Probably a good idea on the electronics, I was up until 3am two nights ago trying to re wire my hollow body for volume volume kill switch, couldn't get it to work. Next morning started wiring on it half hour later it was working right, XD
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Six string spalted maple, fretless, and first build ... kit
- Thread starter eightyearsapril
- Start date
That is an option. I have small (8mm wide x 3mm tall) neodymium magnets I had planned to use for both the truss rod and the control cover. The latter is already screwed down, but if the truss rod cover is successfully magnetized, I might switch the cover.You could always put a magnet on the inside of your truss road cover that is attracted to the screw. Call it a "design feature".
Having never done wiring like this before, I'm figuring it'll take me hours to do so. I might have time on Sunday for it, depending on how the pre-vacation cleaning goes tomorrow.
I've also contacted local instrument technicians to request quotes for the final setup and nut creation. I don't trust myself to do either. I'm happy with how things have come so far, but it's far from precise and perfect, which is what I need both the nut and setup to be.
Spent some time today on the truss rod cover. There's a magnet now in the original cover, and while it sticks to the broken screw, it's not a strong connection, and it won't withstand normal movement while playing.
My wife, the artist, drew up a new cover, echoing the shape of the headstock. (I don't remember whose thread I stole this idea from, sorry!) We used a Formica sample from Home Depot for it, and, well... We're not happy with it.
I'm not sure what the solution will be. Any suggestions?
My wife, the artist, drew up a new cover, echoing the shape of the headstock. (I don't remember whose thread I stole this idea from, sorry!) We used a Formica sample from Home Depot for it, and, well... We're not happy with it.
I'm not sure what the solution will be. Any suggestions?
Hopkins
Commercial User
I would keep it simple, and just use a traditional tomb stone shaped truss rod cover, those are little items that can be distracting, and take focus away from the overall design if you get to crazy with them.
Good point. I took one of the rosewood veneer sandwiches I made a few months ago and did a rough trimming into shape.
I'll complete the shaping with sandpaper and hopefully be done with this tomorrow.
I'll complete the shaping with sandpaper and hopefully be done with this tomorrow.
And... ignore the previous post.
I found a blue Formica sample in my parts bin, and my wife traced the original acrylic cover to make the below. I've already put the first clear sealing coat.
Hopefully I won't screw up its screw, too.
I found a blue Formica sample in my parts bin, and my wife traced the original acrylic cover to make the below. I've already put the first clear sealing coat.
Hopefully I won't screw up its screw, too.
I didn't!
I think it looks good, nice and subtle. I am now finished with everything but the electronics. I watched BBG's guide on installing the Pope FlexCore preamp and I think I can do it. I have experience installing computer and server motherboards, so this really isn't much different, right? The trickiest part is going to be merging wires, like from the pickups and the power from the battery box.
It's going to be a couple of weeks, though, before I start, as I'm traveling for work tomorrow through Wednesday, and then I'm on vacation for two weeks starting Saturday next weekend.
And, since we cleaned up this weekend before our vacation, I redid the setup of my instruments in White Devil Studio. Here's a mid-June 2015 family portrait.
I think it looks good, nice and subtle. I am now finished with everything but the electronics. I watched BBG's guide on installing the Pope FlexCore preamp and I think I can do it. I have experience installing computer and server motherboards, so this really isn't much different, right? The trickiest part is going to be merging wires, like from the pickups and the power from the battery box.
It's going to be a couple of weeks, though, before I start, as I'm traveling for work tomorrow through Wednesday, and then I'm on vacation for two weeks starting Saturday next weekend.
And, since we cleaned up this weekend before our vacation, I redid the setup of my instruments in White Devil Studio. Here's a mid-June 2015 family portrait.
So, it's been a month. I was on vacation, and did a ton of traveling. I've played Zhenya a lot, acoustically, and she plays great. The neck will definitely need adjustments, and the bridge saddles will as well. But, it's a bass, and one I built.
I left it in a state that the electronics would be next, and I finally started on them today. I only got around to mounting the pickups, but I'm pleased with that progress.
I'm not thrilled about the piss-poor "routing" I did months ago to make room for the pickups, as the uneven gap below the bridge pickup will always bother me.
Up next is the Flexcore preamp. I have the wires from the pickups, battery box, and bridge grounding all ready to go.
