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Custom Mustang on a budget

#21
I have a new goal: I will build a high-quality solid-body bass with no router!

Of course, this comes after:
1) finishing my motorcycle
2) finishing my home
3) running a marathon
4) finishing the 6 other instruments I have in progress
5) finishing another motorcycle
6) getting a PhD
7) moving to Hawaii
8) climbing Mt. Everest
9) finishing whatever else strikes my fancy...

...actually, I don't think it would be that hard... you just avoid routing by doing a neck-through with a peizo pickup in the bridge wired directly to the output jack :-)
 
#22
mrbell321 said:
I have a new goal: I will build a high-quality solid-body bass with no router!

Of course, this comes after:
1) finishing my motorcycle
2) finishing my home
3) running a marathon
4) finishing the 6 other instruments I have in progress
5) finishing another motorcycle
6) getting a PhD
7) moving to Hawaii
8) climbing Mt. Everest
9) finishing whatever else strikes my fancy...

...actually, I don't think it would be that hard... you just avoid routing by doing a neck-through with a peizo pickup in the bridge wired directly to the output jack :)
Click to expand...

What about the control cavity?
 
#25
mrbell321 said:
What control cavity? I said "peizo pickup wired directly to the output jack" :-D
Yes, I'm cheating, I know it.
But if you look at my list, it wasn't going to happen anyway :)
Click to expand...

A piezo without a buffer circuit is pretty much useless, and you still have to have some sort of empty space to make your solder connections.
 
#26
We have drifted, but... oh well...

I've heard that piezo REQUIRE a buffer many many times... but I 90% disagree and I have my own expirements back-to-back comparisons. Up to about 20ft of cable leading to a decent pre-amp and the difference is minimal. The 10% that doesn't disagree: there is SOME difference, but I wouldn't say it's bad. If anything, the buffer is coloring the tone which could be considered more negative. In fact, I was kind of surprised by the clarity and range of the unbuffered piezo given all the "you can't do that" that goes around. Also, I did see that longer cables can be start to be problematic.
 
#27
mrbell321 said:
We have drifted, but... oh well...

I've heard that piezo REQUIRE a buffer many many times... but I 90% disagree and I have my own expirements back-to-back comparisons. Up to about 20ft of cable leading to a decent pre-amp and the difference is minimal. The 10% that doesn't disagree: there is SOME difference, but I wouldn't say it's bad. If anything, the buffer is coloring the tone which could be considered more negative. In fact, I was kind of surprised by the clarity and range of the unbuffered piezo given all the "you can't do that" that goes around. Also, I did see that longer cables can be start to be problematic.
Click to expand...

The only experience I have had with unbuffered piezo pickups has been in a Dean ABG, it had no bottom end, the only audible string was the G and it was shrill and brittle sounding
 
#28
Hopkins said:
...it had no bottom end, the only audible string was the G and it was shrill and brittle sounding
Click to expand...

That was my experience on both acoustic guitars and upright bass. I'm sure there is a place for unbuffered piezos. However they never sounded any good to my ears without a preamp. The other comment that needs to be made is, there are preamps and preamps. My simple home-made buffer left the piezo sounding thin and awful. A proper acoustic guitar preamp on the other hand was a MUCH better sound.
 
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#29
blablas said:
If routers were available in Antonio Stadivari days he would have used them!
Click to expand...
I'm training as a violin maker, and I can think of no use for a router in violin making whatsoever.

Bandsaws and drills? Yeah sure, but they don't affect how the finished instrument turns out compared to their hand-powered equivalents.

Oh, and violins do actually have round-overs and neck pockets Hopkins, they're just made with chisels and files instead :)
 
#31
Ronbeast said:
Back to the OT,

what kind of pickup did you end up using for this? to me it always seemed like the mustang would lend itself to a warm pickup that has some grit to it, like a PAF or something in that flavor, though I myself prefer singles in mustangs.

-Ron
Click to expand...
Right now it just has a cheap noname humbucker in it that I had laying around. Because I mostly play harder styles like punkrock and maybe some metal I don't really like singlecoils.

So not much progress on the mustang, I clearcoated the back of the neck and now I have to fix up the neck angle and then I might start working on the refinish.
 
#32
josiah goldfish said:
I'm training as a violin maker, and I can think of no use for a router in violin making whatsoever.

Bandsaws and drills? Yeah sure, but they don't affect how the finished instrument turns out compared to their hand-powered equivalents.

Oh, and violins do actually have round-overs and neck pockets Hopkins, they're just made with chisels and files instead :)
Click to expand...

They have more of a dovetail joint than an actual pocket. I have never seen a violin with rounded over sides, at least not to the extent of some guitars.
 
#33
chargerbandit said:
Right now it just has a cheap noname humbucker in it that I had laying around. Because I mostly play harder styles like punkrock and maybe some metal I don't really like singlecoils.

So not much progress on the mustang, I clearcoated the back of the neck and now I have to fix up the neck angle and then I might start working on the refinish.
Click to expand...

I play some heavier styles too, mostly punk in the form of Propagandhi (their earlier stuff) and Operation Ivy, etc. A bridge bucker isn't always required, IME. I actually like the sound that I can get out of a strat pickup in the bridge for punk that doesn't require a thicker bridge tone. I do enjoy a humbucker in the bridge of my guitars though.

I cannot stand a really thick sounding humbucker in the neck of a les paul style guitar, it gets way too muffled and wooly sounding. If you wanted to add a neck pickup to your mustang without making the sound too warm and losing note articulation, I recommend the Dimarzio "Humbucker from Hell" for the neck position, it's a bright sounding humbucker and some people have said it has similar properties to a strat pickup with higher output and hum cancellation. It's a really great pickup and can be had fairly cheap on ebay. I love it in the neck position because it allows you to play arpeggios without your notes turning into a mess of warm mud. It's a great pickup for punk, even though it is listed on Dimarzio's site as "vintage voiced".

-Ron
 
#35
Hopkins said:
They have more of a dovetail joint than an actual pocket. I have never seen a violin with rounded over sides, at least not to the extent of some guitars.
Click to expand...
Uhm, I've never seen a dovetailed violin neck. The ribs are cut away at the top block and the neck is glued in there.

Violin tops/backs most certainly are rounded over, certainly more than an acoustic guitar and pretty similar to a lot of electrics.
 

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