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

[Thumpin_P]

WOW!!!!

 

[Shardik]

That looks awesome!

 

[BillyRay]

This bass looks like it could rocket into space. Very, very cool design. The sound is also nice, almost Claypoolesque (especially the second clip).

 

[Ol'Bass'ead]

Will grounding the aluminium casing result in further treble loss ??

Seems to me that the pole pieces are in contact with the aluminum so theyre already grounded.

 

[pilotjones]

Why not a pickup casing out of wenge, matching the fretboard and the body stripes?

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Will grounding the aluminium casing result in further treble loss ?? Also I am going to be adding an active preamp, so maybe treble can be compensated.

You should ground the aluminum case or it will pick up noise. grounding it will let it work like shielding. Grounding the cover shouldn't cause the tone to change, even though it might be increasing the capacitance in the pickup. But that's usually very small.

Aluminum and brass are the two worst materials to use for pickup covers. Nickel silver and non magnetic stainless steel are the best. But all metal covers will alter the tone of the pickups by flattening and lowering the resonant peak, which will reduce some high end.

I'd use the aluminum, cover to make a two part rubber mold, or have one machined out of plastic.

 

[suraj]

WOW!!!!

That looks awesome!

This bass looks like it could rocket into space. Very, very cool design. The sound is also nice, almost Claypoolesque (especially the second clip).

Thanks guys.. Yes I'm digging the tone, although the clips I posted don't do it any justice.. The tone is a bit dark probably due to the aluminium casing, which I like, but I'd rather have the option to cut treble for darkness instead of having an already dark pickup..

Seems to me that the pole pieces are in contact with the aluminum so theyre already grounded.

They are not. There is about a 0.1mm gap, but the aluminium is coated with Teflon so it wouldn't be electrically connected even if they touched. To ground it ill have to scrape the coating somewhere behind and solder there. Tough stuff this Teflon is !!

Why not a pickup casing out of wenge, matching the fretboard and the body stripes?

In my head that look doesn't appeal to me actually. I like how the bridge, knobs, and pickup is black from the pictures. Just looks more appealing and professional to me and ties all the hardware together. I tend to dislike the woody look of wooden knobs and pickup covers but that's just me

You should ground the aluminum case or it will pick up noise. grounding it will let it work like shielding. Grounding the cover shouldn't cause the tone to change, even though it might be increasing the capacitance in the pickup. But that's usually very small.

Aluminum and brass are the two worst materials to use for pickup covers. Nickel silver and non magnetic stainless steel are the best. But all metal covers will alter the tone of the pickups by flattening and lowering the resonant peak, which will reduce some high end.

I'd use the aluminum, cover to make a two part rubber mold, or have one machined out of plastic.

That's exactly how I'd planned it, and I guess while the finish of this bass is curing, I will try to make a plastic replica of it with a two part silicon mould. I don't care for a metal cover, it's just that it was way cheaper and sourcing a thick enough piece of plastic for machining was way too hard. It's great to have you here sharing info as I really need it

I had a question, since aluminium has high electrical resistance, shouldn't it resist eddy currents better and not cut the highs too much ? Since plastic is non conductive, or rather of very high resistance, it can't have eddy currents and therefore it doesn't reduce the treble. Then why is aluminium the worst material for pickup covers ? This question is just out of curiosity. I really don't care for the aluminium cover.

My pickup cover is heavy gauge actually. Every wall is 2mm thick including the top plate. So I guess it is tone sucking to an extent, but I'm not sure. Could it be that the cover is not sucking the tone, and it could be the low winding height if my bobbin ? Or is it certain that a metal cover will suck tone in any situation ?

Thank you for participating and helping out
Maybe the pickups forum would be a better place to ask these kind of questions...hmmm..

 

[Andyman001]

Aluminum actually has very low resistance, and conducts electricity very well.

Awesome build BTW, glad to see progress.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

That's exactly how I'd planned it, and I guess while the finish of this bass is curing, I will try to make a plastic replica of it with a two part silicon mould. I don't care for a metal cover, it's just that it was way cheaper and sourcing a thick enough piece of plastic for machining was way too hard. It's great to have you here sharing info as I really need it

You can get a big chunk of delrin from McMaster-Carr for not not too much money.

