Winter Build Off 2023 - Acoustic/Electric Short Scale 5 String

[BishopJP]

For custom hardware, like what Mapleglo is making here, I recommend 6061 aluminum. Easy to buy, machine, tap, shape with files, polish up, etc. It's a good general purpose aluminum for instrument parts. With one exception: It doesn't bend very well. If you are making up a bridge plate or tailpiece where you want to bend up a flange, then use 5052 aluminum. That's the alloy that bends and forms easily, but it's still pretty good for cutting and machining.

7075 aluminum is for parts where you need real strength and light weight. 7075 cuts and machines about like mild steel, at one third the weight. And it's also three times the price of 6061. Not much use for 7075 in instruments, although I have used it for some aluminum truss rods. A story in itself.

For brass instrument hardware, 360 alloy is the usual choice. It's the commonly available general purpose brass alloy, stocked in many sizes and shapes. Other alloys are available which are stronger or more corrosion resistant, but they are much more expensive. 360 is expensive enough!

You can do the press-in screw trick with any of these metals. With stronger metals, you need less interference fit. Or it will take too many tons to smash the screw in there. With 6061 aluminum, the pilot hole should be about 0.005" smaller than the OD of the screw. With mild steel or 7075 aluminum, use 0.001-0.002" interference.

Excellent! I have been experimenting with DIY hardware; 360 brass and 6061 aluminum is what I have. Easy to get from McMaster Carr.

 

[Flamingo21]

I'm not sure how the bridge will look just yet.

But I like it already.

 

[mapleglo]

Well, I ordered 8x32 flathead stainless steel machine screws. I think I can get away with using just two of those, but I can use 4 if need be. 4x40 screws, even 4 of them, just seem too light duty for all the string tension of a 5 string. And I'd have to get a fancy drill bit size to press them in. I feel that's asking for trouble for a non-machinist like me, using home duty drill presses, hand rulers, pencil marks and a center punch and hammer. And yes, I agree with the 6061 aluminum. I was thinking about getting some 5052 to make the tailpiece bracket, and bend it to the future round over, but I think I'm only going to do a round over in the traditional Fender arm rest area. Leave the rest as a sharp angle.

The angle grinder discs came in, so I got right back to work installing one.

Then I got to work on the neck profile. That took about three minutes, including trying the angle grinder/disc setup on a test piece. It took longer sanding it smooth after shaping it. It's pretty close now.

I don't think I've ever completed a build without going back into the shop for additional neck shaping at least once, after everything was "finished". I have no delusions thinking that this build will be any different. But it does feel pretty close to my Rickenbacker, which I use as the standard to which all my builds are compared.

 

[mapleglo]

Today I put together a neck cavity routing fixture. I put a couple of layers of masking tape around the bottom of the neck to allow room for paint.

While I was letting that glue cure, I started marking the mounting holes for the neck. I used a standard Fender neck plate as a guide. I may use the neck plate - we'll see.

Then I drilled the holes using this contraption:

It's not exact, but it gets me in the ball park of being perpendicular to the top. And here's the back - not too bad:

I could rout that area flat and use the Fender neck plate, or go with my original idea and drill bigger holes to allow the head of the screw to seat, and then cover the hole with a removable plastic plug.

I originally bought these so I could remove one of the tone controls from my Stratocasters, and move the volume and remaining tone control down a hole. The volume control is too close to the bridge and interferes with strumming. In any event, there's a few different sizes and they also come in black and white, so these should work, and keep the back of the body smooth.

 

[postalflunkie]

Or tap the screw holes and use ferrules

 

[NKBassman]

Those wood carving grinder discs look intense! I don't know what I'd need them for at the moment, but I gotta get me some of those.

Also, Lets take a brief safety moment and allow me to say this: Grinders are extremely dangerous tools in general, but before you even pick it up ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE GRIDER IS SWITCHED OFF BEFORE YOU PLUG IT IN. I'll spare everyone actual pictures of the event or the resulting scar, but suffice to say I'm lucky I'm still able to play bass.

 

[mapleglo]

Those wood carving grinder discs look intense! I don't know what I'd need them for at the moment, but I gotta get me some of those.

They work *really* well, almost too well. I'd caution anyone who might want to try these that they are very aggressive. I tried it on a piece of "test" maple before I used it on my neck, just to get an idea of how much material it would remove, and what direction I should move the tool for the best results.

 

[mapleglo]

Today I set up to start routing the neck cavity.

That didn't take very long. I left it a little shallow as the bridge may be higher than a regular solid body bass.

I also touched up the neck profile a little bit as I noticed a slight indentation where I went a little too deep with the angle grinder. I also touched up the radius. I may work a little more on that tomorrow. I want it to be right because the next step is fretting. Or working on the tailpiece as I think my screws, drill, and tap arrive today. Or the neck attachment screws...

