You can fill those ugly stamps with epoxy or bondo and paint the bridge with satin spray. That Overlord stamp is really ugly.
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I've never seen one of those overlord bridges, but just looking at the pictures I have a hard time believing it's an upgrade to the one I have here. I'll try bringing a string or two up to tension and see what happens.
Man I miss my shop, this would be a five minute test and my mind would be at ease. I can't do that unless I drive over my dad's.
Man I miss my shop, this would be a five minute test and my mind would be at ease. I can't do that unless I drive over my dad's.
I have to agree with MPU. If you don't like the overlord bridge, get some of @michaelwayneharwood's bridge pieces.
I haven't done any tests on the bridge yet, but I'm going forward like it will work. I don't see any problems with it, but I will remain skeptical until I see it work.
I drew out the "final" design on the hunk of wood this morning, I'm sure this is hard to see, but I can see how this will work (as an aside - how do you draw lines on dark woods like black walnut? I wish there was a white version of a regular pencil, I've seen crayon type implements, but I want something that can be erased like pencil can).
I drew out the "final" design on the hunk of wood this morning, I'm sure this is hard to see, but I can see how this will work (as an aside - how do you draw lines on dark woods like black walnut? I wish there was a white version of a regular pencil, I've seen crayon type implements, but I want something that can be erased like pencil can).
This is what I've been using. It's light years better than trying to see regular pencil lines!
Dritz Tailor's Marking Set Amazon.com: Dritz Tailor's Marking Set
Dritz Tailor's Marking Set Amazon.com: Dritz Tailor's Marking Set
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Thanks, ordered one last night.
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I was afraid this would happen - I put aside the fiver to work on the wing today. Not a big deal, but I was hoping to get that fiver done before the first week of February when I see all my coworkers (I work from home so I never see anyone from my company).
Anyway, I figured the first thing I need to do is do the routing for this terrible bridge. The first thing I did was make a template out of pine that it fit perfectly in. After I routed a hole with that I realized that the router bit left the corners so big that I really wasn't gaining much over just making a rectangular pocket and using a chisel to do the ends.
Making a rectangular template is pretty easy, I just cut a piece of wood to the width of the bridge then used sheetrock screws to fasten two edge pieces. I made it long so it's easy to clamp (hey I have learned something).
Then I tried it out on a test piece - it is just a touch wide so I ran some packing tape on the inside of it, I'll test it one more time. This was easy to route and doing those little ears with a chisel was not hard at all (I'll be more careful on the final one):
It looks pretty good. The plan will be to have the knobs have coverage on the back side. On this bridge you can pull on the knobs and they extend about 2", so you don't have to have them exposed from the back.
Anyway, I figured the first thing I need to do is do the routing for this terrible bridge. The first thing I did was make a template out of pine that it fit perfectly in. After I routed a hole with that I realized that the router bit left the corners so big that I really wasn't gaining much over just making a rectangular pocket and using a chisel to do the ends.
Making a rectangular template is pretty easy, I just cut a piece of wood to the width of the bridge then used sheetrock screws to fasten two edge pieces. I made it long so it's easy to clamp (hey I have learned something).
Then I tried it out on a test piece - it is just a touch wide so I ran some packing tape on the inside of it, I'll test it one more time. This was easy to route and doing those little ears with a chisel was not hard at all (I'll be more careful on the final one):
It looks pretty good. The plan will be to have the knobs have coverage on the back side. On this bridge you can pull on the knobs and they extend about 2", so you don't have to have them exposed from the back.
Hey Jisch,
I know some of the other folks here weren't real keen on this bridge, but have you come to that conclusion from examining it or just taking their word? I think some of the cheap stuff is cheap because the customer is essentially doing the quality control and thus you may get a good one. I mean it must be promising enough that you are making the effort to route for it right? It looks reasonable to me anyway.
I see no reason to question it. When you turn the tuner, the spindle turns, there is no serious friction. There was one knob that had a tight spot on it, but after obsessively spinning it, the burr must have worn off the gear, because it's smooth now. I should really test it before installing just to make sure it holds the string up to tension.
