Rooks RCA-4!!!

[rook]

WOOHOO! Looking good Rook! good even pressure at front and back of Tenon, should be a good tight joint.

Thanks man! I appreciate it!

[rook]

I think the fret protector was a good idea. As FW said, even pressure all over the join, not just in the neck pocket. You don't want a big gap to fill between the neck and the body at the join.

Thanks, Simon!

[rook]

Neck is glued and in place and ready to assemble!

The finish on the back of the guitar has some glue and clamp damage to deal with.


The pattern is actually from the cloth I had laid down to protect the finish. Lol. Live and learn. The picture actually makes it look way worse than it is, a quick wet sand should solve it.

I also need to apply some more true oil to where the neck meets the body. I was overly cautious when I was applying the first coats and there are some areas of bare wood that still need finishing.


Once that is completed, it's on to the electronics!

I ended up picking up a pre-wired harness at a local guitar show. It's set up like a Les Paul, Volume-Tone-Volume-Tone and a 3way switch. It seems to be a nice quality. And best of all, it is pre assembled so I will only need to solder the pick-ups and ground wire.

Here are a few pics.

I just wanted to check to see if anyone sees any reason why I shouldn't use this harness?





Finally, I have a question about shielding and grounding.

Is this a one or the other type thing? Or is it cool to do both?

The pots connect directly to the pickguard, so I assumed shielding tape was needed, but I was also planning to solder a ground wire to the bridge. Electronics are a bit of a mystery to me so I guess what I am asking is this:

Is this a terrible plan that will end with me electrocuted and my guitar on fire?

[wazkelly]

Pots are all 500k which shouldn't be an issue as that kit comes with a neck humbucker (best suited to 500k) and a single coil bridge PUP which are usually best suited to 250k. Only difference might be a slightly brighter or more top end in the bridge PUP which may not be such a bad thing to have.

Grounding is most important as if not grounded properly there may not be any sound transmitted, plus ground wire to under bridge helps with reducing noise when your hands are off the strings.

Shielding is advisable usually on the bottom & sides of the control cavity and some reckon on the underside of scratch plate too which is quite common on Strat's. Personally, I have not bothered with shielding back of scratch or control plates with zero buzzing or noise issues. You could always do a few sections then plug in and see how things are and whether it needs more shielding to eliminate any unwanted noise or buzzing.

Cheers, Waz

[rook]

Pots are all 500k which shouldn't be an issue as that kit comes with a neck humbucker (best suited to 500k) and a single coil bridge PUP which are usually best suited to 250k. Only difference might be a slightly brighter or more top end in the bridge PUP which may not be such a bad thing to have.

Grounding is most important as if not grounded properly there may not be any sound transmitted, plus ground wire to under bridge helps with reducing noise when your hands are off the strings.

Shielding is advisable usually on the bottom & sides of the control cavity and some reckon on the underside of scratch plate too which is quite common on Strat's. Personally, I have not bothered with shielding back of scratch or control plates with zero buzzing or noise issues. You could always do a few sections then plug in and see how things are and whether it needs more shielding to eliminate any unwanted noise or buzzing.

Cheers, Waz

Waz, thanks, for the info. Much appreciated.

Got cavities taped up and the underside of the pick guard covered. Not exactly sure where on the underside of the bridge to attach the ground wire, but I doubt it matters too much as long as it is secure.

Gonna drill pilot holes for everything that needs to be screwed in this eve and then Friday I'll break out the soldering kit and get this thing wired.

Thanks again!

[wazkelly]

For the bridge earth wire suggest stripping it back so that about 1" or 25 mm is exposed and 'tin' it with solder as the bridge will sit on top and wire is held in place after bridge has been screwed down tight.

Also need to sand back underside of the bridge so that any shiny coating (chrome) has been removed as this helps to create a better contact with the earth wire.

Cheers, Waz

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[rook]

WIRING

So it turns out wiring is pretty hard. LOL.

I made a little cardboard work area:


Got all the pots accessible and everything in place:


But my soldering skills are, shall we say, subpar.

Took me a long time to be sure everything was in the right place, but eventually I got everything connected.

Then I plugged it in and...

Nothing. Not even a hum.

Checked and double-checked my work. Can't see where I went wrong. Pretty frustrating. I have only ever wired one other instrument, and that one was a test of my patience, but in the end it worked.

I've decided to have a guitar tech friend take a look at it. Hopefully he can spot where I went wrong.

Feels a bit like I'm cheating by having someone else parachute in and help, but I'd rather a working bass than one that just looks pretty.

So close at this point, yet so far...

[WeirdBits]

Post some pics of all the wiring if you like, maybe we can spot the issue and save the favour from your guitar tech friend.

[rook]

Post some pics of all the wiring if you like, maybe we can spot the issue and save the favour from your guitar tech friend.

I actually dropped the bass off at his house last night for him to peek at when he gets a moment.

But thank you so much for the offer. Very cool of you. If my friend doesn't have much luck, I may take you up on it.

Thanks again!

[trv]

Your finish looks great, the colour scheme perfectly suits that RCA. The 3d printed parts turned out really nice as well!