's on eBay and snatched it up. I like the bass ok as-is being so minimal, but I think it will be a more diverse sounding bass w/2 pu's. I measured and the poles/strings will still align close enough as I'll mount it 3-1/4" under the neck pu, at the lower side of the pg. Also ordered a black 3 switch Jag plate and 3 white 2-way Switchcraft slider switches. I don't know if I can use the third switch as a series/parallel, but if I can I will. The pu I have has 3 wires - red +, and black and green which are now wired as ground. I'll mount the switch plate on the right-side of the pg, like on a Jag bass. Even with the additional 2nd pu and plate, it'll still hang at about 7lbs! Light weight is a major bonus - I wish all my basses were so easy on the shoulder!

 

[Jon Clegg]

Another beauty. Really dig the fretboard markers. While the simplicity of the single pickup is nice, it does look a little empty and another pickup should complement the versatility of the drop D with some more tonal variety.

 

[JIO]

Another beauty. Really dig the fretboard markers. While the simplicity of the single pickup is nice, it does look a little empty and another pickup should complement the versatility of the drop D with some more tonal variety.

Thanks Jon! Yah, I always like the look, sound and purist philosophy of 1 pu - but as a player I do favor 2 pu basses for what they bring to a live group performance where dialing in a blend of the two can make a big difference where you sit in the mix. Even on my '65 Teisco Del Rey, I always have both pu's on to get the rich full tone it's capable of. Plus, I always play close to the bridge (right hand) so that way I'm playing over the bridge pu for more distinction. Having a north/south spread also promotes the scoop factor. And with the switching I'll install, one can always switch off the bridge pu if all you want is that tubby/bassy tone.

 

[reverendrally]

This looks really good @JIO . Well done. Curious to see how you paint it. Would love to hear a sound clip if you can record one. #mediumscalelove