skibum5545

I just finished wiring up my bass, and it works fine-- mostly. There are a few issues I'm finding-- but first, it's wired up like so: Neck Vol Bridge Vol Tone N/Hum/S Neck pickup N/Hum/S Bridge pickup Kill switch Here's the wiring diagram I drew. When both the volumes are all the way up and both pickups have the same single coil selected exclusively, if you turn either volume down slightly, the low end of the notes drops out, and the bass has a very hollow/midrangey sound. With both pickups in humbucker mode and both volumes all the way up, the entire low end drops out, leaving it with a very thin, trebly tone. Turning the bridge volume down slightly makes it worse, but turning the neck volume down slightly seems to add a little bit more bass into the tone. Finally, turning either volume all the way down and leaving the other one at max cuts the signal from both pickups, except for the tiniest bit which gets through to the amp. I have a couple guesses at what's happening, but they're pretty uneducated, and even if they're right I wouldn't know how to remedy them. Since the volume pots are wired in parallel (I think) it seems that cutting one wouldn't affect the other, so maybe I just wired it wrong there. As for the tone issues, it might be a phase problem, and since I don't really understand phasing too well in the first place, I'll leave troubleshooting there to the experts. Any help you guys can offer would be astoundingly valuable right now. I'd like to enter this thing in this month's GOTM, but don't want to do so until it's actually a completely playable instrument. Thanks again for any help you can offer. Dan D

The work you're doing is, as always, beautiful. My only concern, however, is how much it's actually going to sound like a Tele-- all mahogany with a Wilkinson trem sounds like a much darker tone than the hard ash and cheap bridge that give the Tele its twang. Of course, your bro might not be looking for that twang so much as just the Tele shape and vintage vibe. Either way, just a little confusion over on this end of things. Enjoy your jazz bands and band saws!

Or, of course, if you live WEST of the Atlantic Ocean, where it's always been aluminum. You silly brits with your extra letters... I mean, come on, worcestershire?! ***?!

This has got to be one of my fave builds going on right now. The lines are clean, the wood is nice, and it's always good to hear that someone else is having the same problems as me, and isn't just cranking out flawless guitars like everyone else on this site seems to be. Keep up the good work! PS We need a picture of the dog.

Among other things, bass pickups aren't designed to overdrive your amp, so they're nowhere near so hot as a guitar pickup. Other than that, they're designed to give an entirely different tone than a guitar pickup, so there are subtle differences in the design. One notable exception is EMG pickups, where the guitar pickups and bass pickups are essentially the same. For instance, the DC series bass pickups are just the EMG 85 in a bigger box. One thing I've always wanted to try was using the EMG 7 string guitar 81/85 set as bass pickups, as they're the same size as the 35-size bass pickups. Check out www.emginc.com for more info, if you care to. For distortion, your best bet would be a nice high-output bass humbucker, like a MusicMan style one, or even a Rio Grande Pitbull, which I hear are good. Either way, since bass amps don't do gain like a guitar amp does, you'll probably want a distortion or overdrive pedal; the Boss Super Overdrive (I think that's what it's called; it's the yellow one) for guitar should work, but Ibanez also makes a bass distortion pedal that I have yet to try.

Thanks for the quick response, Lovekraft. I agree that the righthand one undoubtedly works better, and that the lefthand one probably will be noisy, but, uh...which particular obvious reason for not working were you referring to?

I have seen volume pots drawn in diagrams with two different configurations, as drawn below: The only difference being, of course, that on the first one, one end of the resistor is left open, and on the second one, that end is wired to ground. In terms of how they function, then, the first one uses the pot simply as a variable resistor, where full volume is no resistance and no volume is just 500k ohms--or 250k, or whatever-- in the signal path. The second, however, operates as a voltage divider where max volume is still no resistance, and off connects the hot feed from the jack to ground, cutting out the pickup(s) entirely... right? Anyway, I'm wondering if my analysis of the circuits is correct, and also if there is any major difference between the two in terms of performance. Will it affect the tone? Does humbucking vs. single coil matter? Will I get hum with one but not the other? My hypothesis is that it won't matter a bit, unless the pot provides so little resistance that the "off" on the first one doesn't cut all the signal. Any response is helpful; no response is too in depth, and only the most absurdly inane could be too simple. Thanks much! PS I hope to wire up my bass this weekend, so a response by then would be helpful.

Well, I guess that answers the question of whether or not you have the tools for such an undertaking! I'm really looking forward to seeing this one play out. Good luck!

This was a good month, simply for the wide range of options and skill levels. In the end, though, WezV's took it for me. I love that shape and I've never seen anything else like it, and that blue finish is just killer ! Congrats to everyone who entered, and best luck.

Drak, I like your philosophy. Attaining perfection is difficult, but when you have near unlimited resources--as you appear to have-- there's absolutely no reason to settle for less. After all, you live in a castle, never die, and have unending supplies of alder and mahogany (or is it evil alder and mahogany?), so nothing's lost when one body meets its end. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. On a completely unrelated note, have you ever considered giving guitar-building lessons and classes? Working with a master (or as you would have it, experienced hobbyist) like yourself would be a lot of fun, and teaching a bunch of kids new to the trade to destroy their hard work would also be enjoyable.

Gorgeous! I really like the way you only blacked out the sides this time; it gives the whole thing an original and still very classy look. The wood just glows under this finish, too. Ganz toll!

