Pete's Jack Bruce EB3-ish (SG) bass

[ScottR]

1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

However, as you can see, it hides all of the contrasts of the different mahogany, the walnut and the wenge  

Yeah, that was what I was looking at when I asked if you were going to ink the whole thing.

 

1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

I'm inclined to stick to my guns with the top, but the back...how about just strip the neck and neck thru back to mahogany rather than the whole of the back and sides?

I think that's a good call. And then as you say, add a bit of tint to the clear if he wants more.

SR

[Andyjr1515]

Showed Pete the progress - and also his wife who is actually paying for it as a 'special birthday' present.  They both love the top.  I will put a touch of tint in the final varnish coats but he loves the figuring and overall vibe.

Talked through also the back sides and neck and Pete has opted for doing it as I have it.  I need to redo the body part of the neck through - the lighter grain makes it a bit too pink - but basically can get on with the finishing.

Have ordered all the bits for finishing it (except the controls - still researching that) so hopefully I won't be held up too much waiting for parts and components 

[Andyjr1515]

Just a slight diversion ref @Prostheta 's query about Timbermate.  

I think this is readily available in US?  More specialist in UK but easily obtainable.  

I use the 'medium/dark stainable' most.  It looks like this:

It will take stain to an extent once applied and dried, but I pre-stain it.  It will mix with pretty much any stain or dye you might be using - in my case usually ink.

 

In this example, I was staining a very open grained veneer:

Then sanded off, then stained as normal:

Used as a grainfiller, I do the same - ie, pre-stain in the finish colour -  but water it down even more and apply with a soft cloth.  

A bit like mixed plaster, it thickens in the pot as you are using it, but unlike plaster, you can keep adding a bit more water to keep it usable - it will still set like rock when dry.

I've had that one small 250ml tub for years.  Once opened it eventually sets like rock.  But to use it again, I just add a little water, leave it 30 mins, scrape out as much goo as I need and start all over again as if it was brand new.

[Andyjr1515]

Back to the bass, I've darkened the central neck stripe in the body a little:

I've scraped the dye off the maple fretboard demarcation veneer:

 

Installed the dots:

Put in the frets:

I'll tidy up the fret-ends but then can do the final finish coats.  I'm going to use the same approach I tried out on my double-cut junior 6 string:

• Add a few more coats of tru-oil, lightly slurried and buffed (slurrying the set oil itself rather than the stain underneath it)
• Then gloss varnish with my usual wipe-on thinned bog-standard polyurethane varnish

Next task is trying to find a numbers dial for the 5 position chickenhead knob!

 

[Prostheta]

54 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Just a slight diversion ref @Prostheta 's query about Timbermate.  

I think this is readily available in US?  More specialist in UK but easily obtainable.  

Used as a grainfiller, I do the same - ie, pre-stain in the finish colour -  but water it down even more and apply with a soft cloth.  

A bit like mixed plaster, it thickens in the pot as you are using it, but unlike plaster, you can keep adding a bit more water to keep it usable - it will still set like rock when dry.

I've had that one small 250ml tub for years.  Once opened it eventually sets like rock.  But to use it again, I just add a little water, leave it 30 mins, scrape out as much goo as I need and start all over again as if it was brand new.

 

Last stuff I used was Brummers. Same kind of stuff as any of the powders that can be reconstituted really. I'm going to have a chat with Osmo tomorrow since they do a multipurpose wood filler. I'd like to review that and a number of their other products for suitability on instruments. Let's hang fire on the grain fillers over there for the moment. The SG isn't a huge priority (pref. finished before Jan though).

http://www.osmouk.com/sitechaptern.cfm?bookid=Products&chapter=64&page=298

Mixing the Ebony and Jatoba or Ebony-Walnut is more what I've been aiming for.

[Andyjr1515]

In the above photo after installing the fretboard dots, the eagle-eyed will see that the dots at the 12th look a bit squiff.  Once I had checked -  yes, one of the dots was 0.5mm out.  The visual impact of this was doubled with the 11th and 12th frets being so close to the dot so it had to be fixed.

In my press-drill, I used a 1.5mm router bit to achieve a zero-runout centre hole:

Then drilled out the new position with a brad wood bit:

New position and sliver of the old dot:

The sliver was removed and a new dot put in with epoxy and ebony dust:

 

Next was side dots.  I had some green luminlay stick leftover from a previous project.  3mm brad bit for a c 2mm deep hole, drop of cyano, push the stick in:

Then stick cut off with a razor saw.

