It's finally looking less like a project and more like a bass. As of a few minutes ago, all the electronics are in. I have strung it with two strings for test purposes. The nut is not yet at the right height and is in with no glue just for test purposes, and the guitar is strung with just two strings at the moment... Even so, I was able to play a short walking bass line on it and it sounded pretty good. It has a bit of a buzz when it's in the stand, but it's better when I am holding it. Not too bad for single coils, and the tone controls roll off a lot of it.
The flaw in my "shielding" approach was two-fold. First, I underestimated how flexible the harness would need to be to be able to work it through the f-hole and into place. The other problem was that for some reason it was difficult to get a good solder bond between the wire mesh tubes and the pot cases. So in the process of working them into place the first time, three of those bonds failed. I also broke a couple of other connections.
This time I was much more gentle, but still broke off the connection to the bridge ground wire. It's fortunate that I saw it at all, but I only saw it after the harness was entirely inside the cavity. I manage to solder it to the harness through the f-hole. That took some doing. All in all, I am pretty sure that it took me between 2 and 3 hours to fix the connections and work everything into place. Most of the time was working stuff into place.... But it's all in and working! Whew!!
In hindsight, maybe running ground wires as well as the braid would have been a better solution. Then even if the braid came loose at one end, it would still act as a shield whilst the wiring provided the ground continuity.
I have a friend who likes to say "too soon old, too late smart." Initially I thought that the braid would give the harness some stiffness and that would help me get it into position once inside the body. That might be true, but I didn't account for how difficult it would be to get it through the F-hole. I ended up doing something like what you suggest where the connections came loose. My original idea was (I thought) an elegant way of providing shielding and avoiding ground loops...but it worked better on the bench than in the bass.
I also thought about using shielded wire, but rejected it when because I need a bunch of different colored wires to remember where everything needed to go. That's when I started thinking about using the braid tubes...
You are right about the words too. I am pretty sure I know why they are called "F" holes now.
I set the truss rod and bridge height. I just finished sanding, setting and cutting the bone nut I got from DB. I drilled the last three holes in the headstock install a rosewood truss rod screw cover. I put the pickups as high as I think I can get away with. These are lipstick tubes, so on the one hand I want them close to the strings because they don't tend to be super hot. On the other hand, they are metal, and need them to be far enough away from the strings so that I don't hit them when I play. I tend to use fingers rather than a pick and I can pull pretty hard. (I am considering using tape-wound strings partly for the sound, and partly to get round this problem...would be pleased for feedback on that idea. I haven't used them before).
I still need to tune the bridge, and install the pickup covers. And that prompted the oddest thought... I may actually be finished building this thing!
It will not win the ax of the month. I made too many mistakes with the finish. But the feel is pretty good, and it will definitely be unique.
As to the finish, I have learned a couple of things... There are a few nicks. I think the reason for this is that the Duplicolor paint I used is somewhat brittle. It also just does not bond as well as might be desirable with the Duplicolor primer I used. That's disappointing, but after three attempts to finish the beast, I have decided to live with it. Ah, but the diary is partly so others avoid the mistakes that we have made...which leads me to an interesting thought:
I probably should have used more True-Oil. I used TO in lieu of primer on the pickup covers and bridge piece. Although I used the same paint on those pieces as the rest of the guitar, these pieces came out a slightly different shade of red than the rest of the bass. More importantly, however, the paint sticks better. Had I known that I'd have ditched the Duplicolor primer and just used TO.
Another thing I have learned is that if one is spraying outside, Miami has only a short window of time when it can be done without problems at least if you are using rattle cans. It's just too humid here. The closer to summer it got (and thus, more humid) the harder time I had paint and clear coat to go on without beading up.
If I had it to again, I might use the cans for color, but I would use TO instead of clear coat. I wrote to the company to ask them if it would be OK. They said they had no idea, and suggested I try it. I did. It worked great. Unfortunately, I decided it would be better to use Duplicolor clear coat. Which was fine in January, but sucked in April.
So, there are a few little chips in the paint, and it's a bit more matte than I might have done otherwise. That, said, it is bright read, the headstock and all the chrome look cool. It plays resonably well. And no one, anywhere, has one like it.
One more quick note... Now that I have it all assembled. I was a little afraid that the trapeze tailpiece would not have good sustain. That does not seem to be the case. I could not use the three point bridge for reasons outlined above, but even people who did not have my problems have had trouble with the thee-pointers pulling pulling up or out. I have heard of that happening on Thunderbirds which are flat. With the curve in an ES, the three point is just asking for trouble.
Pull out can't happen with a trapeze because the bridge is being pulled into the body rather than away from it. I used three long (2") screws to mount the trapeze and that may help with sustain, but I am really happy with it. Open strings ring a good, long time.
Of course, I had to make my own tailpiece since I could not find one that was short enough with the right string spacing, but if one could be found, I think this might be a better factory option than the three point.
Don't be too hard on yourself, I think it looks great, with a definite '60s guitar feel to it. It looks more like something Dano or Harmony would have made, rather than Gibson. But you've made it your bass rather than a slavish copy, and you should be proud of it. You've also learnt a lot along the way, so the next one will be even better.
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