First Build - "Lucifer"

[TerribleTim68]

Oi crap!
Rob has a good video on it. He makes his own screw hole cutters.


Best of luck!

Those look brilliant!

 

[TerribleTim68]

Well, here's what I decided:
It was broke off actually slightly below the surface (just my luck) so short of making some of those amazing extractor thingies out of some tubing, I needed another option. So I drilled some holes around it until I could get it out of there, then squared up my butchery with a small carving chisel...

Then I started preparing that little cube of wenge that I cut from a section of the off-cut from the back of the neck blank (I guess this is why you keep all those "scraps") to use for a "plug". I'm hopeful (and about 99-44/100ths sure) it'll sit underneath the saddle, so unless someone removed the saddle they most likely will never see it. But, regardless, I really looked at that off-cut to find what I think is probably the best grain match I'll get, and even had to sand the cube angled a little bit so the grain was more "in line" and I think I've got what may blend rather well....

I'll finish shaping this thing to get it to fit in my "hole" and glue it in, then we'll re-drill, hopefully with less breakage.
As you can see, I have one really nice hole just "behind" that area.
With the saddle in place over the hole I have carved, I have this -

That's about as hidden as I could hope for. But yeah, let's not do that again!

Yeah, like Ben Crowe said... guitar building...... it's literally 1000 unique micro repairs all strung together until you have a playable instrument.

So, I know a few of you chimed in with ideas to help. And I just want to say that I appreciate all of you. I did kind of charge forward with a different path and it wasn't because I wasn't listening to you, I just didn't want to wait around for specialty tools or materials to build specialty tools out of. I needed something I could do right now, because my head was in a place where it wasn't gonna wait. Probably wasn't the "best" option, but it was an option I could start doing, and I don't think it'll be too terribly bad once completed. So again, I appreciate each one of you. Please don't think I'm ignoring input.

 

[Fat Freddy]

Well, here's what I decided:
It was broke off actually slightly below the surface (just my luck) so short of making some of those amazing extractor thingies out of some tubing, I needed another option. So I drilled some holes around it until I could get it out of there, then squared up my butchery with a small carving chisel...
View attachment 4133520
Then I started preparing that little cube of wenge that I cut from a section of the off-cut from the back of the neck blank (I guess this is why you keep all those "scraps") to use for a "plug". I'm hopeful (and about 99-44/100ths sure) it'll sit underneath the saddle, so unless someone removed the saddle they most likely will never see it. But, regardless, I really looked at that off-cut to find what I think is probably the best grain match I'll get, and even had to sand the cube angled a little bit so the grain was more "in line" and I think I've got what may blend rather well....
View attachment 4133525
I'll finish shaping this thing to get it to fit in my "hole" and glue it in, then we'll re-drill, hopefully with less breakage.
As you can see, I have one really nice hole just "behind" that area.
With the saddle in place over the hole I have carved, I have this -
View attachment 4133537
That's about as hidden as I could hope for. But yeah, let's not do that again!

Yeah, like Ben Crowe said... guitar building...... it's literally 1000 unique micro repairs all strung together until you have a playable instrument.

So, I know a few of you chimed in with ideas to help. And I just want to say that I appreciate all of you. I did kind of charge forward with a different path and it wasn't because I wasn't listening to you, I just didn't want to wait around for specialty tools or materials to build specialty tools out of. I needed something I could do right now, because my head was in a place where it wasn't gonna wait. Probably wasn't the "best" option, but it was an option I could start doing, and I don't think it'll be too terribly bad once completed. So again, I appreciate each one of you. Please don't think I'm ignoring input.

 

[Rôckhewer]

Probably wasn't the "best" option

It was a fantastic option! ... here's why:
If you had extracted the screw with a "tube" cutter and replaced the material using a dowel of dissimilar wood,...drilling down the center of a small dowel can be tricky because you're drilling into endgrain....the bit will take the path of least resistance, and wander off the little dowel.
What you've done is create a fresh drilling surface from the same wood with the same grain orientation.
Since the bridge covers it ? Absolutely no harm no foul.
Nicely done.

 

[Beej]

I dunno man. I think if it was me, I'd be starting over from scratch...

 

[TerribleTim68]

I dunno man. I think if it was me, I'd be starting over from scratch...

I'll let Mrs. Terrible know. "...I gotta start all over honey...."

 

[T_Bone_TL]

(But sorry... no mullet for a bald dude).

Learn from Tina Turner and Dolly Parton. You can mullet if you want to, in a different color every day of the week and no need to fuss with dye jobs, and un-mullet when you want to, too. Or learn from the B-52's...

(and about 99-44/100ths sure)

Nice Ivory Soap reference... [good job on the repair, too.]

 

[S-Bigbottom]

I do like DRs, I run the neons on a couple of my swirl painted basses and the black beauties on my ABG. I was just mostly worried about proper length and since I built it based off a Dingwall Z I figured that was the safe method. But yeah, I'd love to have something I could easily grab from the Amazonians. I also see that the Dunlop long scales are available through Dingwall, so I could just look those up on the Amazonians too. It looks like Dingwall really likes nickel coated or nickel wound of some sort. Probably part of that "Dingwall sound".

The Dingwall or Payson's are made for 37-34 scale and balanced tension for that. They are also both tapered at the each end, which I love and as long as your scale is the same there should be no issue with the taper being on the fretboard If you buy that scale. There are shorter scales available, do not get them.

https://www.paysonbass.com/store/p6/Payson_Fanned_Stainless_Steel_Bass_Strings.html

I switched to Payson's from Dingwall strings and like them more, went from nickle to nickle.
The Payson's have a touch more tension with a bit more lowmids, and HOLY COW do the harmonics jump off and riiiiiiiing.