I left it in a state that the electronics would be next, and I finally started on them today. I only got around to mounting the pickups, but I'm pleased with that progress.
Up next is the Flexcore preamp. I have the wires from the pickups, battery box, and bridge grounding all ready to go.
I ran into a hitch while starting on the wiring today. I need to join the four wires from the battery box to the four that go to the Flexcore connector for batteries. I planned to twist the wires together and shrink wrap.
I tested with some spare wire and found that the twisting wouldn't stay together under shrink wrap, and just broke apart. I guess I'll have to solder the wires together before shrink wrapping.
I tested with some spare wire and found that the twisting wouldn't stay together under shrink wrap, and just broke apart. I guess I'll have to solder the wires together before shrink wrapping.
you definitely want to solder any electric connections, if you don't you're asking for intermittent problems (at best) down the road.
Hrmph, you're right. I specifically chose the Flexcore preamp so I wouldn't need to solder it. Using a battery box requires it, now.
I soldered the four battery wire joins today. It took longer to strip the wires than the actual soldering. All went well, I think, but I won't know until I finish the wiring.
Oh, and speaking of the finish, I accidentally branded the back of the bass with the soldering iron.
Fortunately, I think it looks kind of cool, and didn't freak out.
Next step, wiring! Will it make a sound? Stay tuned!
Oh, and speaking of the finish, I accidentally branded the back of the bass with the soldering iron.
Fortunately, I think it looks kind of cool, and didn't freak out.
Next step, wiring! Will it make a sound? Stay tuned!
I wired it up today and it made sounds! 
I now have to fix the shielding to allow the knobs to fully extend through the holes, but that should be easy.
Almost done....
I now have to fix the shielding to allow the knobs to fully extend through the holes, but that should be easy.
Almost done....
Warning, this is going to be a long entry, and probably should be cross-posted to a new thread in Pickups and Electronics, as it has to do with those.
I (with the great help of my wife) cleaned up the copper foil so that the controls could extend through the holes to the top of the bass and got everything ready to be closed up. I didn't yet install the knobs, because I wanted to test the pre-amp and pickup installation.
I plugged Zhenya in to my amp and put her through the paces. Everything, with one caveat, sounded great. The EQ works well, with a lot of latitude for adjustment with the bass, both mids, and the treble controls. The coil switching knob works, as does the pickup pan, and the volume.
However.... there's something with the coil switch on the bridge pickup. With even a little bit of blend with the neck pickup, there's no issue, but when the bridge is isolated, I get little to no output when the coil switch is toggled (I think) in the single coil direction.
I had thought that something might be an issue, because the instructions I got from BBG back in December (before I ordered the pre-amp, but after I had ordered the Bartolini XXM56C pickups) were vague. Let me quote the email that Chris H at BBG gave me then, before I ordered the pre-amp:
The neck pickup had this configuration:
And, here's how it looks in my crowded cavity:
I think, since the neck pickup is working fine, I need to emulate the red/white soldering of it on the bridge pickup, but the instructions from BBG are vague, as they don't mention the white wire at all with regards to the coil switching. Before I undo tonight's work and get out the soldering iron again, however, I wanted to ask here.
I (with the great help of my wife) cleaned up the copper foil so that the controls could extend through the holes to the top of the bass and got everything ready to be closed up. I didn't yet install the knobs, because I wanted to test the pre-amp and pickup installation.
I plugged Zhenya in to my amp and put her through the paces. Everything, with one caveat, sounded great. The EQ works well, with a lot of latitude for adjustment with the bass, both mids, and the treble controls. The coil switching knob works, as does the pickup pan, and the volume.
However.... there's something with the coil switch on the bridge pickup. With even a little bit of blend with the neck pickup, there's no issue, but when the bridge is isolated, I get little to no output when the coil switch is toggled (I think) in the single coil direction.
I had thought that something might be an issue, because the instructions I got from BBG back in December (before I ordered the pre-amp, but after I had ordered the Bartolini XXM56C pickups) were vague. Let me quote the email that Chris H at BBG gave me then, before I ordered the pre-amp:
*For Series:
- Black = Hot(This would go to the Pope input for pickup hot)
- Red & White = Linking wire. These get twisted together, soldered, and covered with heatshrink tubing to insulate them away from any other connections.
