Jump to content

Recommended Posts

This bass looks even better in the flesh. CJ stopped by my 'hood today and I got to take a close look at the chinaberry 2 bass. So many nice details and the quality of work is absolutely top notch. Really inspiring craftsmanship. The oiled cherry neck feels absolutely amazing, the inlays on the fingerboard are very cool, and of course Fuji-San. The red tinted filler & urethane finish on the chinaberry body is mesmerizing. Can't wait to play it!

I got a sneak peek at CJ's next project too... it's gonna be cool but I'm not going to spoil the surprise. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎6‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 10:27 PM, a2k said:

This bass looks even better in the flesh. CJ stopped by my 'hood today and I got to take a close look at the chinaberry 2 bass. So many nice details and the quality of work is absolutely top notch. Really inspiring craftsmanship. The oiled cherry neck feels absolutely amazing, the inlays on the fingerboard are very cool, and of course Fuji-San. The red tinted filler & urethane finish on the chinaberry body is mesmerizing. Can't wait to play it!

I got a sneak peek at CJ's next project too... it's gonna be cool but I'm not going to spoil the surprise. 

Thank you, kind sir!

I had a full work day today, but after spending nearly a whole day of shop time yesterday to assemble and wire, I couldn't help sneaking in a few minutes to put strings on and do a rough setup.  (shhh ... don't tell anyone!) 

Looks like I can bring it along tonight when I go to your gig ... perhaps you could do a "sound check?" :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yesterday was spent making this rat's nest with a pockmarked soldering iron and too tight quarters!  But it looks like everything is connected to where it's supposed to. (Tech talk ... Bourns 500K pots, .047uf Mullard Tropical Fish cap, and dual Emerson Treble Bleed circuits)

35061665725_3e400db86e_b.jpg

Got this far and started to get excited!  Asked Mrs.Charisjapan to give me a reprieve from a few chores so I could push on, but no strings or sound check until today.

34930137361_d0e4552060_b.jpg

And today, well, about an hour ago ... The Chinaberries!! (tada~!)

35023806166_ab4ede0696_b.jpg

... and this is where Mr.Natural says, "Mount Fuji!!"

35023803056_39d5a1a97b_b.jpg

34252850933_ae9b4b5e58_b.jpg

Finally, the control cover attached with a single neodymium magnet.  This time, it's well-seated, so the tiny magnet holds it nice and tight until a firm push on either of the top corners pops it off.

34220313984_96f91fb46a_b.jpg

35023817616_d853deb0ce_b.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎6‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 7:57 PM, Mr Natural said:

CHINABERRIES!

they look great CJ. At first when you added that red I was thinking in my head- oh no- how could you do that to that beautiful wood- but it appears that the effect is subtle and very nice. great job!

Mr Natural, I went through a LOT of soul-searching AND experimentation to decide whether to just use clear epoxy (like Chinaberry One), use an opaque wood filler, various tints in the 2-part urethane sanding filler, and even tinted clearcoat.  After seeing what I got, and wanting something a little different from Chinaberry One, I think it was the right decision.  This piece of wood, or more correctly, this side of the same piece of wood, was not as chatoyant, so added a "spice" to the already strong grain ... and as this picture shows, brought the body into a close color tone with the Japanese Mountain Cherry neck back.  The same cherry plank's sapwood made an incredibly contrasted fingerboard, too! :D

Thanks for all your encouragement, my friend.  And ...

Mt. Fuji !! :thumb:

34975931321_ff8fbf56aa_b.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So here's the proof of the scale ... a very nice weight, and quite nearly the same as Chinaberry One.

34900963672_7f45da6c78.jpg

34933931001_0903bc56eb.jpg

And this is probably closest to the color you see in person ...

34296630503_6707155324.jpg

The Saturday I strung it up, was gig night for a2k, so I was happy to find that this fit perfectly inside my Tele gigbag. He can tell you more about his night overall, but I will share here that he was kind enough to plug Chinaberry Two in for a few songs, and rocked (blued?) the house.  I will use it next Sunday for my own (slightly more sedate) gig, but it is very nice to hear your own scratch-built instrument jamming with a great bass player and equally talented group.  I will never hear "Black Magic Woman" or "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" the same again!  a2k went on to use his own 5-string bass, and the two guitarist were using his pair of "6-string Piccolo Basses" most of the night.  Super WoW Experience!!

