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I don't think the neck is bolted on in the pic. It may just be sitting cockeyed a bit. It doesn't look like it is at all aligned with the bridge. It has to be off or an optical illusion. I guess we'll have to wait and see.That beautiful bass and that bent bridge are gonna haunt me...........
Perleeeease buy it it a bridge de non wonky......
Jeez, I shouldn't have said anything about the bridge, I should have just said I decided to put inlays next to it, no one would know.
To set things clear: the strings are centered, the necks are lined up with the strings - the E and G strings have the same amount of space to the edge of the fretboard, the pickup cover is perfectly centered under the strings. I've measured it and it's all good. I know sometimes even if stuff is lined up it looks crooked due to grain or whatever, but I don't see anything that looks crooked here when I look at it live and in person. Both necks line up the same (whew).
There is a "problem", but nothing is bent - there is a gear between the "bobbin" (not sure what to call the thing that the string feeds into, but it kind of looks like a bobbin on a sewing machine) and the tuning knobs, due to the gear, are offset from the strings. This means the base plate of bridge its not symmetric across the center of the strings, there's an extra bit on the bass side of the E string.
If you see something bent or out of line in the pictures (besides that bridge baseplate) it's because of the angle of the camera, nothing is off center right now. Perhaps I need to submit this to third party testing to clear my name :-D
I just put the fretless neck on, tuned it up, set the string height on the bridge, set the intonation and played it (no electronics are connected at this time). Then I loosened the strings and put the fretted neck on. It took me less than five minutes (I timed it) to change over to the fretted neck. The action on the fretted neck was good! So that part of this build worked out well. I have a high fret on the fretted neck and a high spot on the fretless neck, hopefully I can deal with those without losing the height match between the two.
I'm not happy with how the string saddles adjust, they work, but they only adjust from the front so as you adjust them the saddles angle up. I'll have to look into that. I'm doing some engineering on the fly here, as I expected, this is exactly why I build what I build, to try new stuff, I will have issues and will have to resolve them.
Sorry, I might be getting a little defensive now!
To set things clear: the strings are centered, the necks are lined up with the strings - the E and G strings have the same amount of space to the edge of the fretboard, the pickup cover is perfectly centered under the strings. I've measured it and it's all good. I know sometimes even if stuff is lined up it looks crooked due to grain or whatever, but I don't see anything that looks crooked here when I look at it live and in person. Both necks line up the same (whew).
There is a "problem", but nothing is bent - there is a gear between the "bobbin" (not sure what to call the thing that the string feeds into, but it kind of looks like a bobbin on a sewing machine) and the tuning knobs, due to the gear, are offset from the strings. This means the base plate of bridge its not symmetric across the center of the strings, there's an extra bit on the bass side of the E string.
If you see something bent or out of line in the pictures (besides that bridge baseplate) it's because of the angle of the camera, nothing is off center right now. Perhaps I need to submit this to third party testing to clear my name :-D
I just put the fretless neck on, tuned it up, set the string height on the bridge, set the intonation and played it (no electronics are connected at this time). Then I loosened the strings and put the fretted neck on. It took me less than five minutes (I timed it) to change over to the fretted neck. The action on the fretted neck was good! So that part of this build worked out well. I have a high fret on the fretted neck and a high spot on the fretless neck, hopefully I can deal with those without losing the height match between the two.
I'm not happy with how the string saddles adjust, they work, but they only adjust from the front so as you adjust them the saddles angle up. I'll have to look into that. I'm doing some engineering on the fly here, as I expected, this is exactly why I build what I build, to try new stuff, I will have issues and will have to resolve them.
Sorry, I might be getting a little defensive now!
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I apologize if I have made you get a little defensive.....
I'll just butt out and go back to hitting the "like" button every now and then.....
I too meant no offense. Only to point out we are not looking at the finished product.I apologize if I have made you get a little defensive.....
I'll just butt out and go back to hitting the "like" button every now and then.....
It's all good, I've definitely had my challenges on this build!
Please feel free to comment, you'd have to work a lot harder than this to offend me. But, all "centering" problems have been addressed. I have string saddle issues, minor neck issues and I'm sure more than a few electronic problems coming up, stand by!
Please feel free to comment, you'd have to work a lot harder than this to offend me. But, all "centering" problems have been addressed. I have string saddle issues, minor neck issues and I'm sure more than a few electronic problems coming up, stand by!
