Ib-4

Hi

Im nearly done with this bass, i've wired up Seymour Duncan pickups but the routing is much bigger than the pickups, i've tried to make my own frames from a blank pickguard but its incredibly difficult to get perfect as i cant find anyone that has them made for these dimensions.

i tried to get them laser cut but apparently the laser cutting wont work well with the pick-guard material.

i thought of getting them 3d printed but apparently they need a CAD drawing, (which i'm unable to do) i'm sure its a simple job if your in the know.

Does anyone know of what i could do to make these frames?

Attachment 37594

Unless you go really high end 3d printing tends to a textured effect which would not IMHO match up to the standard of the rest of the instrument. Are these covers/surrounds just going to be flat? If so, and as you don't have another pickguard to match the material to, why don't you get the frames made in a material that will laser cut readily?

Yes, pickguard material is usually PVC which creates a hydrochloric acid vapor when you laser cut it. What you can do is get an mdf template laser cut and then using it with a table router/follow bearing bit.

3D printing is not that difficult, but Jim is right regarding the texture - however, it can be very easily filled and smoothed and if you are using PLA then Rustoleum actually bonds to the plastic and is very high wearing. I've done a few bits and pieces with my printer. I can do the required drawing/printing, but I would need really good measurements to work from.

Happy to have a go if you can supply some details.

Here is an idea from way afield. Have you thought about removing the pickups....masking off the pickup routs....then mask in a fine border up on top of the body up tight around the pickup rout.

Then either completely mask the top of the guitar....or use the lid of a spray paint can and a fine artist brush.

Then either spray, or brush, a black finish of your choice....matt...semi gloss...full gloss....in and around the edges of the pickup routs and then up the side and around the thin masked edge.

Let it dry and see what you think....perhaps a coat or two of gloss clear....or even some gloss spray poly over the top to seal it in.

Just a thought.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain

Yes, pickguard material is usually PVC which creates a hydrochloric acid vapor when you laser cut it. What you can do is get an mdf template laser cut and then using it with a table router/follow bearing bit.

3D printing is not that difficult, but Jim is right regarding the texture - however, it can be very easily filled and smoothed and if you are using PLA then Rustoleum actually bonds to the plastic and is very high wearing. I've done a few bits and pieces with my printer. I can do the required drawing/printing, but I would need really good measurements to work from.

Happy to have a go if you can supply some details.

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Hi, thanks for that, yes that would be fantastic if you could do the drawing for us. Im sure its like a 5 min job if you know what your doing, i did try an online 3d programme online but couldn't manage to do it

The measurements i'm working with are
120mm x 45mm Outer dimensions
90mm x 38mm Inside dimensions
around 2.5 - 3mm thickness (what do you think is better for 3d printing)
would be a bonus if the outside corners were rounded off
1mm hole in the centre on the edge at the top and bottom


Thanks a lot! thats really appreciated!!

As a headsup I was just talking to a local engineering shop about making a custom stainless steel control plate for a project I'm working on, and they said, sure, we can do that with our water jet cutting rig. I wonder if that would be suitable for pickguard material.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barry snook

Hi, thanks for that, yes that would be fantastic if you could do the drawing for us. Im sure its like a 5 min job if you know what your doing, i did try an online 3d programme online but couldn't manage to do it

The measurements i'm working with are
120mm x 45mm Outer dimensions
90mm x 38mm Inside dimensions
around 2.5 - 3mm thickness (what do you think is better for 3d printing)
would be a bonus if the outside corners were rounded off
1mm hole in the centre on the edge at the top and bottom


Thanks a lot! thats really appreciated!!

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No worries, I'll have a look and post up a screen shot to make sure it's what you are after. I have a fairly busy start to the week but should be able to slot it in somewhere.

Ok This is what I have to those dimensions. I'm a bit confused about the 1mm hole in the centre? What is that for?

Anyway. If you PM me your email address, I'll send a 2d PDF of the basic shape. If you print that out at 100% scaling, you should be able to carefully cut it out and check it's going to fit. It's a good idea to have about an extra mm around anything it needs to fit onto as when printed it may be slightly smaller due to heat deformation. Usually can be corrected with some sandpaper and patience.

But if all good, then I'll print it out for you and pop it in the mail.

https://i.imgur.com/K7koHn8.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain

Ok This is what I have to those dimensions. I'm a bit confused about the 1mm hole in the centre? What is that for?

Anyway. If you PM me your email address, I'll send a 2d PDF of the basic shape. If you print that out at 100% scaling, you should be able to carefully cut it out and check it's going to fit. It's a good idea to have about an extra mm around anything it needs to fit onto as when printed it may be slightly smaller due to heat deformation. Usually can be corrected with some sandpaper and patience.

But if all good, then I'll print it out for you and pop it in the mail.

https://i.imgur.com/K7koHn8.jpg

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WOW that looks fantastic! just tried to PM but looks like you inbox is full

Oh cheers, have cleaned out my messages now. Will shoot thru shortly.

Print underway.. only just fits on my bed so we got lucky there.

This one is a little rough as I haven't used the printer in a while, next couple should be better and you can use this one to test paint on.

https://i.imgur.com/N34gySK.jpg

And finished, actually not as rough as I thought initially, looks pretty good. I'll still do a spare for testing on.

The texture is pretty easy to sand flat or if you google 'acetone' smoothing, that is another technique for reducing that appearance. I've found painting and sanding to work fine.

https://i.imgur.com/xxTqT0k.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/glPW2dq.jpg

Wow! That is incredible. Particularly when I think about how long it took me to make two maple pickup rings...

3D printers are really handy. I don't use it often, but it's so handy to have it available.

Mine is not an expensive one, its about 5 years old and was only $300AUD. You can get a much better printer for that price these days.

The real trick is being able to 3d model, I'm pretty ordinary at that, but know enough for simple things like this.

All done, will pop them in the mail this arvo.

https://i.imgur.com/TarQcbt.jpg

Well done, Sonic.

I found it easiest when sanding the tops of things like this to use double sided tape to stick them to a piece of wood/MDF so it acts like a handle and it's then very easy to rub it on some sandpaper laying flat on a worktop.

Wow that is really really fantastic! thanks a lot Sonic! you are the absolute best!

good tip Simon i'll use that when sanding them down.

Thanks a lot everyone for all the comments! really appreciated!

They Arrived! Thank you so much Sonic!! absolute legend!

Attachment 37962

Woohoo, glad they made it, hope they fit!

So its been quite a while but its finished now phew!!

ive reworked this since, i went way too shiny with the oil first time around, sanded back completely and started again, with the vaneer i sanded back but was carefull not to go too deep but managed to get the oil off nicely

the fist time was too shiny too see the vaneer so this time around i went for only a few coats so you can still see in on an angle

the hardware i used for this one was

Schaller 3d bridge (a must for this bass as the stock bridge was way too high for any playable action)

wilkinson tuners (these are fab for the price compared to gotah etc)

semour duncan blackout active soapbars

Graph tech black tusq nut

switchcraft barrel jack

most importantly shout out to sonic mountain for 3d printing the pickup rings, if it wasn't for him this bass wouldn't be the same and probably wouldn't have put the extra effort in to make it an instrument i want to pick up and play. so thank you! really appreciated mate!!

Really please with his bass now, its taken me nearly a year and half to get it to a nice playable instrument


Attachment 41925


Attachment 41926

Looks great. Well worth the effort.

Very cool. Nice work Baz!

That's a beauty!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

Well done, that looks great! The colour and timber texture particularly
+1 for the Wilkinson tuners, they work and are well priced like Allparts