-Green & Shield(Shield is the bare braided wire) = Ground. These get twisted together, soldered, and go to input of the Pope balancer board at ground for each pickup.
*For Parallel -
-Black & Red = Hot. This would go to the Pope input for pickup hot
-White, Green, and Shield = Ground. These all get twisted together and input to the ground spot for pickup ground.
Now if you wanted to use the Pope Coil Split switch for a parallel-single coil switching scheme, then the Black from each pickup would go to hot, the red would go to the tap location, and green and shield would go to ground.
I opted to go parallel-single coil switching, following the last paragraph. When I got the pickups, I noticed something weird, however: they weren't wired the same way.- Black = Hot(This would go to the Pope input for pickup hot)
- Red & White = Linking wire. These get twisted together, soldered, and covered with heatshrink tubing to insulate them away from any other connections.
-Green & Shield(Shield is the bare braided wire) = Ground. These get twisted together, soldered, and go to input of the Pope balancer board at ground for each pickup.
*For Parallel -
-Black & Red = Hot. This would go to the Pope input for pickup hot
-White, Green, and Shield = Ground. These all get twisted together and input to the ground spot for pickup ground.
Now if you wanted to use the Pope Coil Split switch for a parallel-single coil switching scheme, then the Black from each pickup would go to hot, the red would go to the tap location, and green and shield would go to ground.
The neck pickup had this configuration:
- Black
- Red/White (soldered)
- Green/Shield (soldered)
- Black
- White
- Red
- Green/Shield (soldered)
- SHIELDS GOUND: Bridge purple ground
- BRIDGE PU GROUND: Bridge green/shield
- BRIDGE PU TAP: Bridge red
- BRIDGE PU HOT (+): Bridge black
- NECK PU GROUND: Neck green/shield
- NECK PU TAP: Neck red/white
- NECK PU HOT (+): Neck black
- BATTERY (+): unused, as I'm not using active pickups
And, here's how it looks in my crowded cavity:
I think, since the neck pickup is working fine, I need to emulate the red/white soldering of it on the bridge pickup, but the instructions from BBG are vague, as they don't mention the white wire at all with regards to the coil switching. Before I undo tonight's work and get out the soldering iron again, however, I wanted to ask here.
So, unless I get some different information in my other thread (or this one) overnight, I'm going to solder the red and white bridge wires this weekend.
I also determined that I should rotate the switch 180 degrees, as the "down" position, as shown above, is the non-split standard position I want to be "up".
That should be easy to do. Soldering inside of a crowded cavity has a larger degree of difficulty than I want to attempt but I don't want to completely disassemble the wiring.
I also determined that I should rotate the switch 180 degrees, as the "down" position, as shown above, is the non-split standard position I want to be "up".
That should be easy to do. Soldering inside of a crowded cavity has a larger degree of difficulty than I want to attempt but I don't want to completely disassemble the wiring.
She's .... done?!?
I connected the red/white wires from the bridge pickup and reconnected it, plus the coil split switch, and all is (almost) well!
However, I have one last grounding, I think, issue to deal with: I get buzzing when I touch any of the knobs that goes away when I either remove my hand from the knob or touch a string with my other hand. I'm pretty sure I just need to check the ground wire under the bridge, but if there's something else I should look at, please let me know.
I'm going to make an appointment for a custom nut creation and final setup, as soon as I sort out this buzzing.
I connected the red/white wires from the bridge pickup and reconnected it, plus the coil split switch, and all is (almost) well!
However, I have one last grounding, I think, issue to deal with: I get buzzing when I touch any of the knobs that goes away when I either remove my hand from the knob or touch a string with my other hand. I'm pretty sure I just need to check the ground wire under the bridge, but if there's something else I should look at, please let me know.
I'm going to make an appointment for a custom nut creation and final setup, as soon as I sort out this buzzing.
If you have access to an ohm meter, you should have no resistance between the strings and the ring/shield on the cable you plug into the bass. It sounds the bridge is not picking up the ground. If there is paint or finish on the bottom of the bridge you have to scrape that off to get to bare metal so the wire under there is making good electrical contact.
The bridge is a black brass Hipshot A bridge. I guess it was painted black, but I don't know.
I'm going to remove the bridge and check the grounding wire next. I really hope it's that simple.
