Can't wait to see this one finished with that fretboard on display.
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Can't wait to see this one finished with that fretboard on display.
I'm really digging this build. Fretboard looks great, the transition to the neck is great, and it's a killer kit to start with
Well, as with everything life gets in the way.
I’d set this aside to grain highlight, having done some more errr...”adjustment” to the aesthetic around the neck joint I started sanding down. Go to a good all over 80 grit finish and then gave it a wipe down.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...bf53773e1b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...58606bfa40.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...de86a7c417.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a8d9d01b3a.jpg
Standing back and looking at it, I don’t see any need to grain highlight this one.
Between the figure on the board, the natural contrasting light and dark grain on this body, and the contouring I’ve already done I think there is enough going on to spark interest.
I’m tossing up a light poly finish, or hitting it with danish oil and wax.
So, now on to a fretboard radius!
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Men, this thing is going to be Art!
Love to see that fretboard coming to life!
Saw a post from August, you know how to play the bass already?!
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Saw a post from August, you know how to play the bass already?!
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Isn’t going from guitar to bass like going from shoelaces to Velcro? 😉
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! I barely know how to play guitar!Quote:
Originally Posted by RocknRolf
Isn’t going from guitar to bass like going from shoelaces to Velcro? [emoji6][/QUOTE]I wouldn't know, I am with @FrankenWashie, I barely manage to play the guitar. Started the acoustic 1.5yrs ago and finishing of my first electric, never touched a Bass, not planning to, till I watch a vid of someone playing Tool style bass lines....Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkMark
Isn’t going from guitar to bass like going from shoelaces to Velcro? [emoji6][/QUOTE]Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkMark
There was an incident at work, I sustained a head injury. Any more serious and I may have been forced to live out my life as a Drummer.[emoji6][emoji16]
I shall see myself out...wait, this is my build thread. I should probably stay.
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Isn't that how you can tell the stage is level??? The drummer is drooling from both sides of his mouth.
It works, my elder brother is one of nature’s natural drummers and we built a patio dead level with his help.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bakersdozen
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Just caught up this build now and love what you have done already.
Some seriously wicked Ash grain on display.
So this one kind of stalled for a very pertinent reason.
I am at the point where I need to radius the fretboard, but there’s a catch.
My standard 14”/16” 8” long radius block is plenty wide for a guitar, it’s about 3/8” too narrow for the heel end of the IB 5.
The simple solution would have been to go and find a wider one on line.
Those playing at home will know, that’s just not the FrankenLab way![emoji848][emoji6]
I’d seen a couple of guys making their own adjustable radius sanding blocks in Pinterest and on a couple of Facebook forums. So I figured why not?
$18.00 worth of hardware from BGSFOS and some scrap mahogany and five ply from the bits box and voila!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...5084bc3d7c.jpg
Trouble was I countersunk the screw heads too deep which created a weak point in the five ply at the screw heads, I’d also not bothered to glue, which would have spread the stresses along the rail, which ended up with the whole rail tearing off with three plies still in place.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f0ff7f37d6.jpg
I’d also made it a bit too wide at 205mm, which meant that the 3mm jaw and jaw bottle screws were at their functional limit trying to push out to a 14” radius. They were good up to 16” as was the rail connection, pushing them out to 14” was 1 radius too far.
So I grabbed some 4mm Bottle screws, ditched the recycled ply and subbed in some 1/4” MDF sheet stock.
I scored/slotted it as I’d done with the ply to allow it fo flex, doubled up on the screw count per rail and ran titebond down the inside of each rail to get a good bond and prevent the screws from becoming a stress point again.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b458a1e3e2.jpg
Version 2.0
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...dca0692f21.jpg
Bottle screws adjusted, glue bond holding nicely on the inside edge of the rails
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e822b57918.jpg
14” radius achieved!
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b6bb74d5fb.jpg
At both ends even!
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...280420e957.jpg
Awaiting self stick sand paper shipment from the sandpaper man, to set it into action on the IB 5!
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This is true boss level frankenlab shizz going down. Love it dude!
I expect Igor had to say something about you straying into his rebuilding territory!
Strictly, that's a bit less than 14" radius on the underside, nearer 13.75", as you have to take off the thickness of the MDF.
I’d realised that after I took the shots Simon but it was easier to take the shot that way, than to try and hold the gauge aligned to the correct side edge and take the photo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Once I’ve got it set right and some time, I’ll make a set of plug gauges for the reverse radius to set it to.
But first I’ll need to build a proper router radiusing jig.....[emoji12][emoji2957]
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I forgot to say a 'well done for being resourceful in the face of adversity' so, well done for being resourceful in the face of adversity.