35050205356_6c3d89fab7_b.jpg

35050222186_9cd989290c_b.jpg

Just a short clip from an iPhone, but I assure you live was Really, Really Good!

BMW with a2k on bass

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, kmensik said:

I like the island in the control cavity to hold the cover. Then I thought there is something wrong in it. Is the tropical fish cap 4,7nF instead of 47nF?

Thank you.  The center post worked much better this time.

If the capacitor is a Phillips/Mullard C280 as it is supposed to be, then Yellow/Violet/Orange/White/Brown should be 0.047uF.  I'm getting some more in tomorrow from a reputable supplier ... we'll see!  ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, the orange stripe looks very red to me, that's what confused me.

How come the first neck bolt did not run into the truss rod? Is the nut in the neck that shallow? I wanted to make a 1 bolt neck joint, but I would hit the truss rod with the drill bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, kmensik said:

Oh, the orange stripe looks very red to me, that's what confused me.

How come the first neck bolt did not run into the truss rod? Is the nut in the neck that shallow? I wanted to make a 1 bolt neck joint, but I would hit the truss rod with the drill bit.

Yeah... I thought it was red, too!  But there is no red third stripe for mullards .... or at least, that's what I read on the internet. ;)

Haha!  That's because there's no truss rod there!  I used a guitar truss rod in a 30" scale bass, and then used carbon fiber rods to reinforce.  I was a bit worried about that, but the neck is very sturdy, and the double-action truss rod works exactly as it should.  In fact, I have not yet even touched the tr adjustment.  Granted, this neck is a bit thicker and wider than some basses, but it's smaller than my R6 ... and 5 inches longer!

A 1-bolt neck sounds cool!  How about two truss rods and one bolt?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, charisjapan said:

The Saturday I strung it up, was gig night for a2k, so I was happy to find that this fit perfectly inside my Tele gigbag. He can tell you more about his night overall, but I will share here that he was kind enough to plug Chinaberry Two in for a few songs, and rocked (blued?) the house. 

Thanks CJ for coming out on Saturday night! It was a fun night for sure. Getting to see, hear, and play the Chinaberry Two was definitely a highlight. It is in every way a beautiful instrument - photos do not do it justice - and I can confirm that it feels and sounds as good as it looks. 

Here's a group shot of the Chinaberry Two hanging out with my Koi Bass and one of the Piccolo 6's.

IMG_5149.thumb.jpg.28bb74455bbb7fb22ceebbdf44542aa0.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, a2k said:

Thanks CJ for coming out on Saturday night! It was a fun night for sure. Getting to see, hear, and play the Chinaberry Two was definitely a highlight. It is in every way a beautiful instrument - photos do not do it justice - and I can confirm that it feels and sounds as good as it looks. 

Here's a group shot of the Chinaberry Two hanging out with my Koi Bass and one of the Piccolo 6's

a2k,

Was really cool to go to a gig and see hand-built guitars in action ... Four Of Them!!! :hyper

Thanks for the invite, and only wished I could have stayed longer!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, kmensik said:

Oh, the orange stripe looks very red to me, that's what confused me.

How come the first neck bolt did not run into the truss rod? Is the nut in the neck that shallow? I wanted to make a 1 bolt neck joint, but I would hit the truss rod with the drill bit.

kmensik, you might be right! Or at least partially right. ;)

If that IS a Mullard, then that band has to be orange, not red.  But if it another manufacturer, red would make the value 0.47uF.  I am noticing a bit less tone pot response compared to my Chinaberry One, which has a correct Orange Drop.  I got these in today, and they are definitely from a batch of vintage Mullard caps ... the 5-band are 250V (and the third band is clearly orange) and the 6-band are probably a better tolerance 400V.  Just to be safe, I will switch out the cap in the Chinaberry Two and hear if there is any difference.  I would expect a broader tonal change if indeed the present one is a 0.47uF cap.

34282013774_f5b33072c8_b.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great to see some of these instruments being fired in anger, and fellow forumites getting the chance to hook up with each other over this strange and expensive hobby we share :thumb:

FWIW, a red band makes it 4.7nF rather than 0.47uF (aka 470nF). Orange is indeed 47nF.

