Homage to Devastator: "Arachnophilia"

[Five String]

Holy s**t

 

[Rôckhewer]

Beautiful. Wow.

How do you propose to cut the blind slots? CNC? I did some by hand on my first bass and it was a major pain, and that was for frets that didn't have to be perfectly sized.

Thanks!
Yes CNC....sort of.
Not a CNC router...although that is the next "toy" I have access to, that will be employed to do my boards in full. (radius, inlay, and slot)

But this one was done entirely on a laser.
The slots I just cut, were done the same way as I did the inlay pockets...as raster etched .023" lines laid out as one of 4 layers in Illustrator.

 

[Rôckhewer]

It took about 5 passes to get them deep enough.

 

[Teacher]

Rock and roll, brother!

 

[Rôckhewer]

Good morning friends,
Have'nt done very well at updating this thread...
Probably because it would be too painfull to realize just how long the damn thing is taking....
Here are some pictures.
Frets in & dressed

Owner wanted BCR Beast-ish headstock shape....
My version... looks kinda close to a Moser headstock... so I messaged Neal to get an a-ok (doesn't pay to offend friends like THAT) ....he was cool with it.

Got the back bookmatched panels glued on the wings...

 

[Rôckhewer]

Back of the neck close to done...

Then glued up the wings... finally .

 

[Rôckhewer]

Shaving the back of the neck flush...

Releaving the back for the tuners for the octave strings...

Did I mention this puppy sports INVISIBLE PICKUPS! ....YEAH BABY
@michaelwayneharwood created these for me!
They allow the gorgeous wood of a bass top, to go unmolested by nasty pickup routes...
The magnetic field of these will sense string vibration from over 1/2" away, & through 1/8" of this dense burl ... Michael worked his ass off on these... then did extensive testing to insure they sound good.
I am grateful he did... because once the top is glued down....? Access denied!!

Here's the top all glued up & lookin burly

Cut to rough shape and inside surface relieved for the pickups

 

[Means2nEnd]

Incredible work Rockhewer it has been awesome watching you progress with each of your builds in complexity and execution. Having lost the place where you work and getting it going again shows incredible determination.

Question : the black around your inlay work in the maple like the legs of the spider is that epoxy? How did it not stain the maple? Did you cut then treat the wood with shellac or something so the little micro tubes in the maple didn't drink it in?

 

[Gilmourisgod]

More Crushing Luthiery Dominance on display, arrrrgggghhhh! It looks weaponized. Your work humbles me.

 

[Rôckhewer]

Question : the black around your inlay work in the maple like the legs of the spider is that epoxy? How did it not stain the maple? Did you cut then treat the wood with shellac or something so the little micro tubes in the maple didn't drink it in?

Thanks much
No, it was all set with CA.
Actually... most of that black was "char" of the wood, caused by the laser i used to cut it.
Which is one reason I am going to switch to CNC router for complex stuff like this.
There will be tradeoffs though... like not being able to get points as sharp as, say... my spiders legs... and then the breaking of fine (expensive) bits...
But we'll see... might be that I use a combination of both machines....
Or.... I just get fed up and go back to all....
(modern) traditional.... Dremel router base & jewlers saw.
I got a pretty cool little inlay coming on the next one too....

 

[William Shafer]

Gorgeous work! Not sure when/if I'll be anywhere near that level. Very impressive! Give's us Amateurs something to aspire to.

 

[Rôckhewer]

Having lost the place where you work and getting it going again shows incredible determination.

Thanks for that... it was really harder than I thought to regain any sence of workflow... also probably cause it happened TWICE within 6 months.
The middle place...the big shop?...that was the most foreign and uncomfortable.
Still recovering ... and working at a "makerspace " does have huge advantages... AND huge disadvantages.
My compromise will hopefully come next year, where I establish my own, very modest little shopspace where I can set up dedicated fixtures, and have more storage for wood...
But retain the TechShop membership for when I need to use a laser, or cnc router, or endmill, or lathe, or waterjet, or 3D printer, or,...um...textiles lab,....or.....screen printing....or....large format printer.... or.......
(Yes there is more to list.... but I'll stop)

 

[I-Am-The-Slime]

Holy crap, insanely impressive stuff!!! You are a mad scientist

 

[Rôckhewer]

No turning back now....
Along with the typical bar, & c-clamps... I really like using those vice-grip clamps. Set them all to the desired pressure for the thickness beforehand & they make quick work of it.

Hahaaa.... yes those are some strong magnets in my "Abyssal Depths" pickups by MRC (Melodious Resonance Constructs)
Are they too strong?... I don't think so... at least I am hopeful that isn't the case. At any rate... this is a good bass to test them on. Because it is an 8 string... because it is not going to be the client's primary instrument.... that is not to say that it will be a "wall hanger" ... well, at least not exclusively. Being a collector, he has plenty of other basses. Including other 8 strings. And the somewhat "experimental" nature of this system is understood. If it has sustain, or slight intonation issues due to the strength of the magnets...it won't be the end of the world.... And if it works really well? Then it's an innovative approach to uncluttered body top technology. Sure I could have gone the piezo route... but they have their own drawbacks.

 

[skwee]

gorgeous. I would be lying, however, if I didn't mention that anytime I see the word Devastator...

 

[Rôckhewer]

gorgeous. I would be lying, however, if I didn't mention that anytime I see the word Devastator...


View attachment 1165615

With his left foot a cement mixer truck... how's a monster robot gonna chill & put his feet up?
Say he falls asleep?
"Aw man.... get the jackhammer. The damn cement ran up my leg into my crotch again"....

 

[AltGrendel]

Silly question, why not silver wire for the webbing?

 

[Rôckhewer]

Silly question, why not silver wire for the webbing?

I considered it. ....I didn't have any?
Also, it is something that has been done by Alembic quite a bit.
I thought the dark mother of pearl veneer sheet would be a good fit because it is somewhat grey and has occasional glints of chatoyant colors....like the dew glistening in the sunlight, on the gossamer strands of a web...

Also because it IS real shell... but is thin enough to be easily cut with the laser.
Both web patterns were cut in one piece, each from a single sheet .... albeit they didn't stay that way durring installation. Very fragile stuff.

 

[AltGrendel]

Honestly not the answer I expected. Though it was going to be "because I want is seen!!!"

 

[Rôckhewer]

Hello again.
So, even though this build was put on the back burner...so to speak, I really haven't turned the flame completely down.

Just as the pickups are hidden to preserve as much lovely Red Mallee burl surface as possible.... I also wanted any hardware I used to be as minimalistic as I could get away with.
It's to that end that I decided to go with what is basically an acoustic style bridge.

This is what I came up with... and carved out of a lump of brass:

It's obviously not a floating bridge though
I wanted it to have some mass to it.
So it mounts using the same adjustable posts as the Hipshot D (thanks to Jason for sending them)
And it sports a sort of "tone block" mass of metal that fits snuggly into this slot..

Which gives it quite a bit of adj. range (more than enough)...but staying in fairly solid contact

The top of the saddle is curved the same as the fretboard... & gets carefully notched for 8 strings