Sonum Experior

[michaelwayneharwood]

After discovering that my eldest son has absconded all of the card stock to draw on I managed to dig up the requisite drawing surfaces necessary to create a quick template. A sharpie was employed to transfer the outline to the blanks, and after some liberal application of a rapidly moving blade the top and bottom were freed. A quick sanding and light coat of Tru Oil were applied to get an idea of what the eventual outcome will be. The maple has a fun quilt, and the walnut oils up as dark as chocolate. As tempting as it is to keep moving on this tonight, I am wiped and am going to quit while I am ahead. Tired eyes make mistakes, and I would rather not be making them with sharp blades spinning at high velocities.

Next steps for the body are to route channels for, and epoxy in the square steel tubes, route a shallow cavity on the underneath of the top to provide some room for easy wire routing to avoid long and error prone drill runs, and then to glue the two pieces together.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

Oh - I almost forgot to mention that a quick bathroom scale weigh in shows a weight of 5 1/2 pounds for the body (both pieces combined). Not bad.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

I have found another wrinkle, and it's not in the figured maple top. I need to make sure I take into account making some space for wire connection terminals like these, and I will have to wait to glue the top and route the inside areas of the top until I have them in hand so that I can be sure of my measurements. I am also a little concerned about mounting them in such a way to make them recessed enough to keep them out of the way of the pickups, and allowing enough room to be able to open them with your fingers. Ahh well, nothing worthwhile is easy.

In other news my eldest son has a scrap piece of limba he is carrying around like a scepter. We had a family conversation around the dinner table last night that centered on wood identification strategies, and he has compared that little piece to every piece of wood in the house that has grain showing to see if we have any limba in the house outside of my projects. We also spent some time in the scrap box playing "guess the wood". Great practice for me, and he's learning something I wish I would have learned as a young man. It's crazy to watch my kids take like to things that I struggle with like fish to water.

 

[Jon Clegg]

I have found another wrinkle, and it's not in the figured maple top. I need to make sure I take into account making some space for wire connection terminals like these, and I will have to wait to glue the top and route the inside areas of the top until I have them in hand so that I can be sure of my measurements. I am also a little concerned about mounting them in such a way to make them recessed enough to keep them out of the way of the pickups, and allowing enough room to be able to open them with your fingers. Ahh well, nothing worthwhile is easy.

In other news my eldest son has a scrap piece of limba he is carrying around like a scepter. We had a family conversation around the dinner table last night that centered on wood identification strategies, and he has compared that little piece to every piece of wood in the house that has grain showing to see if we have any limba in the house outside of my projects. We also spent some time in the scrap box playing "guess the wood". Great practice for me, and he's learning something I wish I would have learned as a young man. It's crazy to watch my kids take like to things that I struggle with like fish to water.

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That's a clever solution to the connection problem; I would have with something like 2 or 3 pin connectors, but that would involve crimping/soldering to the leads.

Love the fact that your taking such care to make your 'lab-rat' so pretty with that nice top.

Great story about your son. Always fun to take something like that and turn it into a game.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

I can"t take any credit for the wire terminal idea - @Robert Canfield suggested it earlier in the thread. I appreciate the kind words!

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

I went ahead and ordered the push terminal connectors and will have to wait until they arrive to do any serious routing for the bars or wire recesses. I *can* get the massive holes in the top and back started, and I need to get a neck blank glued up as well. A flat sawn peruvian walnut neck would be dead sexy, but a nice 3, 5, or even 7 piece laminate would be nice and strong and provide me some much needed practice on multi-wood neck lamination and design. Decisions, decisions...

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

Oh - and for anyone who wants to avoid all of this mess to test pickups I found this interesting device available for sale.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

I went ahead and ordered the push terminal connectors and will have to wait until they arrive to do any serious routing for the bars or wire recesses. I *can* get the massive holes in the top and back started, and I need to get a neck blank glued up as well. A flat sawn peruvian walnut neck would be dead sexy, but a nice 3, 5, or even 7 piece laminate would be nice and strong and provide me some much needed practice on multi-wood neck lamination and design. Decisions, decisions...

I was WAY over thinking this...I blame my love of over engineering. All I really need for this application is a set of insulated alligator clips. Less material removal, no need for soldering pickup wires, etc. With this in mind I have the leeway to keep moving.

