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It seems like basses are more likely to be oddball shapes. The longer neck lends to larger bodies. You should see some of the ones on the Facebook groups.
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Nerd alert!
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Not all bass players are nerds. Griff
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Know how to save a drowning bass player?
Throw him his amp. I love that joke. I've told it here several times. |
Fret slotting jig arrived today
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4cfa4d0028.jpg I practiced on a piece of hard wood flooring that I planed down. I've decided not to use it though. It's just too fucking hard. It's Ipe. Brazilian walnut. So dense it doesn't float. I calculated 74lbs per ft cu. After I wore my shoulder out sawing the slots, I found out it doesn't glue for shit. Good practice though. The jig is cool https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f2dc4935d3.jpg I got 24.75 and 25.5 scale side panels. Now I can say I've done the thing I didn't do on the first one. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...398294de2f.jpg |
How do you control the depth?
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The saw that came with the jig has a split rail which holds the changeable blade. It has depth adjustment, so the two sides bottom out on the fret board. Has appx 2mm of range.
https://www.guitarbuilding.solutions...d-slotting-jig All in, with 2 sets of guides, and shipped from England in like 4 days... I think I paid $189 I'm pleased https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8cafaed46f.jpg |
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Is it just that you actually want him to drown? Or is there some pun I'm missing? |
It's a slam on bass players, that's all. Bass amps are heavy, did you know?:D That joke works for the same reason this one does:
How can ya tell when the drum stage is level? The drummer drools out of both sides of his mouth. It's just a slam. Don't analyze my jokes, you'll think too hard and go right by the humor. My jokes are like me. Simple. |
DISCLAIMER:
Throwing a bass amp to a drowning bass player, generally speaking, will not save him/her. :) |
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Ah, dis splain it.:idea:
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That thinner strip is only for scoring the line precisely. You set it up initially so the blade goes through the thin slot on the outer strip, score the board using 'with the teeth' direction (away) only. Then you loosen the screws, drop the strip down, re tighten the screws, and saw the slots. The saw itself is the depth stop.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b0e09e07fb.jpg |
Yes, the picture I put up from your link shows the blade will never hit the bottom of the slot so the blade won't dull. And the depth is controlled by the blade holder's shoulders.
It's one of those pictures that's worth a thousand words. :thumb: |
Seems there are two quality bass tremolo systems out there
The Kahler system, $389, is apparently what Claypool uses The Hipshot, $266, apparently requires the routing out of more wood The Kahler seems to have more fans and has great pro endorsements on its Artists page. Which in this case I'm a sucker for, because it's not like it's just strings or something... it's a custom tremelo bridge. |
Well don't let a little routing dissuade you from the hip shot. They seem more focused on it staying in tune, while the first one featured adjustability.
I did the rear pocket rout on the strat, I'm sure it's similar with this bridge. They even mention fender. The first one sounded like it needed some routing in the front. Thing is, if you know what hardware you're going to use from the beginning, we'll just plan the thing accordingly, and it becomes a non issue. If this was a done bass and we were upgrading an existing bridge, I could see that being touchy. |
The Kahler does look sexier... Might just be because the hip shot photo was crap, but the former has a tidy and precise look to it.
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You can glue Ipe, you need to wipe it down with acetone really well and then glue as soon as the acetone evaporates. Ipe, Lignum Vitae, Natalie, Cocobolo, Coralwood, Ebony, Eucalyptus Mahogany (New South Wales), Gaboon, Greenheart (British Guiana), Grenadilla (Mpingo), Ironwood (black), Satinwood (Ceylon), and Water gum are all woods that don't float. |
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I like blue...
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I fucken love that.
Gawd. 'cept... Shoodadid Gold inlay dots! And that back cover could be gold too. |
I ruined one of my Birdseye maple fret boards yesterday. I spent probably 2 hours Tuesday night slotting it, then when I radiused it, using my newly made and tested jig... I must have set the router bit too low... And the nut end must have been an 1/8" higher than the heel.... The nut end was less than 1/8" thick at the edge.