 

After tidying up it looks like this:

 

I've got a small dint in the neck to sand out and just a tidy up of the upper bout to neck join, then I can start the final wipe-on varnishing.

Now got to firm up and source the varitone-style selector stuff 

 

As always, thanks for looking and for your encouraging comments, folks  

[Prostheta]

Wow, you're motoring on this one Andy. I'm sick as a dog right now with that thing going around and am simply watching whilst everyone does laps. Erp. 

[Andyjr1515]

The induction coil I'm using has a few options in terms of primary, secondary and 1/2 coils.  Also, the only indicator plate I can seem to get for the chicken head knob is a 6 position one....and that got me thinking.

With some help with the capacitor / resistor bit of the notch circuit from a member of the basschat forum, I'm trying this circuit out using a 6 position 2 pole switch rather than a 4 position 3 pole one (I can always revert if it doesn't work).  The left hand side is the original Gibson circuit - I'll replicate the neck components for the bridge rather than have the values shown below (which I think was for a single coil bridge on the originals?):

If we've got it right, it should give me:  neck; both; bridge; neck with full primary coil notch; neck with 1/2 primary coil notch; neck with full secondary coil notch

If not, as I say, I'll go conventional EB-3.

I've also started the gloss varnishing.  My usual approach of thinned polyurethane wiped on with cheapo micro-fibre cloth.  The first couple of coats have a purple spirit stain mixed in to take any remaining pinkness out of the colour.  Here it is after the first couple of coats:

 

 

 

[ScottR]

That's gorgeous Andy.

SR

[Andyjr1515]

56 minutes ago, ScottR said:

That's gorgeous Andy.

SR

Thanks, Scott 

[curtisa]

You should call that colour, "Titanic Cherry Porter"

 

On 10/5/2016 at 3:49 AM, Andyjr1515 said:

If we've got it right, it should give me:  neck; both; bridge; neck with full primary coil notch; neck with 1/2 primary coil notch; neck with full secondary coil notch

Correct. Only suggestion I have is that the two volume pots will cross-load each other. Turning one down with the other full up will mute both pickups in position 2. That could be "vintage accurate" for all I know, but if that's not desirable you can change the volume pot connections to match a Fender Jazz Bass, which will allow you to get independent volume operation of both pickups.

[Andyjr1515]

17 hours ago, curtisa said:

You should call that colour, "Titanic Cherry Porter"

 

Correct. Only suggestion I have is that the two volume pots will cross-load each other. Turning one down with the other full up will mute both pickups in position 2. That could be "vintage accurate" for all I know, but if that's not desirable you can change the volume pot connections to match a Fender Jazz Bass, which will allow you to get independent volume operation of both pickups.

Hi Andrew - good to hear from you . Are you back in Tasmania?  How did the rest of the trip go?

  Ref the build, the thread is a bit out of date - I'm away in Scotland for a few days but will update it later this week.  The build is basically done, but I'm still experimenting with the electrics   It really is a case of the wonderful array of good bad and ugly that results from giving a guy who has NO idea what he is doing a soldering iron and some capacity-resisti things.

After some interesting diversions, I have a notch filter working in a pretty usable way, and now wondering whether to try low pass and high pass with the final two switch positions.

The three main positions, though (neck, both, bridge) are actually very usable and probably all Pete will use in any case 

[Prostheta]

Agreed about the Jazz Bass style control configuration. I hate instrument where one pot ducks out the other where it has zero business being!

[curtisa]

3 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Hi Andrew - good to hear from you . Are you back in Tasmania?  How did the rest of the trip go?

Hiya Andy. Yes, all parties are now correctly accounted for on their home turf. Just coming to grips with the jetlag. I make it until 7:30pm and then I crash. Rest of the trip was fantastic, only a couple of days of wet weather throughout the whole journey.

 

3 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Ref the build, the thread is a bit out of date - I'm away in Scotland for a few days but will update it later this week.  The build is basically done, but I'm still experimenting with the electrics   It really is a case of the wonderful array of good bad and ugly that results from giving a guy who has NO idea what he is doing a soldering iron and some capacity-resisti things.

The soldering iron is the easy bit - it has the hotty-ouchy thing at one end and the handley-wandley bit at the other. You only mix up which end does what once

Hope you're enjoying Scotland!

[Andyjr1515]

OK - bit of a catch-up on this.  I've been head down trying to sort my notch filters from my high-pass / low-pass filters in my very hazy knowledge of such things.

