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Super ambitious First Build, no woodworking experience..!!

#241
Layout 1 looks great. :) It compliments both the shape of the body and the angled pickups well. (Maybe tweak the position so that the angle of the knobs mirror the angle of the pickups exactly.


Layout 2 is more like I was thinking of earlier, but I still thing number 1 looks better now.

Layout 3 would be nice if the knobs had the same angle as the pickups, but looks a bit crowded towards the back of the body.


I would suggest rotating the switches 90 degrees, though. It's easier to operate a switch when you push or pull it from or towards you compared to pushing it sideways (And maybe bumping the other switches in the process.)
 
#242
#1 is what I was thinking, but I would have done it with vol/blend in the top row, your EQ controls in the middle and switches in the bottom row, just for simplicity. And yes rotate the switches 90 degrees
 
#244
Smilodon said:
Layout 1 looks great. :) It compliments both the shape of the body and the angled pickups well. (Maybe tweak the position so that the angle of the knobs mirror the angle of the pickups exactly.


Layout 2 is more like I was thinking of earlier, but I still thing number 1 looks better now.

Layout 3 would be nice if the knobs had the same angle as the pickups, but looks a bit crowded towards the back of the body.


I would suggest rotating the switches 90 degrees, though. It's easier to operate a switch when you push or pull it from or towards you compared to pushing it sideways (And maybe bumping the other switches in the process.)
Click to expand...

Layout 1 looks cool to me too, the idea was to match the angle of the pickups which I didn't do quite exactly as I was roughly playing around.

Layout 2 is something I like a tad better, but with some more tweaking. I guess I will play around with this a little later on in the build

Layout 3 is kinda cool as it seems quite unique, to me. It needs some pickup angle matching tweaks though.

Your absolutely right about rotating the switches 90degrees. I had tried to do it that way initially in photoshop, but its shadow was looking weird (dodgy photoshop skills) :p. So I left it that way, but thanks for the reminder, you have a good eye ;)

Hopkins said:
#1 is what I was thinking, but I would have done it with vol/blend in the top row, your EQ controls in the middle and switches in the bottom row, just for simplicity. And yes rotate the switches 90 degrees
Click to expand...

I like this idea better in terms of utility. It would result in better grouping. Although I can't visualize the aesthetic of this arrangement until I try this, a little later. Thanks for the idea :)

Herrlster said:
I like your lay out for the knobs and switches. It looks good and if its logical to you, then go for it man.
Click to expand...

After photoshopping I realized that my original layout doesn't look half bad. Its more like a form follows function approach and is definitely the most logical to me. I guess this knob switch discussion can happen a little later in the build ;) Thank you for the compliment :)
 
#245
Lets start this update with some beers :bassist:

184402_10151218977427585_972040921_n_zpsb6fa1000.jpg




So I worked on a bit of sanding around the body region. Its boring stuff but i'll share the method I used anyway..

The chamfer-ey carve where the body meets the neck, near the fretboard, Is a very sharp angle in my case. I couldn't get my finger to the end of the carve to feel any bumps or valleys to smoothen that part. What I did was, used a light source and a linear object to see how its shadow falls on the carve. Immediately, I could understand which parts needed sanding.

IMG00782-20121222-1840_zpsa9d2b339.jpg


You can see me using a needle file as an object to see how smooth the curve of its shadow falls on the carve. I used the same needle file to file in that tight corner.




Next, to sand my chamfers and concave parts of the body sides I made this -

IMG00784-20121223-1343_zps8f2a0b42.jpg


Its a stainless steel tube, with sandpaper stuck to it with masking tape.


IMG00786-20121223-1343_zps27be7df0.jpg


IMG00788-20121223-1715_zps759b9aee.jpg


IMG00789-20121223-1715_zps860408a1.jpg




I also level sanded the back of the body. The level sanding of the body front is half done. There is a 0.3mm low area near the neck region. That will be sanded flat tomorrow.

IMG00793-20121223-1930_zpsaeecbbd9.jpg



That's it for today..
 
#247
suraj said:
Lets start this update with some beers :bassist:

184402_10151218977427585_972040921_n_zpsb6fa1000.jpg
Click to expand...

pilotjones said:
Nice work, and shadow technique.

Now we need a review of each of the beers in that rack. ;)
Click to expand...

Lets do this :bassist:

This cafe is a micro-brewery so all the beer served here can only be consumed in the cafe. I'm not a seasoned beer drinker or reviewer, but here it goes :bassist: From left to right in the rack (not starting from the tall glass on the left with the black-ish beer)

1. Completely forgot what it tasted like :hiding:

2. This was a beautiful golden beer, very smooth textured. Slightly bitter, but in a good way. Moderate alcohol content, tastes a lot like budweiser.

