No, because there's a groove on the bottom which sits over the fret to stop the caul slipping off either way.
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SBO 2022 The 5 string Late-comer
- Thread starter Flying B
- Start date
No, because there's a groove on the bottom which sits over the fret to stop the caul slipping off either way.
Had a small amount of shed time this morning. Managed to get the tuner holes drilled out and installed.
Still not sure what's going to happen with the b string, I've shifted the tuner up a bit but the fat part of the string is still going to be on the post. I did think about drilling through the body behind the bridge and fitting a ferrule to make the b a string-thru, but that would be too much of a sharp angle of the string, and I'm reluctant to drill through the body at an angle. We'll see.
I started work on the nut too. I found a small scrap of ebony.
These are pretty much the only actual luthiery tools I own, the string spacing ruler is new. It certainly simplifies things.
Here I'm using the half pencil trick to get the depth of the slots.
And here's the nut, it will need a little more tweaking but will allow me to get the bass set up.
I also started finalising the control layout and drilled out for the pots but didn't get any pics of this.
Still not sure what's going to happen with the b string, I've shifted the tuner up a bit but the fat part of the string is still going to be on the post. I did think about drilling through the body behind the bridge and fitting a ferrule to make the b a string-thru, but that would be too much of a sharp angle of the string, and I'm reluctant to drill through the body at an angle. We'll see.
I started work on the nut too. I found a small scrap of ebony.
These are pretty much the only actual luthiery tools I own, the string spacing ruler is new. It certainly simplifies things.
Here I'm using the half pencil trick to get the depth of the slots.
And here's the nut, it will need a little more tweaking but will allow me to get the bass set up.
I also started finalising the control layout and drilled out for the pots but didn't get any pics of this.
I had an unexpected free couple of hours this morning so I snuck into the shop. I finalised my control layout for the three knobs and two switches and drilled a small pilot hole in each location.
Then I took a 10mm drill bit for the pots, and without thinking drilled out the two holes for the switches, which should only be 6mm. Doh.
Luckily the washer will just cover it if i plug the hole and redrill.
I also got the hole for the barrel jack drilled out and countersunk, thankfully without further drama.
Then I did about half an hour of sanding as penance for my mistake earlier.
Loving my new vice, so useful for so many stages.
Then I took a 10mm drill bit for the pots, and without thinking drilled out the two holes for the switches, which should only be 6mm. Doh.
Luckily the washer will just cover it if i plug the hole and redrill.
I also got the hole for the barrel jack drilled out and countersunk, thankfully without further drama.
Then I did about half an hour of sanding as penance for my mistake earlier.
Loving my new vice, so useful for so many stages.
Bit more progress on this today. First I filled those switch holes that were too big with some dowel, then redrilled them.
Then i cut the recess for the control cover, and made a cover from some 4mm birch ply I found in the workshop.
I then finished up the sanding process and played around with some dyes.
First black, then sanded back.
Then yellow all over. Here I'm just starting to put some red round the edge
Red blended in with yellow.
Then finally same process but with black round the edge.
Pretty happy with this for my first attempt at a burst. The dyes are fairly forgiving, even for a ham fisted amateur like me.
Here's a shot of the back (which I actually did first as a practice) The cover stands out a bit but I can probably blend it in a bit more. I may end up just staining the cover black looking at it.
Then i cut the recess for the control cover, and made a cover from some 4mm birch ply I found in the workshop.
I then finished up the sanding process and played around with some dyes.
First black, then sanded back.
Then yellow all over. Here I'm just starting to put some red round the edge
Red blended in with yellow.
Then finally same process but with black round the edge.
Pretty happy with this for my first attempt at a burst. The dyes are fairly forgiving, even for a ham fisted amateur like me.
Here's a shot of the back (which I actually did first as a practice) The cover stands out a bit but I can probably blend it in a bit more. I may end up just staining the cover black looking at it.
Dude! Very nice burst! With clear on it that's gonna look awesome 
Been a while since I got into TB so missed 3000 threads. But wanted to make sure to tell you
DAYUM that burst looks good
DAYUM that burst looks good
Couple of hours in the shop today but not much to show for it. I did apply some more dye to the back in order to hide the control cover better. Then i sprayed a couple of coats of shellac over the whole thing to seal the dye in. I could've done a better job of blending the black in, i might still have another go at this. Happy with the front though.
The rest of the time was spent trying to get my head around the wiring for this bass which is a lot more complicated than anything else I've attempted. I did make a start on some soldering, sorry no pics.
The rest of the time was spent trying to get my head around the wiring for this bass which is a lot more complicated than anything else I've attempted. I did make a start on some soldering, sorry no pics.
Soldering is not my strong point, but it's getting there. Need to extend the wires for the bridge pickup annoyingly.
It's definitely a lot easier transferring the hole locations to a bit of card first rather than working inside the cavity.
I'm going to have to rout the pickup cavities a bit deeper too, this is why I'm doing the setup at this stage I guess.
It's definitely a lot easier transferring the hole locations to a bit of card first rather than working inside the cavity.
I'm going to have to rout the pickup cavities a bit deeper too, this is why I'm doing the setup at this stage I guess.
When you solder to a pot body, scrape the area you want to solder to with a metal tool, give it a rough spot to stick to.
Here's another soldering question; when you're joining two wires together do you twist them together then cover it with solder? It seems to make quite a lump of a joint then, if you've got 4 pickup wires like that with shrink wrap over the top it becomes pretty tight threading them through right pickup routes. Is there a better way of attaching them together?
I usually tin both ends, heat one till the solder melts, touch the other to it (often held in an alligator clip so I don't need 3 hands
), take the heat away and keep in position till the solder cools. Then heat shrink over the splice.
Not necessarily! Finished wiring it up today, put a string on to test it and.... Nothing! For whatever reason the jack has three terminals so i swapped the middle one over and did get some sound out if it, but only on one pickup. And the volume knob was doing something very strange, it would turn down but when you got to the very end it would go loud again!
And a lot of buzzing.
Needs a lot more work this one.
Are you to tinning the components before connecting them? You should heat one side of your connection (like a lug on a pot) and melt solder on it, then do the same to the other side (like the wire that will connect to the lug), then heat the tinned lug again till the solder that's already on it melts, and touch the wire to it (or through the hole in it), then take the heat away and let it cool. If you're trying to get solder on both sides and make the connection all at the same time you risk a "cold" solder joint which may look connected, but doesn’t pass electricity.
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When I was starting out I would get cold joints because I let things move before the solder solidified. You can often see the surface change texture when it happens. It helped me to tin both parts, and then use heat sinks, clothes pins, binder clips, or whatever it takes to hold the parts in position instead of my hands. Touch with the soldering iron until the existing solder melts, touch new solder to the joint to verify that both components are hot enough to melt it and get a little fresh flux in there, and then remove the soldering iron. The solder should remain bright and shiny after solid and cool.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