Might have been salvageable at that point, but I tried to trim it and cut it parallel using the width at the nut. Not a large loss of money, the board was like $15....but again... Time. So I remade the rocker board part of the jig with newly acquired 3/4" pvc 'plywood'. The holes are now perfectly aligned and centered. (no aluminum edge strips this time... The bit walked a little even with the drill press, when I made those) This time I used a drill guide that I made to center the bit and keep it perpendicular to the edge, so the drill went in just right. Didn't test it yet, but I did verify that the top of the rocker is exactly 1/4" below the bit alignment line on both ends. So, as long as I set that depth properly. It should give perfect results. I'll try it on a test piece tonight. |
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I've been following this guy on instagram. He makes stuff out of old wood pallets and junk, but recently has been getting into electric guitar building out of recycled materials. He's got a cnc router, so I think he just pushes a button after figuring out the design. This is acrylic or plexiglass or something.
Attachment 67275 |
There is some art involved. The cnc is just a tool. You can purchase plans, but you still have to make all the decisions about what you want the cnc to do, and set it up. You basically, map a path for the bit to follow, set your start point and hit go, but dialing in a path that is efficient and ordered properly come into play. I've helped Pete set up a batch of truss rod plugs. I used the super glue trick to place the boards exactly where they needed to be for it to work right.
You can hear a baseball game on the background if you're wondering who's voice that is. Phil's won 3-2 |
The new rocker board:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8823d14e56.jpg With these radii on both sides : https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fbd7309d8e.jpg The finger boards I have prepped: https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...05a015337c.jpg Left to right, that's cocobola, bocote, Birdseye maple(ruined) and bubinga. The bocote is crazy. It's got a group of phantoms on it : https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2db36aa6e7.jpg I went with the bubinga this time because if this one fails.... But it didn't. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5019991ec2.jpg I did 10.5 to 14" compound radius. It is slightly thinner at the nut end, but if I'm careful I think it will work. Took a good bit of planing, scraping and sanding to clean up the router lines https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9f88bb7008.jpg I saved a bit of the sawdust for use filling in inlay and such https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5709d6a75d.jpg |
With a little more love and some oil, it's gorgeous
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8b6751eff0.jpg |
Pretty work brother.
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There's one of the most awesome benefits of building your own... true beauty, the cheapo mfrs are not interested in that kind of detail
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Amanda really liked it too...
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f776c88280.jpg She's gonna kill me I just... It was ninjas! They came in.... Like 7 of them.... They took my phone..... Then there was this cloud of white smoke.... And when I woke up, they had posted that pic. |
There is something very likeable about this gal.
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We were in our cups late last night, and she was photo bombing while I was trying to take the picture above.... That'll learn her
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So it looks like the 10.5 to 14 is about as much difference as you can go without making it thicker.
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Maybe you could make an electric version of this double. |
That's retarded. That guy needs to go back to his job at Chipotle.
If you were ambidextrous and could play both right and left, you could do an electric and flip it back and forth to demonstrate your skills, but unless you have 3 or more arms, you can't do anything but clang open strings to augment what you're doing with the other guitar. It's more art than instrument. |
They'll need another final pass, but the slots are mostly done on this one.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9bdb914a52.jpg I'm waiting for the templates to arrive, so I might as well do a few of these fret boards while I've got the jig out and my skills are improving. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6baaddc4b3.jpg That's 4 necks and 4 finger boards. 2 more finger boards and one neck out in the shop. I need body blanks. I've only got 2 |
I just toured the Martin guitar factory this afternoon. Pretty thorough tour.
Gluing up the front and back panels by hand. They use this press that clamps multiple panels at once. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...598e005721.jpg Stacking them as them come out of the clamps. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...08a306bf67.jpg |
Candling the panels to check for knots before they lay out the front and back for the cnc machine.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...49eb071b7e.jpg Cnc machine cutting out the fronts and backs. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f016b683a7.jpg |
The neck is roughed out by cnc and finished up by hand.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...89f5bd477f.jpg I took a ton of pictures, but not of every step. Here's a laser ingraving machine for the name and serial number. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...07fd3cf5be.jpg |
This is a robot finish buffing machine
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...dbddcbaf46.jpg And a bunch of assembled bodies, unfinished. There were hundreds of these all over the place. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e5f23464c2.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fd6d32dd47.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9fbd3c4aa3.jpg |
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When they cut out the front and back, they leave these tabs on them to help index all the other work they do each step of the way.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...79c0237408.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9578f53caa.jpg The index holes come in handy when gluing in the braces and clamping them to dry https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...10d72c3360.jpg |
Sorry to hijack the thread but thought this would be a good spot for these pics. It was a very cool tour, and I recommend it.
