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5-string Rickenbacker 4003-ish bass


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That wood wiped down looks sublime!  Delicious....love it

As for the thicknesser, I think I'm going to try to convince MrsAndyjr1515 that this is the smallest that you can buy, and what looks like a fully fitted workshop around it is simply the packaging they are supplied in....

Going to see if I can arrange to get one craned over the top of the house into the back garden.... :D

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Hahaha...then there's the electric bill for the machine, the extractor and the air compressor! It's a really hungry hippo. It runs about a few metres per minute (never timed it) and can take off up to 0.7mm per pass depending on the total sanding area. Larger pieces need far less. A door-sized workpiece is about 0.1-0.2mm each way. I wouldn't go as far as calling it a thicknesser in that respect, however it's usually left for the last couple of mm when working stock down to eliminate any planer tearout from reversing grain. You can sort of thickness sand with it, but it's just simply not an efficient or economical process for that.

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Thanks guys, I appreciate that. Glad you're getting something from this month's adventure.

I've thought a little about the practicality of making this bass dual output and active, plus the implications that would have if I were using my normal differential preamps. The problem is that normally in multiple pickup instruments, the signal of the pickups are selected/combined via switching, then send to the preamp before going through the tone/volume controls. This totally won't work with stereo output unless I have one preamp for each pickup. The svelte nature of Ricks means I have very little real estate to play with in terms of internal, gubbins, batteries, etc.

I do however want to add some fibre optic side markers....now there's something people just don't do any more. Full tutorial incoming. :thumb:

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Fundamentally it's not a difficult thing to do. I've seen people manage it by dredging rough channels in their fingerboards using a Dremel freehand. Whilst that can work, there's no guarantee that bad things won't happen or mistakes aren't made. I have something extra special planned for that. Which reminds me. I need to do a quick LED purchase.

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Patience always seems to be worth it in so many cases. I left the laminates I cut up to do their thing, since Birch can be a little prone to movement when cut up. Two of my more flame-y laminates have bowed slightly which wouldn't be a huge problem if they had done so equally, since it would be across the direction of the neck, and they would be opposed and reinforced by other laminates. I'm going to simply keep those on stock instead and make three new laminates.

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No joy with thicker Birch stock. Took out some 60mm square lengths and tried to see if I could get three 30mm x 45mm laminates. Full of knots. I might just have to use more laminates in this neck. No bad thing, since ultimately it will be more stable.

20160426_185031.jpg

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I got that, however I was playing the game a few steps ahead. :thumb:
Probably in the wrong direction however.

Wondering how to arrange and pinstripe my laminates. The finalised blank for the neck needs to be 89,5mm wide at the butt end, 33,7mm at the head end and 39,3mm thick. This allows a 1° neck angle and 5° headstock angle. I'm not scarfing. Laminates will be coming from 25mm raw stock which needs surfacing, and will comprise of five pieces with the inner three tapered ~18mm to 6,7mm each. The outer laminates which will be tapered down as the blank requires.

I've got the option of adding in some Walnut veneers as decoration. Question is, how?

This seems the most attractive to me right now. Two veneers either side of the central lamination and one as a stringer applied to the wings. I have Maple veneer available also, which would allow me to do a dark-white-dark multiple pinstripe. Perhaps a little ostentatious.

lamination 1.jpg

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I really like that. Using those dark outer laminates may be tricky when you get to sanding and shaping. Just a tiny little bit off will be visible to the eye. What about making the two inner ones the thin ones, and then the thicker ones next with no outside ones? Retain the look and allow wiggle room.

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The outer laminates will be attached to the wings rather than the outside of the neck itself. I get what you mean though. I kind of want to distract from the simplistic wings-onto-a-neck Ric construction by making it into a feature. A pinstripe makes it look more intentional than an byproduct if you get me.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Marking up the fingerboard ready for slotting:

IMG_7797.JPG

 

This is a nice piece of Bubinga I purchased from Guitars and Woods, who have become a real lifesaver as a supplier. Although it won't be in stock by the time this board is slotted up, the owner is bringing pressure-sensitive double-stick film tape into stock; the stuff that StewMac sells! Knowing what I know about G&W, the price will be competitive as it stands and definitely cheaper taking into consideration what I'd pay for shipping and import....

Anyway. The board is going for a straight 35" scale. Adding a slight compound scale into there would screw up hardware choices and many other things. Too much of a headache given how much I micromanage budgeting and work as it stands. The centreline was made with reference to one specific edge with an allowance of 5mm. The ends were marked and scribed square, then the taper added. Using a carbide-tipped metal scribing tool made this easier than a blade as it doesn't follow the grain and leaves a larger angle marking for the chalk to highlight. The centreline was taped so I can see individual fret locations easier. This will be a manually-marked slotting, however I might well invest in a 34"/35" scale template at some point. It would help. Still, keeping your chops sharp on doing everything by hand and eye is useful from time to time.

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