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Ultra Cheap Bass Build.


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Im getting all my supplies together to build my own pickups. I decided to build a set of single coils. Ive purchased some neodymium magnets which should be make for an interesting sound. There arent very many builders out there breaking the mold of using Alnico, and Ceramic to me doesnt really suite the sound Im after. Its gonna be alot of trial and error to see what kind of windings are required to get the desired tone with such a strong magnet. Im still researching to see if I want to use the standard 42awg wire or larger. Ive also ordered a ton of supplies to start buiding my own onboard preamps. They will be based off a J201 jfet. The preamps will have bass/treble boost via pots and a mid cut via switch. Ive already started on making new covers from quilted maple and poplar for this particular bass. These covers unlike the cocobolo ones will not have exposed pole pieces. Once I have the covers done I will make bobbins for the pups out of maple. Also Ill post pictures of what Ive gotten done soon. :D

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I built the bridge pup cover today. It has a mean radius on the top of it. The quilt on it looks darker than on the body, best I can figure is it will change a little when the poly fully cures/ambers. So besides that what do you guys think? does it go with the bass better than the cocobolo ones? Once the poly is good and dry it will get wetsanded, then a few more coats then buffed out. In the mean time Im gonna start on the bobbins for this one. FUN! :D

Picture071.jpg

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Looks great! Everything about it is nice....even the purple color. :D Could you please explain how you made knobs using a drill press? They look cool, especially with that wood.

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Looks great! Everything about it is nice....even the purple color. :D Could you please explain how you made knobs using a drill press? They look cool, especially with that wood.

Sorry I missed this question, I have not worked on the bass for a little while. I still have to buy some wire for pickups. This will be a little later because I want to buy alot of wire to have on hand. I was planning on buying it this week but my bass head petered out and I had to buy a new one (friggin Ampeg set me back a good chunk) :D NE WAYs on to the knobs!

I started with a square piece 2cm x 2cm x 2cm. I drilled a small pilot hole in the center,screwed in a #8x 3/4" screw about half way in hole, cut the head off said screw then chucked remaining screw in drillpress. After putting on SAFETY GLASSEs, I turned on the drill and shaped knobs with coarse rasp until round, then I smoothed and shaped the sides and tops with a fine file, then finish sanded with 220 grit. Then the pilot holes were drilled bigger to fit the pot post. (These pots have the knurled posts so a firm push seats the knob on the post, solid none the less) Then they were coated in satin poly, not bad wish I would have started doing these sooner......B)

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I got a little productive and made a bobbin for the neck pickup yesterday. The neo magnets are crazy strong making it hard to work with them but I think the end result will be worth it. Dont know why the friggin camera wont take a good picture of it.... :D

Picture087.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Its been awhile!!

I built a pickup! The neo magnets are awesome, I love the way this pup sounds. I also wired up a alnico Jazz pickup for comparison and there isnt any! The homemade pickup is crisper, cleaner and all around sounds better. The pup is wound to 7.5k with 42 awg formvar wire. I wound it using the wifes sewing machine and some double sided tape which worked out pretty good. After I got the windings to the number I wanted I potted it in wax. Then I shielded it with aluminum foil and put it in the cover I previously built. Once in the cover I poured wax into the cavity to seal off the entire unit. I used a 2 pair wire which has a positive and negative for the pup and a ground for the shielding. This one will go in the bridge position. I will post some sound clips once I build the other one, very soon. Hopefully I will be able to get some better pictures too, dont konw why I cant get this camera to act right.

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/sco.../Picture091.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/sco.../Picture092.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/sco.../Picture094.jpg

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  • 3 months later...

Scottyd, it seems you are using brass screws for saddles. How does it work? (and does it work well?) Do you adjust string height just by turning the screws?

Sorry if it's been discussed elsewhere, but I searched and found nothing... and it's a really interesting principle.

Alex

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Yes sir you are correct, they do work well, I had to file the slot to a v so that the strings just contacts the middle of the screw. On my next one I’m going to use a screw with a finer thread so that I can adjust the height in finer increments. I forgot about this old thread the bass is pretty much done. I just need to rebuild the neck pickup cover and truss cover out of poplar here’s a current pic with the final poplar pickup cover. And for what its worth I built the bass for just under 300 dollars. Thats including the ton of pickup building stuff I have left over for other projects.

snow002-1.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Fascinating. Non-expensive (i assume), and it looks great too.

I look forward to posts on the next guitar/bass. When you get to the saddles: if possible, please include some close-ups and pictures of the disassembled saddles and saddle-making in progress.

Alex

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