And they are hiring. They mentioned that several times. |
Good one! I'm pretty sure I can't afford that tour
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There's a hard sell at the end and we dropped almost $100 on just t-shirts.
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They give you a piece of a Martin as a souvenir of the tour. They do a very fast print laser engraving of the sound hole cutout to each person who takes the tour.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fc81399fcc.jpg |
I'm thinking my entry fee would be around $1200 :D
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Wow. That is damn cool. Hiring you say...
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So cool. And thanks for dropping it here.
Did having seen what I did help you get a sense of what they were doing at all? I can't believe I've never gone there. But then I've never toured the Harley plant either. Good stuff |
Yeah. Absolutely.
The fret board is done by cnc. For the wires and little dots. Working there would be decent as a summer job, but each task was too specialized to hold my interest for any real time. This one lady was sanding by hand the bracing that is attached to the face panel. There are a dozen or so surfaces to sand on each guitar, and she said she does about 150 guitars a day. That would get old after a month or so. |
Carpal tunnel lives here
They build wonderful instruments, and I love my Martin, but yeah, that's not luthiery. I don't know if I'll ever attempt an acoustic, but if I do... Much like I copied the Stratocaster....I'd be copying a D28 for the first one. So familiar and right feeling, it would be stupid to do anything else. I'll get to that factory this summer |
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I would love to have a D-45. Pick me up one o' those would ya?
Ya can pick out a D-45 from across a room full of guitars being played, just by the sound/tone. Nothing sounds like a D-45. Nothing much costs like one, either. |
Jim, I put this here so you'd be sure to see it.
Might want to blast a little extra Tool today... Maynard turns 55 today. I'll be crankin up later, after urrbody wakes up. ETA: Man, if you ain't read his wiki page, read it. Very interesting. For instance, did you know MJK declined an appointment to West Point, and was almost the singer for Rage Against The Machine? |
Yep, I read that years ago. He's a weird dude. And I didn't know it was his birthday, and I will be cranking my tool..... Um.... Playing it loudly that is.
Thanks bud! |
Guitar experts, please give me some advice on buying a bass guitar.
Details in thread: Should I get a Bass Guitar? |
*trick question*
it's actually a 6-string bass tuned EADGBE, one octave lower |
I'm actually in the market for an electric guitar and associated paraphernalia to give to my boy for his birthday at the end of next month. I'm torn though because I don't want him to stop playing the nice Martin D-18 that belonged to his grandfather. But that's just me being selfish. I know he would love an electric.
I don't want to spend a lot of money, but I also don't want something he can't play. What was the source of that cheap guitar you purchased, LJ? And is it something you would recommend? If it has an annoying hum, are there fairly straightforward fixes for a handy lad and his dad? I saw your link to grounding the electricals to avoid hum. I'd guess I am in the sub $150 range and ideally around $100. |
The red guitar came from monoprice. com
They have cheap amps too. Saw these posts late. Will revisit tomorrow, time permitting. |
Glatt, I wish you lived closer. I'd say you should order one like the red one, have it sent to me, and I'll dress it up for him for free. You can buy parts if you want me to upgrade it. Take a ride up to NJ and visit the lumbershop.
It was literally $106 shipped and taxed. I'll sell you the red one for what I have in it, alternatively. I think I posted that amount if you read back But it was entirely sufficient out of the box if you just want to order one and keep cost down. |
Do you remember if it had a brand name?
I'm seeing tons of these package deals on eBay and Amazon. Not seeing a package deal on monoprice right now. |
The Indio
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=610263 They appear to be out of stock This one looks good https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=610366 This is the exact one I got... But it's open box https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=38568 |
Buck up and get him this one
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=610402 They upgrade the hardware and set up. It's prob worth the extra hundred. You'd spend that getting the base model up to snuff. |
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