 

[mapleglo]

I mounted the tailpiece to the, um, tailpiece?

Just need to polish it up a bit. Had an "oops" as the drill went through the top. Oh well, so I drilled through on the other side. Tapped them, spread a little super glue in between the joint, and screwed it tight. I don't think it's going anywhere. I just need to drill three holes to mount it.

 

[Crawforde]

That looks really good. Nice clean design.

 

[mapleglo]

So I totally screwed up the tailpiece.

The upper holes are too high. But I drilled the holes in the body at a slight angle, and with pan head screws, it may not be so bad. Geez, what was I thinking setting those holes 1/4" down?

Moving on, I finished the radius, and cleared the sawdust from the free slots. Then I made sure the fret slots were deep enough. I set the depth of the saw just deeper than the fret tang and went through each fret slot.

After that, I started on a nut.

Then I brought out my nut vise, and fret bender.

Then I ran out of steam. I'm also making a fan stand for the bedroom. My husband and I both suffer from pretty severe tinnitus, so we have two fans going at night to drown it out. He's got one going right by his head, and the other one is at the foot of the bed. It sometimes falls over waking us up. So I'm making this stand.

That has also taken a bit out of me over the past few days. But it's almost done now.

 

[NKBassman]

My husband and I both suffer from pretty severe tinnitus, so we have two fans going at night to drown it out.

Dang that sucks. I know the feeling. I have mild tinnitus, but I will say that 90% of the ringing in my ears (and 100% of the splitting headaches) went away after my dentist identified that I was grinding my teeth and I started wearing a mouthguard at night. The difference was dramatic after only a few days of use. If you have jaw tension or grind your teeth, you may want to look into that for yourself. I only mention it because it was such a revelation for me personally and I hope it might help someone else.

 

[mapleglo]

Dang that sucks. I know the feeling. I have mild tinnitus, but I will say that 90% of the ringing in my ears (and 100% of the splitting headaches) went away after my dentist identified that I was grinding my teeth and I started wearing a mouthguard at night. The difference was dramatic after only a few days of use. If you have jaw tension or grind your teeth, you may want to look into that for yourself. I only mention it because it was such a revelation for me personally and I hope it might help someone else.

I used a mouthguard for a month or so a while back to help with jaw pain I was experiencing. It had no effect on my tinnitus. I'll add that my tinnitus got like twice as bad when I went on chemo a few years back. It was pretty much instant, as soon as they plugged me in, and it never got better. It's now louder than the two fans, and almost drowns them out. I've become pretty used to it over the past few years. Don't get me started on migraines...

 

[postalflunkie]

 

[NKBassman]

I used a mouthguard for a month or so a while back to help with jaw pain I was experiencing. It had no effect on my tinnitus. I'll add that my tinnitus got like twice as bad when I went on chemo a few years back. It was pretty much instant, as soon as they plugged me in, and it never got better. It's now louder than the two fans, and almost drowns them out. I've become pretty used to it over the past few years. Don't get me started on migraines...

"Liked" out of sympathy.

 

[Gary_M]

View attachment 4942493

Yeah, mine is a wayyyyy higher pitch than this, but I get it.

 

[Gary_M]

I used a mouthguard for a month or so a while back to help with jaw pain I was experiencing. It had no effect on my tinnitus. I'll add that my tinnitus got like twice as bad when I went on chemo a few years back. It was pretty much instant, as soon as they plugged me in, and it never got better. It's now louder than the two fans, and almost drowns them out. I've become pretty used to it over the past few years. Don't get me started on migraines...

I'm also a tinnitus sufferer... sufferee? IDK. The strange thing is, I've had it since I can remember, even as a very young child... I recall it before ever starting kindergarten. Now, it has gotten worse due to playing with overly-loud guitarists blasting me from stage left for years... and drummers in a small rehearsal space, etc. Mine has also increased with blood pressure issues. I have that under control with meds, but the tinnitus remains the same. Luckily I can largely ignore it, but it could drive you crazy if you let it.

 

[postalflunkie]

It's become part of the soundtrack to my life.

 

[Mickey666]

I used a mouthguard for a month or so a while back to help with jaw pain I was experiencing. It had no effect on my tinnitus. I'll add that my tinnitus got like twice as bad when I went on chemo a few years back. It was pretty much instant, as soon as they plugged me in, and it never got better. It's now louder than the two fans, and almost drowns them out. I've become pretty used to it over the past few years. Don't get me started on migraines...

I have pretty severe tinnitus myself, there are certain pitches I just can't hear anymore.
And forget a normal conversation, I will "what" your a$$ to death.

 

[mapleglo]

I had a few minutes before we settle down for our evening TV watch, so I drilled the tuner holes.

Note to self: Don't forget to install the side dots on the neck!!!!! I guess I'll have to find them, I know they're here somewhere...