I got the necks set up. They both held perfectly flat with all the strings at tension, so I induced a bit of forward bow with the truss rod, maybe a half turn past snug. After setting that the fretted neck was perfect, the minor buzzing I had on some of the lower frets went away. The fretless had a high spot on the D string past the 24th fret, I lightly sanded that out with 320 and it's good to go. I tested the piezo string saddles by putting them all into the summing bridge then using alligator clips to get them to a 1/4" jack - good thing I tested, the G string saddle doesn't work. I'll have to go back to wherever I bought that and see how to get it replaced.
By reversing the string saddle holders the height adjustments work much better (hex screws toward the bridge), I don't think I need any more engineering there.
I buffed up the fretless board and prepared for the CA glue coat. I put on painters tape just below the radius on the edge of the board
To put on a coat I start at one end of the board and work my way to the other, I squirt thin CA glue on and spread it down the board and add more as I go. I probably use 3 or 4 squirts to get from one end to the other. After I have the coat all the way on, I go back and smooth it out as it dries. Once the first coat is dry (10 minutes or so) I add a second coat in the same way.
I take a nitrile glove and cut the fingers off, I put one of the cut off fingers on my pointer finger and use it to move the CA glue along and smooth it out. I can get three or four coats out of each finger by rotating it for the next one. It's best to have the nitrile flexible to smooth out the coat. After a coat is done that side of the finger is hard from the CA glue.
In between every two coats I sand with 320 then 400. I'm trying to get to the point where there are no shiny lines, which are the low points. The dust is pure white, if it starts to turn brown you know you sanded too far. The cool thing about CA is there are no witness lines between coats as long as you use the same viscosity. If a valley develops, the only way to get rid of it is to sand down. You can't drop fill with thin CA, I've tried medium and thick viscosities, thin is definitely the best, it wrinkles far less than thicker viscosities. Also don't use a kicker to make it dry faster, the kicker causes the glue to pucker, so you end up giving any dry time back in sanding.
After 2 coats:
And after sanding back with 320 then 400:
I'll end up putting 8-10 coats on, after 6 I'll start working for that "perfect coat" and stop once I get there. I'll post more pics once I get to the buffing step. I often start that step thinking I have a good coat only to find I sanded through somewhere, it's really hard to not sand through on the edges, as everyone knows from polishing finishes. After I have a good buffed coat I'll check it with strings on again, it will sometimes need a little tune up after the finish is on, the CA ends up being extremely thin, so any problems caused by it are minimal - the challenge is in removing the offending lump without sanding through.
It's warm-ish outside so I think I'll take a road ride on my bike, trails will be too muddy for riding today.
By reversing the string saddle holders the height adjustments work much better (hex screws toward the bridge), I don't think I need any more engineering there.
I buffed up the fretless board and prepared for the CA glue coat. I put on painters tape just below the radius on the edge of the board
To put on a coat I start at one end of the board and work my way to the other, I squirt thin CA glue on and spread it down the board and add more as I go. I probably use 3 or 4 squirts to get from one end to the other. After I have the coat all the way on, I go back and smooth it out as it dries. Once the first coat is dry (10 minutes or so) I add a second coat in the same way.
I take a nitrile glove and cut the fingers off, I put one of the cut off fingers on my pointer finger and use it to move the CA glue along and smooth it out. I can get three or four coats out of each finger by rotating it for the next one. It's best to have the nitrile flexible to smooth out the coat. After a coat is done that side of the finger is hard from the CA glue.
In between every two coats I sand with 320 then 400. I'm trying to get to the point where there are no shiny lines, which are the low points. The dust is pure white, if it starts to turn brown you know you sanded too far. The cool thing about CA is there are no witness lines between coats as long as you use the same viscosity. If a valley develops, the only way to get rid of it is to sand down. You can't drop fill with thin CA, I've tried medium and thick viscosities, thin is definitely the best, it wrinkles far less than thicker viscosities. Also don't use a kicker to make it dry faster, the kicker causes the glue to pucker, so you end up giving any dry time back in sanding.
After 2 coats:
And after sanding back with 320 then 400:
I'll end up putting 8-10 coats on, after 6 I'll start working for that "perfect coat" and stop once I get there. I'll post more pics once I get to the buffing step. I often start that step thinking I have a good coat only to find I sanded through somewhere, it's really hard to not sand through on the edges, as everyone knows from polishing finishes. After I have a good buffed coat I'll check it with strings on again, it will sometimes need a little tune up after the finish is on, the CA ends up being extremely thin, so any problems caused by it are minimal - the challenge is in removing the offending lump without sanding through.
