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Custom Grabber - 1st A to Z build

#21
So MDF wood today. Tomorrow is most likely routing the edges of the body smooth, tracing the tummy, forearm and cutawat recessions. Round over the edges of the body (excluding the previous cuts) Then the body will be put on hold until the bridge arrives most likely. I will possibly also make some templates for teh control and pickup cavity as well as the slidding pickup pickguard channel. Stay tuned. Hopefully, i'm not falling behind on this build.
 
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#22
You don't want to route the edge of that body until you've sanded to just outside your line - maybe 1/16". A belt sander will get you there. Too much wood and the router bit will snag it and tear huge chunks of it out. Then you will cry. Or maybe curse. Or both.
 
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#24
Build time. I cut the excess mdf from my template (the template isn't cut yet, i jsut took off the other part of MDF so i can use my bandsaw to cut the template out). Since i don't have an electric sander, i'm filing off excess wood from my final body (til about 1/16th from pencil body line) and then i'll cut my mdf template out, sand down the edges smooth, then place it on my body and route the extra 1/16th left all around and repeat the process for the backside too. Then it's off to tracing the tummy, arm rest and cutaway cuts. Many pictures to follow,
 
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#25
MDF is near complete. The body is going to be routed to the edge of pencip possibly next week as i will be getting a cylindrical sander to be able to make the MDF cutaways round and then to sand the final body edges smooth and round as well. Stay tuned. Uploading pictures this weekend/next week.

Weekend off from this build, as i need the one tool to complete everything hahaha. All in time next week.
 
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#26
Question about bridge location: I've read that when you find the scale length for the bridge location that you move the g string saddle forward and then back it off slightly to position it on the scale line. But stewmac says that the scale length should be from the nut to the far most center of the bridge screws and that doesn't seem right.

Anyone care to clarify cuase i'm sure it's most likely the g string saddle option over the stewmac thing.
 
#30
ThaCoast said:
Thanks guys, i figured that much. IDK why stewmac said the scale mark would be at the far most screws of the bridge. Again thanks guys
Click to expand...

You want your G saddle at its outer most adjustment, with maybe 2 or 3 threads exposed in front of the saddle so you have some room to still move forward if need be.
 
#31
So this week is more or less the continuation of this build (renting a spindle sander to round off every in curves) but question about the big humbucker i'm using. Since it's an EB-O replacemnet pickup, & suppose to be stationary, how do i attach it to the slidding pickguard in hopes of the whole pickup sliding w/it once it's moved up or down & anywhere in between? Cause the chrome cover is seperate from the pickup itself & the pickup doesnt have any screw holes for the cover to mount on. Tips, advice, help is welcome as always. First build, want to get everything right :P
 
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#32
Iunno, experiment, make it work.

My first thought was make the sliding unit a tray that the pickup screws into, and then making the pickup cover screw into the pickguard. But this is a thought made with no real understanding on how the pickup is designed.
 
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#33
Looking at this image of the grabber guard, my idea doesn't seem half bad. You could make the cover for the hole out of a piece of plastic, and then mould a tray underneath it to hold the mudbucker in place. Covers the route, holds the pickup in place and would look very close to the original. My only worry is that the trench might need to be very deep to accomodate the mudbucker.
c7def498499c3b2fafb7558c6c3e231a.jpg
 
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#35
Not a bad idea indeed, and i've seen that thread countless times. Although i had the same fear for the mudbucker's route to be deep, it's not as bad. And i think i've found my solution: tape! three long pieces streatching from one end of the cover, passing under the pickup, and taping up again on the other side of the cover. Works like a charm. The tray wasn't a bad idea, but i figured i'd might have to route the cavity deeper if i did so.

My plan works, and it'll look like the original design. Stay tuned, i'll try to get work done this week,
 
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#36
I may have missed it, but why are you wanting to use a mudbucker in this application? It seems to me that for a sliding pickup, a mudbucker would not be a good choice because of the way it mounts. If you want something that is as hot and over wound as a mudbucker, and would mount much better for this application, I would recommend that you keep your eye out on ebay for a Peavey T40 pickup. They don't come up for sale often, but they do from time to time.
 
#37
Hopkins said:
I may have missed it, but why are you wanting to use a mudbucker in this application? It seems to me that for a sliding pickup, a mudbucker would not be a good choice because of the way it mounts.
Click to expand...

I chose the Mudbucker because of a few reasons: 1-the grabber pickup would be fairly rare to find sold alone on ebay, 2-the grabber pickup alone wouldn't be inexpensive, & might even come with the whole pickguard etc 3-My dad always liked Gene Simmons' bass tone when he had the big mudbucker in the bridge position, so i figured why not combine both. Yes i know gene used the grabber too, i just thought something different. Combine a bass that gene didn't need to swap the pickups out since his grabber tone was already what he wanted.

So far, the tape is holding up well so i'm fine with the pickup conundrum, i've also drawn up the pickguard and sliding piece on the huge 56 inch x 24 inch b/w/b blank sheet.
 
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