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What the heck? 14 strings
- Thread starter Dusty G
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I'm cutting and rounding the slots on the nut to accommodate the angles on the strings which will be tracking more diagonally. There won't be any problem w/ them, as far as your concerns go. I'm not worried about them getting hung up either, as lignum vitae has really good self-lubricating properties, and is very hard. The benefit of having the weight of the tuners as close to the body as possible is very important with the balance in this instance. The neck is heavier than the body.
Don't worry, none of the strings will suffer in any manner by being angled over the nut; I've actually crimped and wound the thick part of a B string on a tuning peg and had no probs. (Not reccommended) And this is not even in that neighborhood, just a little unusual, like the rest of the bass! I'll try to get some good progress done this weekend and post some pics.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!
Don't worry, none of the strings will suffer in any manner by being angled over the nut; I've actually crimped and wound the thick part of a B string on a tuning peg and had no probs. (Not reccommended) And this is not even in that neighborhood, just a little unusual, like the rest of the bass! I'll try to get some good progress done this weekend and post some pics.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!
SDB Guitars
Commercial User
if im not mistaken, some jerzy drozd basses have weight (lead i think) added to the body to fix this problem
you are not mistaken, Jean Baudin has an 18 pound bass with a three pound weight in the control cavity to help with the balance. Of course, he also mentions he only plays the bass seated.
SDB Guitars
Commercial User
IIRC, Curbow basses sometimes (generally?) had a large brass block imbedded into the body under the bridge to help with balance and *ahem* "sustain"... 
IIRC, Curbow basses sometimes (generally?) had a large brass block imbedded into the body under the bridge to help with balance and *ahem* "sustain"...
So do Alembics....
The bridge is almost done, and the nut is rough cut. I still have to get the depth of the nut slots done, but I fed the upper and lower strings thru the body and the bridge, and tightened them up to make sure everything is ok. I still have some work to do on the headstock, and some sanding to do on the inside of the horns.
The angle of the upper and lower strings off of the nut to the tuners is just fine, for those who are concerned. The detail I did not foresee was that the holes for the wider strings going thru the body needed to be rounded, because they don't bend as tightly as I thought they would thru the body and over the nut. I used a drill free-hand to round the entrance and exit of the string thru the body.
I'll post pics of the finished bridge soon.
The angle of the upper and lower strings off of the nut to the tuners is just fine, for those who are concerned. The detail I did not foresee was that the holes for the wider strings going thru the body needed to be rounded, because they don't bend as tightly as I thought they would thru the body and over the nut. I used a drill free-hand to round the entrance and exit of the string thru the body.
I'll post pics of the finished bridge soon.
Just a quick update. I think I've settled on the bridge design here. It's made from lignum vitae and aluminum. I had to drill the holes in the aluminum in a way where it allows a little play in the elements to get it so they all can sit at the correct angle. It was a pain!
All the elements overlap each other a bit,because of the narrow spacing, but will all have enough distance between them to rule out any interference between strings
Hope you guys like it so far, I'm having fun! I'm gonna need some help w/ the electronics tho. At this point, I'm planning to wind a huge single coil pu w/ 14 pole pieces, but I would be really interested if anyone had other ideas!
All the elements overlap each other a bit,because of the narrow spacing, but will all have enough distance between them to rule out any interference between strings
Hope you guys like it so far, I'm having fun! I'm gonna need some help w/ the electronics tho. At this point, I'm planning to wind a huge single coil pu w/ 14 pole pieces, but I would be really interested if anyone had other ideas!
At this point, I'm planning to wind a huge single coil pu w/ 14 pole pieces, but I would be really interested if anyone had other ideas!
a pickup with several blade pieces, comes to mind.
what about winding different pickups for the lower, middle, and higher pitched strings? im definately no expert but that might work better than just one pickup for all the strings.
I'm just guessing cause 'm totally clueless but a P pick up would make sense stagered you can have 7 of them, then they'd be the about the exual distance between the bridge and fingerboard...
my vote goes for this option, sounds like the most logical, most feasiable, and that way, you could just buy production sets...well, given that the string spacing works out the same. but either way, would make things much easier.
At first it sounds like a good idea but the Wishbass factor would be high and I think this bass deserves better.
I think individual "plot" pickups ala Atlansia or EMG would look awesome.
EMG makes something like that?At first it sounds like a good idea but the Wishbass factor would be high and I think this bass deserves better.
I think individual "plot" pickups ala Atlansia or EMG would look awesome.
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