• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

The Rickenbarner - my first fully scratch-build!

#23
In between working on opening the pool yesterday, I got a few minutes to cut down my neck boards to 1 3/4" thick. Unfortunately, I found the walnut board to not be as straight as I thought it was :

DSC_0092_zpslrovezpz.jpg


I'm hoping that the planing sled for my router will be able to flatten it out, while still leaving me with at least a 1/2" for the neck stripe.
 
#24
If you can get the worst of the wave out of the walnut, the laminating process may do the rest for you. My neck blank developed a tiny (1/32" or so) backbow AFTER glue-up, which is weird. Hopefully the double action trussrod will cancel that out. You really never know what wood is going to do till after you cut it, I guess.
 
#26
Nice score on the hand planer. Those Dewalt tablesaws are the best portable contractors saws out there. I share a Jet Contractor saw with my brother, and stupidly bought a cheap Delta jobsite saw for home improvement work. A complete piece of junk! The motor is fine, but the fence is useless.
 
#27
The best thing about the hand planer is that it only cost ten bucks! And yeah, that table saw was the first major tool I got after moving into a proper house. It's really a great saw.

In other news, I got something cool in my mailbox today...

DSC_0099_zpseqlkpfba.jpg


These are marbled brown water buffalo horn nut blanks. I got the idea from someone else's TDPRI Challenge build, and I thought it would be a nice match for this bass, over a plain white or black nut. The toughest thing will be picking which one of these will become the nut for this bass, but the best thing is that I will have a few chances to get it cut just right.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cesar89
#29
I got the neck blank planed on both sides with the router sled. The next step will be routing the truss rod slots:

DSC_0115_zpsp9kegpy6.jpg


Before I do, I have a question. Is it advisable to keep the slots in the maple only, or is it okay for them to cross the glue line into the walnut stripe? I'd kind of like to have them closer together at the headstock end, but stability is obviously more important in the long run. Any thoughts?
 
#30
As long as your glue joint is solid, it doesn't matter.

But - is it too late to talk you out of two truss rods? Personally I don't feel it's warranted at all for a four-string, and very rarely for a five (would have to be a very wide five). In fact, one could argue that removing enough wood for two rods on a four-string is more detrimental than any benefits the two rods would bring.
 
  • Like
Reactions: michaelwayneharwood
#31
ctmullins said:
As long as your glue joint is solid, it doesn't matter.

But - is it too late to talk you out of two truss rods? Personally I don't feel it's warranted at all for a four-string, and very rarely for a five (would have to be a very wide five). In fact, one could argue that removing enough wood for two rods on a four-string is more detrimental than any benefits the two rods would bring.
Click to expand...

But do you think I'll need the CF rods on either side, if I go with one?
 
#32
ctmullins said:
As long as your glue joint is solid, it doesn't matter.

But - is it too late to talk you out of two truss rods? Personally I don't feel it's warranted at all for a four-string, and very rarely for a five (would have to be a very wide five). In fact, one could argue that removing enough wood for two rods on a four-string is more detrimental than any benefits the two rods would bring.
Click to expand...
Ron,
I went through the same thought process on my Hossenfeffer and decided to go with one trussrod and two CF rods. My thinking was that two trussrods requires a big adjustment trench in the top of the headstock, and Rics don't have a volute at the neck/headstock transition, so that's where they break if you drop them. (I witnessed this happen to a friend's Ric, he nearly wept) I'm adding a volute to the transition on mine to beef it up, it doesn't change the look much, and it's stronger. Ric is the only company I can think of that does two TR on a 4-string. Most builders don't add two TR until you get into a 6-string neck.
IMG_2456_zpso0ox88oc.jpg


Here's a drawing of my neck section right at the nut, and a cross-section at the first fret. The .91" depth is taken from a recent production 4003. Ideally I'd like to shave it a little thinner, but the common wisdom seems to be 3/16" minimum wood thickness between bottom of TR and back of neck. In retrospect, I probably should have moved the CF rods a little closer to the TR so I could have thinned it out to more of a flat "D" profile than "C".
volute_zpsqk7lnqy6.jpg
 
#33
RaniBrandt said:
But do you think I'll need the CF rods on either side, if I go with one?
Click to expand...

Personally, no. But it also depends upon your desired neck carve. Earlier you mentioned a "soft V" profile. That to me means a decent front-to-back measurement, with extra wood taken out of the sides. I'm not a structural engineer, but that sounds like a nice thick "beam" down the middle of the neck. If it were my build I'd skip the CF and just do a single rod. Most of my necks are on the thicker side, and when I've combined a thicker carve with a three-piece neck, using only a single rod, I've actually had to use the rod to induce some relief!