3. This was an interesting one. Wheatgrass flavoured, very light to drink. Almost like a flavoured soda, but with that little warmth coming through. A fun beer, but not my type.

4. This was a rather strong beer, tastes almost exactly like Foster's, the Australian beer :D The aftertaste was rather unpleasant but it fades with the next sip, and the next ;)

5. A very frothy rich ale, called american amber by the brewery. In a larger glass, it looks almost opaque black (like the first tall glass to the left). This is the one I ended up ordering for myself. Creamy texture, with the bitter taste coming through the froth, followed by a very mild passion fruit aftertaste. This, along with the previous beer had the highest alcohol content.
 
#250
rafammbass said:
Man, this bass is so awesome, I cannot even look at the photos anymore. Congrats! This was really a good job!
Click to expand...

Thank you for the compliment ;)

SolarMan said:
Was?

The best is yet to come!
Click to expand...

Yes it is :D






Update time..!!

I just strung up the bass to start testing my prototype pickup in different positions. Although I need to double stick tape some rails and stick the pickup to it, which is next, BUT I held the pickup over the strings with one hand, and played the open strings. I must say, the tone is absolutely stunning..!!

At this point I haven't made a nut, so I've just folded a paper business card and placed it under the strings at the zero fret. It might sound like a stupid thing to do, but it still sounds bright with endless sustain. :bassist: ;) :p

Lets see what the bass looks like with the strings :p At this point there are no action or intonation adjustments made.

IMG_1281_zpsf069616b.jpg


IMG_1282_zpsa281ea96.jpg


IMG_1283_zps49e31b9e.jpg


IMG_1289_zps2326f35b.jpg


IMG_1290_zps81f75177.jpg


IMG_1291_zps8880d778.jpg





I love the contours of this area where the forearm carve meets the body side into the belly contour and then the back chamfer.

IMG_1292_zps0e66e450.jpg



Pics of pickup position testing to follow..
 
#252
Thank you so much :)


As promised, heres the picture of my super high tech pickup testing jig ;)

IMG_1299_zpseb6c7c93.jpg


Your looking at a very overwound pickup, my first pickup. It sounds pretty awesome..!! Although the pickups that will end up on the bass will be underwound, considering a preamp will be added.




And some sound clips -

Now you gotta keep a few things in mind first -

1. The playing is sloppy as the pickup would keep falling (dodgy double sided tape), so I had to play in a weird position.

2. There was a lot of noise, due to the overwound single coil and not grounded, but I grounded it using my body :p, don't know if I could have died, but it worked. So lesser noise in the recording.

3. The output of the pickup was directly connected to a tube amp and cab. So the sound was recorded through a digital video camera :hiding: expect some room noise and no high quality bass recording here.

4. There is no nut on the bass, or a zero fret. There is a folded business card to raise the strings off the fretboard. Expect tonal and sustain improvements later.

5. There are no frets yet, so this is a fretless testing.

6. I could only play the middle three strings, as the outer strings were touching the pickup rising blocks.

7. This testing was just for fun and to determine which pickup positions I like for this bass.





So onto the first track. This is close to a Jazz bass bridge pickup position -



I liked this position, although, I would take it a little closer to the bridge, closer to a warwick thumb bridge pickup position.




Track two is close to the centerline of a Musicman Humbucker position -



I quite like this sound..!!




Track three, the pickup is further up, towards the fretboard -



Not bad at all.




Track four is close to a Jazz bass neck pickup position -



Not really looking for this kind of a tone out of this bass. Tight mids-ey growl is what i'm going for..





I forgot to record the position which is close to the bridge pickup of a warwick thumb. I quite loved the tone of that.

Life is gonna get into my way pretty soon, so this build will slow down, even further :crying: but stay tuned..!!
 
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#258
Thank you :) The plan was to use major manufacturers pickup positions as guidelines, which would result in me placing them in particular positions, but on a drawing. I didn't know exactly what would come out of a real test, which inclined me to try this experiment, and while I was at it, I explored some other pickup positions.

What I also found was that if you play a note and slide the pickup up and down, the effect is very very similar to a flanger pedal..!!




Next up is positioning the pickups on a drawing, designing and fabricating the bobbins and covers, routing cavities, and finishing the bass. After the bass is finished I can put strings on and let the neck get used to the forces of the strings and truss rod. A final fret level to follow and then install pickups, wire everything up, finished bass :p

long way to go..!!
 
#259
Thank you for sharing this fantastic journey with us. I have been lurking for weeks and have to say that this is looking amazing. What impresses me most is your drive to work with what you have or what you can fashion on your own.
Reminds me a lot of the beginning scenes of the 1st Iron Man movie ...

59f4fea5-b9b2-4443-8aaf-a30639382903.jpg


I can't wait to see this finished!

Cheers!
 

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