I resent that. 'The Muppet Show' involved some hard-working and talented individuals.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
cheers, Mark.
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I resent that. 'The Muppet Show' involved some hard-working and talented individuals.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
cheers, Mark.
I did say bad parody, did I not?
O.K. I'll let it rest then.
However there's a rag-tag rabble of angry pitch-fork wielding red-necks bearing down as I write.
cheers, Mark.
lovely colour!
You can also screw in a large cup hook or eyelet on the edge of the body behind the bridge where the strap button will be to allow you to hang the body for finishing (presuming you will be adding strap buttons).
It's been awhile since I posted. Waiting on the weather to paint outside. I've made many mistakes, but, with patience, I got a color coat I like on the Back of this RCA-4. All went smooth and looked great. After removing the masking tape from the binding, I missed areas. On the second coat, a repair coat if you may, I got some bubbles ONLY on the upper bout. I know the other bumps in the photo, if sanded will reveal more woodtone. This occurred on the last coat of lacquer/ Mixol finish, thinned down so not to go too opaque. Any suggestions as to how to fix this?
So can I ask how much Titebond Red Label glue is required to glue in the set neck. I'm ready, 34" from inside nut to 3/4 forward saddle (G string) position. Do I slather it on? Will it seep all out if I do? Or do I apply... how much? Once I apply the glue, adjust the clamps, and string the cord, fishing line, etc... do I have time to adjust the neck to proper position before I clamp down the neck? The neck tongue and neck pocket has been taped off so raw wood will be glued. This is one of the most crucial process in the build. Just want to make it right.
Well... I guess no guts, no glory.
Didn't see this earlier OBR. you want to have a good even film over the pocket and the neck tenon.Quote:
Originally Posted by OctoberBassRCA-4
You will be able to adjust once you get it in, so you can adjust placement as you go to clamp it down.
Have some damp rag or lint free cloth handy as you are going to get some squeeze out, a small flat ended scraper can also help (cut an end off an old plastic credit card or something similar, they work well to get excess squeeze out off without wood damage).
Once you are satisfied with the position, cinch down your clamps, recheck position, clean off any remaining squeeze out, then walk away and have a coffee/tea/beer/wine/shot, pat yourself on the back for a job well done, and come back and see it tomorrow! :)
Thank you FrankenLab!
Well... the deed is done. Glued in the neck. Cleaned up all seepage as she sat all clamped up. Once the nut is filed and set up, I think the action will be good. The MusicMan Humbucker bridge pup is a bit wider than the string spacing. Maybe been placed too far off the bridge. I positioned center, and shimmied the pup towards the E string. The G string sits a bit off center of the pole. 24 hour wait. Then clear coat when the weather allows.
Cool! Update pics?Quote:
Originally Posted by OctoberBassRCA-4
I still used a laser level. Found that it confirmed my indecision's. I did go thru and mount my E and G tuners, measured 34 inches from inside nut to 3/4 FORWARD bridge travel on the G string saddle. I strung line down across the neck, bridge. I'll add I purchased the KSM Full Contact Foundation bridge, clamped down, and measured, measured and measured. Clamps move, strings pull stuff out of line to be sure. My hope is I'm good.
I did drill my bridge saddle screws in today.
Is it me or is the hook on the neck upside down or is it a pseudo lefty?
For info you can see my history with a RC4 build by searching "RC-4 Stuarts project"
The only really annoying thing is that the pitbull RC4 wiring is wrong and can cause no output, history is in the thread.
So I received my kit Oct.2018. My intentions was as a Winter Project. Lol!
Good Lord. I admire you all who complete these builds in the fantastic manner and creativity you do, but, Oh man. I had No Idea.
This is my first build.
Without the dedicated time, tools and knowledge, it's all I think of Finishing this, I gotta wait. Life gets in the way. Lots of variables keep me from THIS! I'm as far as I am, with a lot of mistakes, and a lot to go. I love and hate it at the same time.
Is this normal?
Its completely normal OBRCA-4. I am on build 8 and they all progress very slowly. Unless you have great big blocks of time to do things, it gets done bit at a time, a coat here, a sanding there and eventually you get there.Quote:
Originally Posted by OctoberBassRCA-4
My experiment number 2 in the Non PBG section has taken over 2 years, My reso is approaching that as well. Don’t sweat the speed, it only leads to rushing and rushing leads to unhappy results.
Nothing good ever gets done quickly!
Well, I guess my prep work from the beginning was subpar.
