erikbojerik Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 I've got Drak disease...just...cannot...wait...to finish first projects before beginning the next one. I'm a guitar player by nature, so I'd appreciate any and all feedback (especially from bass players). NeckThru Bass V (5-string) Specs (so far) Neck: flame maple-walnut-ebony-padauk laminated neck (9 layers) Cocobolo fretboard, brass nut, tilt-back headstock; 2-way LMI trussrod Body wings: Walnut+ebony+cocobolo sandwich (neck lams will show on top); possibly carved One ???? pickup, passive/active switch, one volume knob 34" scale (leaving 8 inches for headstock and 6 inches for bridge so 48" total length) gold hardware I could use some feedback on: Nut width & string spacing Bridge string spacing Pickup type (Bartolini?) Whether or not to have on-board 3-band EQ or just rely on my Digitech floorboard (125 user-defined presets...); I'd like to minimize the number of knobs. Having ebony lams in the neck instead of carbon rods. What kind of tone this will have (bright?) Here is a mock-up of the neck lams (length is not to scale); total width is 3"; boxes show widths of 1-3/4" at the nut (too narrow?) and 2-1/4" at the 24th fret. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted October 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Just to clarify....the "V" is a "5" (number of strings). It will not be a flying V bass (would that be too huge or what?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted October 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Here's the wood; about $250 total invested so far (half of which was for the ebony alone), but if I play my cards right, I should be able to get 2 laminated necks out of this stock, and have a bit left over. Top to bottom (all 4/4): walnut flame maple padauk ebony cocobolo The back side of the coco will be the fretboard; this top surface with the sapwood will form the top of the wings, with a thin layer of ebony between it and the walnut. Headstock and body shapes to follow (sometime). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 (edited) Cocobolo Sounds like product coming from Medilin Columbia. Edited October 27, 2004 by RGGR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sindlei Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 chocobo ride anyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Sounds good thus far. Here's what I think: Cut the walnut from the neck. Makes it look a little busy IMHO. Go for a 1 7/8" string spacing Go for a bartolini Musicman humbucker, with volume, tone, and a coil selector switch; maybe a series-parallel push/pull pot too. No 3-band EQ if you want to minimize knobs. DEFINITELY have ebony neck lams. Supposedly, they add sustain up the wazoo. It'll be pretty bright, but the walnut doesn't have too many highs, so it won't be overly piercing. That's what the tone knob's for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted October 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Thanks skibum! The bass player I jam with has a new EB Stingray 5 (ash body maple neck) and I love the sound of that humbucker, but I was not too jazzed about the appearance of the exposed pole pieces. The Bartolini humbucker looks like the perfect solution. But which one? The Bartolini web site lists two types with 72mm string spacing (72MM "Stingray" and 72MV "Music Man"), and then there are all these letters at the end (C, K, X, E, EX). So there are at least 5 "Stingray" and 5 "Music Man" 5-string bass pups, but their web site is really poor at describing the differences between these, and I can't find any descriptions anywhere else. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluespresence Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Cool..........another convert crossing over into bass land!! ski is roght on top of my thoughts..... - Bartolini MM if you want only one (with this you'll only NEED one pickup!) - 1-7/8 nut for sure on a 5. It'll get crowded real quick otherwise. - go to 35" scale if possible.....you won't regret it. A buddy of mine plays 5 and tunes down a half step - if you do the same you will never regret that extra inch of scale length........even if you play it in standard you will have a lot less slap on the frets with 35 when you dig in. - I did find the info you are looking for at Bartolini's sit (it's not easy to find). I happened to be researching last week for my new project......go to the link, page down to page 6 and below Ernie Ball Pickups you'll see the note with descriptions of the letters and the meanings. Bartolini Price List Good Luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Here's my thoughts..... ......Shorten the scale length (to about 25"), have 6 strings......see where this is going.......and make a proper guitar Just joking before anyone gets upset. Got to admit that when I read the first post, I thought cool a 'V' bass (V meaning V not V meaning 5). As for the Walnut, I've been using African Walnut for some bits and pieces and found it really very easy to work with, but this is probably because it's soft. Is it suitable for a neck (even though you've got denser wood in there, a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link and all that). Saying that though, I only know about African Walnut and yours may well be different Kaj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted October 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Thanks BP. I will seriously consider the 35" scale, I've got enough wood to work with (8 inches allotted for the headstock and 6 inches from the bridge saddles to the end of the wood). I also stand over 6' and I've got the wingspan to play 35". It would be nice to have a good tight B; our bass player has a Ken Smith 5 and Stingray 5, and he says the B is quite a bit tighter on the Stingray. I'll be doing some measurements at rehearsal tonight. Hotrock, I'm right with you. I've got enough lumber for 2 bass thru-necks, and I'm hoping I'll have enough left for a guitar thru-neck. I'll measure at least 5 times before I cut... