charisjapan

1 hour ago, curtisa said:

Great to see some of these instruments being fired in anger, and fellow forumites getting the chance to hook up with each other over this strange and expensive hobby we share

FWIW, a red band makes it 4.7nF rather than 0.47uF (aka 470nF). Orange is indeed 47nF.

Third band = number of zeroes after the first two digits. Red = 2, Orange = 3. Value on cap is presented in picofarads, so Yellow/Violet/Red = 4700pF = 4.7nF.

Thank you, curtisa! You are absolutely correct. If indeed Yellow/Violet/Red, then 4700pF = 4.7nF = 0.0047uF ... wrong value for a guitar tone circuit.

Personally,  I've never measured anything in my amp or guitar building using nF or pF, except the occasional tiny ceramic or mica caps.  I can only remember a few times seeing anything on the 50s amp circuits but uF.  

Whatever, the new tropical fish I received today were called Mullard 0.047uF, and that should be the correct tone capacitor.

Yay! 

14 hours ago, kmensik said:

Oh, the orange stripe looks very red to me, that's what confused me.

How come the first neck bolt did not run into the truss rod? Is the nut in the neck that shallow? I wanted to make a 1 bolt neck joint, but I would hit the truss rod with the drill bit.

kmensik, you might be right! Or at least partially right.

If that IS a Mullard, then that band has to be orange, not red.  But if it another manufacturer, red would make the value 0.47uF.  I am noticing a bit less tone pot response compared to my Chinaberry One, which has a correct Orange Drop.  I got these in today, and they are definitely from a batch of vintage Mullard caps ... the 5-band are 250V (and the third band is clearly orange) and the 6-band are probably a better tolerance 400V.  Just to be safe, I will switch out the cap in the Chinaberry Two and hear if there is any difference.  I would expect a broader tonal change if indeed the present one is a 0.47uF cap.

3 hours ago, a2k said:

Thanks CJ for coming out on Saturday night! It was a fun night for sure. Getting to see, hear, and play the Chinaberry Two was definitely a highlight. It is in every way a beautiful instrument - photos do not do it justice - and I can confirm that it feels and sounds as good as it looks. 

Here's a group shot of the Chinaberry Two hanging out with my Koi Bass and one of the Piccolo 6's

a2k,

Was really cool to go to a gig and see hand-built guitars in action ... Four Of Them!!!

Thanks for the invite, and only wished I could have stayed longer!

4 minutes ago, KempGuitars said:

I remove the bulk with half round rasp. It's then cleaned up with electrical contact cleaner aerosol can wrapped in 120/180/240 grit paper

 

Yeah, I like that much better.  Personally, I still like the balance of both cuts scooped, but I can also appreciate the artistic "one-point" approach as well.  Carry on (my wayward son). 

+1 on contact cleaner cans ... nice and long.  I keep several sizes of thick-walled PVC drain pipe around for variety ... and with patience and a blowtorch, you can bend them gently and get concave and convex using stretchy fabric sandpaper.

Question: my Limba 6 is also a single humbucker, and wonder if you have experimented with putting a bit more distance from the bridge?  Not neck, or even middle, but just a tad farther.  The TV Jones Filter'Tron Classic Plus promises more gain, but I don't want it too "bridgey" ... for lack of a better word.  

13 minutes ago, kmensik said:

Oh, the orange stripe looks very red to me, that's what confused me.

How come the first neck bolt did not run into the truss rod? Is the nut in the neck that shallow? I wanted to make a 1 bolt neck joint, but I would hit the truss rod with the drill bit.

Yeah... I thought it was red, too!  But there is no red third stripe for mullards .... or at least, that's what I read on the internet.

Haha!  That's because there's no truss rod there!  I used a guitar truss rod in a 30" scale bass, and then used carbon fiber rods to reinforce.  I was a bit worried about that, but the neck is very sturdy, and the double-action truss rod works exactly as it should.  In fact, I have not yet even touched the tr adjustment.  Granted, this neck is a bit thicker and wider than some basses, but it's smaller than my R6 ... and 5 inches longer!

A 1-bolt neck sounds cool!  How about two truss rods and one bolt?