Major setback. I used the recommended Mohawk Seal and Sand after sanding and staining. Apparently I didn't get enough product over the top to properly fill subsequent grain holes.
It looked GREAT!
The color coat went on fine, satisfied.
The layers of lacquer from a rattle cans went on fine.
Then, as I went along, bubbles appeared. And appeared.
I drop filled and lacquered over and relatively corrected with good results.
On the 3rd coat of clear lacquer, the bubbles were huge! They ate down to the grain. I realized I'd never get the open grain holes to fill.
I watched as I dropped fill my color into the holes just bubble like Champagne.
I got to strip the top down and start over.
Heartbroken.
The color changes in different light.
I got a bit of bite when clamping in the neck, I think that can be repaired with lacquer as I go along.
NOOO! Ah that sucks man, but such is building. You live, you mess it up. You learn.
at least you’ll get to do more sanding! 😬😡
Yes Frank, I made every mistake. But it looked good.
Too hot outside, too much lacquer build, my impatience got the best of me.
Now I need to know how to preserve the back and neck which look GREAT! Is taping off along the binding (my saving grace) the proper way to save what's good? Is there another mistake waiting for me, probably.
I found a good stripper. Lol! Back to my sample boards. It removed the layers really quick and easy.
I wont go near the binding with this stuff, so I figure I'll tape off just beyond the binding and sand, Lacquer Thinner, to remove the top coats along the binding.
Is this the proper method?
I'll wait until I hear the best method of keeping the binding.
I found a good stripper. Lol! Back to my sample boards. It removed the layers really quick and easy.
I wont go near the binding with this stuff, so I figure I'll tape off just beyond the binding and sand, Lacquer Thinner, to remove the top coats along the binding.
Is this the proper method?
I'll wait until I hear the best method of keeping the binding.
Hello,
So while waiting to clear coat, what about shielding?
I understand I need to shield the Pit Bull Single coil neck pickup, what about the pup ring?
What about a coil tap option on the MM Bridge pup, and the control cavity.
The control cavity is quite large, will the normal roll of 2 inch tape cover everything need to be shielded?
Does the whole backside of the Pickguard need to be covered?
I included my photo of masking tape in the pickup cavities placed for painting.
I imagine this would represent how I would shield with copper.
The other photo is what I'm going for with pickups.
Any help would be appreciated.
These are what I'm going to use.
No help with shielding? Have I upset the PBG Community? I'll figure it out I guess.
Heya, sorry missed that question. So what you are trying to do is create a 'Faraday Cage' around your electronics. In the best case scenario everything except the pickup poles is contained within the 'cage'. This isn't always possible, but any shielding is better than none if you are keen to eliminate excess noise and hum.
I'm not sure what you mean by pickup ring? But you can certainly shield the inside of the pickup cavities. I did this on a mates Jazz Bass and it did improve things. You only need to put shielding on the pickguard where it will create a 'lid' for the cavities. So you want a little overlap with the tape out of the cavities so the lid has something to contact to. Also important to earth the shielding.
I've not ordered the PBG shielding tape before so I don't know how much you get. I got a roll from Aust Luthier Supplies that had stacks on it. I've seen people on here use snail tape from the big green shed as well, it's essentially the same stuff, but narrower strips.
Just went and looked at the pics earlier in the thread. I see the pick guard is really part of the control cavity cover, so yeah, just shield the bit that goes over the cavity. I'm not sure if doing under the pickup ring itself is necessary, you'll be able to partially shield the cavity though. That will help, but probably won't completely eliminate interference, so it'll depend on where and what kind it is (the interference)
Bear in mind that a whole heap of commercial guitars don't bother shielding at all or only do a bit of an attempt that is in no way a complete cage.
Thanks Sonic, i'll need to ground/earth each cavity to the others, like a wire soldered to one to the other and to ground?
And covering the neck pickup ring on the back with shielding is not necessary, Thanks Man!
Yes that would work, ideally all the shielding should be continuous and grounded. Too easy.
Bit late on the scene but love the colour of this Bass!
As for shielding I have used both snail tape and the black graphite shielding paint on different guitar & bass builds with great success.
Snail tape can be a pain as it is barely 1" wide which works well on the vertical sides of control cavities but needs multiple overlapping strips to cover larger wider areas. Never bothered with soldering any of it together nor created a continuous contact/circuit. Only build that has a bit of hum is my MMB4 that is fitted with a Belcat pre-amp and reckon that is what is causing the hum. I used the black shielding paint under the MM sized PUP and snail tape in the control cavity, likewise on my J Bass too and it is whisper quiet through headphones. Only reason for for using shielding paint was to have a dark background where using copper tape might be seen from above.
