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Early stages in my IB6S build. I've used wudtone for the first time, and I'm delighted with the "honey" finish on the spalted maple front. The "dark tease" on the back and sides is still being a bit of a tease, but I'll try a couple more coats and see how it goes. I've been asked to finish it in satin, but I really think it will look great in high gloss, on the front at least.
I decided to do the neck in polyurethane varnish, as I've used it before. It gives high gloss and has a nice feel ( well to a beginning player like me anyway!) With the double skunk stripe it looks great, even with no added colour or stain.
Update
The wudtone is all done now, and the front looks gorgeous. The back is still a bit disappointing, but it's all about learning. Assembled, it all looks quite good, but I would do it differently next time. I suppose I could sand it all off the back and do it again. It's not that bad but I think it could be better. Still, who looks at the back anyway........
I've got the basic assembly work done now, the neck is screwed in place, the bridge is on, along with the tuners and all the little screws are piloted and screwed in. Next job is soldering but I'm a bit confused with the wiring. The kit came with 5pots, and no switch. Does that mean I should wire it with 4pots and no switch, or does one pot act as a cross fader between the two pickups? If that's the case I need to find a wiring diagram to do that, but I haven't found one yet. Also, one pickup has a red wire, the other is blue. Which one goes to the bridge, and which to the neck? Does it matter?
Aha! Just found a great selection of wiring diagrams on a thread " help with bass wiring" I didn't understand a word of the technical stuff, but I recon I can follow the simplest diagram there! Wicked! Cheers guys!
The diagrams in that forum thread use some capacitor values that aren't standard with the IB-6 kits, so just be aware of that. I think the stock kit caps are all 0.068uF (683 on the cap), although I don't have that kit to check, so you would need to get some other caps to use those diagrams.
If you want a diagram using only the stock kit parts I can draw one up for you, or some other specific layout if you want.
Regarding which pickup is which, the colours can vary depending on the kit and batch from the factory. Typically, when you compare them, the neck pickup will have the longer wire as it usually has a longer run to reach the control cavity. For pickups that don't have other distinguishing features, wire length is usually the easiest way to tell. If the wires are the same length, then the pups probably the same and interchangable or you'll need a multimeter to test further.
Edit: Remember you need a ground wire under the bridge plate that runs to the control cavity, there should be a hole under the bridge for it. If you haven't got that wire in place already remove the bridge now put the ground wire in before going any further.
Dave - just saw that you're having issues with the 6s diagram - will have a look at it and get an update up soon.
Brendan
Edit - have sent Adam an email with an updates diagram - 2 tone 3 volume. Watch this space...
Brendan
Here you go Dave, this should work. It's Brendan's updated diagram.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...PBG-2H3v2t.pdf
Wow! That's absolutely brilliant guys! Thanks for your help!
I thought I had the assembly sorted, but I have discovered a little problem at the neck joint. I noticed a small gap when it was all bolted up, and tightening the two lower screws seemed to make it worse. I took it apart again and found they the back surface of the neck was very slightly domed, so that it was able to "rock" at the joint. I attacked the high spot with some 80 grit and soon had it nice and flat, and I need to play with it a bit more to ensure the neck angle is just right. While working on the joint, I had another thought. Where the neck and body meet there is a flat section of the neck exposed, and I think it would look much better if the neck profile runs down a bit further, and is then blended into the body. This should be a simple job, I'll just need to varnish the bottom of the neck again when Ive done. My only worry is that this might take some strength away at a critical point, as with six massive strings, (that look like they were borrowed from a suspension bridge) the neck will need to be very strong! I'm also thinking of glueing the neck joint, as well as screwing it, for the same reason. Belt AND braces!
I've now got the neck nicely shaped where it meets the body, with a couple of hours work with a chisel and lots of sanding. Worth the effort, I think it looks much better now.
After a fair amount of sanding and varnishing, the neck looks nice and shiny. I spent a couple of evenings wiring everything up, exactly to Brendan's diagram. My wiring isn't as neat as I'd like, but it is solid and functional.
I bolted the neck on and set the angle with cotton thread in place of strings. I put a couple of shims in the joint to get the height down to where it looked right, with the saddles at the lowest adjustment. Funny how it suddenly comes together. I put the highest string on to test the electrics, and it all worked perfectly! Thank you Brendan! Brilliant work! So from there I strung it all up and tuned it for the first time. Even at this stage it sounds awesome! If anyone ever wanted to write music for elephants, this is the beastie to play it on!
I have some buzzing issues to sort out, but I've got plenty of adjustment to play with, and I can remove the shims in the neck if I need to. Intonation isn't far out either, well within range of adjustment so it's all looking very good. I had to borrow my mate's plasma cutter to trim the strings!.Attachment 5193Attachment 5194Attachment 5195Attachment 5196 Just thought I'd show you my es335 too, which I built a few months back.
Well I think it's all done! I've got the string heights all nice now, which has cleared up any fret buzz, and a bit of patient fiddling has got the intonation set up, so that's it. All in all, a nice kit, easy to do and a bit unusual. I'm still a bit worried that those huge strings will snap it in half, but it seems to hang together. That maple front looks fantastic!
how much sanding did you do on the front? looks like youv'e taken off most of the spalted cap...
Have to agree with some.guy, there seems to be very little left of the Spalted Cap that would have been on that guitar.Quote:
Originally Posted by some.guy
Looks good Dave.
Maybe the photos aren't great, but you can see the flame of the maple on the whole front, and the spalted pattern on the lower half, so the maple cap is completely intact. It was almost ready for woodtone straight from the box, so it only had a light sanding with 400 before I applied woodtone. I can't take any credit for the beautiful pattern in the wood, but it is definitely the best bit of this guitar.
Wow... She came up a treat!
Lucky for you it's a 6er or I would be tempted to send a few of my Scottish cousins around to relieve you of the stress of having such a nice looking Bass :)
Cheers dingobass! This wee beastie will be a Christmas present for a very good friend, so it won't be stressful for long!