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Super ambitious First Build, no woodworking experience..!!
- Thread starter suraj
- Start date
Not a bad idea at all, something I would think about. Maybe two out of four coils could be hidden, and be made symmetrical. I just tried this out in CAD, it definitely looks very different. I like it when the extreme coils are visible leaving a clean middle section. Although when I leave coils 1 & 4 hidden and expose 2 & 3, the bass looks like a beaver 
Apart from designing this pickup casing, I've been really thinking about how its gonna be made, as i'm still very doubtful how to go about it. Maybe some of you guys could guide me.
I thought I can use a solid piece of opaque black acrylic/plexi, 20mm thick and take the CAD file to a CNC shop to machine it for me. But my casing would require machining from both sides (front and back). So to flip the piece and have it indexed seems difficult. Also the walls of the casing (gauge) would be a maximum of 3mm, which I fear could break during machining. Well till now I've considered these things to be taken care of, but lastly I want the surface finish of the casing to be a little matte n textured, not glossy at all, like a sand blasted surface. It would be a waste to get everything machined properly but not have a nice finished surface at the end. Maybe i'll give up and do wood covers instead. I think someone had a thread here who said they made they're pickups out of blocks of epoxy that are CNC milled.
Anyway, I tried roughing up some glossy black plexi to a matte finish with steel wool, scothbrite pads and wet sandpaper from 100 grit to 2500 girt, but none gave the result I was looking for. 320 grit gave me something similar to what I want, but it left some scratches, well so did 2500 grit, so I'm gonna test some sand blasting on the plexi next.
This is the surface quality I am aiming for -
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I guess the machined surfaces would look different from the fresh glossy surface of the plexi, so sand blasting could probably texturize everything evenly, after removing machining marks and such.
I wish I could cast this, but I have no moulds or experience or money
Apart from designing this pickup casing, I've been really thinking about how its gonna be made, as i'm still very doubtful how to go about it. Maybe some of you guys could guide me.
I thought I can use a solid piece of opaque black acrylic/plexi, 20mm thick and take the CAD file to a CNC shop to machine it for me. But my casing would require machining from both sides (front and back). So to flip the piece and have it indexed seems difficult. Also the walls of the casing (gauge) would be a maximum of 3mm, which I fear could break during machining. Well till now I've considered these things to be taken care of, but lastly I want the surface finish of the casing to be a little matte n textured, not glossy at all, like a sand blasted surface. It would be a waste to get everything machined properly but not have a nice finished surface at the end. Maybe i'll give up and do wood covers instead. I think someone had a thread here who said they made they're pickups out of blocks of epoxy that are CNC milled.
Anyway, I tried roughing up some glossy black plexi to a matte finish with steel wool, scothbrite pads and wet sandpaper from 100 grit to 2500 girt, but none gave the result I was looking for. 320 grit gave me something similar to what I want, but it left some scratches, well so did 2500 grit, so I'm gonna test some sand blasting on the plexi next.
This is the surface quality I am aiming for -
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
I guess the machined surfaces would look different from the fresh glossy surface of the plexi, so sand blasting could probably texturize everything evenly, after removing machining marks and such.
I wish I could cast this, but I have no moulds or experience or money
Great job so far, especially considering your limited resources. Much more ambitious and much cleaner execution than my first instrument.
Seeing your control knob configuration reminds me of my first Strat I hot-rodded many years ago. I didn't want any tonal limitations so it wound up with three knobs, four switches plus the stock 5-way selector. All said and done there were 81 different switch combinations (some redundant.) I after I wired it up I spent an hour or so playing around with the different tones available to me. That guitar has been one of my main guitars for the last 15 years and of those 81 pickup and switch combinations, guess how many I use? Two. And both of those are available on a stock Strat.
Since that time I've realized that for me the less-is-more approach works better.
Seeing your control knob configuration reminds me of my first Strat I hot-rodded many years ago. I didn't want any tonal limitations so it wound up with three knobs, four switches plus the stock 5-way selector. All said and done there were 81 different switch combinations (some redundant.) I after I wired it up I spent an hour or so playing around with the different tones available to me. That guitar has been one of my main guitars for the last 15 years and of those 81 pickup and switch combinations, guess how many I use? Two. And both of those are available on a stock Strat.
Since that time I've realized that for me the less-is-more approach works better.
Thank you 
I see what you mean and I totally understand that too many options makes for many redundant options.. But I want to have at them myself
as an experiment. And not just wired up outside the bass and tried for an hour or so. I want it installed on the bass as trying something out over a longer period of time gives a better idea of what is useful or useless. My first build is by no means my dream bass, spec wise, but an experiment, and one has to go through the sour grapes to get to the sweet ones . I plan to continue building more instruments, and they will be a lot simpler, after using my first build as a testing platform. Trying things out for yourself sometimes is important even if you are advised that it is futile.