MM Bridge PUP can be coil tapped, just depends on whether it is the kit supplied 4 wire or an aftermarket 3 or 4 wire version? On mine I dropped in a Guitar Fettish upgrade that was 3 wire (I think as it was over a year ago) and eventually ended up with a 3 way mini dpdt switch where centre is series (standard HB mode) and then one side splits to coil nearest bridge and the other splits to coil nearer the middle or neck of the bass. Splitting drops output a bit and it does give you a single coil sound and it is hard to decide which sounds better? Splitting nearest to Bridge or Nearer to middle/neck, hence why I ran with a 3 way switch. If I had to choose just 1 option, it would be split to bridge coil as that seems to sound closest to Bridge J sound out of the 2 options plus it is the only way to get that brighter popping sound which lends itself to the traditional Ric vibe.
You can find more info on that build from the link in my signature.
Hope this helps in some way.
Cheers, Waz
Thanks Waz, You've been a big help in my build.
I'm not familiar with the term "snail tape, but I will Google it.
I still got about 4-5 more coats of lacquer to go on this build, and the weather here in Tennessee is NOT cooperative or conducive anytime soon, given I have to spray outside (according to the wife).
On the matter of the MM Pup and split coil, as an aesthetic issue, I want a fifth knob, like the six string Ricks. Can I wire something like a push-pull split coil fifth knob, that would act as a Master Volume? I've expressed this to My Go-to Guy, and he said he'd have to research those set ups.
Can you give me a idea as to how I could have a functioning fifth knob, either as a split coil, Master Volume, or other option?
Thanks.
Waz,
Actual snail repellent tape, Ha Ha!
Same as Stew Mac or similar?
A side note, I do have a Guitar Fettish 4 wire MM Pup, and have not heard it yet.
It's the same stuff AFAIK, copper tape, just narrower.
Yeah Sonic, I'm just thinking ahead to the next process after clear coating, which begs a question?
Do you finish off a guitar, polished and all, before addressing this shielding, and other issues, I haven't drilled any pickup holes or strap holes yet cause of wet sanding, am I missing something, or do I go ahead and have my perfect finish (sic), then find out I missed something that I should have addressed earlier and screw up the finish?
There’s no real right or wrong answer with a lot of guitar building order of operations. There are pros and cons to every approach. I normally leave shielding to after finishing, but I normally drill the most important holes prior and just exercise care when wet sanding. You can totally drill after finishing. Most guys will use painters tape to mark locations and protect the finish when doing that. You kind of just need to pick an approach and go for it, you’ll only really work out what’s best for you by doing. There isn’t much that can’t be fixed if you do stuff up.
Thanks Sonic.
I got a lot to go, and finishing the clear coat is the issue now, but I can't continue now due to the weather.
It leads me to thinking of next steps, to be ready when time allows. I think I'll go ahead and drill for my pickguard screws and pick up ring during the wait. My indecision's get better overtime, along with PBG Communities encouragements.
I have been thinking of using threaded inserts for my strap knobs, as suggested by a guy. But my test into a sample board, I may have used too small a drill bit, and it caused the wood to bow out, and then tool broke. makes me wonder. They said I need to use a bigger bit. Hmmm... !
Fortunately, I have time to consider things. I'll try the inserts again in a sample board with a larger bit than suggested, by a 1/64 or 1/32.
4 wire Guitar Fettish PUP should give you some easier spilt coil options than what I experienced however would not recommend trying to add a blend type knob as that didn't want to work properly with the Belcat pre-amp on my MMB4 where direct switching worked out much better. Master Volume on a push/pull could work and suggest you wait for someone to drop by and explain how to make that happen with the individual Neck & Bridge Vol controls.
As for drilling holes, learnt that lesson the hard way on 1st build where wet sanding made the holes swell so on subsequent builds all holes were drilled after final polish was completed.
Once again, sound advice Waz!
Since I did drill my pickguard holes, and neck pickup ring holes, have you ever wet sanded with Naptha instead of water? Naptha evaporates fast, a guy suggested it? Maybe with a drop of soap to help lubricate it a bit?
Wet sanding with something that evaporates quickly would seem to me to defeat the object of keeping the abrasive unclogged.
Can it be done, by spraying Naptha consistently?