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Thread: Electric Bass Guitar Build

  1. #241
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Sherman View Post
    You should try to at least get the finish applied before the move so it cures during the moving process.
    Great point, Mike. I hadn't thought about it from that perspective. Of course my sprayer is already packed, but it's not a big deal unpacking it. But I'd have to spray outside, something I haven't attempted yet. I'm worried about dust and debris sticking to the wet lacquer.

    My biggest challenge so far has been with mounting the pickups. I think I'm set with the neck pickup but am still trying to find an aesthetically pleasing way to mount the bridge pickup. I glued up some pieces of koa and maple, in reverse to the order they are on the guitar, to see how that might look.



    This is the attempt at creating something with ebony. It's just a rough design that I abandoned when we agreed ebony didn't belong there.


    You can see what I'm trying to do. In coming up with a design shape for the koa/maple cover, we tried to once again take curves from the headstock but it just looked weird. What do you guys think? Do you like the reverse order of woods? Should I try to incorporate the wood from the fretboard? What about the shape? Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  2. #242
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    This got a thumbs up from the SO. Problem solved!


    Now I can go light some sparklers. Happy 4th!
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  3. #243
    That looks nice, Julie. How is it mounted...or did you just glue it on there and go for broke?

  4. #244
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    I'm going to screw it in place. I have to find some oval head brass or gold colored screws. I have brass flat head screws but I don't think that would look right. Still some engineering left to do before it sings. And we still don't have a bass amp. I really haven't a clue where to begin that search but we'd like to keep it under $400. Hartke keeps coming up in the store we go to and in the web searches I've done. But I'd like to take the finished bass and plug it in at the store. Would that matter? Or do most amps deliver close to the same sound?
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  5. #245
    Quote Originally Posted by Julie Moriarty View Post
    I'm going to screw it in place. I have to find some oval head brass or gold colored screws. I have brass flat head screws but I don't think that would look right. Still some engineering left to do before it sings. And we still don't have a bass amp. I really haven't a clue where to begin that search but we'd like to keep it under $400. Hartke keeps coming up in the store we go to and in the web searches I've done. But I'd like to take the finished bass and plug it in at the store. Would that matter? Or do most amps deliver close to the same sound?
    Unless you're a bassist, you won't be able to really tell what's going on when you plug it in. People aren't usually accustomed to listening to the bass. My recommendation would be to pick up a small, used practice bass amp. You should be able to find something used for well under $100. After you've gotten into it a bit (or whoever decides to play), it makes sense to upgrade to something louder and more nuanced.

  6. #246
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    Well, I was quite the bassist in 8th grade. Why, I could even play Gloria. That Sears bass and Silvertone amp should have taken me to the big stage. But then my dad told me to go do my homework.

    Really, I know what sound I like, as does my SO. But finding that sound is the problem. We've just spent the last hour just trying to figure out what strings to buy. I'm going to let the musician in the family decide. I'll concentrate on finishing the bass. And packing up the house.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  7. #247
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    I'd be hesitant to apply a finish before packing the instrument. It well could get printed from the packing. That happened to me when I packed a guitar I made up in 1957,when we moved from Alaska to Virginia. It takes quite a while for a finish to get truly dry. Even lacquer keeps drying actually for decades. That's why very old guitars will have a "glint" in their finishes that newer ones just don't have. The dryer a lacquer finish gets,the longer it takes for the thinner to escape. And,I don't trust Tru Oil,as I have mentioned before. It never gets truly hard. Certainly not if the finish has much thickness to it. A few rub ons on a gunstock are all right.

    Why I am not at all a fan of Rickenbacker designs,your bass is looking elegant. You need to start trying to design your own shapes.
    Last edited by george wilson; 07-05-2015 at 7:46 AM.

  8. #248
    Quote Originally Posted by Julie Moriarty View Post
    Well, I was quite the bassist in 8th grade. Why, I could even play Gloria. That Sears bass and Silvertone amp should have taken me to the big stage. But then my dad told me to go do my homework.

    Really, I know what sound I like, as does my SO. But finding that sound is the problem. We've just spent the last hour just trying to figure out what strings to buy. I'm going to let the musician in the family decide. I'll concentrate on finishing the bass. And packing up the house.
    Well, for what it's worth I have a GK bass amp these days. It's a 2X10, and the speakers are very fancy and lightweight. The entire thing weighs about 35lbs! I've always liked GK's bass amps. The 10" speakers have a very fast response that I like. It's still has a tremendous bass response, though. The cabinet has everything to do with that.

  9. #249
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    My SO did a lot of research and ordered a Hartke 1x15 and two different types of strings. Now the heat is on to get it playable ASAP. 1st coat of lacquer is drying as I type.

    Edit: Make that 3 coats...

    Edit #2: The amp is a Hartke A100. It's called a kickback but it reminds me of a Weeble - they wobble but they won't fall down.
    Last edited by Julie Moriarty; 07-05-2015 at 10:12 PM.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  10. #250
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    In the above picture, the pickup is mounted to a shop-made base made out of HDMW. Below that is the pickup ring with the (4) screws that will secure the ring to the base. Next are the springs that will be placed on the top of the ring and held in place by the (2) screws in the Maple/Koa surround.


    The pickup and base are set in the pocket. There is a notch in the bottom of the base that will accommodate the pickup wire as it enters the channel to the control section. The notch is on the right, just above the black wire.


    Pickup ring mounted to base


    Springs in place.


    And the cover screwed into the base. All that's left is drilling (2) holes for the screws that will secure the cover to the bass body.

    All I need to do now is get some longer screws for mounting the neck pickup. I've got three coats of lacquer on the guitar now and I'm going to wait until we're settled in the new place. Right now I'm going to assemble it set it up so it's playable.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  11. #251
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    I didn't figure for a ground on the bridge! Now what?
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  12. #252
    Drill a 3/8" or 1/2" blind hole under where the bridge will be positioned and drill to the control cavity using a long 1/8" bit.

    I made a sample for you using scrap.

  13. #253
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    Thanks, Mike. I wish I had seen that picture before I drilled the hole. The bit slipped as I was changing the angle and, even though I had taped around the perimeter of the bridge, the bit got through some of the tape and scratched it. At least the scratch can be sanded out.

    But it got worse after that. It was late and I was tired so I switched to using a drill to remove the bridge screws. No problems there. I had earlier waxed all the threads and they came out easily. But when I was installing the bridge, after the ground wire was in, I used the drill to put the screws back in. I snapped not one, but two screw heads off. Today I have to make a trip to Woodcraft and buy a hollow screw extractor and fix my f___up. All this on top of breaking the bridge pickup surround in half while making countersinks for the mounting screws. It was not a good evening.

    Note to self - don't work when really tired.


    Last edited by Julie Moriarty; 07-08-2015 at 8:31 AM.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  14. #254
    Minor setbacks! These are what I refer to as "happy little mistakes" that every aspiring Luthier need to go through to learn. Look at it as buying yourself an education!

  15. #255
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    I was trying to beat the clock. I failed. The amp came today and I've got the body of the guitar stripped of parts. But I got the broken screws out w/o buying any new tools. My SO says, "Put it together. I wanna play it!" The finishing of the finish will have to wait.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

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