Very nice mate.
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Very nice mate.
Big day of progress today.
Went around to my mates and used his press to drill the string through ferrule holes.
Very happy with how they came out - I will be doing the same mod to the Sonicaster in the near future.
https://i.imgur.com/HEcts5Yl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/v1KsSHFl.jpg
So this opened up a lot of assembly.
Neck and tuners on.
https://i.imgur.com/j0Mn2Ghl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/gedvgt7l.jpg
Quick level, dress and polish on the frets to get the poly off.
https://i.imgur.com/ewPMnMtl.jpg
Bridge, tentacles and pickups fitted.
https://i.imgur.com/yz8WdQUl.jpg
Strap buttons on.
https://i.imgur.com/eovY632l.jpg
So here we are. I have a bit more stuff coming this week to finish it. Some bridge saddles etc. I bought some black knurled knobs and a switch as well. i'm thinking of just having the single volume and tone and being able to switch between them.
https://i.imgur.com/bWB0Ryil.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/A4Fl7tpl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/UJoWukIl.jpg
Still not sure about how to use the clock work, but I will see once the other bits rock up which I prefer. At the moment it loosk a lot more subtle and classy I think. It's also probably more practical as well. It's not significantly heavier than my other bass so that's good news as well.
This is looking outstanding Sonic, I’m in awe of your skills!
This looks so great, you've gotta be proud of this one (and all your others, of course...)
Exsquidsite! (Sorry, couldn’t help myself). But seriously exsquisite. What odds will people give me for guitar of the year on this one? This is about the most memorable guitar I’ve seen here...or anywhere!
Thanks for the kind words guys, this has certainly been a test of my resolve to persevere with. Not sure about GOTY, its fun and odd, sure, but there have been a lot of innovative approaches and amazing finishes already this year. Glad people are enjoying being along for the ride though :) .
My new saddles, knobs and a switch rocked up today. The switch I relented and chose gold, it is pretty different to the brass, hopefully it will dull down a bit with use. I did end up having to do some clearanceing on those tentacles to get it to fit, but it works OK.
https://i.imgur.com/S5y5a91.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/V5QAVcl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/hpiiryU.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/uKzBsUg.jpg
So I put the kit strings on it and did a rough setup. Plays pretty well, but it needs a really good going over to be nice. All the bridge bits fit up nicely and the string through mod worked perfectly. I do have the same issue as some of the guys with the MMB kits. The strings aren't quite long enough for the 'thick' bit to go over the nut. It doesn't seem to affect the tuning.]
Jury is still out on the knobs vs cogs.. but I'm leaning towards this. I need to get some pots and work out my wiring now.
Should I be using 250k or 500k with these pickups?
Nice work sonic
fantastic job. Now you need to start on the matching amp
Attachment 27891
Attachment 27892
If they are stock kit PUP's probably 250k pots as should be single coils.
Looks quite good and also explains why you don't see many string through Basses as strings pull up just a bit too short on the thicker ones where outer wraps taper down.
250K pots as they are both single coils (though one of the P-bass pickup's split coils is RW/RP to the other one to give it noise-cancelling/humbucking properties).
If you can get them in Australia, it's worth trying a set of these Peavey bass strings as they are designed for 35" scale basses https://peavey.com/products/index.cfm/item/973/81497/
Here are a set on my rear-strung Peavey Cirrus EXP (which was quoted by them to be 35" scale but measures at 34").
Attachment 27898
You should be able to see where the string thins out. If not, I've marked the end of the thick section on this version. The G string stays the same diameter throughout.
Attachment 27899
I haven't tried a huge number of bass string types, but they feel reasonable to me.
Cheers guys.
Lol, well I have a stack of left over doo dads.... but I’m ready for something a bit different first.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dedman
Legendary build Sonic, you must so be proud of this effort.
pleasure to watch - Guvna
nice one mate, that takes some imagination to come up with that concept one of the most interesting builds yet 👍👍👍Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain
Just caught up, one awesome build.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain
Wow, that looks fantastic!
The beast roars........
Well... not quite.
I'm waiting to be paid so I can get a few bits and pieces to wire it up, hopefully in the next week or so. I've been messing around on it a bit to help it settle. Nut needs to be a fair bit lower, but it's not terrible to play.
https://pin.it/2uojbsnp4fenk6
I found this on Pinterest Sonic and I thought it would appeal
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
https://i.imgur.com/pqRbIal.jpg
Oh yeah, that's pretty nice. Thought I'd get this finished over the weekend, but school holidays, partner on night shift and visitors pretty much killed all my spare time. I also managed to by short shaft pots when I actually need long ones so that's a stall point as well...
I can see they've used an engraved serving platter which i thought about for this one as well. I probably have enough doodads left over for a couple more if I wasn't completely over it!
Bit more progress. I ordered the wrong pots so bit of a hold up on the wiring. I made up a decal using the print the outline reversed, colour in with gold pen technique. It's come up OK...since the pic its gone a bit milky... so I'll see how it drys overnight. The head stock needs a few more coats of clear, so hopefully the edge will blend in fine.
https://i.imgur.com/AR9EbrNl.jpg
Also worked out a sufficiently steam punk input jack.
https://i.imgur.com/7IPn6Enl.jpg
Did a really good level and dress of the frets as well, but didn't take pics.