You can of course, use that to sand a number of 'male' radius blocks of your chosen radius, which you can then use to make any number of 'female' radius blocks, which will be rather easier to use than the current set up.
if I change back out to the 3mm bottlescrews, I can adjust to a convex 14/16” radius and sand one directly, which it what I might try out first.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Really neat idea.
Very clever FW.
It looks like it could be kind of unweildly. Have you tried it out on some scrap?
I haven’t got the sandpaper stock to press it into service as yet McCreed, will have a crack with some double stick tape at some stage this weekend.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
its not terribly heavy, and the bottle screws provide a firm holding point. I was planning on mounting some rails either side of the neck to keep the whole thing straight on the fretboard.
Have you tried making your own "self-stick" sandpaper with contact adhesive spray?Quote:
I haven’t got the sandpaper stock to press it into service as yet McCreed, will have a crack with some double stick tape at some stage this weekend.
It's better than double-sided tape because you don't get the thickness of the tape (even though very marginal) creating high spots on the sanding surface. Also way cheaper than the 3M Stik-It.
The contact adhesive cleans up off the sanding blocks easily with metho.
My local supplier of the 3m stuff has stooped selling it by the metre and only selling full rolls. Full rolls are way too expensive for my needs, so it looks like I may be going back to the DIY selk-stick myself.
The price of the Sandpaper Man stuff adds up quickly too.
So the naked finish is proving to be the right call.
Fretboard radius is done, neck and FB smoothed out, going switch straight poly for this one.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...bb13c260dd.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c9647887f8.jpg
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Nice! Fretboard looks great and very cool grain on the body as well.
So your radius block jig thingy worked well then?
i ended up using it inverted, bowed convex to sand the 14” radius into a prepped maple block. That took a while. But the block itself was sweet, and the board took maybe an hour, hour and a half to sand to shape, smooth and recut a couple of fretslots.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
Next board I’m going to taper in thickness to get a uniform edge width. It’s quite a stark change on such a wide board.
Ah, I see. Was that the plan all along? To use it for shaping another block?Quote:
i ended up using it inverted, bowed convex to sand the 14” radius into a prepped maple block.
I thought it was to use on the actual fretboard.
It was originally intended for use on the board, but it needs some reworking. The hook connection isn’t the most stable and the MDF skin isn’t quite standing up to the rigours of use.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
Looks unreal man.
That fretboard is stunning.
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Dang Frankie. That fingerboard looks pretty.
Every time I peel a carrot I think of your fretboard (give it a go and you’ll see what I mean). Sorry for the comparison.
Dayam that looks good. What do you put in the slots when wiping on poly?
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I’m using cabots spray poly, the board is masked off while this happens. I’m going to fret it first then spray poly on top.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy40
Does anyone have a rule of thumb set of measures for Bass action?
Like a guitar, I just set the strings as low as I can get on my basses. Old-school pros tend to like heavy strings, lots of neck relief and a big gap under the strings. Factory values are always compromises towards something that's still playable but nothing too low that could start to buzz badly if the neck moves after shipping without it being set up by the store.
And some people play with gentle finger motions and let a big amp do the work. Others pluck the strings as hard as they can, so will require a much higher string setting.
Cool cool, I figured it would be up to interpretation. Not having any experience of low end plunking I wasn’t really sure, always best to ask I guessQuote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
2mm treble, 3mm bass at 12th fret would be reasonable.
We’re a wee bit off that at the moment, I haven’t put a rule or gauge to it yet, but we are probably at least 6-7mm at 12. I haven’t done much more than string it as yet. The bridge is way up on the screws, the plastic nut is towering over the board end so there may be some work to do in replacing that.
I guess it’s going to be pluck it and see.
FrankenWashie,
FWIW this was provided to me by one of my mentors years ago, and what I use as a starting point/guide for bass set-ups. I then tweak as needed for the individual instrument.
Set the neck relief at .012" at the 8th fret. Capo lightly on fret 1 and lightly press a string to
the 17th fret. Measure relief at the 8th fret.
String height at the 12th fret should be 5/64" - 6/64" on the low string and 4/64" - 5/64" on
the high string. Middle strings are...in the middle.
Nut height: a good number is .020" for all strings at the 1st fret.
thanks for that McC. Very useful. I did some twiddling and TR adjustment and got to 2.5 or roughly 6/64” at 12.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
There’s a lot of moving going on with the strings loading up and stretching etc, I imagine I will be readjusting for a while.
At the moment I’ve pretty much got the B and G saddles slammed hard down and the EAD are only slightly off the bridge plate. I can see I’ll have to lower the nut, it’s about 2mm clear off the first fret.
It’s still sans electronics, I haven’t even mounted the pups. I just wanted to see how everything lined up. I’ll shoot some pics up tomorrow as it’s a bit late now.
It was all looking so promising....then I’d realised my horrific error.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...cde42f083d.jpg
I’d forgotten the electric bits!
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