Raykenbird 35" 5 Strings P/MM <First Build>

[Nocturnal]

Cool project!! I like the color choice as well. Looking forward to seeing the completed project

 

[LowGrowl]

I have been a little busy lately but I managed to give it a light coat of Minwax water based poly. Been at an apartment I have no choice to use nothing too smelly. Spray? Forget it. So, after some tests i found the foam brush to be my best friend.

Thank you all for your kind comments
Ray

 

[Sketchy]

That's one sweet-looking bass. Hope you enjoy playing it when it's done.

 

[BassCycle]

Subbed. Looks pretty cool.

 

[LowGrowl]

I'ts been a while since the last post...

Yesterday I did the last coat of Waterbased Poly, so I'm in the waiting time :scowl:

So! In the meantime (although I didn't plan this at the beggining) looking at this I had an IDEA

This neck comes from a Lakland 55-02 I previously [DEL]destroyed[/DEL] modified. But this bass is going to be nothing even close to a Lakland 55-02 so I thought a Matching headstock would be nice

 

[LowGrowl]

Sorry I don't have pics for everything but the process was pretty simple

I sanded down the finish, cut a piece of mahogany veneer to shape "roughly", Taped the sides of the headstock, and prepared a pair of plywood blocks to use as a press...

And... everything glued:

Waiting time again....

Ray

 

[reverendrally]

doing a great job. keep it up!

 

[LowGrowl]

Hi!
The Past 2 weeks I made a good progress on this project.
Learned a few lessons also.

First lesson I learned is that water based Poly is not a good finisher for an instrument. It takes a long time to biuld up and even after 5 days of drying. It's still very easy to ding and scratch...

This is the body after the last coat:

wet-sanded 400-600-800-1200-1500-2000 grit

Polished with 3M car rubbing compound

Swirl remover

At this point I was happy with the shine but this water based Poly is a "don't touch me" thing

I hope it will look better with a final wax coat...

 

[LowGrowl]

Ah!
do you remember the headstock i glued a mahogany veneer on?

well here it is...

trimmed and sanded...

Same finish as the body:

Walnut paste:

Sanded back:

Alcohol based Dye

Sorry I have no pics of the Poly aplication-sand-buff procedure but here it is Finished and with the tunning machines on.

It will need black hardware later but for now this will do

 

[LowGrowl]

Ok this took me like 2 days to complete just because I tend to over complicate things.
Instead of doing a large cavity for all the electronics to live in. I did the normal cavity for a Thunderbird bass (copied from the excelent templates bought on eBay)... AND an aditional one for the preamp module, so I had to desolder and resolder everything

My initial thought was. Ok lets do a little compartiment here for the preamp module for easy acces and setup of the tiny adjustment screws on It... Ok fine but I don't mess with that more than once and It was much more work... Anyway It's done now.

Delano Pbass and Nordstrand MM pickups are wired already and I added a Series-Paralel-Single switch for the MM pickup

 

[LowGrowl]

This is where I am at this point.

It's only missing the Les Paul type switch which is going to control the active Mixing wires of the Audere pre-amp (as on off switches)... Hopefully in a couple days i can put all together and plug it in!

I can't wait!!!
Ray

 

[francotedescoga]

That IS beautiful!

 

[ctmullins]

Sweetness! I think this will turn out to be a very versatile instrument. Will you be posting sound clips?

 

[Nocturnal]

Great job so far!! It looks fantastic!!

 

[LowGrowl]

THANKS!!!

Yes I will be posting clips.
ray

 

[LowGrowl]

Today I added the last little touch of customization

This little guy will see a lot of action on stage

I used an USB cable to wire the Les Paul Switch (This one is for 3 Pup's guitars) as on-off switches for my bass to be P-Bass / MM / Both...

 

[LowGrowl]

Almost there!

It well deserve a fresh set of DR's High-Beams and a LOT of time adjusting everything... neck, bridge, action, intonation, pickups height and balance, Low Z and High Z gain on the preamp...

Ah! and it's missing the back covers...

Ahhhhhh I think I love it

 

[LowGrowl]

LOOOOOVE this setup. I am in the process of doing a MM/P bass myself. Lookin' good so far!

Hi! How are you doing with your build? Any issues with the 2 VERY different pickups loading each other?

Ray

 

[LowGrowl]

Hi there,
I'm very excited to present... THE RAYKENBIRD !!!

Sunny pic:

Featuring:
Neck 35" Scale Lakland maple/rosewood with customized headstock
Body: Mahogany and red cedar
Finish: Water Based Poly over Alcohol Dye
Color: Agua de Jamaica
Bridge: Hipshot Black (massive!)
Pickups: Delano PC5 AL/M2 and Nordstrand MM5.4 (with Series / Single / Parallel mini toggle)
Pre: Audere 3ZB (Active mixing via the Vol/Vol config of this excelent preamp operated by a Les Paul Type switch)


Pretty good for an apartment build

SOUND:

HUM / NOISE: As expected with the high quality components, the fully shielded cavities and cables the bass is dead silent.

P BASS: It really does the trick, the Delano Alnico pickup is excellent and the extra Low B is not floppy at all. Just as my Fender P, just a little tighter maybe because of the 35" Scale.

MM: Close! I'ts well known that you don't get the MM tone unless you have a MM right? The Nordstrand MM4.5 Pickup is one of my favorites of the last years. Switched to parallel It really mimic my Stingray but you have to play a little with the EQ to get there.

BOTH PUPS ON: SORPRISE!! The Audere active mixing really helps to preserve the color and the vibe of each pickup. I would describe it as a perfect combination of the P and the MM sounds with a little middle scoop. PERFECT!!!

Ireally need to GIG this baby. Sorry for my bandmates. I will be decibel merciless

Ray

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I hate thunderbirds. But that thing looks awesome.