Prostheta Posted May 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 I'll be adding in a zero fret, since that's just something I like to have. I have a spare spoke wheel from a truss rod (somewhere) so I am tempted to consider putting the adjuster at the body end.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 I decided on a name for the bass too....Orgasmatron.... Once the board has been slotted, I'm going to rout a shallow channel underneath in preparation for laying in the fibre optics. Wasn't it yourself, @Andyjr1515 that was particularly interested in this? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted May 20, 2016 Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 15 minutes ago, Prostheta said: I decided on a name for the bass too....Orgasmatron.... Once the board has been slotted, I'm going to rout a shallow channel underneath in preparation for laying in the fibre optics. Wasn't it yourself, @Andyjr1515 that was particularly interested in this? Yes! I was at a bassists forum meet recently and became reimpressed (sure there's a better word than that) with one of the fellow builder's lit up dots. However, he uses LEDs and, having seen his build threads, it's not for me! Optic fibre seems to me to be the ideal way to go - so yes, very interested in seeing someone do one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted May 20, 2016 Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 42 minutes ago, Prostheta said: I decided on a name for the bass too....Orgasmatron.... Once the board has been slotted, I'm going to rout a shallow channel underneath in preparation for laying in the fibre optics. Wasn't it yourself, @Andyjr1515 that was particularly interested in this? I'll be watching too - I'm gathering ideas for my next build Orgasmatron - Lemmy tribute? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 Now this is where the trickery comes in to improve accuracy whilst understanding tolerances. I used my basic fret calculator however FretFind2D works just as well. My long steel ruler is placed along the centreline and clamped to the fingerboard at either end to ensure it won't move. I work at tenths of a mm, so I dial the precision down in the spreadsheet to do this for me. I marked out the fret locations using a mechanical pencil.... Now, you might be wondering how this is accurate. Well, it's not very. The pencil lead is 0,5mm and there's little guarantee you'll be working with the sharp chisel edge or the flat face. Marks are easily misplaced either side of the 0,5mm centre or scrubbed in order to compensate. Well, I do my best to make sure that the centre of the mark (however wide it is) coincides with the centre of where I am aiming. I don't leave it like this.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 It might seem a bit futile, trying to mark up something to 1/10th of a mm using a pencil that is 5/10ths. Well, they provide a reference mark at first. Next, I refine the marks using an LED-lit head magnifier (cheap from eBay) and a sharp craft knife. Figuring out a tenth of a mm is still somewhat of a high mark to be aiming for, and it's not easily done by eye. So what do we do? Use what the human eye is good at; dividing by two or identifying whether a mark is to the left/right of a centre point. This refines us to 1/4 of a mm, which is quite a fine level of accuracy for hand work. Simply identify the two mm marks (or inches if you work in those), line your head up so that you are perpendicular to the line you want to mark (to eliminate parallax error) and place the point. Judge whether it is correct, and if so add pressure to create a cut in the paper. No need to really push. For example, here I was aiming for 536,2mm, 556,0mm and 574,7mm. To mark 536,2mm, split between the mm marks by eye and place the knife at 536,5mm but don't mark it. Adjust the knife so that it is more or less halfway between the centre and the left mark (536mm) and place the point. 556,0mm is very simple. Just split the width of the mark on the rule. 574,7mm is the same idea; split 574mm and 575mm, move across and mark around 574,75mm. For numbers such as 0,1, 0,4, 0,6 or 0,9 I simply mark at the 0,0 or 0,5 and marginally mark very slightly to the left or right. Not as much as a quarter of course! Marking to 1/4mm is very precise and perfectly fit for purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 What I could really do with is a long steel ruler with a tapered edge so that the marks meet the paper on a common corner, not with an edge with the side of the ruler in the way....Vogel in Germany make some excellent bevel-edged rules, however the numbering is upside down and only graduated in mm rather than 1/2 mm's like many other precision rules....hmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 Oh, and yes....this was a Lemmy tribute bass from the outset! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted May 22, 2016 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 I always use a cutter to mark the frets position. but 0.25mm is the minimum measure I can do. I sometimes wish to have a magnifier lens. Anyway, rulers are not so precise... metal tends to expand/contract depending on the ambient temperature. I got surprised comparing two rulers some time ago, I put them together and the lectures start to get misplaced after 300 mm. Since that day I don't trust on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 As long as the marks are consistent with each other, it is fine. That one is 1200mm long so I can do the entire board. Expansion/contraction would be more or less even. Steel expands a couple of thousands of an inch per hundred degrees, so I'm sure that I can live with the tolerance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck_Chill-Out Posted May 22, 2016 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 On 5/20/2016 at 7:57 AM, Prostheta said: It might seem a bit futile, trying to mark up something to 1/10th of a mm using a pencil that is 5/10ths. Well, they provide a reference mark at first. Next, I refine the marks using an LED-lit head magnifier (cheap from eBay) and a sharp craft knife. Figuring out a tenth of a mm is still somewhat of a high mark to be aiming for, and it's not easily done by eye. So what do we do? Use what the human eye is good at; dividing by two or identifying whether a mark is to the left/right of a centre point. This refines us to 1/4 of a mm, which is quite a fine level of accuracy for hand work. Simply identify the two mm marks (or inches if you work in those), line your head up so that you are perpendicular to the line you want to mark (to eliminate parallax error) and place the point. Judge whether it is correct, and if so add pressure to create a cut in the paper. No need to really push. For example, here I was aiming for 536,2mm, 556,0mm and 574,7mm. To mark 536,2mm, split between the mm marks by eye and place the knife at 536,5mm but don't mark it. Adjust the knife so that it is more or less halfway between the centre and the left mark (536mm) and place the point. 