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirit Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Just to clarify....the "V" is a "5" (number of strings). It will not be a flying V bass (would that be too huge or what?). It's....not a giant Flying Vee Bass????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted November 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Here's an outline of the body; it will have one Bartolini MM Stingray pickup (not certain of the location yet). The bottom rectangle is the bridge, the middle one is the length of the neckthru portion up to the 24th fret (8.5" for 34" scale), the large rectangle on the left is the length to the 12th fret. In general, I think I want the upper horn close to the 24th fret for balance. I'd value your comments on the body shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted November 3, 2004 Report Share Posted November 3, 2004 Quick random question: what would it look like with the bottom horn reversed so the ball was on the inside? Oh: and definitely carve it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted November 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2004 (edited) Yeah, I think I do want to carve it, which means that I'll probably need to start with a body that is a bit thicker than 1-1/2". I'll at least do a round-over and see how that looks first, then decide (based on the grain etc) how much further I want to go. Here's a sketch with the bottom horn reversed. I didn't change the angle of the horn; this version I think puts the ball too close to the edge of the neck. Edited November 3, 2004 by erikbojerik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted November 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2004 More offset waist, asymmetric bottom, gentle horn ends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted November 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2004 Same waist & bottom, larger round horn ends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted November 3, 2004 Report Share Posted November 3, 2004 I like the second one the best. It looks the most comfortable to play. I also like the look of it a lot. It reminds me of Carl thompson's basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt76 Posted November 3, 2004 Report Share Posted November 3, 2004 Hi Eric Bojerik I have 2 V String Bass blueprints, if you want to your project Here are the drawings... See you, regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted November 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 OK, some progress after a few weeks (interrupted by a trip to Chile, during which I climbed Volcan Villarica)... I'm probably going with body #3 or #4 above (I'll cut things a little large and keep whittling away until I like it). Here's the walnut-ebony-cocobolo wings; I had to spend 10 minutes wiping down the cocobolo with acetone to remove the oils before gluing with Titebond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted November 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 Here's the laminated neck; I went with the laminations drawn earlier in this thread, but eliminated the strip of maple between the ebony and walnut, and added some ebony strips between the neck section and the wings (I just KNOW the cocobolo oils would have smeared onto the maple and caused problems). I'm pretty happy so far except for one thing... After truing everything up post-glue, I'm now at a body thickness of 1-5/16"....and I'll probably lose another 2 or 3/32" after gluing up the wings and planing. Is this too thin for a 5-string bass? If so, I could easily add a cocobolo cap on the back...let me know what y'all think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted November 26, 2004 Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 Same waist & bottom, larger round horn ends How about something different? I mean, okay, I know bass players are boring by nature (hey I started out as a bass player!) ....why not go a bit radical...like something bassed (hic!) on the Danoelectro Longhorn... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G_urr_A Posted November 26, 2004 Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 The first thing I thought when I saw your initial design: http://tinypic.com/ocw21 Cool woods, and neat design, even if the similarity kinda bugs me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted November 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 (edited) Hehehe...that's funny, I hope I can get that image out of my head... ...why not go a bit radical...like something bassed (hic!) on the Danoelectro Longhorn... Man, that design reminds me of the front end of something bovine...moooooo! I'm not one of those people who likes pointy guitars...I'm pretty classical by nature, I like to let the wood do the talking. So...is 1-1/4 (or slightly less) too thin for a 5-string bass body? It does have a fair bit of ebony... Edited November 26, 2004 by erikbojerik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassman Posted November 27, 2004 Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 I think you will be fine with such a thin body, make sure you have ennough room for the electronics though. With such a thin body you can really make a cool gradual gradation from neck to body thickness, try taking the taper actually onto the back of the body a bit, feather it out across the back following the lines of the body. Peace, Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otgordin Posted November 27, 2004 Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 the offset shape kinda reminds me of the two basses Lex made a while ago. -Vadim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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