• 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.

G1's 3rd Build

#21
envika said:
That one on the right is really cool, how's it sound?
Click to expand...
I finally got round to doing a new bridge and doing the knobs for the 4 string. I've also planned to do a decent recording of it as well, but this will do:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Unfortunately I didn't get round to doing any more work in the 6er. Still hoping to get the scarf done soon.
 
#22
Apparently it's been 2 months since I last made progress. Hard to believe! In my defence I spent a month in the UK / France on holiday though.

Glued up the zebrano top on the body wings:
Link Removed

Link Removed

Must still scarf the neck and install the trussrod!
Hopefully I'll have time during the week :)
 
#23
Right managed to find some time this weekend to get in the workshop.
- scarfed the neck
- routed for the truss-rod
- tapered the neck (the carbon fiber is going to follow the taper)
- rough cut the headstock shape

Link Removed

Link Removed

Next up:
- carbon fiber
- fingerboard (I still can't decide if I want to do complete or partial fret lines)
- carve the neck (looking forward to that). Can anyone see any problems with carving the neck before gluing on the wings?
 
#27
Over the past couple of days I glued the neck and the body wings. The bass is now in one piece \o/

Although it's got me thinking about pickup configurations. I was keen to try and do something a little adventurous with the pups, but wasn't sure what I wanted to do (I'm intending to wind my own pups though). My current thought pattern is to do 2 stacked humbuckers and a piezo under the bridge somewhere.

First question: I'm using Alnico V Magnet's that are 0.195" diameter x 0.710" long. Are these long enough to be used for stacked humbuckers?

second question: Is it possible to use wood as flatwork? What's properties are important (if any) for flatwork?

third question: If I wanted to combine the humbuckers with a piezo how would I go about that? Impedance matching and so forth.

fourth question: Seeing as making my own pup's is a bit of an experiment for me I'm keen to invest in a decent pre-amp to try and make the result a little more versatile. Would I need anything out of the ordinary to deal with the piezo as well as the mag pups. Am I right in thinking that I can set up some sort of a blend circuit and the output of that circuit goes to the preamp? I see some preamps are sold as a preamp specifically for 1 or 2 pups.

Finally any interesting ideas to try with knobs / adjustment?

Again my thoughts are something along the lines of:
- blend between the two mag pups
- blend between the overall mag pups and the piezo.
- coil taps on the humuckers
- either 2 band or 3 band eq (from the preamp)
- overall volume

But that's probably too many controls...

I'm open to thoughts / suggestions :-)
 
#31
Had a go at pickup winding! :)

Designed a neck and a bridge stacked humbucker that would fit inside an EMG45 case. That way I could replace the pups later on if I felt the need to swap them out.

Link Removed

Assembled bobbins:
Link Removed

The poles are only about 0.7 of an inch so I was a little concerned about it being hard to wind the coils but they came out alright in the end.

Used an electric drill on it's slowest speed. Quite an interesting exercise. Got quite familiar with re soldering super thin bits of wire. The first coil unfortunately didn't work. There was a break in the coil somewhere. But it was still a useful exercise as it got me familiar with how it's done. I ended up just cutting the first coil off the bobbins and starting over. With the second coil I was a bit more careful. I regularly connected up the multimeter to track progress.

Ended up with one complete stacked humbucker. The other will have to wait for another time.

Link Removed

Although it was kinda hard work, it was rewarding. Kinda felt like I was learning an ancient art form. :smug:

Unfortunately when ordering my supplies I didn't realize I needed two magnets in order to charge the poll pieces. So I'll have to wait before I can see if I can get any sound out of it :eyebrow:
 
#32
Sounds cool. So, as for checking resistance along the way, I guess you were either scraping or dissolving the insulation, testing, and then putting a bit of laquer to re-insulate?

Also, did you do equal windings on the upper and lower coils?
 
#33
Yeah, sanding off a bit of the insulation with sand paper, testing and laquer to re-insulate.

I've significantly underwound the bottom coil. I've wound the top coil to about 6.5K and the bottom to 2K. I want get some sound recordings with it as is. Then add some more wire to the bottom coil (bring it closer to 6.5K) and compare hum and general sound. Well that's the plan at least.
 
#38
Hey,

Unfortunetly I haven't been able to find out how they sound yet as when I ordered the supplies for the pickups I only ordered one magnet and I found out after I made my order that you need 2 magnets to charge the poll pieces.

I've since ordered a second magnet but it hasn't arrived yet. I've also since ordered a preamp for the bass. I decided on an Aguilar OBP-1, which Brian from http://www.bestbassgear.com/ supplied. Kudos to Brian who was very helpful and accommodating of my requests. I had stewmac send the magnet to Brian, with the intention that it could all be shipped in one package.

I've settled on:
- blend between the two stacked humbuckers
- blend between the mags and piezo pickup
- bass
- treble
- overall volume

I'm also going to add a passive switch.

For the piezo I'm busy building the following buffer circuit:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
If people are interested I'll let you know how it works out.

Since my last post I've also made the pickup covers. Panga-panga sides with zebrano top. I'll probably inlay a logo or something on them. I've also leveled the fingerboard. Decided to go for a flat fingerboard which feels pretty good on the 6 string. I'm still not sure I would want to do a flat fb in a 4 or a 5 string through. Once the fingerboard has the 12th fret inlay I'll look into epoxying it!

I've also added a sound hole. I'm probably going to increase the size of the sound whole though.

A pic:
Link Removed
 
#40
First coat of finish on today, which is a good feeling. The last 3-4 weeks has been sanding and touch ups. It was a little dark so I'll have to have a proper look at the finish tomorrow (seeing as the first coat of finish normally shows up the areas for improvement).
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back