556,0mm is very simple. Just split the width of the mark on the rule. 574,7mm is the same idea; split 574mm and 575mm, move across and mark around 574,75mm. For numbers such as 0,1, 0,4, 0,6 or 0,9 I simply mark at the 0,0 or 0,5 and marginally mark very slightly to the left or right. Not as much as a quarter of course! Marking to 1/4mm is very precise and perfectly fit for purpose. Thanks for sowing me that I wasn't crazy in measuring for frets (or in my case, side markers for frets) this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 I'm sure that it's not the only way of course, however it's a simple way of achieving sub-mm accuracy. The important thing from here is how you convert those marks into perfectly-located slots. Just waiting for an electronics order to come in, specifically, LEDs.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMpleONe89 Posted May 23, 2016 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Will the LEDs under the fretboard ever stop working? What happens then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 No LEDs are going under the fingerboard. Instead, there will be a series of fibre optic light pipes which go through to a separate lighting unit within the body itself. You're right about LEDs stopping working. They're a nightmare to replace! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMpleONe89 Posted May 23, 2016 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Ah. Flashy fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Both have their merits though. I simply want to demonstrate this method and move onto LEDs at a later point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2016 Just waiting for the fibre optics to come in. The main workshop where I do most of my heavy work is closed until Aug/Sept so I'm truly going to be up against it for doing much of use until then. That and our car is throwing a sickie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2016 Okay, car is maybe repaired. Until it's not. I'll be binding the body with dark tortoiseshell 1,5mm celluloid with four inner 0,3mm purfling lines, making it "TWBWB". Time to give the new router binding cutter attachment a proofing when this comes in! Pickupwise, I've more or less settled on a 5-string MM and a single coil in the neck. There's a lot of contrast between the two sounds which I think will work perfectly with dual output if I go that route. Still vacillating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMpleONe89 Posted May 25, 2016 Report Share Posted May 25, 2016 (edited) 2 hours ago, Prostheta said: Okay, car is maybe repaired. Until it's not. I'll be binding the body with dark tortoiseshell 1,5mm celluloid with four inner 0,3mm purfling lines, making it "TWBWB". Time to give the new router binding cutter attachment a proofing when this comes in! Pickupwise, I've more or less settled on a 5-string MM and a single coil in the neck. There's a lot of contrast between the two sounds which I think will work perfectly with dual output if I go that route. Still vacillating. Ooo I love tortoise shell things. Gives it another level of classiness! Are you placing the MM bucker in the same location like in the stingray? I did a mod to one of my p bass copies last time and had to put the MM bucker nearer to the bridge. I couldn't get the classic stingray sound but the sound was beefy and nice. Edited May 25, 2016 by SIMpleONe89 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2016 It'll be balanced off visually rather than placed specifically. If it were the only pickup, I'd put more thought into placement. I've a lot of thinking to do about tonal balance because MMs are very aggressive. I might have to put in some series/parallel switching in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2016 Not a whole lot achieved today. Last reliable day of workshop access before summer shutdown. I might get access during June, but I have to beg.... Added a couple of roundovers to the rear of the body wings; 6mm all round and 10mm around the gut cut. I'm also going to do a dry run on the laminates tomorrow. They're sized fine and good to go. I'd rather check first before committing. A lot of tapering work went on. I also cut the fingerboard to size....will update with photos tomorrow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted May 26, 2016 Report Share Posted May 26, 2016 4 minutes ago, Prostheta said: Not a whole lot achieved today. Last reliable day of workshop access before summer shutdown. I might get access during June, but I have to beg.... I find that weeping uncontrollably while lying prostrate, clinging pitifully to the persons leg sometimes works. Best not dribble on his/her shoes, though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2016 Hold on, let me take notes. Grab....leg....sob....mouth close....okay, gotcha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 26, 2016 Report Share Posted May 26, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 I laminated up a test piece of the binding and purfling.... It's also useful to point out one of my go-to scrapers; a blade with two pieces of tape over either end. This is usually used to take down nibs of glue or lacquer safely or other small tasks. In this instance I used both that and a naked blade, both with a small hook turned off the shaft of a screwdriver.... I love the smell of scraped celluloid! Rather than using glue, I used straight acetone dabbed on with a q-tip. I put a little on the binding and the wood itself. The purfling is very fragile (0,3mm or 3/256") so you can't be too heavy-handed with the acetone lest the purfling vapourise or squidge out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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