OVERDUE UP DATE
..
Lets talk about pick up covers
There were a few things that had to be considered for these covers, my client wants all the parts on this bass to blend in, and that meant matching the covers to the neck lams. Theres not much tolerances for width so that the pick-up cavities dont run into the control cavity and still have an acceptable amount of wood between them. The tops need be only thick enough to counter sink the pick-up mounting screws yet strong enough for years of adjustments.
Now where did I put the cut-offs from the neck
Ah here they are
I chose to use a jewelry box construction style on these covers; the tops of the covers will be made from the body angle cut-off making it a near perfect match, the neck and bridge sides will be made from the back of the neck cut-off. Then both ends will be capped with sapele. I chose the jewelry box construction style because I felt it would yield the best results in keeping all sides of the cover thin yet structurally sound and would be the easiest way to keep the lams lined up.
So I started by adding some wenge lams to match the body area of the pick-ups location using super glue. To prevent the lams from separating and add a little strength, I then glued this piece to some walnut veneer perpendicular to the lams, (like ply wood) using Tight Bond.
The back of the neck cut-off was thicker than the body angle wedge
so the cover sides, (neck and bridge side) can be sanded to thickness, (3/32) and cut to size. On the other hand, the tops were still a bit thin, measuring around 1/16. That is most definitely not thick enough to counter sink the mounting screw heads, so I glued on some more walnut to the underside of the tops giving a final thickness of 1/8 ish.
While this was gluing up in clamps, I pulled out a scraps of pine and cut it into two blocks the same size as the actual pick-ups (+ 1/32 I think, for the solder connections on the bottom). These blocks will be used as mock pick-ups to build the covers around. Once the blocks where sized, I attached them to some melamine board with double side tape. Next, a heavy coat of past wax goes on to make sure the glue dose not stick to the mock-up blocks. As I continued to wait for glue to dry, I got this cut-off -
-and sliced it up to use the sapele for the end caps.
With the glue dry, all the parts were cut and sanded to size, then dry fitted. Time for assembly; one piece at a time taking extra care to keep alignment of the lams. Yes
I know
I could have/should have taken more pics of this, but I didnt
and now my camera is dead. And the glue up.
Once the glued cured, the covers were shaped and sanded. Then the cavities where routed by placing the covers in their proper location on the body and double side taping, (I used a lot of tape, I didnt want any movement) MDF blocks around them.
I did have pics of this process,(and the wooden bridge) and the covers in the bass when my camera cashed to the ground and now I have no idea how to get the pics off the memory card, the card is not compatible with my computer, so
Im afraid those pics may be lost. Ill try to get a new pic and post it as soon as I can.
Well now, the future owner of this bass needed to make some decisions, but was tied up in the studio for a bit, so I finally got him to the shop this weekend and those decisions were made.
Now I can continue on and complete this bass. A couple more parts will be ordered on Tuesday (as well as a new camera .
.) and body carving will begin this week.
I will also do a new pictorial of making the bridge and get everybody up to speed in time for finish sanding, in till next time
Happy Fathers day and Happy Building. .
.
Can't wait for the end result!!
.
. I suppose I still could. .
