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.
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