Bassgod, may I suggest not shrinking the tubes? As is they will hold nicely and if you ever have to rewire, the shrunk tubing will be a PITA...
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
"Explosive Ibanez" Takes Flight
- Thread starter bassgod76
- Start date
So tonight had its ups and downs. On the good side, I overcame a huge obstacle when it came to routing the neck pickup wires. Also, the electronics worked with no problems.
However, my night started with me sanding the corners off my pickups. I'm an idiot.
See, I wanted to see if I could get rid of some of this orange peel.
Of course I misjudge the sanding, and I wear two edges off of my pickup. No worries. I can touch it up.
The bridge p/u is plugged in and foam is cut.
Fishing the wire through the cavity.
Tucking the foam in before the pickup is situated.
Pickup in place. Notice my stupidity on the pickup's corner.
One of the mounting holes in the upper neck pickup was drilled very badly. Via toothpick and wood glue, I was back in business.
The first P pickup goes in.
The last P pickup finds her home.
All pickups screwed in.
This was the majority of my night. Wrestling with the pickup wires to get them to flow around the battery box.
I get the box and the wires all in and I discover that the neck pickup wire prevents one of the battery box doors to close.
The battery box comes out while I figure out how to make the wires fit.
After some Dremel fun, I get everything to fit and the battery box functions.
The wires are soldered to the balance control. If there's one thing I'm getting better at, its soldering. The 6 solder points I had to do came out flawlessly. Also, the ops check worked great, the first time. Yay!
This is after I cleaned up the cavity and tightened the pots to the body. I left the pickup wires long. Laziness.
The knobs go on.
The only thing I have left is to attach the cavity cover, fix the strap hole issue, and do some paint touch up. From here it goes in for a Kaufman setup.
However, my night started with me sanding the corners off my pickups. I'm an idiot.
See, I wanted to see if I could get rid of some of this orange peel.
Of course I misjudge the sanding, and I wear two edges off of my pickup. No worries. I can touch it up.
The bridge p/u is plugged in and foam is cut.
Fishing the wire through the cavity.
Tucking the foam in before the pickup is situated.
Pickup in place. Notice my stupidity on the pickup's corner.
One of the mounting holes in the upper neck pickup was drilled very badly. Via toothpick and wood glue, I was back in business.
The first P pickup goes in.
The last P pickup finds her home.
All pickups screwed in.
This was the majority of my night. Wrestling with the pickup wires to get them to flow around the battery box.
I get the box and the wires all in and I discover that the neck pickup wire prevents one of the battery box doors to close.
The battery box comes out while I figure out how to make the wires fit.
After some Dremel fun, I get everything to fit and the battery box functions.
The wires are soldered to the balance control. If there's one thing I'm getting better at, its soldering. The 6 solder points I had to do came out flawlessly. Also, the ops check worked great, the first time. Yay!
This is after I cleaned up the cavity and tightened the pots to the body. I left the pickup wires long. Laziness.
The knobs go on.
The only thing I have left is to attach the cavity cover, fix the strap hole issue, and do some paint touch up. From here it goes in for a Kaufman setup.
mikeyswood
Inactive
Great job on the painting. You may want to add the black line over the edge of the pickup to make it disappear.
The electronics look great and I'm glad to hear that everything worked the first time around. Always a plus! 
Can't wait to see it strung up. Black strings would just KILL, man. 
Can't wait to see it strung up. Black strings would just KILL, man. 
yo dawg this builld. is. RIDICULOUS!!
but seriousley this is freakin cool, it couls only be better with black strings
but seriousley this is freakin cool, it couls only be better with black strings
I've been watching this build sence day one and I'm glad to see it coming out amazing. May I request you put a video up so we can see it in action.
I see a lot of great pieces made on this forum. The talent they have makes me wish I had a quarter of their success. However, that type of woodworking isn't possible for most folks. That's why I do my whole, "Pimp My Bass" angle. While it's cool to see raw wood formed into a bass, it's almost more entertaining to witness the rebirth of a POS. Maybe it's just me (shrugging). Well, I hope you're enjoying my adventure.
The last bit of touchup goes on, this Sunday. It goes in for setup, next Thursday.
