I haven't been able to do any real building for ages due to other priorities, but now that I've got some time I wanted to do something a little different to get back into the groove before continuing with my other projects. There's a few things I wanted to try out before using them on future builds, so there is going to be experimenting involved. I've never built a bass before but something with a YB designation just has to be experimental, so it seemed like a good match. I'll be trying out some wiring options, inlay, stain/finish and probably some other stuff. I originally had another name in mind for this build, but I have a feeling that no matter what I do she's going to be a bad girl.
I've had this kit for about 3 years just sitting in my pile, so it's from the old factory and QA could be a bit variable back then. The mock-up I did when I first got the kit showed that the neck pocket was pretty loose, there were some issues with both ends of the fretboard and some chattering/tearing on the back of the body. No great drama but the intervening years have also taken a toll and one of the body seams has started to open up. I thought I had pics from the original mock-up so I didn't take any new ones, but apparently not, so as a visual aid here's one from the store:
To keep up the pace of the build I decided to either ignore or work around any minor issues as best I can and only spend time fixing major problems, that is things that would affect playability or significant visual flaws. Well, that's the plan. I've taken a lot of photos so there's likely to be a deluge of posts. Sorry.
The main focus of this build is the wiring, so getting the basis for that sorted is the first priority. What I had in mind would require at least 4 switches, one of which needed to be a slide switch, and that meant they would all have to be slide switches. Where to put them? I wan't sure if the wiring would work the way I wanted or if I'd keep it in the long-term, so I didn't want any holes on the face of the body. I could try to put them on the upper edge of the body, but again, if I ever removed them it would leave holes. So, that only left one option… try to squeeze everything into the rather small control cavity at the back. I didn't intend the switches to be changed on the fly, so mounting them on the back will work as long as I can get everything to fit.
I didn't want to have to cut the switch tips so that meant recessing them far enough into the body to ensure they wouldn't get accidentally tripped or catch on anything. Some careful measurements and guesstimates suggested I'd just be able to sink them in far enough and still have a couple of mm's clearance over the back of the pots etc… maybe, if I'm lucky. Mounting the switches in a block was going to be the most practical option, so time to make an aluminium mounting plate.
The two mini switches needed to be on top of the plate to get their tips to match the height of the larger ones.
To fill the recess so only the switch tips would be exposed I made up a double layer of 3mm acrylic (glued together) with some strategic routing for the screw ends and nuts etc.
I mapped out where the block would need to fit into the cavity (I had to keep the mini switches over the middle pot for it to have a chance of fitting) and glued in some extra wood to help support the switch block.
Routed for the switch block and then marked for some additional tweaking to accommodate the switch bodies on the underside of the plate.
Switch block in and level with the cavity cover recess.
I wanted to save the original cavity cover in case I ever removed the switches, so that meant cutting a new one. Some double-sided tape and a few strips of ply allows me to elevate the original cover so that the router bearing can guide along it safely as a template to cut the new cover on my router table.
You have to take it slowly as you can still get a bit of flex with the double-sided tape if you're not careful. One new cover.
The next step was to map out and cut the access hole in the cover for the switches.
Working out the dimensions.
Roughing it out.
Final shape cut with the router.
All done and buttoned down. I decided to leave the clear acrylic as is so that the switches are easier to see in low light rather than just relying on feel.
The switch tips are inset far enough that they won't be tripped accidentally, yet are still easily accessible.
It looks like changes in temperature and humidity over the years have caused the seam to open at the upper side of the tail, and while the gap isn't that long it is open all the way front to back. You can shine light through it.
I did an two day clamp on it to see if it could be squeezed completely closed before attempting to glue, but even with the clamps as tight as I dared without crushing the basswood horribly it still wouldn't close fully. So, rather than risk it opening up again, or even getting worse at some point, I decided to give it the full treatment. I drilled a hole from the tail along the seam, injected glue then pushed that into the seam with a thin plug to fill the hole. Then, to be doubly sure, I drilled and glued in a dowel pin angled across the seam to keep it shut for good. I hope.
While that was drying I decided to cut something different for the truss rod cover, as the stock one just didn't work for me.
Rough pattern --> ply template --> rough cut plastic as a first attempt.
I wanted something that would relate the shape of headstock. This was close to what I wanted but I'd refine it and cut a better one later once the build had evolved further.
The neck pocket was really sloppy and there was also some router steps on the sides which made it worse. After cleaning things up a bit the gap on the treble side was going to be a little more than I could live with, so I decided to make a maple shim/insert. It needed to be thickest at the front of the pocket and taper towards the back. Careful sanding, test, careful sanding…
Glued in, the shim is intentionally slightly large so I can sand it down to the body shape.
Unclamped and cleaned up.
Now it's tight enough to support the neck without clamps.
As with all the J pickup kits, the bridge pup lug routs are too narrow for aftermarket pickups. I'm not using the stock pickups so I needed to modify the lug holes a bit. I didn't have an exact dowel size match for the lug routs, but I only needed fill the inside edge as the rest would be routed out. So, some split undersized oak dowels should be large enough to work. I'll be using a dark stain so matching the colour of the basswood wasn't really an issue in this case.
Glued and clamped with the pressure directed towards the inner edges of the lug holes.
Looks skewed, but filling the inner edges as I intended.
Using my Dremel with the router bit set level with the base to flush cut the tops of the dowel plugs.
First make sure the neck screw holes are roughly in the correct position (I'm using black hardware on this build, so aftermarket neck plate).
I measure the centre line of the neck at various points and mark on masking tape strips…. don't just rely on the (in)accuracy of the fretboard dots. Then clamp the neck in place and run a fishing line along the centre line. Adjust clamps and tweak the neck position if/as necessary.
Once I'm happy with the alignment, transfer the centre line down onto the body and mark.
I then use a brad point that matches the size of the body screw holes to check where the screws will sit on the neck heel. The tip of the bit ensures the marks are actually the centre of the hole and not skewed.
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