The one (so far) huge negative of this bridge is it's very heavy. I may take a drill to it to, but that will be a later project.
I have a friend who is a mechanical engineer, he looked at it last night, he didn't see anything wrong with it. So, yes, right now I think it's worth moving forward.
The one (so far) huge negative of this bridge is it's very heavy. I may take a drill to it to, but that will be a later project.
I have a friend who is a mechanical engineer, he looked at it last night, he didn't see anything wrong with it. So, yes, right now I think it's worth moving forward.
I tested the bridge, it seemed to work perfectly. I didn't get it up to tune or anything, I just tightened it until it felt like a G string, no problems. I think this will work fine.
Lots of measuring and reseting then finally routing. It came out pretty good. I think the sides of the bridge are not quite parallel, but it looks good.
Ignore the 17" mark, ultimately it's in the wrong place:
Lots of measuring and reseting then finally routing. It came out pretty good. I think the sides of the bridge are not quite parallel, but it looks good.
Ignore the 17" mark, ultimately it's in the wrong place:
I was looking at the bridge and it looks like I'll have to recess the whole thing 1/4" deeper. This means the current route needs to be 1/4" deeper and the part that is flush on the top needs to have a new 1/4" deep route. The way the bridge is set now the fingerboard would need to be 1/2" thick. I got it all drawn out, I'll have to get over this cold, then get over the shop.
Oh and I drew out the body shape in relation to the bridge with my fancy new white pencil.
Oh and I drew out the body shape in relation to the bridge with my fancy new white pencil.
The house thing has gotten a bit insane, I've never made so many decisions in such a short amount of time in my life (and we built this house 25 years ago). Gray, yellow, beige "greige" (whatever that is!) whew. I'm glad my wife is enjoying this or it would be a complete nightmare. Anyway, it's seriously cut into any time to work on basses. I got an hour this weekend:
I routed for the full depth today, basically I freehanded at half depth staying away from the edge a bit, then did the full depth using the existing hole as the guide for the bearing. Then I had to clean out the "ears" with a chisel. I then built a new "U" shaped template to do the top part of the route. I might have to carve some relief into it for the intonation screws, but it looks good - a slight slip with the chisel that I'll have to fill in, but no big deal:
I also cut the body a bit closer to the final line with the bandsaw, but no pictures of that - it really is crazy how small this thing is.
I have a leftover piece of ziricote that I could use for the fingerboard (this will be fretless with lines), but there's a piece of tiger maple that I had before the fire, it's charred, but I think there's a big enough piece of it to use for this, I just wish I could find it! I think I know right where it is in the shed, but it's buried under lots of stuff. I've made two attempts to find it, but both times I was in a rush. Maybe I'll head over in the morning and do a full on archeology expedition to find it. I really think that the maple would look better with the black walnut than the ziricote.
I routed for the full depth today, basically I freehanded at half depth staying away from the edge a bit, then did the full depth using the existing hole as the guide for the bearing. Then I had to clean out the "ears" with a chisel. I then built a new "U" shaped template to do the top part of the route. I might have to carve some relief into it for the intonation screws, but it looks good - a slight slip with the chisel that I'll have to fill in, but no big deal:
I also cut the body a bit closer to the final line with the bandsaw, but no pictures of that - it really is crazy how small this thing is.
I have a leftover piece of ziricote that I could use for the fingerboard (this will be fretless with lines), but there's a piece of tiger maple that I had before the fire, it's charred, but I think there's a big enough piece of it to use for this, I just wish I could find it! I think I know right where it is in the shed, but it's buried under lots of stuff. I've made two attempts to find it, but both times I was in a rush. Maybe I'll head over in the morning and do a full on archeology expedition to find it. I really think that the maple would look better with the black walnut than the ziricote.