If I recall, didn't loosetoe make a singlecut spalted bass a while back? (I just checked; he did, but all the pictures are gone ) Anyway, I like where this is going. The wenge and ash is a combo I wouldn't have thought of, but the two really open-grained woods complement each other nicely--not to mention how nice they'll sound together, too! Keep up the good work. Any hint as to pickups, hardware, wiring, etc?

I've gotten great versatility out of my EMG P-J set in my current bass, though it lacks the really thick, chunky, funky tone a monster humbucker like a Musicman would give me. My rec? A Bartolini Musicman humbucker in the bridge with coil tap, and a jazz pickup in the neck. You pretty much can't go wrong there. If you want good pickups (Bass or guitar) on the cheap, check out www.billlawrence.com. I can only speak for their guitar pickups, but the L-500XL is one killer humbucker, and it'd be safe to assume all their pickups are going to sound great. Now, for bass, it's hard to beat anything Bartolini makes, but they can be on the pricey side. As for neck width, etc., check out www.warmoth.com. They'll have all the info you want, as well as parts for sale if you need to ease the burden of building a neck your first time around.

I like the ideas you're having, and by the looks of that strat, your implementation is sound. Any specs on that strat in terms of parts, pickups, finish, etc?

I remember your previous failed attempt with a quilt veneer-- something about glue soaking into the pores making it lose its shimmer, right? I'm still sad from that one. Anyway, you've had a great stint here with stunning woods, and I'm really forward to seeing what you can do with a solid finish. Really, this is the perfect shape for such an experiment, too. Might I suggest white-cover EMG's for the pickups?

Good to have you back, Drak. And in top form, too!

I really liked the design he had there, so I'll jump on the "Build His Design" bandwagon for now. He even listed the woods he'd like to use; I say go for the maple design, as it's more true to the Rickenbacker spirit he cherished so much. As for pickups, I say we go with Bartolinis. It seemed that every time someone asked what bass pickups to get, he'd recommend Barts-- check it out: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...hlite=bartolini I'd say either two soapbars or a J set would do wonderfully; he said he wasn't too big a fan of the MM style. Finally, I'd like to second a PG.com logo on the headstock; maybe just an inlaid "PG" in abalone or something?

Actually, I have a question here that Kevan (or any of the current Tremol-no owners) could probably answer well. Being a bassist, I know nothing about playing, setting up, or tuning a guitar-- and yet I have decided to embark on a guitar construction project for my bass teacher, who also plays guitar. Now, he's looking for a heavy metal guitar, so naturally it needs a Floyd Rose setup of some sort. So here's my question: what are the pros and cons or buying a Floyd Rose Speedloader setup versus an Original Floyd Rose with a locking nut and a Tremol-No? I'm specifically curious about setup and tuning issues, though any additional info about added features either setup would give me would also be helpful. Thanks, you guys!

Yep, yet another case of "I'm gonna build myself a flying V and be the badassest guitarist this side of Mars just as soon as I learn to play it 'cuz hey, I have a FLYING V!!!OMGLOLOL!!!!111" Syndrome.

A friend of mine built a partially lacewood guitar a while back, and just under a clear nitro finish, it turns this stunning, warm reddish-brown color. Your lacewood is lighter than his by the looks of it, so I'd imagine it'd age to a great, warm orangey-red even without a colored lacquer. Of course, I'll always advocate a clear finish on a guitar, unless it's the rattiest poplar Lowe's has to offer, so do what makes you happy. All I'm saying is that under a clear finish, it'll still be reddish, but a much more natural red color that I personally would prefer. If you want a cherry red guitar, then by all means go for it. As for a Chromalusion finish, while it'd look pretty cool (especially on a guitar as curvy and beveled as this one), the wood is far too pretty for me to be able to advocate anything but a transparent finish. I like this build a lot-- keep up the good work!

The book has three different instruments in it: a set-neck guitar, a bolt-on guitar, and a neck-through 8-string bass. The construction principles for a guitar and a bass, however, are essentially the same, the only real differences being the scale length and dimensions.

Yeah, it can be done. With an angled headstock, the strings all pull through the nut exactly as they would on a flat headstock, and just turn downward a bit. Any headstock you see flat can be done angled, and vice versa, the only difference being whether or not you need string trees to keep the strings down in the nut. I assume you're familiar with how to make an angled headstock, but if you aren't, just do a search for "scarf joints".

Lookin' good! I really like how this particular piece of Silky Oak (known as Lacewood over in the States FWIW) has a really subtle pattern to its grain; it'll look just stunning under a finish. Speaking of which, what are you doing for a finish?

IIRC, the EMG-85 and the EMG 35DC (a bass pickup) are almost identical, save for the shape of the box they're in. I'll bet that the EMG will sound fine in a bass; I'm definitely waiting for the soundclips, though!

I'm following too, and I'm really liking what I see! It seems like it'd look really cool if the white accent line were raised above the surface of the -rest- of the guitar too, if only by 1/32" or so. Obviously this would entail quite a bit of routing or planing or whatever, but the added 3-d effect would be pretty stunning. As for fret acces, you could probably get away with a PRS-esque carve in the lower cutaway (beveled without changing the overall outline of the guitar) and not ruin the look of the guitar. All in all, this thing is looking pretty awesome! Verhoevenc, putting good ol' American muscle back into guitars--one guitar at a time.