Another thought I have is to remove the screws on the back from the equation and use some neodymium magnets I have on hand to keep the back plate secured. It's faster, easier, and I have the materials on hand.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

I took the cardstock template out and drew in the lines for the hollow center onto the top piece and routed it out, and then free handed a shallow cavity for the wires. Next steps are to route the channels for the rods on the maple back and epoxy them in, and at the same time use the leftover epoxy to smooth out a few router nicks. To be honest I did not take this as slowly as I should have and a few mistakes were made that were avoidable had I been more careful. They are not make/break mistakes, but I am displeased with my workmanship on this. I could make the excuse that it's just a tool and does not need the careful work a commission does, but that leads to bad habits I would rather not foster.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

The steel tubes have been installed. I measured and marked up the bottom, sawed down the 1/2" square steel tube rod to the correct lengths, routed the channels, and put them in with some StewMac 20 minute epoxy. I am going to give the epoxy 24 hours to cure, and then glue the top to the bottom and get the neck cut out. I think the first neck will cut right out of quartersawn Peruvian walnut so it will be pretty. I won't get getting the truss rods for the neck until later in the week, but I can get the neck and fingerboard cut out and ready.

Most of the other tasks for the body (e.g. route the neck pocket, drill the jack holes, apply the round over, etc.) should be done by the time the rods arrive and it will be all downhill from there.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

Or I will wait a mere 12 hours and glue it up instead...

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

Totally off topic, but super cool is that my eldest son has been spending the morning practicing drawing wood grain. He presented me with a picture that I immediately guessed was an attempt at wood grain. When queried about it he said "That's Zebrawood daddy! What wood do you want me to draw next?" I told him oak and his response was "Like the oak bass?"

Proud father = me.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

She's out of the clamps, and a quick weigh in shows her at 6 pounds. This is going to be a heavy bass.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

I discovered a crack on the back from my being a bit aggressive with the hammer pounding in the steel bar on the bass side wing last night, and I am sad to say that my attempt at a repair just highlighted the crack with the CA glue. I applied a 3/4" roundover to the body and next is a ton of filing to get the body whipped into shape. My daughter came into the garage and asked if she could have this bass rather than the sassafras bass. "The walnut ontop of the maple is so pretty daddy! Can I have this bass too?" I am so proud. My daughter's first GAS. Whoah - that sounds terrible!

 

[Jon Clegg]

My daughter's first GAS. Whoah - that sounds terrible!

Phrasing people...

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

I cut out the 7 string 32" scale neck and fingerboard blanks this evening. The neck blank is 5" x 28" x 3/4", and it started out a bit bowed. I used my jointer to flatten out one side and then planed it down. It's nice and flat now. The maple fingerboard is the same width and height, but 1/4" thick. The neck will measure 2 1/2" at the nut, and 4" a little beyond the 24th fret line. A quick weigh in with both the body and the neck woods comes in at 7 1/2 pounds. The hardware and strings will add some weight, but I think I am in the ballpark of comfortable.

 

[Jon Clegg]

Oh - and for anyone who wants to avoid all of this mess to test pickups I found this interesting device available for sale.

It's a interesting idea, but I think the sonum is better for auditioning pickups, figuring out the best position, etc, since you're able to play naturally without having to maneuver around the device.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

It's a interesting idea, but I think the sonum is better for auditioning pickups, figuring out the best position, etc, since you're able to play naturally without having to maneuver around the device.

I totally agree. I have done some hunting for something similar to the Sonum to see what others may have done, but I can't find anything quite like it. Certainly other guitar makers have had instruments with movable pickups, but I can't find a luthier tool that fits the bill. Am I missing something obvious here? There reason I ask is because the Sonum has been in my mind since I started building guitar and bass shaped objects last year, and I can't imagine that I am the first to think of this. To me the need for this sort of device in my design and build process is obvious.

 

[Jon Clegg]

I totally agree. I have done some hunting for something similar to the Sonum to see what others may have done, but I can't find anything quite like it. Certainly other guitar makers have had instruments with movable pickups, but I can't find a luthier tool that fits the bill. Am I missing something obvious here? There reason I ask is because the Sonum has been in my mind since I started building guitar and bass shaped objects last year, and I can't imagine that I am the first to think of this. To me the need for this sort of device in my design and build process is obvious.

Naw, I don't think you're missing something obvious; I think there's a tendency to fall in with convention so there's not a lot of incentive for folks to build something like the Sonum, or if they are they're keeping it to themselves . I'd also bet that some of the 'sweet spots' we've all come to know and love are happy accidents; I'd bet for example that the P-Bass pickup position was chosen by Leo for ease of manufacturing and 'aw hell, just put it halfway between the fretboard and the bridge' rather than some exhaustive experimentation.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

Naw, I don't think you're missing something obvious; I think there's a tendency to fall in with convention so there's not a lot of incentive for folks to build something like the Sonum, or if they are they're keeping it to themselves . I'd also bet that some of the 'sweet spots' we've all come to know and love are happy accidents; I'd bet for example that the P-Bass pickup position was chosen by Leo for ease of manufacturing and 'aw hell, just put it halfway between the fretboard and the bridge' rather than some exhaustive experimentation.

Word. I am wondering how many other builders would use something like this if it were available. Just a few of us?