22 minutes ago, kmensik said:

I like the island in the control cavity to hold the cover. Then I thought there is something wrong in it. Is the tropical fish cap 4,7nF instead of 47nF?

Thank you.  The center post worked much better this time.

If the capacitor is a Phillips/Mullard C280 as it is supposed to be, then Yellow/Violet/Orange/White/Brown should be 0.047uF.  I'm getting some more in tomorrow from a reputable supplier ... we'll see! 

So here's the proof of the scale ... a very nice weight, and quite nearly the same as Chinaberry One.

And this is probably closest to the color you see in person ...

The Saturday I strung it up, was gig night for a2k, so I was happy to find that this fit perfectly inside my Tele gigbag. He can tell you more about his night overall, but I will share here that he was kind enough to plug Chinaberry Two in for a few songs, and rocked (blued?) the house.  I will use it next Sunday for my own (slightly more sedate) gig, but it is very nice to hear your own scratch-built instrument jamming with a great bass player and equally talented group.  I will never hear "Black Magic Woman" or "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" the same again!  a2k went on to use his own 5-string bass, and the two guitarist were using his pair of "6-string Piccolo Basses" most of the night.  Super WoW Experience!!

Just a short clip from an iPhone, but I assure you live was Really, Really Good!

BMW with a2k on bass

On ‎6‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 7:57 PM, Mr Natural said:

CHINABERRIES!

they look great CJ. At first when you added that red I was thinking in my head- oh no- how could you do that to that beautiful wood- but it appears that the effect is subtle and very nice. great job!

Mr Natural, I went through a LOT of soul-searching AND experimentation to decide whether to just use clear epoxy (like Chinaberry One), use an opaque wood filler, various tints in the 2-part urethane sanding filler, and even tinted clearcoat.  After seeing what I got, and wanting something a little different from Chinaberry One, I think it was the right decision.  This piece of wood, or more correctly, this side of the same piece of wood, was not as chatoyant, so added a "spice" to the already strong grain ... and as this picture shows, brought the body into a close color tone with the Japanese Mountain Cherry neck back.  The same cherry plank's sapwood made an incredibly contrasted fingerboard, too!

Thanks for all your encouragement, my friend.  And ...

Mt. Fuji !!

33 minutes ago, KempGuitars said:

Working on the new DC today, decided to carve out a scoop in the lower cutaway. Looking at it now, it needs to be deeper, yes? Think 80s ESP Horizon

Deeper?  Maybe just a smoother transition into the roundover of the horn.  Just my opinion, but a shallower version of that on the upper cutaway would give you better balance.

Nice shape, good balance!

Yesterday was spent making this rat's nest with a pockmarked soldering iron and too tight quarters!  But it looks like everything is connected to where it's supposed to. (Tech talk ... Bourns 500K pots, .047uf Mullard Tropical Fish cap, and dual Emerson Treble Bleed circuits)

Got this far and started to get excited!  Asked Mrs.Charisjapan to give me a reprieve from a few chores so I could push on, but no strings or sound check until today.

And today, well, about an hour ago ... The Chinaberries!! (tada~!)

... and this is where Mr.Natural says, "Mount Fuji!!"

Finally, the control cover attached with a single neodymium magnet.  This time, it's well-seated, so the tiny magnet holds it nice and tight until a firm push on either of the top corners pops it off.

On ‎6‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 10:27 PM, a2k said:

This bass looks even better in the flesh. CJ stopped by my 'hood today and I got to take a close look at the chinaberry 2 bass. So many nice details and the quality of work is absolutely top notch. Really inspiring craftsmanship. The oiled cherry neck feels absolutely amazing, the inlays on the fingerboard are very cool, and of course Fuji-San. The red tinted filler & urethane finish on the chinaberry body is mesmerizing. Can't wait to play it!

I got a sneak peek at CJ's next project too... it's gonna be cool but I'm not going to spoil the surprise. 

Thank you, kind sir!

I had a full work day today, but after spending nearly a whole day of shop time yesterday to assemble and wire, I couldn't help sneaking in a few minutes to put strings on and do a rough setup.  (shhh ... don't tell anyone!) 