I'm glad the bridge seems to be working out. Also, the white pencil is much easier to see. A couple questions. Is the pickup going in the rectangle above the knot? Also, are you sure you have enough room for your fingers to tune it even if you route it out to the line you have drawn? It looks really tight, but maybe it's just the picture. I think maybe a plain maple fingerboard might look really good. The body wood grain looks great is the focal point of the bass. Another highly patterned wood like tiger maple might compete with it. You know like a busy tie looks better with a plain shirt and visa versa.
I will have to do something to make those tuning knobs more accessible, but when you pull on a knob they extend by about an inch and a half, so I just have to make it so you can pull them out, it shouldn't take much clearance.
Yeah, I wish my wood pile was more accessible I know I have some "regular" maple in there too, I can't remember how figured that maple fingerboard is. I guess I could head down to Home Depot too.
Yeah, I wish my wood pile was more accessible I know I have some "regular" maple in there too, I can't remember how figured that maple fingerboard is. I guess I could head down to Home Depot too.
A bit more photographic evidence:
Bridge installed:
Close up:
And here's how the knobs extend, the body will be long enough to protect the knobs when they are pushed in, but exposed when pulled out:
This will probably be difficult to see, but this is how I expect the head to be constructed, the strings will be fed in from the back and over the end of the neck and be positioned in slots.
Bridge installed:
Close up:
And here's how the knobs extend, the body will be long enough to protect the knobs when they are pushed in, but exposed when pulled out:
This will probably be difficult to see, but this is how I expect the head to be constructed, the strings will be fed in from the back and over the end of the neck and be positioned in slots.
I went to an expedition in my shed this morning. I did find a couple of pieces of maple, but the piece I want must be buried deep - I couldn't find it. Keep in mind for me to access my wood pile I have to lie down on the floor of the shed and reach my hand under the kayaks (which are balanced on top of the wood pile). A box fell off the top of the pile while I was laying under there and I thought "I could get trapped in here pretty easily", thus ended the great maple archeological expedition. I'll likely just use a piece of the maple I found, it's got some stripes in it, but nothing too dramatic.
Looking at my work travel schedule combined with my "these are the decisions we have to make" schedule, I doubt I'm going to finish this before the deadline. I'll see how it goes.
Ok, maybe I spoke too soon, I mean there's a long way to go, but I did get 2 hours in the shop today.
The good thing about this going so slow is that I have a lot of time to think about the next step. The back still had a spot where the saw marks from the saw mill were still visible, but before I hit it with the sanding planer, I figured I had to establish one side of the fretboard (since I had it marked and by the time I got done sanding it the lines would have rubbed off).
then I used a forstner bit to remove most of the material behind the neck:
then I cleaned it up with the router - freehanding once again.
I have to figure out how I'm going to shape this thing. I think I need the whole body to be a lot thinner, I guess I'll try forming it and see how it looks.
I shaped the body a bit and cut away a bit of extra wood. I think this is enough to access the tuners, but I might go a bit closer:
and I cut a fingerboard for it, this will be a lined fretless, so I need straight edges to put in the slots. I would make this unlined, but with the frets so close together, I feel like lines are a good idea, there's more to do all over on it, but it's some progress:
The good thing about this going so slow is that I have a lot of time to think about the next step. The back still had a spot where the saw marks from the saw mill were still visible, but before I hit it with the sanding planer, I figured I had to establish one side of the fretboard (since I had it marked and by the time I got done sanding it the lines would have rubbed off).
then I used a forstner bit to remove most of the material behind the neck:
then I cleaned it up with the router - freehanding once again.
I have to figure out how I'm going to shape this thing. I think I need the whole body to be a lot thinner, I guess I'll try forming it and see how it looks.
I shaped the body a bit and cut away a bit of extra wood. I think this is enough to access the tuners, but I might go a bit closer:
and I cut a fingerboard for it, this will be a lined fretless, so I need straight edges to put in the slots. I would make this unlined, but with the frets so close together, I feel like lines are a good idea, there's more to do all over on it, but it's some progress:
Nice! I didn't realize the knobs pulled out like that. I think you should be able to get done in time. Almost two months to go right? Enjoying your build.