It's warm-ish outside so I think I'll take a road ride on my bike, trails will be too muddy for riding today.
Attachments
I got to coat number 7 or so and it looked good, so I started the polish process.
Start with 400 grit sandpaper:
Then move through the Abralon pads, 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000
Then I use glass stovetop cleaner:
Then I find a spot where I sanded through that didn't show up until I got past the 4000 grit pad (it wouldn't shine up).
I sanded back to 320 and started over again, it's so easy to sand through. After the stove top cleaner I use denim, which shines it up nicely. I'll take pics of the final, when I get there.
Start with 400 grit sandpaper:
Then move through the Abralon pads, 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000
I'll amend my process a bit after what I just discovered. For the last coat of CA I flooded it with as much as would sit on top and let it dry, no flattening, no messing around I just let it dry as it sat. I've never done that before. I came back and the top was not puckered at all, there were just a few pin holes. I sanded back to get rid of the holes. Definitely the best one I've done. I am not sure I could flood all the layers, I'll have to try that on the next one, but for the last coat it's the way to go. I cut the tape off the edges, and while doing that I leaned the top into a piece of 80 grit sandpaper, I had to start over again at 320 on that spot to get those scratches out, but no biggie, it all looks good now.
I'll need to sand down the edges (carefully) as they are razor sharp right now.
I need to make a couple nuts and do final sanding, lots of sanding.
I'll need to sand down the edges (carefully) as they are razor sharp right now.
I need to make a couple nuts and do final sanding, lots of sanding.
I did a ton of sanding this morning, none of which will show in pictures, but I think I'm ready to start finishing things. I need to tape off the fingerboard on the fretless. I think I'm going to try just putting Tru oil on the fretted board, I usually just put lemon oil on them with no finish, but that "clean fret" thread makes me think Tru Oil will be ok. I just hope it dries on this ebony, I've had issues with Formby's Tung oil on oily woods where it wouldn't dry at all. Worst case I just scrape it off, I guess.
I also finalized the pickup cover. I think I tested the height with the pickup in the cavity, but now I can't remember. I might have to make the cavity a bit deeper, but I think I tested it. The cover fits pretty tightly right now, I probably should have some other way of holding it besides just friction, I'll see once I get it all together. I can access it from under the control cavity, so I can do something from under there if I need to.
I also finalized the pickup cover. I think I tested the height with the pickup in the cavity, but now I can't remember. I might have to make the cavity a bit deeper, but I think I tested it. The cover fits pretty tightly right now, I probably should have some other way of holding it besides just friction, I'll see once I get it all together. I can access it from under the control cavity, so I can do something from under there if I need to.
For what it's worth, I slopped some Tru Oil onto my ebony board and it sure doesn't want to come off that easily. Dries just as fast as the stuff on the body.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 14,661
- 28,698
- 6,221
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Depends on the board I guess. I have several Mac ebony boards, and one of them had issues with Tru-Oil.
I talked to Best Bass Gear, they seem a bit perplexed about what to do, I guess they don't have the piezo saddles in stock. I'm confident they'll take care of me, equally confident it's going to take some time to get resolved. I suspect I'll be playing this without a G string piezo for a bit, but who knows.
It's hard to tell if the Tru Oil on the ebony is drying or not yet, but the body looks great. I have a couple of small spots of glue that I need to sand out, but overall, it's a good start. The front of this body (and the slats on the back) are really nice wood.
It's hard to tell if the Tru Oil on the ebony is drying or not yet, but the body looks great. I have a couple of small spots of glue that I need to sand out, but overall, it's a good start. The front of this body (and the slats on the back) are really nice wood.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 14,661
- 28,698
- 6,221
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
When you pick out wood, you know it's going to look good, you can see the figuring and depth and imagine how much better it will look when finished. I've been handling these particular pieces of wood for over a month now and I kind of forgot what I had in my hands. When that first bit of oil hits it and the figure pops, man I love that!
I seriously need to use something other than walnut right now, it's all I'm thinking about. I have enough walnut for at least 3 or 4 more bodies, but I also have enough hickory, birch, larch and maple for a hundred bodies. Time to mix things up!