fookgub Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 (edited) Been working on this little by little for a while. It's actually an old project, but it got buried by some of my other stuff for about a year. There's a neck in approximately the same state of construction... but it's downstairs. I might take a picture of it later. Still working on the pickguard shape some, but it's getting closer. Edited June 2, 2009 by fookgub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 That's certainly different. How does the polepiece spacing compare with the intended string paths? More pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 Seconding what Pro said, most angled pickups I see are custom-made. Always like your work, can't wait to see what this comes to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fookgub Posted June 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 Here's the full mockup: Equivalent string spread at the neck pickup is the same as the bridge pickup string spread on a normal jazz bass. I'll be using Bill Lawrence J-45's to deal with that. All three pickups are bridge size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 That's very cool! CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avdekan Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 Very very cool. what are the scale lengths? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fookgub Posted June 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 34.625 for the E and 32.375 for the G. The "parallel" fret is about 7.25 (just past the 7th fret). Thanks for all the comments so far... nice to see people getting interested in my build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 This is going to turn out great! Do you even need a pickguard on it, Fook? It's a nice, angular body that's going to be pretty different anyways. I know this is after-the-fact, but does anyone make a blade bass pickup? An idea, at least, for a fanned build. You guys and your multiscale projects, makin' me all jealous and stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fookgub Posted June 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 This is going to turn out great! Do you even need a pickguard on it, Fook? It's a nice, angular body that's going to be pretty different anyways. I know this is after-the-fact, but does anyone make a blade bass pickup? An idea, at least, for a fanned build. You guys and your multiscale projects, makin' me all jealous and stuff. I'll give the pickguard a little more thought. I had always intended for this bass to have one (and I've been planning to build this thing for years), but you're right that I don't really need one. Pickups are a tricky issue. I did a pretty exhaustive search before I settled on the BL's (which I haven't bought yet, btw). I wanted something that sounds like a traditional jazz pickup, so that leaves out the side-by-side rail designs and some of the wild stuff like Q-Tuner and Villex. I don't like Barts or EMGs, so they're out. I didn't want to spend more than about $200 for all three pickups (though I would go up to about $250 for the right pickups), so that leaves out nearly all of the custom and boutique manufacturers. What's left is Carvin and Bill Lawrence, and the Carvin pickups have spotty reviews. Of course, if there are any other alternatives out there, I'm all ears. I'd really like to find something that's hum-canceling, as the BL's are traditional single coils. I'd be interested in the Lace Alumitones if they weren't so outlandishly overpriced. Custom spaced Nordstrand NJ4SV's would be my number 1 pick if I was swimming in cash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 That is indeed a tasty burger. Looking forward to this one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 In the choice between BL and Carvin, my vote is with BL. The Carvin pickups I have are very mediocre... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAK Guitars Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 (edited) I say keep the pickguard, it looks good. I think a black one would be real nice depending on what your finishing it with. Looks great though. Edited June 3, 2009 by WAK Guitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fookgub Posted June 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Still going back and forth on the pickguard. I really wanted to top-rout this one, but I'm having trouble coming up with a shape that will work with the electronics and not look wonky. For the finish, I'm leaning towards metal flake red, and I think it might be overpowering with no pickguard. A pearloid guard would look great. I may do a decorative pickguard like on the modulus flea: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalhead28 Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 I agree. That is a tasty burger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avdekan Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 34.625 for the E and 32.375 for the G. The "parallel" fret is about 7.25 (just past the 7th fret). Thanks for all the comments so far... nice to see people getting interested in my build. These numbers are quite unusual. I tried converting them into metric and the numbers behind the decimal point got even weirder. what made you go for these particular lengths? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 That design looks pretty nice, I don't like the small neck pocket area on a bass , but it should be enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalhead28 Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 34.625 for the E and 32.375 for the G. The "parallel" fret is about 7.25 (just past the 7th fret). Thanks for all the comments so far... nice to see people getting interested in my build. These numbers are quite unusual. I tried converting them into metric and the numbers behind the decimal point got even weirder. what made you go for these particular lengths? They're just fractions. 5/8 and 3/8. But I look at numbers like this all day, so I guess it doesn't look weird to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fookgub Posted June 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Funny thing about the scale length... I originally intended for it to be 34.5" to 32.25". When I was printing fingerboard templates about a year ago, I noticed the my templates were coming out about 1/8" short. So when I printed out the final template last month, I added 1/8" to all the scale lengths. It ended up printing exactly to size (must have had different print settings the first time around). The slightly longer scale lengths seemed ok to me, so I just went with it. Anyway, does anyone here have any photoshop expertise? I'd really like to get a preview of what the guitar would look like with the finish. I tried to do it myself yesterday but failed miserably. Mainly I want to see what it would look like with and without the pickguard, and maybe try a couple different pickguard shapes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.