I can see light at the end of the tunnel thank god. I have a new project on order and I really want to have this sorted.
Love that decal, perfect! Where I'd you get that lovely small gear for the socket?
The gear came out of the clockwork mechanism. Hoping the decal looks a bit better this morning but haven’t been out to check yet.
Two goes at the decal now and both have gone cloudy. I'm guessing it's the satin poly. Time for a rethink.
Rattle can spray acrylic usually does the trick.
Okey doke - finally got some decent pots that fit and wired it all up. Basically the same as a tele with a 3 way switch 1 volume,1 tone. It probably should have a blend, but this is a bit of a compromise due to tentacle placement.
It does make noise and everything works. A little bit of hum, I should shield the cavity, but it's really not too bad, seems to cancel when both pickups are selected, which I imagine is where it will be played most.
Quick dirty demo here - picking up a lot of string noise, they have not really been played so pretty noisy but you get the gist - obvious caveats for my playing. One day I will get a decent demoing setup...This is just recorded through the web cam on my old mac.
These are the kit strings so there is a problem with the thick part of the E and A strings not going over the nut. This makes setting the action a bit tricky as the diametre of sting resting against the nut is quite a bit less than the actual string diameter, so everything is pretty much just ball parked now. It's not terrible to play as is and all of my builds have improved with further tinkering and adjustment as they settle. Right now its fine barring the top 3 frets on the E and A. Action is 2mm at the 12th currently and seems acceptable.
I have a new type of decal to try on the way, so I won't call it finished until that's installed. I also have a graphtech nut for it, but due to the above string issue, I'll wait to fit that.
Anyway, nice to take another decent step forward on this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLZW...ature=youtu.be
Looking good now that it is playable.
Definitely more grunt on both PUP's than on either one which is weird as it is usually the other way around. Seems like they may be in series when both selected? Not sure why they sound so thin just on their own?
Cheers, Waz
To be honest it's not a great demo. I've been playing and adjusting it this evening and it's already better. I think the thing is that it's very bright, so the mic is making it sound thinner than it is... I think anyway.
At one point in that demo I wound the tone right down and it was better, but it seems best at about halfway in all switch positions, I can only assume that's the brass saddles and bridge.
I'm going to invest in a decent mic so I can just put that in front of the amp and run it into the computer clean. Then I can record the same way with hopefully better sound reproduction. I can put it through Garageband amp emulator, but that seems to process the sound too much and its not an accurate representation of how the guitar really sounds. I'll do another demo then. I might try and think of something to actually play and practice a bit.
OK, still sounded best on both PUP's.
Two Pup’s sounds pretty good. Nice to see it doing it’s job.
Yeah it's definitely 'fuller' sounding with both selected. Had another go with the amp mic'd up this morning. Much more even recording, a little peaky, the setup is better as well so it's easier to play. Still not amazing around the top 3 frets on the A and E string - will pick up some new strings this week so I can install the new nut and finalise that a bit more.
Overall I'm happy, I think the single pickup positions have their place, combined with tone knob fiddling there is a fair bit of variety. In this video I try to play similar little runs while switching between the pickups. I start with the tone knob at 10, then 5 then 0. I'm pretty sure it's mostly going to be played with both pickups selected.
Think it's time for a workshop cleanup now :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnDyN7cYwHA
EDIT: lol yeah gets very peaky around 1:40...sigh.
After a HEAP of messing around I finally have a halfway decent head stock decal.
https://i.imgur.com/aAA5uiZl.jpg
Nice font. Reminds me of a beer label but can't remember which one?
Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk
James Squire? It's a 'pirate' font I've had a fiddle with.
Decal looks ace - worth the pain and suffering to get there!
https://i.imgur.com/fw3ObSA.jpg
I finally managed to find a set of strings that both fit and work on this thing. Only took three goes. These are D'Addario Chrom Flat Wound Super Long Scale and they are gorgeous. It is astonishing how much they improve play-ability. There is now no annoying buzzing or rattling. The intonation is bang on and it's holding tune. They only thing I'm not super happy with are the tuners. They do the job, but as all my other guitars have Grovers and the like, they are noticeably difficult to fine tune properly. So some day down the track I will swap them out.
This has been an absolute epic. Many changes of plans and two steps forward one step back. Thanks to everyone for their input, comments and encouragement. There were several times where I nearly gave up on the idea. I'm very happy with the result, especially how well the bridge works.. its not all form over function :)
Special thanks to Frankenwalshie for providing the brass plate - that was a big step towards this finished product.
So here are some finished pics....
https://i.imgur.com/xamaCtg.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/gv0iBtH.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/yTEmdSy.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/DLeWVPC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/7c4lJhn.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/K6XO58L.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kFHLsA3.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kp3ZWLa.jpg
Time to hand it over to the better half so she can properly commit to learning :)
Brother Sonic, that is absolutely epic.
I think if you'd have persisted with the clockwork looking adusterknobs it might have been a bit too much, but this is awesome. Well done. you survived!
Well this looks pretty damn badass. With all those tentacles I can't help but think that this bass was meant to rock out some The Call of Ktulu.