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The Mediocre Builders Club

@bass theory, check out this guy's guitars, albethey six-strings, particularly this one, similar to your floating top design. Here's a copy/paste to preview.

walnut-jazz-skele-9.jpg
 
What's the point of measurement on the bridge? The saddle tops when saddles are in mid-travel along their screws?
Set the highest pitch saddle about 1/16" back from all the way front, that should give you the right amount of travel when you go to intonate. If you set to mid-travel you'll almost always run out of space on the lowest string.
 
Set the highest pitch saddle about 1/16" back from all the way front, that should give you the right amount of travel when you go to intonate. If you set to mid-travel you'll almost always run out of space on the lowest string.
Yep, that's why I mentioned the 75% I use, as this depends highly on the available travel distance the bridge has.
Take an original Ric bridge that has about half an inch of play while a Hipshot replacement has nearly one and a half inch.

From my personal experience putting the middle line of the two center saddles at 75% gives enough room for the both the highest and lowest strings.
So why 75% and not 50%, well at 50% the lowest (in my case D strings as I tune DGCF) will have a too high break angle for my liking. I know this is personal but up until this day my norm has functioned perfectly for me.

Btw, I always work my intonation beginning with the middle two strings as these are the ones closest to the defined scale.
 
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@bass theory, check out this guy's guitars, albethey six-strings, particularly this one, similar to your floating top design. Here's a copy/paste to preview.

View attachment 4453824

Whoa that is beautiful!
But, i don't think it is functionally like my floating bass. Well, maybe the original. But not the recent variations.
My design has progressed from backless to hollowed body. and even though the top is separated, the hollow body still has a resonance to it. Not as much, but still there is some. With that design, there is no body under the strings to resonate. In effect this is almost more like no body at all, except to house the electronics and give it form. I would guess this would be functionally more like a solid body in tone. that was how my backless floating bass was.

But oh my goodness that is beautiful. The only thing i don't like is it is made from plywood rather than lumber.

Also, i have not tried yet to do a variable scale. maybe soon, but i am still perfecting my main line design.

I know RodRy may not like it but I am becoming partial to using wooden pickguards on my main line. My original plan was to use pickguards only on baritones, and they would all be hot rails set up like a stratocaster. But, now i am considering doing it with dual soapbox pickups on my basses also. It is exceedingly difficult doing intricate work with wood that is only 1/8" thick, especially when you shave off that 1/8" yourself from thicker base woods, but the results are lovely. I got the idea from cutting down 6/4 lumber to 1" in order to make necks. (cut off 1/8", take away another 1/8"for saw kerf, and you have 1" thick lumber)

Hmmm... what if i made the backless body version 3/4" thick... then add the floating top, and a floating back as well.... It would sure be interesting... could call it the full floating bass.... maybe someday.
 
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I know RodRy may not like it but I am becoming partial to using wooden pickguards on my main line. My original plan was to use pickguards only on baritones, and they would all be hot rails set up like a stratocaster. But, now i am considering doing it with dual soapbox pickups on my basses also. It is exceedingly difficult doing intricate work with wood that is only 1/8" thick, especially when you shave off that 1/8" yourself from thicker base woods, but the results are lovely. I got the idea from cutting down 6/4 lumber to 1" in order to make necks. (cut off 1/8", take away another 1/8"for saw kerf, and you have 1" thick lumber)

Hmmm... what if i made the backless body version 3/4" thick... then add the floating top, and a floating back as well.... It would sure be interesting... could call it the full floating bass.... maybe someday.
Did I say something about not liking wooden pickguards? Could be. I say too much stuffs sometimes. Some of it I don't mean when I thinks on it later.

I dig wooden pickguards on some instruments. And just found out there's a TB thread about it!
Show Your Wood Pick Guard Bass

One of the guys has a cool wooden pickguard on his Squier Mini. And I've been thinking of getting a maple one for Birdy.
IMG_4598 (2).JPG
:thumbsup:
 
Did I say something about not liking wooden pickguards? Could be. I say too much stuffs sometimes. Some of it I don't mean when I thinks on it later.

