The SCP - Single Cut P-Bass

[Videojunkie]

I fixed a goof from earlier. When I sanded the end of the fretboard, I was a bit too aggressive and mis-shaped it a bit.

Tonight, I cut the end off at the 24th fret, and reshaped the end. I used super glue to hold the new piece on, which may have been a mistake, but I needed something to hold it while I was holding the 2 pieces together, and that fit the bill. (I even used accelerator! ) I expect that I will wind up gluing this fret in.

I am exceptionally happy with the precision that I was able to execute for this part of the build, as it gives me hope for the remainder of it.

The line you can see in the drawing below is the 1.5mm offset for the binding.

 

[Videojunkie]

Materials update:

I have the 6mm binding material for the fretboard, and the M6 bolts for the neck. I went with these because I thought the low profile head would work well.

I also have an M6 tap so I can finish the bruce bars.

 

[Videojunkie]

Made my first bruce bar tonight. Everything went well, except apparently the bar moved in my drill press vice, and I didn't realize it!

I'll have to make another one, good thing I have extra material.

 

[Videojunkie]

In case you're stuck trying to use a tap without a handle, a brace (as in brace and bit) drill worked exceptionally well to thread the brass!

 

[Max Bogosity]

Hard to tell from the photos, is the problem the distance between holes or is one of them off square?

 

[Videojunkie]

The spacing is perfect, one of them is angled. I am debating between redrilling the hole and making the bar shorter or remaking it.

 

[Videojunkie]

The new bruce bar is much better than the other one.

Starting the 2nd one.

 

[Videojunkie]

A pair of completed bruce bars.

Not quite perfect, but I am pretty happy. I'm not a machinist by any measure. All the bolts thread beautifully, they are reasonably straight (well within the 1/4" holes I will bore for them to thread through) and best of all they are very close to the design plans.

Oh, and bar and chain oil makes a wonderful drilling and tap lubricant!

 

[Beej]

Very nice bling

I will recommend countersinking the tops of the holes to help with threading them in when the neck's built.

 

[Videojunkie]

I know it's been a while, but I figured out, that paralleling two builds just wasn't going to work for me.

And, I really wanted to finish the Rick-man build first.

So, looking through my box of goodies, I need to order a pickup, and the sliders for this bass. And I think that is about it. I have all the lumber (some still needs to be milled) and a lot of practice on building the Rick-man.

Next steps:

Building the template for the body (the headstock uses the same templates as the Rick-man build did)
Build the neck blank (the fingerboard is done, just needs binding)

 

[Videojunkie]

Looking at the sliders for this, and the only thing I can find are either 100K or 1M sliders with audio taper.

I'm thinking 1M for volume and tone. With probably a .47uF cap for tone?
Link Removed
Link Removed

If I wait until July, they'll have 500K sliders, everything else is 10K or 100K which seems like too low impedance.

I'm going with 45mm sliders, as the 60mm ones don't come with the proper parameters.

So 2 sliders, PU -> Tone -> .47uF capacitor -> Volume -> output jack.

 

[NKBassman]

Looking at the sliders for this, and the only thing I can find are either 100K or 1M sliders with audio taper.

I'm thinking 1M for volume and tone. With probably a .47uF cap for tone?
Link Removed
Link Removed

If I wait until July, they'll have 500K sliders, everything else is 10K or 100K which seems like too low impedance.

I'm going with 45mm sliders, as the 60mm ones don't come with the proper parameters.

So 2 sliders, PU -> Tone -> .47uF capacitor -> Volume -> output jack.
View attachment 4970709

1M pots will work, and will retain more top end VS typical 250k or 500k pots. You want 0.047 uF to start with though (not 0.47 uF).
You may want to also add a couple of darker tone caps to your order just in case. I suggest trying a 0.1 uF for a darker roll off.

 

[NKBassman]

47 nF = 0.047 uF, so you're good with the link you posted above.

 

[Videojunkie]

1M pots will work, and will retain more top end VS typical 250k or 500k pots. You want 0.047 uF to start with though (not 0.47 uF).
You may want to also add a couple of darker tone caps to your order just in case. I suggest trying a 0.1 uF for a darker roll off.

Good suggestion. Sliders and Caps on order. I'll wait for the PU as I'm no where near ready for it yet.

I think my order of operations on this build will be:
1. Finish the neck
2. build the control 'module'
3. build the body

I have a bit of wood to mill down for the neck, but I am optimistic that I won't have to buy any more wood (unless I wind up at Woodcraft and they have something incredible...)

 

[Videojunkie]

These are going to be fun!

 

[Videojunkie]

Got a chance to spend a few minutes in the shop and it's super nice out before getting crappy this weekend. So I decided to work up the template for the body. Some MDF, bandsaw and spindle sander later, and things came together...

It's smaller in real life than I expected based on the drawings. I think this is going to be a very comfortable bass size.

One of those things that virtual design doesn't convey is I think I will move the neck about an inch (30mm) away from the body. This will put the pickup and the natural balance point at the waist of the body, and will open up some space behind the bridge that will make carving the body easier.

 

[Videojunkie]

Here is the drawing showing the shifted neck position.

 

[Isaac_James]

I really like the headstock design, it looks great on the RickMan and I think it'll suit this one very nicely too.

 

[Beej]

One of those things that virtual design doesn't convey is I think I will move the neck about an inch (30mm) away from the body. This will put the pickup and the natural balance point at the waist of the body, and will open up some space behind the bridge that will make carving the body easier.
View attachment 4989393 View attachment 4989394 View attachment 4989395 View attachment 4989396 View attachment 4989397

Honestly, I think this move will do the exact opposite of what you are saying here - it will lessen the balance of the bass and make the headstock 'heavier' compared to the original layout. The natural balance point will move outward towards the headstock - unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean by 'natural balance point'?

 

[Videojunkie]

Honestly, I think this move will do the exact opposite of what you are saying here - it will lessen the balance of the bass and make the headstock 'heavier' compared to the original layout. The natural balance point will move outward towards the headstock - unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean by 'natural balance point'?

Currently the bass balances (admittedly this is the template) behind the waist towards the bridge. By moving the balance point forward, the bass will be more forward balanced. I like my guitars to balance just behind the front strap location, while remaining body biased, so the neck doesn't dive.

This is going to be a pretty heavy body, solid walnut and maple. Although heavily carved.