Geo Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 This is my third project and will be my second with good results. My goals: 1) build a bass for recording/learning bass 2) make an instrument with angled set neck 3) spend as little as possible I know people hate poplar, but that's what the body is made of. I got it from Lowes and laminated it. I actually like the grain in the top. It will be stained black, though. In keeping with goal #3, I'm making a single-coil pickup for it. I already had the wire, and I ripped magnets off the bottom of two cheapo guitar single-coils. I still haven't found suitable polepiece screws though. The pickup will be P90 construction style, though the bobbin is tall like a Strat. I may double the number of windings on it, which might help if I can't find screws that conduct magnetistm well. The neck will be maple. The fingerboard, headplate and top of the pickup cover will be bloodwood. The scale is 30" cuz I have small hands. Thanks for looking. http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...bass%20project/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travismoore Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Looking good =D Keep us up to date (on the construction and the learning) =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted June 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Looking good =D Keep us up to date (on the construction and the learning) =) Hey, thanks. Yes, the learning is coming so fast I think I may explode! I've only had my router a few days. I'm never going back to being router-less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted June 23, 2007 Report Share Posted June 23, 2007 Wow, I think this build is going to turn out looking really sharp. I like the concept of the short scale semi-hollow bass with a neck angle. And personally I don't think there's anything wrong with poplar. I've got a MIM poplar tele that I like just fine. Heck, Melvyn Hiscock used poplar for a guitar in his book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted July 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 Here's a quick update: The body is assembled and carved, ready for cleaning up. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_5140.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_5139.jpg I finished winding the pickup. It measures 12.35k DC resistance--yikes! I wound it hot because I wasn't finding polepieces with good magnetic transfer. Well, I doubled the magnets under the bobbin (a total of four cannabalized single coil pickups), and now the polepieces are nice and magnetic. They feel as strong as on a normal pickup. This thing is huge and heavy. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_5131.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_5130.jpg I also cut and glued the scarf joint and rough-cut the headstock shape. I ordered a custom truss rod (21.5") from LMI cuz I couldn't find the right length from them or Stewmac. Once that gets here (in a month?), I'll table saw/route the channel and then start carving the neck. I'm really liking the grain of the poplar on the top! http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_5138.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubab0y Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 Nice job. I personally think poplar is a cool looking wood (if you find a piece with minimal mineral streaks...say that five times fast.) I'm liking the shape, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted July 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Nice job. I personally think poplar is a cool looking wood (if you find a piece with minimal mineral streaks...say that five times fast.) I'm liking the shape, too. Cool, thanks. I tried to pick the best grain with the two boards I had for the top. It's definitely plain, but has a nice slab-sawn look. The shape reminds me of a hollowbody PRS. I wasn't thinking of that when I drew it, but now I think it would work well for six-string too, without modification (other than carve/bridge placement). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubab0y Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Yeah, while poplar isn't exciting, I'd definitely put it on the same level looks-wise as ash or maple. Great as a back wood, but I usually find something prettier for the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted July 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 Here's an update... My custom truss rod from LMI came, along with some bloodwood. Wow, that stuff is hard and splintery. It's beautiful, though, and the smell reminds me of chocolate. Since the truss rod arrived, I was able to cut the channel, after which I could start carving the neck. neck carving: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...orestuff001.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...orestuff002.jpg headstock: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...orestuff005.jpg neck carve finished, some sanding done: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...orestuff006.jpg mock-up of parts: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...orestuff004.jpg I'm really excited. I can't wait to see the bloodwood fingerboard against the maple neck, with the body stained translucent black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted August 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 I finished the parts of the pickup. I only need to pot the coil and then the pickup will be complete. Making the cover: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...t/pickup001.jpg Cover finish-sanded: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...t/pickup002.jpg Next to a Strat pickup to give you an idea of the size (it's HUGE): http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...t/pickup003.jpg Parts laid together for looks: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...t/pickup004.jpg Assembled pickup: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...t/pickup005.jpg The color of the bloodwood (difficult to capture): http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...t/pickup006.jpg I finally figured out what bloodwood smells like. I make a black raspberry pie every summer... it smells like that baking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 (edited) Nice build! Poplar is underrated, I think. Great job on the pickups, by the way. Can't wait to see how it all turns out! CMA Edited August 10, 2007 by CrazyManAndy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted August 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 Thanks for the compliments. I just routed off 1/16" from the fingerboard blank, bringing it down to 1/4". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Preston Swift Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 That's a cool looking bass. I love those kind of F-holes. How much money did you get the poplar for and how much did you get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted August 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 That's a cool looking bass. I love those kind of F-holes. How much money did you get the poplar for and how much did you get. Hey, thanks for checking in. The poplar is from the local Lowe's glitzy appliance and garden plant--er--hardware store. I don't think it was more than $20 total. The body is laminated from 6 pieces. Basically I glued the halves first so that I had three "layers" that were the full width and length of the body. Then I did the routing for each layer. For the back, this meant routing away about half of its thickness. For the middle section, I routed around the area that would be hollow and then cut that out with a jigsaw. I glued the back and middle together and then cut out the body outline. For the top section, I cut out the body outline (leaving 1/4"-1/8" extra). Then I carved it and routed away some on the underside. Then I glued the top and body together and cut the top down to match the curves of the body with a chisel. Yeah, that was stupid. But I don't have a bandsaw, so my options are limited. I just cut the first octave of fret slots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...orestuff004.jpg TOE-SHOT!!! Do I win a prize? Great work - I can't wait to hear your thoughts on that pickup....do you have a bass amp and a "normal" bass to A/B for comparison? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted August 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 (edited) TOE-SHOT!!! Do I win a prize? Ha ha, yeah, the little guys crept into the picture again. Right now my closest thing to a bass amp is a homebuilt thing. It's a Plexi preamp into a single EL84, about 3 audio watts. I can get some good recorded bass tones with it if I tweak the low-mid EQ a little, using the amp's dark channel. I have a friend's Squier P-bass on loan. I've played around with it, I'm fairly familiar with its "tone". I'll soon be building a new amp, a Plexi preamp into a Deluxe Reverb-style poweramp. The dark channel on that amp will have a switch to bring in a more bass-friendly voicing. (it will basically be a guitar amp that consents to doing bass.) So... I don't have a whole lot to measure this pickup against in terms of tone. The DC resistance is 12k, so it will be high output, probably somewhat lacking in treble. But I like a warm bass tone, so it should be good. Thanks for the compliments... it means a lot! Edited August 10, 2007 by Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted August 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2007 Woohoo, I made a lot of progress. My tuners have 1/2" bushings, so I had to drill 3/8" holes and then add enough 1/2" depth for the bushings. That was a nightmare with my hand-held power drill. The bloodwood headplate splintered and came away from the maple. A few fightin' words were uttered, but I was able to glue it back. Using a chisel to keep the depth even, I slowly drilled the half-inch holes. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...progress001.jpg Here's the pickup hole routed. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...progress006.jpg The body during staining. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...progress008.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...progress009.jpg After neck gluing, I put the parts together just to see what it will look like. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...progress010.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...progress011.jpg Now I'm applying the finish. Yuck, that blue masking tape ruins the aesthetic. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...progress012.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...progress013.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black_labb Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 i like this build, simple and nice. only criticism is i doubt you can reach the high frets, but it looks great like that anyway due to the nice colour in the fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheIRS Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 That's a pretty little shorty bass you got there. My only complaint is the black is too dark.. I don't know but to me it just detracts from the beauty of the bass in my eyes. BUT! You have an excellent instrument there, Geo, and you should be extremely proud. Please if you can when you are finished post a sound clip. I'm interested in hearing what it sounds like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted August 24, 2007 Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 looking great, keep it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted August 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 Thanks for the comments guys. Yeah, I knew from the start that the high frets would be rather pointless. But I really liked how it looked on paper. Since guitar is my main instrument, and this is mostly for "bass range" bass, I don't mind. However, the high range (esp. the G string) has a really interesting tone since the bass is hollow. It has a considerable amount of acoustic volume--more than I expected. (Oh yeah, it's done. ) I'll post a link to a soundfile after I record it etc. Warning... I don't have a bass amp. My options are an amp based on a Princeton Reverb, and a 5w Plexi. I played it in church today and the solid-state sound system made it sound pretty darn good. Pictures... (I'll take a few more when the natural lighting is better.) http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...finished003.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...finished002.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...finished001.jpg Thanks for looking. Any comments welcome... several flaws are visible in the pictures. But this project was a huge leap for me. It turned out way better than my first guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 I really like this build, very nicely done. The only thing i'm not sold on is the finish. I'm thinking a glossier finish would look really nice with the black stain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted August 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 I really like this build, very nicely done. The only thing i'm not sold on is the finish. I'm thinking a glossier finish would look really nice with the black stain. Yeah, you're right. But I don't have spray equipment and don't plan on buying it. Maybe this finish could be worked up to a gloss, I don't know. It isn't totally dead; in person you can see the light reflect off it. Here's a sound clip. http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=590945&T=9237 I didn't tweak any EQ--just the bass straight into the amps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 (edited) Maybe I missed it, but what exactly is the finish? I used about 35 coats (or somewhere thereabouts) of tru oil and used finishing papers to buff it to a pretty high gloss. (Check out my build thread and look at the pickup cover) You could do something like that pretty easily. It would take some time, but no special equipment or skills are necessary. BTW, I really like the raw sound of the bass. Very nice. Edited August 27, 2007 by mattharris75 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted August 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 (edited) Well, I may get scolded... but here's my finish recipe. It's 1 part turpentine, 1 part boiled linseed oil, and 1 part clear gloss miniwax. It's a built-up finish. The neck really feels incredible. I think this is a pretty non-standard finish. A guy on another forum shared the recipe with me. I would be suspicious, except that he's built quite a few guitars. I lost track of coats, but I know I didn't do 35. The guy recommended 1 coat a day for 7 days. I think I did more than that, but I didn't count. Glad you like the tone. I think it sounds fine without EQ, except for the distorted tone, which needs a low boost. Edited August 27, 2007 by Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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