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Lady 5Jane - Headless, Fretless 5 String Prototype (With Piano Pins)

#81
Joy! My Mouser and Stewmac orders came in! Fret wire and electronics galore! If the headpiece finds it way to me tonight I will be up late in the sub-zero temperature garage. ;)

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#82
Spent a little time this evening cutting out a slot for the zero fret and laying down the template for the rest of the neck lines. I am going to do minimal side lines on both sides of the neck and fill them with white super glue.

Yes that's a plastic miter box. Yes that is a dowel saw. I tested the kerf on the saw against the fret wire on a small piece of scrap and it fits perfectly. Maybe some day I will drop the cash for expensive pull saws and fret jigs to make things more foolproof, but for now this is what I have. ;)

My father-in-law did not make it into work today, so I have to wait one more day to see the results from the machinist. I have plenty to do on the Les Paul copy tonight so I have to call it a night on the prototype bass in any case.

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#83
A wee bit of work was done this morning in the freezer...err...garage. A 7/8" forstner bit was utilized to create a space for one of the disc piezos and it was glued in place. I put a layer of hot glue on the bottom, and then covered it with the same to provide a strong link to the vibrating surface, and to provide a buffer to (hopefully) mellow out quack and clank. After the glue froze...err...cooled I filed it down flush with the plane of the neck channel. I came up with this method after reading about similar implementations on cigar box guitar forums.

I also started on the control cavity, but am going to wait until it's a little more finished before posting pix. A bit of sanding was done to get rid of router burn marks and start to smooth things out as well. The body is going to be wire brushed so "finish" sanding will not be needed, but I want to start with as smooth of a canvas as possible.

Once the control cavity is finished and I have the piezo wires routed through I will be finished with the required work on the body in regards to being ready to receive the neck, but I have more work on the neck itself before I will be willing to commit to a permanent join. I briefly considered making this a bolt on to allow for more detailed experimentation with the piezos, but decided to pursue my initial plan to glue it in and live with the results. This is an experimental build, and focusing on too many things will slow things down too much for my taste. I am hoping to have it strung up and playing within a week. Hoping.

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#85
HaMMerHeD said:
I've seen people cushion the piezo with silicone caulk, but not hot glue. Seems much easier to manage.
Click to expand...

I assume you mean that the hot glue seems easier to manage. I have not attempted silicon caulk, but I am pretty happy with the way the hot glue has worked from a "working with it" perspective - it sands and files well, solidifies quickly (especially in sub-zero weather), and is easy to remove from wood if necessary. I usually use hot glue rather than double sided tape to secure work pieces when doing template routing or planing with a router jig.
 
#86
HaMMerHeD said:
I've seen people cushion the piezo with silicone caulk,
Click to expand...

Well, silicone products can be great for things you never want to touch again,
but I keep all silicone based/containing products way away from anything that I may even remotely want to re-finish or use any coatings on.
Even sanding will spread the silicone to anything and everything near it.
 
#88
Hey, room for experimentation! XD I know that as a machinist, a big chunk of the work is in the setup time, so that's awesome that he was able to knock out a few extra for you. Looking forward to seeing it all come together!
 
#92
The screw holes need some beveling so the screws fit in flush, but I am super pumped! It's SO much better than I would have been able to pull off myself. When I get to my extended range bass project next year I am hoping they will be willing to make another one for me.
 
#94
The lines are slotted and are in the process of being filled. I am using baking soda and white CA glue. I am going to ebonize the entire neck with iron acetate, so the lines should be fairly visible. The lines for the "dot frets" are extended across the fingerboard for easy visual reference. I am pleased with the way the layout turned out, though the lines ended up less than perfect.

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#96
A bit of sanding and a quick bath of iron acetate was applied this morning. The ebonizing shows a few areas that need more sanding, and hopefully I will be able to erase some of the vertical striping left over from the glue seeping into the grain. If all goes well today and I have time to finish a couple of tasks on the body I will be gluing this bad boy in this evening.
 
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#97
I found a few spots o the lines that needed some filling, so a bit more white CA was applied. I am on the fence about the neck and fingerboard color. I kind of like the dirty look I am getting after sanding back a dried coat of aniline dye. The lines don't really pop as much as I thought they would.

Believe it or not all of the seemingly bad news is received as negative developments. The main purpose of a prototype is to work out the things that need a different approach.
 
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