I had a question, since aluminium has high electrical resistance, shouldn't it resist eddy currents better and not cut the highs too much ? Since plastic is non conductive, or rather of very high resistance, it can't have eddy currents and therefore it doesn't reduce the treble. Then why is aluminium the worst material for pickup covers ? This question is just out of curiosity. I really don't care for the aluminium cover.

Aluminum is highly conductive, which is why they use it for house wiring in place of copper sometimes.

My pickup cover is heavy gauge actually. Every wall is 2mm thick including the top plate. So I guess it is tone sucking to an extent, but I'm not sure. Could it be that the cover is not sucking the tone, and it could be the low winding height if my bobbin ? Or is it certain that a metal cover will suck tone in any situation ?

I'm sure it is changing the tone of the pickup. All metal covers do to some extent. Even the nickel silver covers on guitar humbuckers. Seth Lover, who designed the Gibson humbucker wanted to use stainless steel, but the bean counters at Gibson said no. EMG uses stainless steel on their metal covered pickups.

Non conductive material is the best thing to use. If you use metal you want it to be thin. You can also break up the surface area with slots. That's why the Gretsch Filter'Tron has the openings in the cover.

But I make a few pickups with metal covers and they don't sound bad. They might sound a little different compared to my plastic covered pickups, but the covers aren't ruining the tone. So if you like the way the pickup sounds, that's all that matters.

 

[MPU]

I doubt there is McMaster-Carr in Mumbai India.

 

[6jase5]

........well, I'm impressed.
*Throws all tools away and shakes head in shame at lack of ability ...

Come on, let's go get a beer to help drown our depression. We'll put our tools on Craigslist tomorrow.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

I doubt there is McMaster-Carr in Mumbai India.

This is true! I didn't realize the location.

 

[suraj]

You can get a big chunk of delrin from McMaster-Carr for not not too much money.



Aluminum is highly conductive, which is why they use it for house wiring in place of copper sometimes.



I'm sure it is changing the tone of the pickup. All metal covers do to some extent. Even the nickel silver covers on guitar humbuckers. Seth Lover, who designed the Gibson humbucker wanted to use stainless steel, but the bean counters at Gibson said no. EMG uses stainless steel on their metal covered pickups.

Non conductive material is the best thing to use. If you use metal you want it to be thin. You can also break up the surface area with slots. That's why the Gretsch Filter'Tron has the openings in the cover.

But I make a few pickups with metal covers and they don't sound bad. They might sound a little different compared to my plastic covered pickups, but the covers aren't ruining the tone. So if you like the way the pickup sounds, that's all that matters.

I really like the sound i'm getting out of it, its just that I want the option to retain the high end and be able to cut it down when I want the tone i'm currently getting. As of now to boost highs would introduce noise. I don't want to go through the machining plastic route as I will have to do a bit of experimentation with sand blasting on plastic and surface finishing and such. So I guess I'm gonna go with the silicon rubber mould route and cast the part as I like the surface texture and finish thats currently on the aluminium. I know someone who works with silicon rubber moulds a lot, so that bit is sorted.

Thank you so much for your insight and knowledge with the examples you mentioned. It really helps. So I guess I'll work on the pickup cover swap while the finish is in the curing stage.

Thanks again

 

[nicopiano]

Nice job so far, I'm impress!!! wow!!! I wish I can build a bass too, but I've never done anything manual in my life.

 

[kris pung]

I'm in! Getting this 33" scale Skjold in September. Here a pic of the builder, Pete Skjold with the bass. Super excited!!!

Way to Spam a build thread.

 

[6stringpanda]

I'm speachless! Absolutely awesome!

 

[metallutca]

Way to Spam a build thread.

Sorry, man. Posted at the wrong thread
Too many TB tabs in my browser

 

[wraub]

I doubt there is McMaster-Carr in Mumbai India.

As an aside, perhaps someone stateside could offer an assist in ordering and shipping domestic goods to suraj.
As much as anyone, I'd like to see this thing built right, and if something over here could make a difference, the guy should be able to get it.
Shipping/customs aside, might be of use.

Hell, I'll offer if no one else will...

 

[pedrodelawasp]

Brilliant work!

 

[deeptubes]

This is fantastic! Thank you for sharing the process with us! Looking forward to completion, but have thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Easily one of my two favorite threads. The other being a guy in Hong Kong who essentially disassembles amp motherboards and upgrades the components.

Threads like these are why I love TB!