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Got my kit in the mail today:) everything fits perfectly!
Might as well start with an overview of what my build will end up as.
Ex-4 specs:
Color: Behlen Solar lux "Sea Blue" on the body and neck
Black headstock
Black custom pickguard
Brass nut
Hipshot machine heads with drop D "Bass Extender"
Stock humbuckers with split coils and a 6 way switch
2 tone pots
1 master volume pot
I figure nothing says 1984 better than a black n blue explorer! Pics coming soon:)
Sounds good NyanFloyd.
2 tones pots is a different approach and interested to eventually hear the split sounds once you have wired it up.
Welcome to the forum and will keenly keep an eye your progress.
Cheers, Waz
Sounds great! You obviously know what you want.
I'm sure Wazkelly will watch this with interest. ooooo brass nut...I like the sound of that
Brass nuts do have a ring to them, got one on the blue Tele, but you need lots of time and effort if it needs to be filed down.
It stands to reason, for me at least, that the material that the string last touches has an influence on the Tone, If the nut is too dissimilar to the Frets the Open notes sound different to the Fretted notes. That's my opinion anyway, Bone seems to do a good job even though it is very different to Fret Wire.
I have only made 2 Brass Nuts, but both times I just removed the stock item and made a copy of it from a piece of brass scrap.
Seemed to work OK.
This time around I bought a Chinese one that is slightly oversize, that I will file to suit.
Got lots done this week, the neck is almost finished it just needs a few more coats of lacquer and my custom headstock logo. I'm loving the way the blue stain turned out because it still shows the grain from the maple neck and it kind of gives it that worn vintage feel with the satin finish. I also traced out a pickguard on a piece of paper, and the black lines show roughly where I will have to rout in order to install my 6 way toggle switch.
Attachment 17921
Attachment 17922
Nice blue colour.
Thanks! I really want to start on the body but I can't really do anything until I get the extra bits routed. I don't have a router so I'm going to have to wait until my buddy is free to let me use his Woodshop for a weekend.
Ok, so you are going for a traditional 6 stringer looking scratch plate & 3 position switch.
You've stained the neck, but be sure that you don't put any satin finish on the parts of the neck and body that have to be glued together I don't think the stain will affect the glue's adhesion, but it really is best to just keep the mating surfaces straight wood to wood.
No gluing required it's a bolt-on neckQuote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
6 way toggle switch actually. I ordered one of these and will be wiring it pretty much the same way as the video...Quote:
Originally Posted by wazkelly
https://youtu.be/kcwSKqSZ0f8
It will be interesting to see how it sounds on a bass.Quote:
Originally Posted by NyanFloyd
Sorry I havent had any updates lately, the company has had me out on the road for nearly 3 weeks so I havent been home to work on my bass. Im hoping my new hipshot tuners will be in this weekend, so I can get those mounted:)
So I have a bit of a dilemma... after much thinking and head scratching, Im debating on ditching the extra routing and just mounting my 3 way switch in one of the factory pot holes. If I go this route, Ill need to get some stacked pots for volume and tone. What do you guys recommend for stacked pots as far as output etc? They're going to be dealing with humbuckers, single coils, and everything in between with that 6 way switch....
Made some progress tonight!
Got more sanding and color blending to do, but its coming along nicely! Gonna do it darker around the edges, and the pickguard should cover most of the blotchy spots. My hipshots came in today, and they fit perfectly! Here's mock up #2 with and without the rough pickguard template.
Attachment 18282
Attachment 18283
Attachment 18284
Hi Nyan, I converted my EX-5 from 2 x vol & 1 x tone to just a master Vol & master Tone with a traditional Gotoh 3 way switch.
Apologies for the poor quality shot.....
Attachment 18306
I ended up using bourns 500k push/pull pots and wired it up for coil splitting. The PUP's are Custom Bensons and sound really nice. If you want to split the stock PBG PUP's I posted this on the forum too....
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=6476
Looking good Nyan. I like Hipshot tuners, and the xtender is a great device.
I'd go with 500k pots as well. The single coil sounds will be a bit brighter as a result, but the humbuckers need them to stop them being too dull. Tone capacitor value is a personal choice here. They really don't affect the sound at all with the tone control all the way up, but it's more a question of how dark a sound you like with the tone pot rolled down a bit.
Almost done with the body! Just needs a few more coats of clear and some buffing and it will be ready for electronics and a pickguard!
Attachment 18414
Looking good.
They look such a big body when it comes time to polish things up. Most bits are flat as that makes it a bit easier.