But let's start with the physical.  Starting to look like a real bass:

 

 

As for the electronics, again sitting on familiar ground with the physical side rather than the electronic, this is what it's now looking like:

 

It has the following positions on the 6-way rotary:

Pos 1 - bridge only

Pos 2 - neck and bridge

Pos 3 - neck only

Pos 4 - neck with band-stop notch filter (0.001uF capac)

Pos 5 - neck with band-stop notch filter (0.010uF capac)

Pos 6 - neck with band-stop notch filter (0.047uF capac)

 

Although I'm pretty certain Pete will only use one of the above sounds (but which?  ) nevertheless, the above options give - after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing and re-wiring and swear-ing - six usable and distinctly different sounds.  I've got a sound clip at the moment through my little vox guitar amp - I'll try to record through the PA speakers tomorrow to give a better representation.

 

Just got to re-stain the back of the neck (I'll explain why in a later post) and fit a brass nut instead of the zero-fret and then it's basically done 

 

[Andyjr1515]

I replaced the zero fret with a brass nut this morning:

 

...and also did a few sound clips of the rotary switch positions through our small Yamaha PA, recorded on a Zoom hand-held here

Not great playing or recording but gives an idea of the broad tonal spectrum.

Just got to fit some round-wounds and tidy up the back of the neck and it's done 

The tidy up of the neck is to re-do the ink stain & tru-oil slurry.  This time round I omitted the first coats of Birchwood Casey sealer filler as an experiment.  Whereas the colour fastness in use is just as good, it did let the mahogany show a little during the slurry and buffing.  I'll update the Finishing thread I did on this topic when I get a moment.

I'll do some fancy arty-farty shots when it's got the proper strings on 

[Prostheta]

It's great and sounds like a fun player too. Nice work, Andy! The only thing I would change is the headstock tuner locations to get a straighter string pull. Not easy with the big elephant ears (the tuners, not an insult). That headplate is very classy too. Far better than the boring fibreboard!

[ScottR]

That is a very fine looking albeit quite red bass Andy. I kind of miss the contrast from the back side. Also a very neat control cavity. It's far enough over my head to look like a foreign language to me, but a very clean foreign language.

SR

[Andyjr1515]

2 hours ago, Prostheta said:

It's great and sounds like a fun player too. Nice work, Andy! The only thing I would change is the headstock tuner locations to get a straighter string pull. Not easy with the big elephant ears (the tuners, not an insult). That headplate is very classy too. Far better than the boring fibreboard!

Yes - that was the straightest I could get without plugging and redoing the head plate ref my earlier schoolboy error of which side of the peg the strings go round!  

[Prostheta]

Really? I didn't remember that....I figured they were placed on centre rather than off the radius.

[Andyjr1515]

2 hours ago, Prostheta said:

Really? I didn't remember that....I figured they were placed on centre rather than off the radius.

No - between here:

...and drilling the holes, I got the peg offset the wrong way round.  That'll teach me...I usually draw the wind too!:

 

[Prostheta]

I do silly things like this more times than I care to recall. Still, sharing might just help somebody else be more mindful than us on a Monday ;-)

[curtisa]

I kinda prefer the look of the off-centre outer tuning pegs. It's in keeping with the vintage roots of the instrument. The real deal Gibson does exactly the same thing.

I would imagine relocating the outer tuners for straight string pull would then place them too close to the headstock edge, That particular two-a-side headstock shape must precludes a straight string path without significant redesign/rebuilding.

Any reason why you swapped out the zero fret? Customer preference?

[Andyjr1515]

24 minutes ago, curtisa said:

 

Any reason why you swapped out the zero fret? Customer preference?

I would like to BS my way through the reason, but.....

....the end of the fretboard suffered, I suspect, from a banana sanding stroke by yours truly . I usually am pretty good at this particular aspect but, whatever, the zero fret was a tad lower than the others, even after levelling.  I could have put an extra-high fret in there, but I still would need a nut for lateral guidance and it was just as easy to fix a nut.  Pete didn't even know that he might have got a zero fret so no harm done there

[curtisa]

Ahhh, y'see, you missed a trick there. The correct answer would've been something along the lines of, "I designed it that way. It's meant to be like that".

Or,

"Everyone knows the tone sounds better if there's a zero fret installed and then removed and then replaced by a nut. The void from the empty slot under the nut gives the instrument more air..."