I see what you mean and I totally understand that too many options makes for many redundant options.. But I want to have at them myself
as an experiment. And not just wired up outside the bass and tried for an hour or so. I want it installed on the bass as trying something out over a longer period of time gives a better idea of what is useful or useless. My first build is by no means my dream bass, spec wise, but an experiment, and one has to go through the sour grapes to get to the sweet ones . I plan to continue building more instruments, and they will be a lot simpler, after using my first build as a testing platform. Trying things out for yourself sometimes is important even if you are advised that it is futile. Thank you
I see what you mean and I totally understand that too many options makes for many redundant options.. But I want to have at them myself
well put sir.
NO update on the bass, BUT I have two new additions to the workshop -
That just organizes all the small things lying around. Obviously I found all the small things in the first place as I cleaned my entire garage out.
And the new tool -
As excited as a kid who just got candy
So my neck was looking rather flat initially which is why I bought this tool. And now I can see that it is indeed D-shaped. So I guess when something doesn't look quite right, it really is a bit wrong. But anyway, I kinda liked the D-shape when I tested the bass with strings so I guess I won't change it much. I also used the contour gauge to inspect how smooth the resultant curves of my hand carved areas are, and I must say, I'm pretty impressed with my hand carving The curves were quite continuous.
So obviously this post was quite pointless, but its only because I can't work on the bass for a while, like a month. So I will resurrect this thread then.
Peace.
That just organizes all the small things lying around. Obviously I found all the small things in the first place as I cleaned my entire garage out.
And the new tool -
As excited as a kid who just got candy
So my neck was looking rather flat initially which is why I bought this tool. And now I can see that it is indeed D-shaped. So I guess when something doesn't look quite right, it really is a bit wrong. But anyway, I kinda liked the D-shape when I tested the bass with strings so I guess I won't change it much. I also used the contour gauge to inspect how smooth the resultant curves of my hand carved areas are, and I must say, I'm pretty impressed with my hand carving
The curves were quite continuous.So obviously this post was quite pointless, but its only because I can't work on the bass for a while, like a month. So I will resurrect this thread then.
Peace.
No real update,
but I mounted the input jack, the battery boxes and the strap buttons. The minute I wore the strap I was quite excited as to how well the bass balanced..!! proof of good balance -
Real updates will happen very very slowly..
but I mounted the input jack, the battery boxes and the strap buttons. The minute I wore the strap I was quite excited as to how well the bass balanced..!! proof of good balance
-Real updates will happen very very slowly..
I'll be curious as to how the pronounced fan in the frets feels to you once you're finished. I've got an idea for a bass with a 37-33 fan, but I don't know that I've ever seen a 5-string with that much range in the scale length. Looking good so far! Great job with the carving.
I did get a feel of the fan when I tried this bass with strings on, although fretless. But I was able to adjust to it more or less within a few minutes. Obviously the real test would be to gig it without screwing up
Most Dingwall basses have the same range of fan with 5 strings, you can check those out.
And thank you for the kind words, do stay tuned..
Coulda sworn I subb'd this... ahh well, I am now. Looking great man! Cant wait to see more
Thanks, I can't wait too.. Its been really long, but life has its way of getting in between people and their basses
Good grief, I'm worried about making a bloody neck pocket route, and you're making an entire fan fret bass! Looks great, keep it up.
Haha don't worry about worrying. I would have worried too
Thanks for the kind words.Dude!! This is a great build man! Can't wait to see the bass finished!
Thanks man, I can't wait too.
So a lot has happened since I last left off.
I lost my mother recently who fought extremely bravely against cancer. Definitely the bravest, strongest and most selfless person i have ever known. I get a fraction of my niceness and strength from her.
At the same time I was going through my final year and recently graduated as an architect.
So now that life has left me a breather I have started working on the bass, again. I have a big update coming up with lots of pictures and interesting things. I don't know how much of it to share as it may get pretty boring. Expect the big update in about three days, with a custom pickup build !! The bass right now at the level of pre fine sanding.
Until next time, in three-ish days
Peace.
PS : I apologise for removing all images that had the plans of my design since the time some guy tried to steal Rob Habrakens design. It really hampers the stroryline of the thread and I wish I could jus leave them on.
I'm sorry to hear about your mom, I hope you're doing okay.
Can't wait to see what you've done with the bass. Post as many pictures as you want, no one's going to complain!
Can't wait to see what you've done with the bass. Post as many pictures as you want, no one's going to complain!
A - I’m genuinely sorry about your mom. Must have been tough to go through, but I feel like you guys were blessed by her spirit and bravery.
B - What happened with the plans stealing? I’ve been off the boards for a few years, but his J5 build has been super inspiring, but I had noticed all plans of his were gone. Is someone trying to commercialize on people’s plans?
B - What happened with the plans stealing? I’ve been off the boards for a few years, but his J5 build has been super inspiring, but I had noticed all plans of his were gone. Is someone trying to commercialize on people’s plans?
