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Wenge Short Scale 4-string

#22
If I went with the jazz pickups, I'd install a pair of Nordstrand NJ4SV pickups. I would wire them to a 4-way switch that would allow for switching between neck and bridge pickups, as well as series/parallel wiring when both pickups are on.

If I install the MM pickup, it would have that same switching using the 2 coils in the humbucker (split to neck, both parallel, both series, split to bridge).
 
#26
My only thing about the jazz set is that I don't want to split them up, and now I'm thinking of making another short scale, sorta like the Rob Allen Mouse 30, in that it would be fretless semi-hollow, and have a nice wooden bridge with a piezo, but also a pair of jazz pickups (WWJD - What Would Jaco Do?) ;)
 
#28
WHEW! At long last, I get a chance to revisit this one. Geez, I've been busy... lol

So, I installed the pickup last weekend, then went to wire up the controls last night, and found that my pots were "short shaft" ones, and the top was too thick.

SO, out comes the router, and I get to work thinning the top from inside the control cavity.

THEN, tragedy strikes... apparently I didn't sufficiently tighten the collet on my router (working with power tools after working 12 hours at a day job *might* be a bad idea...), and the bit drifted out slowly. Slowly enough, in fact, that I didn't notice until it went right through the piece. Rather than a thinner top, I ended up with a large gouge clear through the top... NOT a place I wanted to see daylight.

What can you do, when fate (read: inattention) deals you a bad hand? You BLUFF! Er, wait... no, you DRAW! That's it...

So, I made a top cover, a la Carl Thompson... I made it slightly boomerang shape, in homage to the MM heritage, and mounted the controls to it... Volume, tone and a 4-way rotary switch (allows either coil separately or both in series or parallel).

Here's a full frontal shot: ;)

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And here's a close-up of the body:

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Sound clips to follow, probably this weekend, I'd guess... and yes, I'm aware that the poles don't *quite* line up. I plugged it in, and the sound is very balanced from string-to-string, so I'm not going to complain about it. I may do a cover without exposed poles, at some point, mostly for aesthetic purposes.
 
#30
Yeah, likely that's not the *final* piece... I think I want something lighter in color, and I'm planning on getting some wenge knobs for it.

I almost went with Spanish cedar for the plate, as that's what the body is made of, but I'll probably go with maple instead, as it's more durable.
 
#32
Yeah, once it's done, I don't know if I'll play it, or if I'll sell it. I'm still not sure that short scale basses are my thing. I'm working on a 32" "medium" scale bass right now, as well as a standard 34" scale, both with variations of my prototype singlecut body.
 
#34
So, here's a 1am-straight-into-the-PC-soundcard recording of the little wenge monster. ;)

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Recorded into Audacity, one take, around 12:40am. I'm going to bed. Please don't hate on my lousy playing. LOL
 
#38
Wow - great tone - very "barky". And it does seem to be intonated pretty well - the upper-register chordal stuff on the demo sounds pretty much in tune to me!

Good job!
 
#39
yep... the action is pretty low, too...

I tried to to a variety of things on the demo, but it *was* 12:30am, and so I can't guarantee it's *entirely* representative. A better player could have squeezed more out of it, I'm sure. Between Jaco, Paul, and Geddy (none of whom I could hold a candle to), I figured there would be something everybody could appreciate.
 

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