Oh, and a big +1 on the volute!
 
#34
ctmullins said:
Personally, no. But it also depends upon your desired neck carve. Earlier you mentioned a "soft V" profile. That to me means a decent front-to-back measurement, with extra wood taken out of the sides. I'm not a structural engineer, but that sounds like a nice thick "beam" down the middle of the neck. If it were my build I'd skip the CF and just do a single rod. Most of my necks are on the thicker side, and when I've combined a thicker carve with a three-piece neck, using only a single rod, I've actually had to use the rod to induce some relief!

Oh, and a big +1 on the volute!
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm doing a soft-V, so I think that should provide some extra stiffness. And yes, it will have the traditional RIC volute. Okay then, only one potentially disastrous channel rout coming up!
 
  • Like
Reactions: thebassbuilder
#35
I thought "the traditional RIC volute" was no volute at all? But yes, I'm glad to hear you'll be including one.

An additional factor is fingerboard thickness. A thicker fingerboard makes for a stiffer neck.
 
  • Like
Reactions: daveman50
#36
You may be right, now that I'm looking at photo references. In any case, the plans I'm working from have one similar to this one, on a Gibson Midtown bass:

BADCCHCH1-Side-Shot.jpg


I suppose that was just an improvement made by the person who drew up the plans. In any case, it'll be there on this one.

I don't think I mentioned that I'm the stay-at-home dad for my 22-month-old son. This means that any work I get done during the day has to go around his schedule and whether he feels like playing in front of the garage. He was hanging a little too close today, so I didn't feel safe running the router. Therefore, I side-stepped that for now and went ahead with body glue-ups.

Here's the upper bout:

DSC_0117_zps6b8dwjln.jpg


And here's the lower bout:

DSC_0116_zps74sp55q7.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gilmourisgod and ctmullins
#37
RaniBrandt said:
Oh, and I forgot to mention that cheers, jeers, comments, and suggestions are all welcome!
Click to expand...

  • Cheers to Ronald P. Brandt for building a bass that will be stunning, and interesting
  • Jeers to Ronald P. Brandt for building this bass, and not planning to ship it to my house for free
  • Cheers to Ronald P. Brandt for understanding the difference between Shinola, and something else
  • Jeers to Ronald P. Brandt for spending too much time somewhere other than the garage
  • Cheers to whoever parked in my spot today. When that semi went over the barricade and crushed your car, I immediately regretted the nasty note I taped to your windshield
  • Jeers to the makers of Cheer detergent
  • Cheers to the makers of Jeer beer
  • Jeers to mosquitoes. Why are they so annoying?
  • Jeers to wood tics. They are less fun than ever
  • Cheers to really good dinners, left socks, Armadillos and Bacon Ranch anything
  • Jeers to loud parties I wasn't invited to
  • Jeers to jeering. It's poor sportsmanship, people.
  • Cheers to cheering, but could you keep it down? I have to get up early
I will withhold my comments and suggestions until everyone is done cheering and jeering.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PortlandBass77, JdoubleH, MonetBass and 2 others
#39
ctmullins said:
As long as your glue joint is solid, it doesn't matter.

But - is it too late to talk you out of two truss rods? Personally I don't feel it's warranted at all for a four-string, and very rarely for a five (would have to be a very wide five). In fact, one could argue that removing enough wood for two rods on a four-string is more detrimental than any benefits the two rods would bring.
Click to expand...

If I may offer a dissenting opinion, I actually prefer dual truss rods, even on a 4 string bass, *especially* if it is a neck through. On a Fender bass, as an example, if the neck twists, you can replace it. On a neck through, you basically throw out the bass. Dual truss rods offer more control over the natural tendency of wood to twist and turn along with the weather.

Your milage may vary.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ronaldpdbrandt
#40
mapleglo said:
If I may offer a dissenting opinion, I actually prefer dual truss rods, even on a 4 string bass, *especially* if it is a neck through. On a Fender bass, as an example, if the neck twists, you can replace it. On a neck through, you basically throw out the bass. Dual truss rods offer more control over the natural tendency of wood to twist and turn along with the weather.

Your milage may vary.
Click to expand...

No real argument here. There is moe than one way to do it. But also remember that the rods that Rickenbacker uses are (correct me if I'm wrong here) single-action rods, which means their installed depth is shallower than the double-action rods purchased for this build. Twice the channels, but (approximately) half the depth.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mapleglo

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back