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G'day, got this kit from Ads about 2 weeks ago and thought I better start a build diary !
Spent quite a while sanding to remove all the machine marks, grain filled with walnut Timbermate and this is after 3 stain coats of DT bushfire sunrise. I am trying to match the colour of the headstock and body. Taking photos at night with a flash doesn't really show the true colour but getting there.
Theres a new trend of Bushfire Basses! Looking excellent Wokka, wish I'd used something to accentuate grain a bit more on my own!
I also glued a flame maple veneer to the headstock. I have Tonerider pups for this so I had to enlarge the mounting screw part of the bridge pup cavity. Did that with a rounded chisel and sanded. I also stained the bridge pup cavity in case any raw timber can be seen in the gaps.
Also had a nice surprise from the posty the 2 band Belcat active system arrived and I thought the PCB board module was going to be bigger but it may fit in the cavity. I'll get a battery box and work out if I can use it or not. Would have preffered to get all the routing done before sanding/staining but I may put the battery under the pickguard.
cheers Cade, it is a popular colour for basses ! Grain filling ash is a must as it's quite a coarse grain and no matter how much sanding you do there will be small pits in the grain. It would have popped the grain a bit more on your basswood JB. Worth doing on your next build !
I definitely will after seeing the difference. Thanks!
Colour is looking fantastic Wokka. Did you find that applying the DT dragged some of the Timbermate back out of the grain?
cheers,
Gav.
cheers Gav, it wasn't too bad I don't think much TM was washed out. The first stain coat, I was careful and didn't overwork the rag. Think the trick is to give the timbermate several days to dry before the first stain coat.
@ Cade I usually use the darkest Timbermate ebony but I'd run out so used what I had walnut. Ebony will give maximum grain poppage (if that's a word) haha
Looking good wokka. Whats your plan for the 4 pots in the plate? You moving the jack?
Hi Thigg, cheers. Yes if I can fit the battery and PCB module I will be drilling a jack plate on the bottom corner
got more work done todaz in 40 degree heat ! Routed battery cavity and pre-amp cavity and drilled a side jack hole. Here's how it looks. I only manage small scratches with the spade drill near the jack hole but that will be covered by a plate. It all fits inside. Realised since the kit has 3 knobs and the pre-amp has volume, balance, treble and bass so I'm a chrome knob short
next manage to get the 4th stain coat on. I was trying to match the headstock and body colours so mixed about 1/3 DT karijini red with 2/3 bushfire sunrise. Hard to see in the pics but the colours match pretty close. After a few days curing I'll decide whether I'm ready for clear coats !
Looks great Wokks, the colour is coming up nicely on both the body and headstock. Let's hope you don't have to change battery too often.
Pretty close colour match in those shots Woks. Presume back of neck will be natural?
Nice colour too and not far off the customised DT orange on my EX-5.
For another chrome knob just pinch one off a Tele, you probably have at least 15 of them kicking around at your place haha.
Looking amazing Wokks. The colour and the grain are amazing. Great job as always. Will be great to see her assembled.
cheers,
Gav.
cheers Weirdy, Waz and Gav.
@ Waz yes planning natural neck colour. The tele knobs are smaller mate. I'm heading to see DB this arvo so I'll pinch one off him !
@ Weirdy my 2 other active axes I have never had to change a battery, you just got to remember to unplug the jack after playing them. It's less than a 5 minute job to change the battery anyway, undo about 10 screws on the pickguard and loosen the strings. I got an extra heavy duty battery which I hope lasts. I went to Alltronics yesterday and they only had 9 volt battery clips, cradles and a sliding draw style box which wouldn't have worked.
Great work Woks will be interesting to hear the active circuit in action
Sent from Lineage OS 14.1
cheers Ponch, Pabs talked me into installing the pre-amp. Should sound pretty cool I hope !
How's your's going you got primer on the body yet ? Too many things get in the way of axe building should be top priority !
As will I. Much more affordable option than the Audere preamp I was lusting after yesterday....
Hey Hoby, yeah cheap as chips the pre-amp was under $20 including postage !
Not yet woks.I have grain filled with CAglue. But......have managed to aquire a drill press yay!Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
How does it sound? Is there a passive bypass???
Good work on the drill press Ponch !
@ Hoby its not finished yet ! Still got final clear coats to go yet. No passive bypass it seemed a bit too hard
Its life changing! I could drill nice vertical holes all day just for the fun of it lolQuote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
good stuff Ponch, what is the reach like the distance from the stand and the centre of the drill press can it reach for a string through body ?
Got the neck sanded, masked, logo applied and the first clear coat on the neck and body late afternoon yesterday
more pics of the body and neck
Some interesting graffiti in the background of that headstock shot Wokks ;) The colour looks great with the clear.
haha cheers Weirdy, we get everyone that visits to put a comment on the white tool board, DB has a few comments there too !
You are also approaching Overlord status Weirdy!
yeah, creeping up to it. Congrats on 12K to you!
cheers Weirdy !
This JB is looking great Woks, nice job on the headstock veneer & colour. For the drill press it will easily deal with a bass body - the throat is not quite deep enough for guitar - but... watch this space I'm going to mod the upright post a bit so it will be....Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
http://www.routerforums.com/tools-wo...ification.html
cheers Ponch. Look forward to seeing the mods to your drill press
Hey Weirdy, question please, is this a typical way to wire the blend pot ? I've never wired one before. There is one on the active pre-amp.
I will have to have a closer look at the harness. It's not a clear photo but the blend pot is connected with 2 wires I think to the master volume and has 2 layers of 3 lugs like in the wiring diagram.
cheers in advance
Yep, pretty much. Your pre-amp will likely have a hot and ground connected diagonally across the balance leaving the middle lugs free on both layers, that's where you connect pup's hots.
Looking at the side view of the balance in the SD diagram, the layers work like this:
- resistance I conductive +
+ conductive I resistance -
So, in the middle position you get full signal from both pups, turning it one way or the other reduces one pickup while keeping the other on full.
There's a chance that the pre-amp's balance could be used slightly differently, so if you're unsure post some pics of it and any instructions/diagrams supplied with it.
cheers Weirdy, I will have a better look at the harness when I get home from work tonight.
Pretty sure I'll just have to connect both pup hot wires to the middle lugs and earth them
got the neck fret leveled, and started assembly
some more angles.
couple shots of the back. Happy there's no battery box in the back
You have been a busy boy today. Looking very nice.
cheers Waz, I quite enjoy building low end axes too ! Looking forward to hearing how it sounds through the new stacked rig !! :)
They are pretty simple things to build, especially the bolt-on varieties.
Careful when you fire up the new Rig as you may cause an earthquake that I reckon might felt as far away as this side of the country.