I dig wooden pickguards on some instruments. And just found out there's a TB thread about it!
Show Your Wood Pick Guard Bass

I think you just mentioned something about pickguards in general. I don't remember you making any bad remarks about wooden pickguards specifically.

I like the way i get the chance to enhance the look of a bass in a classy way, by using different woods for the pickguard and top wood. like using a cherry top with Mahogany PG, or the other way around.
 
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My basses have been packed away for the moment as I'm moving, jeez 41 is a LOT.
Still have two to do some playing with and my Ric, those will go with me when I finally move to my new (well not that new, 100+ years old) home.
And as such, all my projects have been suspended for the moment. Will be for the better though as nearly all my workshop gear was already there so the projects will benefit from the move.
 
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Two are actually made for sale, but those are not part of the 41. Other than that, it would be very much contradictory of my BHPD and as such a bit out of the question... ;)

@MirandM, we all have unusual facets to our selves, and I am glad you have owned your BHPD and presented it in a shamless way to the group. My own hoarding disorders include slide rules and calculators, and pencils, less problematic to store and move than your bass guitars.
 
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@MirandM, we all have unusual facets to our selves, and I am glad you have owned your BHPD and presented it in a shamless way to the group. My own hoarding disorders include slide rules and calculators, and pencils, less problematic to store and move than your bass guitars.

What?
And here I thought I was the last person on earth that even knew how to use a slide rule. back in '76 i got permission to use a slide rule for my algebra 2 and trig class instead of the required calculator (which i couldn't afford at the time) because the professor thought it was such a novelty back then. (he made allowances for the limited precision of the slide rule) That's 45 years ago. And yes i still have a couple slide rules somewhere along with drafting points and tweezers and point sharpeners. i think my old drafting desk might still be around at my mothers house. But I thought i was the only one.
 
@MirandM, we all have unusual facets to our selves, and I am glad you have owned your BHPD and presented it in a shamless way to the group. My own hoarding disorders include slide rules and calculators, and pencils, less problematic to store and move than your bass guitars.
Do you have a circular slide rule? Very rare, I have one from my father, stashed somewhere in a box, I do remember it has metal flip open case.

As for other hoarding disorders I also have a rather extensive collection of SLR cameras, film ones that is. I have a pile of some 20 cases each containing between 5 to 8, so about 120, not counting duplicates, all mayor brands, some very rare and expensive nowadays, mayor brand being Olympus of which I also have nearly all lenses. I also have some digitals but those are minor. This collection is easy to move as they are in cases already.
 
What?
And here I thought I was the last person on earth that even knew how to use a slide rule. back in '76 i got permission to use a slide rule for my algebra 2 and trig class instead of the required calculator (which i couldn't afford at the time) because the professor thought it was such a novelty back then. (he made allowances for the limited precision of the slide rule) That's 45 years ago. And yes i still have a couple slide rules somewhere along with drafting points and tweezers and point sharpeners. i think my old drafting desk might still be around at my mothers house. But I thought i was the only one.
Did you learn how to write using a fountain pen and an ink pot like I did?

I was allowed to use my calculator (a HP-21 RPN one) nobody understood how it worked so they couldn't figure out what I was doing... later on I got a Hp-67 programmable one, that was a blast for using during exams :smug:
 
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Hewlett-Packard and RPN… now you’re talking my language! I do like the slide rules better, though. My favorite is the Post Versalog, made by Hemmi (Japan), a log-log advanced rule, and the Keuffel & Esser Deci-LoN, similar but based on natural logs. I only have one SLR, a Canon F1 that I traded a Tag Heuer dive watch for while I was in the Navy in the mid-1980’s, but I have not used it in many years.
 
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