Very well balanced in play/touch and tone. The E played on the B-string 5th fret sounds the same as the open E on the E string below it.

I think that Payson makes the strings for Dingwall.

He is a small operation making his own.
Unless Dingwall has recently changed they have D'Addario making them to their specs.

Payson is not dealing with the Amazonian's but his shipping is fast, usually 2-3 days to get from Texas to me in Portland, Oregon and you are just up the road a bit.
He also sells bridges and builds basses and would be happy to talk to you if you want to discuss what strings would be best for you.
Nickle vs. steel, I like the more mids of nickle as well as they are softer on your frets.
https://www.paysonbass.com/ on TB as @Blues Cat.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Okay, quick update:
The patch cube has been inserted -

I'll let that dry and then level it off. Sadly, I no longer have any drill bits to drill pilot holes for these. So I'll need to get some bits before I can revisit mounting these saddles.

And I'll try to remember that wenge is basically made out of concrete, hatred and the shattered hopes and dreams of budding guitar builders.

 

[Beej]

You can get Brad point bits down to 1.5mm in metric or 5/64”. The tiny cutting edge helps in insanely hard woods.

 

[Slidlow]

I know you have finished and it looks good. When this happens to me I just drill a slightly larger hole right next to the broken screw then push the screw sideways into the larger hole and it can typically be gripped with needle nose pliers and pulled out. Then a small dowel to fill the drilled hole and most times the original hole can still be used. Should work for broken drill bits too.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Another pic of said repair in the process:
So way back when I was carving the neck, I kept a bit of wenge "crumbs" because I thought "I've seen this be important later" and wouldn't you know, it is now later. So, grab a piece of cardboard, a dab of glue (this is the only moment when it's acceptable to "dab", I'm looking at you Cam Newton), mix with some wenge crumbs/dust to a paste-like substance and stuff in any edges that arent as tight as they should be -

I'll let this dry for a while and then come back and level-sand it before we move forward. I gotta wait until the next payday to buy some brad point bits first anyways, so we're on hold for a bit.

Oh, one final note:
I did notice that after I cut the top of my patch cube a bit more flush with the top (sharp chisel, applied flat to top) the grain isn't matching near as well as it did at the top of my cube. Such is life I guess.

 

[TerribleTim68]

For those who suggested brad point (not Brad Pitt, stupid autocorrect) drill bits, where are you finding brad points that small? I can't seem to find much in small sizes.

Also, do you guys recommend titanium or cobalt drill bits over the regular ones? I'm also having ZERO luck finding titanium or cobalt brad points too.

 

[Rôckhewer]

any edges that arent as tight as they should be -

...aww.
Here's a tip.
If you make a square plug... with a bit of wedgy taper to it.... and tap that sucker in with a mallet, like a cork... it crams it's self tight, no fill needed.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

For those who suggested brad point (not Brad Pitt, stupid autocorrect) drill bits, where are you finding brad points that small? I can't seem to find much in small sizes.

Also, do you guys recommend titanium or cobalt drill bits over the regular ones? I'm also having ZERO luck finding titanium or cobalt brad points too.

Lee Valley is certainly one source for tiny brad-point bits. There may be others.

McMaster even has a 3/64" solid-carbide, but at $15.84 plus shipping, and being really hard but really brittle, it may not be what you want. Actually they have a #60 which is even smaller. In a totally rigid setup they work great, but freehanding you can expect them to snap easily.

Titanium nitride is a coating (usually on normal HSS) which makes the drill bit slippery-er. It also makes it "look gold" and has been widely applied in places it's of little or no advantage, for marketing purposes, as a result.

Cobalt is shorthand for HSS with additional cobalt, and is primarily advantageous in metalworking, not wood-dorking.

 

[TerribleTim68]

The Amazonians informed me today that -

Also, @Triad is sending me those custom wound pickups offered up on the LC a while back. So once I've got all that in hand maybe this build will get pushed to the end. That'd be pretty cool. I originally said "probably take me a good two years", but if I get this thing done this summer then technically that would only be one year from the time I actually started cutting rough lumber. But let's not count these chickens just yet.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Okay, who is good at wiring? I have questions!
I'm the world's worst electrician. Unless getting shocked is a skill, in that case I'm literally the best ever!

Let's see, here's what I'm thinking I want to do -
(2) pickups, with the Darkglass Tone Capsule (on-board pre with 3-band eq).
Ideally I'd have a singe volume, and here's where it gets tricky:
I'd like to add a bypass to the Tone Capsule (which is shown in their schematics, so can be done) and I'd like to have a 3 way pickup selector switch to toggle between bridge/both/neck pups. I'd like to do a mini switch on both the toggle pup selector and the pre bypass. My understanding is that the toggle pup selector would be a DPDT switch, right? My understanding is that I need a 3 position "On/On/On" dpdt, right? What about the bypass switch?

I'll also need help on a schematic for that volume/3-way toggle setup since Darkglass only shows schematics with a blend and not pup switching. I don't want a blend, I want a switch. I'm not a big fan of blends because they get bumped.

Edit: This is the style of switch I'm looking for, I want both the pup selector and pre bypass to look like this -

 

[dwizum]

Can you post a link to their schematic?

Swapping a blend for a 3 way and master volume is pretty straightforward.

For the mini switch used for pickup selection, you do want an on/on/on mini toggle.

If we see their schematic we can determine the type of switch needed for the bypass.

 

[TerribleTim68]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[dwizum]

Bypass switch should be an on-on mini toggle.

Use the "blend and volume with bypass" wiring diagram.

Replace the blend pot with the on-on-on toggle, don't need to change anything else.

Wiring for that switch is like this: