granite would rock............................
You'd have to be stoned to play it....
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There's another storm brewing!
- Thread starter pilotjones
- Start date
You'd have to be stoned to play it....
Gluing pickup shells 1
I
- test fitted the pickups in the shells again
- cleaned up any fibers at the polepiece holes
- did a last test for pickup resistance, no sense gluing in a buggered pickup
- laid in some epoxy, and
- clamped them up as you can see here.
Tomorrow I'll see what is under thise separator sheets. Hopefully worst case is that the squeeze-up is bubbly, and I'll need to do a bit of xacto work before fully filling in the hollows.
I
- test fitted the pickups in the shells again
- cleaned up any fibers at the polepiece holes
- did a last test for pickup resistance, no sense gluing in a buggered pickup
- laid in some epoxy, and
- clamped them up as you can see here.
Tomorrow I'll see what is under thise separator sheets. Hopefully worst case is that the squeeze-up is bubbly, and I'll need to do a bit of xacto work before fully filling in the hollows.
Pickup shells 2
When I removed the clamps and cover sheets, I found that some of the polepieces had filled with some epoxy that squeezed upwards, and some of which had small bubbles. Some epoxy also spread sideways under the cover sheets. So I got out the xacto knives and cleaned up the polepiece hollows.
That left something that couldn't be left that way - too messy at the perimeters of the polepieces - so I went ahead and filled the pockets with epoxy.
I found
- small bubbles are created at the corners of the magnets, which have to be encouraged to break free and float up using a needle
- the trick of getting the bubbles out of the epoxy by hitting it with a hair dryer worked for larger bubbles, which popped immediately, but not the smaller ones
- by overfilling you can create a dome, so that any bubbles are guaranteed to be high enough up that the sand-back will eliminate them.
This is after curing, ready to be sanded back.
When I removed the clamps and cover sheets, I found that some of the polepieces had filled with some epoxy that squeezed upwards, and some of which had small bubbles. Some epoxy also spread sideways under the cover sheets. So I got out the xacto knives and cleaned up the polepiece hollows.
That left something that couldn't be left that way - too messy at the perimeters of the polepieces - so I went ahead and filled the pockets with epoxy.
I found
- small bubbles are created at the corners of the magnets, which have to be encouraged to break free and float up using a needle
- the trick of getting the bubbles out of the epoxy by hitting it with a hair dryer worked for larger bubbles, which popped immediately, but not the smaller ones
- by overfilling you can create a dome, so that any bubbles are guaranteed to be high enough up that the sand-back will eliminate them.
This is after curing, ready to be sanded back.
Epoxy sanded back, to 400 grit. I expect the epoxy to take a shine in final finishing when the grits go superfine.
String anchor holes
Now this was an operation to be nervous about. It may have been planned in CAD, but I was pretty sure that my freehand routing of the string recess at the tail did not exactly conform to the plan. Plus my 3D-printed jig is made of plastic, which could easily be mangled by the drill before the last hole was made. But sometimes you just have to check, test, and go.
First I glued a piece of MDF to the back of the spare "setup" CNC fretboard, to make my test piece. I went back through my notes of measurements of the string anchor holes in AD0001. Checked that the drill bit I had ordered quite a while ago now was the right diameter. Checked the bit against and old B string.
The implements of destruction
The long drill is not needed for a deep hole--it's needed to keep the drill chuck from hitting the body when drilling at such a shallow angle.
Jig sitting in the test piece
Two test holes drilled
Looks good, with both the straigher-walled and more angled-walled holes being about 50% through the vertical wall and 50% through the floor as intended, so I stopped there for fear of wearing out the jig.
Jig in place for first real hole. Shimmed for a tight, centered fit.
All five holes drilled. Success!
Now this was an operation to be nervous about. It may have been planned in CAD, but I was pretty sure that my freehand routing of the string recess at the tail did not exactly conform to the plan. Plus my 3D-printed jig is made of plastic, which could easily be mangled by the drill before the last hole was made. But sometimes you just have to check, test, and go.
First I glued a piece of MDF to the back of the spare "setup" CNC fretboard, to make my test piece. I went back through my notes of measurements of the string anchor holes in AD0001. Checked that the drill bit I had ordered quite a while ago now was the right diameter. Checked the bit against and old B string.
The implements of destruction
The long drill is not needed for a deep hole--it's needed to keep the drill chuck from hitting the body when drilling at such a shallow angle.
Jig sitting in the test piece
Two test holes drilled
Looks good, with both the straigher-walled and more angled-walled holes being about 50% through the vertical wall and 50% through the floor as intended, so I stopped there for fear of wearing out the jig.
Jig in place for first real hole. Shimmed for a tight, centered fit.
All five holes drilled. Success!
Last edited:
Thanks you for the kind comments.
Sounds like...
Now that I've got string anchorage holes, the next thing would be to go to the bridge saddle area of things. I wanted to confirm that things were as planned as far as bridge height, so I took one of the leftover saddles from #1 and narrowed it to fit these channels, and put in the riser screws. Mounted a tuner, put a bit of fret in the zero fret slot, put the saddle in an outer slot (worst case for string height), and tuned up a G string. It makes noise!
Link Removed
After joyously playing my fretless one-stringer for at least five minutes, I figured I should cut the nonsense before I risk making grooves in the flatsawn wenge.
I checked another old string, a B string, for length. I found, as expected, that I will not be able to use my preferred D'Addario super longs on this bass. (The B is 36" scale length on this one, same as the Storm King, but the Dark Storm has more breathing room from saddle to the string anchorage.) So my questions are:
Q:
1. What extra-long strings do you have knowledge of or experience with, and can you recommend?
2. Can you recommend a good resource for this info? I would imagine a Dingwall forum, or an ERB forum.
Thanks.
Sounds like...
Now that I've got string anchorage holes, the next thing would be to go to the bridge saddle area of things. I wanted to confirm that things were as planned as far as bridge height, so I took one of the leftover saddles from #1 and narrowed it to fit these channels, and put in the riser screws. Mounted a tuner, put a bit of fret in the zero fret slot, put the saddle in an outer slot (worst case for string height), and tuned up a G string. It makes noise!
Link Removed
After joyously playing my fretless one-stringer for at least five minutes, I figured I should cut the nonsense before I risk making grooves in the flatsawn wenge.
I checked another old string, a B string, for length. I found, as expected, that I will not be able to use my preferred D'Addario super longs on this bass. (The B is 36" scale length on this one, same as the Storm King, but the Dark Storm has more breathing room from saddle to the string anchorage.) So my questions are:
Q:
1. What extra-long strings do you have knowledge of or experience with, and can you recommend?
2. Can you recommend a good resource for this info? I would imagine a Dingwall forum, or an ERB forum.
Thanks.
Last edited:
I don't have an extra-long-scale electric, but I have used Circle K/Kalium strings with good success, and they make strings in the lengths you need. They have a supple feel that I like and more harmonic content than your typical nickel wound string. I don't have experience with Octave4Plus, but they do custom stuff. I'm sure there are others.
- Aug 15, 2011
- 571
- 171
- Disclosures
- Owner/Luthier:RoseBud Basses & Guitars LLC
Hey Pj, looking Fabulous! If you recall the 6-String fretless long scale I did last year, I went through a string concern. My beloved D'addario super long scale strings were too short. After I contacted Jason at bassstringsonline.com I found there were plenty of options. Jason helped me go through the options so I could make the choice I thought was right for the build. I ended up with LaBella flats. I've got nothing but good things to say about my experience with Jason, and he's active on TB. I think he even gives a small discount to TBers, Id say, check out his website or even give him a call. hope that helps. 
After I contacted Jason at bassstringsonline.com. I've got nothing but good things to say about my experience with Jason, and he's active on TB. I think he even gives a small discount to TBers
Jason has forgotten more about strings then I will ever know. Register an account, mention TB in the comments section when you register to get VIP pricing. I've received customer support from Jason at 11:30 PM on a SATURDAY!
Check the Bass Strings Online Forum here on TB at
Official: BassStringsOnline.com discussion thread | TalkBass.com
Yeah, I forgot BSO. I do like the Circle K rounds, but when I was putting together a set of balanced tension flats they were a big help. Octave4Plus said they could do a custom set of detuned flats I was contemplating - even customize aspects of the wind - but I never followed through with that project, so can't give feedback other than to say they were responsive to my email.
adam.beauchene
Commercial User
It's been a while since I logged in to TB, and reviewing the progress of this build has been a treat.
I can't help but think of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy; this bass has more "sraf" than any build ever in the LC. Keep up the good work homie.
I can't help but think of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy; this bass has more "sraf" than any build ever in the LC. Keep up the good work homie.
Thanks for the strings advice. I'll be looking into a solution soon.
Thanks all for the supportive comments! Adam, you know I read those books back when my daughter was in middle school. Hope I can make the bass live up to that invisible-sentient-spirit stuff.
I've been wondering what it weighs, too. It's not very heavy, since half of it is that very light Peruvian walnut. Plus the fact the pickups and hardware aren't mounted, of course. Right now I've only got access to a bathroom scale which has a precision of probably three pounds or worse, and a small accurate/precise scale that tops out at 100 grams. When it's done, though, I want to weight it and the Storm King and see where they lie.
_________________________________________
Starting saddles
I
Thanks all for the supportive comments! Adam, you know I read those books back when my daughter was in middle school. Hope I can make the bass live up to that invisible-sentient-spirit stuff.
I've been wondering what it weighs, too. It's not very heavy, since half of it is that very light Peruvian walnut. Plus the fact the pickups and hardware aren't mounted, of course. Right now I've only got access to a bathroom scale which has a precision of probably three pounds or worse, and a small accurate/precise scale that tops out at 100 grams. When it's done, though, I want to weight it and the Storm King and see where they lie.
_________________________________________
Starting saddles
I
- did CAD work to figure out what shape to make the saddles - several methods are available including different ways to use the outer boundary curves of the saddle slots - in the end I decided to make overlength saddles, string and intonate it, and then mark the saddles for shaping in situ with two pleasing and appropriate curves
- went through my offcuts, chose some pieces from either side of the fretboard, and made blanks for the saddles
- made the jig for drilling holes in the saddles. There's a channel routed in the underside, and the several pairs of holes are due to inaccuracies in drilling. The dowel is a great tool for seeing if the pair of holes is centered. The padauk saddle is a leftover from #1, to confirm the position and spacing.
As lovely as all these 28 pages have been, I'm afraid you will have to start over.
I want it in a lefty.
I want it in a lefty.