Looks like I can bring it along tonight when I go to your gig ... perhaps you could do a "sound check?"

Was really happy to go up and visit a2k today.  Got to show off the Chinaberry Two bass ... though it's just a body and neck bolted together ... and play around a bit with resawing and (big) belt sanding.  Really sad that my newfound builder friend will be leaving Japan soon ...

Will go to see (and hear) a2k and his band's last gig on Saturday ... hope to experience all three of his builds playing at the same time!!

Was about to give it a shot of cleat urethane, when I realized that I forgot the jack! (sigh)  Went well, so no problem.  A few shots while still wet, then next morning checking the neck fit.  This might just turn out to be a useable bass guitar!

Oh, and the cherry control cavity cover.  One thing I just found was that some pots will fit, but the Bourns pots will not.  Guess it's time for the Dremel ... again.

On ‎5‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 10:15 AM, Mr Natural said:

that bites about the Watco Japan product CJ. The Watco Danish and Teak Oil  products in the states dry over night (or quicker) and are so easy to use and give really good results. hopefully it dries sufficiently and works out.

its coming along nicely otherwise.

Mt Fuji!

Yeah, I should have experimented with 8-10 coats to see how it would work only did 4 coats.  Indeed, this is a different product from Watco Danish Oil.  But, it seems to be good enough now for some wax, so please send some good thoughts this way.

I put a first rattle can coat of clear on the body, and hope to go show the results to a2k today!

39 minutes ago, ScottR said:

I wonder if it has a higher linseed oil content to require that long of dry time between applications. It do make it shine though.

SR

Hmmm ...  could well be.  Watco Japan only says "vegetable-base" oil, and I can't find any independent information.  Except for the wait, I'll take it, though ... when it does finally dry between coats, it has a nice feel.  

Seven applications of the Watco Wood Oil (apparently different from Watco Danish) and finally getting some depth and shine.  Not to mention it needs 2-3 days between applications.  I tried a test piece of cherry with this, and put two coats of their recommended Watco Wax, and it looks good and is slippery ... like dropped the test piece several times while buffing slippery!  (will try to be more careful with the neck)

... little by little ...

Knob layout, and therefore control cavity decided.  Volume/Master Tone/Volume.  Amazing what light can do to the image sensor and software in an iPhone ... same day, same time, just different direction.  I decided to go with the "sunken cavity" again, as well as neodymium magnets on that center "plateau."

12 hours ago, djobson101 said:

Very nice details from end to end on this build  just to jump back a little, how did you go about working with the brass nut in terms of tools? I have never played anything with a brass nut but I have heard they are a joy and can increase the sustain of the instrument. 

Hey Dalton,

This is my first try at a brass nut, but it was not unpleasant.  It IS harder than bone, no doubt, but one of the few power tools I do have is a Ryobi belt sander, so getting basic shape was easy.  In fact, easier than bone, because it shapes slower, and using #240, the shininess helped to get just what I wanted.  The slots were another matter, as I don't have bass-sized files.  I just used a rat file, putting tape on the taper at the desired gauge and went to it. Smalles string was about the same as my largest guitar file, and cut pretty quickly.  If I were to make more bass guitars, I will definitely invest in some proper files.  Final shaping and polishing was just #1000, #2000, then two grades of compound.  I don't know what I'll do now ... let it tarnish and just polish top and side for an antique look, or coat it with polyurethane or something to keep it shiny.  I'm open to ideas about that!

As to tone and sustain, I'm really not expecting a huge improvement ... but would like to think it makes my playing sound better! 

Had to deepen the pickup routs to 27mm ... the pickup height foam from Montreux was a lot more than foam! (think these are the same as the Scud HAJ-J part)  They have three springs molded into two densities of foam, and a brass plate with a ground lead molded to the base.  My neodymium pickups are supposed to be noiseless, so don't need this feature, but it does make a lot of sense for a normal single coil!

So one more small step toward a guitar.

Hey a2k,

Just WoW!    

Great looking pair of (ahem) guitars, and you made it on time.  Sean is very talented, makes that sound like no bass I've ever heard.  Singing and camera work are fine, too!

Very happy for you to pull this project off.