Winter 2017 Build Off - Thin Slicer

[shai-ga]

Hey!

Started this one today.
Let's see what we have here:

32", Rock maple, quarter sawn one piece instrument, with an ebony board - fretless.

4 string (through body) , flats equipped.

Ebony saddle block, hand made of course,

21 "frets"

No controls, no circuit. Just a single split coil pickup going directly to a barrel jack.
(Some resistors might be connected)

Self made tuners, first try, each one contains one M10X25 allen head screw and two nuts for movement and locking.

Sharp ends on the body, and a high gloss poly with tobacco-sun tint.

End screw for mounting the body on a 3 leg stand or a supplied carbon threaded rod.

 

[shai-ga]

Working with a router on that ebony piece was a nightmare. Endless splitting and tearing.

Eventually I sanded it to the right width across the board.

 

[shai-ga]

 

[shai-ga]

I haven't completed the whole tuner concept in my mind, so it will go through some changes during the build.

I thought of having a single hole drilled for each nut, then burying it in epoxy, but there's not enough room since I'm constrained by the fretboard end width.

(Didn't want to have headstock wings, or a wide headstock)

..So.. I will route a "swimming pool" for the 4 of them on the back of the headstock, arranged in the layout presented above, and then sink them in epoxy + maple powder.

When you tune a string, you have to turn the top screw, winding the string around it, and when its tuned, close it with a second locking nut. This is going to be a tricky 1:1 tuner, but very solid.

 

[yoshi]

cool! stupid question - is the drum in the last pic part of it? like some wierd banjo thing?

also, what do the resistors do in the pickup-to-jack circuit?

 

[shai-ga]

Thanks! The snare is just for practice
I will probably use a single resistor just as a load inside the bass circuit, allowing it to work at a "musical" range.

 

[Will_White]

Is this the EUB you we're taking about in the tuner thread?

 

[shai-ga]

Yes it is!

 

[shai-ga]

Here it is, ready to use.

3mm hole is drilled, and the locking works well.

 

[shai-ga]

Ebony saddle ready for slotting:

 

[shai-ga]

Polished with fine compound:

 

[shai-ga]

Jazz it up! diagonally.

 

[shai-ga]

Carbon rod routing and gluing (no truss rod), fretboard glued, heel and neck shaping, and some sanding.

 

[MPU]

Looks nice!

 

[shai-ga]

 

[shai-ga]

 

[Scoops]

I really like the simplicity of this build!

 

[shai-ga]

Thanks!

 

[SLivinghouse]

Yeah, this build is turning out quite nice! So a couple questions/ideas. Are you going to add a piezo? I've seen them discretely added tucked right behind the bottom of the fingerboard just under it slightly. You can get the cigar box guitar ones really inexpensively, but you may need a high impedance preamp to make it sound good. See FDeck's posts in the DB section if you are unfamiliar with it. Also, how are you going to support it? A tripod like a NS? Also, some of the EUBs have "touch points" so that it feels more like a normal DB. You might need to look into that I since it may feel weird without them if you play DB as well. I look forward to seeing the rest of the build!

 

[shai-ga]

Well, it's going to look like an EUB, but it's certainly just an electric fretless.
I'm thinking of regular strap lock buttons, or just playing it while sitting down.
No piezo, just a split coil neo pickup (first try at building pickups)