Third band = number of zeroes after the first two digits. Red = 2, Orange = 3. Value on cap is presented in picofarads, so Yellow/Violet/Red = 4700pF = 4.7nF.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, curtisa said:

Great to see some of these instruments being fired in anger, and fellow forumites getting the chance to hook up with each other over this strange and expensive hobby we share :thumb:

FWIW, a red band makes it 4.7nF rather than 0.47uF (aka 470nF). Orange is indeed 47nF.

Third band = number of zeroes after the first two digits. Red = 2, Orange = 3. Value on cap is presented in picofarads, so Yellow/Violet/Red = 4700pF = 4.7nF.

Thank you, curtisa! You are absolutely correct. If indeed Yellow/Violet/Red, then 4700pF = 4.7nF = 0.0047uF ... wrong value for a guitar tone circuit.

Personally,  I've never measured anything in my amp or guitar building using nF or pF, except the occasional tiny ceramic or mica caps.  I can only remember a few times seeing anything on the 50s amp circuits but uF.  

Whatever, the new tropical fish I received today were called Mullard 0.047uF, and that should be the correct tone capacitor.

Yay! :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depending on the pickups you might actualy like the wrong value cap, 4,7nF just cuts the treble and keeps more mids. 47nF makes a guitar more muddy. I like 10-22nF.

BTW it is good to know the colour code or have a chart at hand, mine that I lost was printed on a backside of a local parts shop business card, very practical.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, kmensik said:

Depending on the pickups you might actualy like the wrong value cap, 4,7nF just cuts the treble and keeps more mids. 47nF makes a guitar more muddy. I like 10-22nF.

BTW it is good to know the colour code or have a chart at hand, mine that I lost was printed on a backside of a local parts shop business card, very practical.

Hmmm ... sounds like a good excuse to experiment!  Whatever these are now, I would like to try a proven 0.047uF cap.  Mainly, these are Q-tuner neodymium pickups, and the winder was pretty strong in suggesting 500K pots and 0.047uF caps ... and no active circuit.  I'm already messing with a normal bass "formula" with a short scale (less tension) and unusual woods.  But in any case, I gig on Sunday, and can A>B>C with the Chinaberry One and my MusicMan SR4 as is, then will change the cap to the Yellow/Violet/Orange cap to see if things change.

Yeah, have charts that were up on the wall when I was actively building amps, but not nearly as necessary these days. ;) Now I have multiple mobile devices to find erroneous info or misread good info, lol! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saturday practice with the Chinaberry Two, then just after Sunday gig.  Loved it!  Balance and ergonomics are absolutely perfect, weight is light ... :thumb:
 
One trouble is not a complaint, but it will take a bit more playing to get used to the short (30") scale.   Hit a few sharp notes ... nobody noticed.  Everybody liked the Mt. Fuji headstock! :):D
 
But ... as some  noticed, the tropical fish cap is the wrong value.   Everything wide open sounded great, but the tone control didn't work anything like the Chinaberry One.  Will change out tomorrow.  Altogether happy with my first scratch-build (even though it's not a 6-string ;)).
 
34820478400_0d66a041da_b.jpg
 
35187684996_69785a6e50_b.jpg
 
35061667055_1b92ceee23_b.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bingo!
 
The cap WAS the wrong value ... and possibly not functioning at all!  All fixed now, sounds great!  Well, it sounded great with all pots wide open before, but now have full functionality.  When I removed the cap, one leg just fell off ... not sure if it was working or not.  But now the tone pot has a nice sweep from treble-muted to growl, and the volume pots have a more interactive sweep as well.
 
As to the neck, I did some final action tweaking, and all is well.  Happy to report that the Japanese Mountain Cherry IS a viable neck wood option, and stays straight and holds tune. I love the lighter tension strings and playing this scale wonder if I want to play a full scale bass again.  This puppy (or maybe these p'ups!) has all the bass depth of my Stingray, but over 4 pounds lighter and more compact for our tight stage. I am guessing that the Q-tuner neodymium pickups are a significant part of the equation.
 
:thumb:
 
35238715016_d2145b36bf_b.jpg
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...