Lefty Bass build: IB-6SL

[colin2121]

I think I will give that a go first, thanks.
Would you cut the slots to the right relative height and sand the base down, or just cut the slots to the right height? I've read that the slots being too deep can be bad, but I'm not sure how much it matters.
Here is the almost finished product.

Looking really good.
I read somewhere that the strings should sit with half inside the nut groove and half above. (cannot remember where I read this though!) I generally start with that positioning.
I also take into account how close the string is to the frets to avoid buzzing. If you need to cut down further into the nut you can always sand part of the top off if it is needed but that is personal preference and depends on how you play.
As Simon said the height you set the string depends on your playing style, so the best approach is to small steps when cutting down into the nut.

[Simon Barden]

The half-in half-out nut slot thing is how McCreed dies it, and a few others. That’s about filing the top of the nut down after you’ve cut the slots l, so that it doesn't sit too high. Too high and the ends of the nut can catch on clothing and other items and break off if you’re unlucky. Just above half in is as low as you can go without risk of the strings popping out when you play. I normally file down until the top of the nut is level with the top of the strings and then round off all the edges. The two outer edges of the nut are the most vulnerable bits, especially as the ‘teeth’ are only half as wide as the central ‘teeth’. Too high and you get considerable leverage on the base of each ‘tooth’ if you catch the top of it, making it more likely to snap off.

Otherwise there’s no benefit to having a really low nut height above the bottom of the slots. The strings don’t touch more of the nut or anything like that. The more you file/sand towards the half-in look, the more you risk filing down too far; so mark a line to sand to. Don’t do a half in/out nut by eye or you may well need to fit a new nut! On a guitar nut, if you bend the strings a lot, you may need slightly higher than half the string height as a minimum, to stop the strings being pushed out of the slots as you bend. Partly down to your string bending technique. Whilst you may bend bass strings slightly, you won’t do it to the same degree and you’ll struggle to bend the strings near the nut, where the risk of popping out is greatest.

[jarro_2783]

I finally got to finishing this. If I ever do a bass nut again I think I will buy the right tools.

One thing I noticed is that the tuners are twisting a bit. Maple seems quite soft and one tiny screw is probably not enough to hold it. I guess I need to buy better tuners with four screws if I want that to stay better.

[Simon Barden]

They shouldn't twist. This type of tuner design is pretty much the standard for 'modern' tuners. The screw-down nuts should do 99% of the holding. So make sure they are tight, and not just loosely done up. When tight enough, the tuners shouldn't rotate even without the anti-rotation screw fitted.

I always fit the screws after I've tightened the nuts up, and drill the pilot holes in situ.

It may be that the headstock is too thin to allow the nuts to be done up fully, in which case you either need to thicken the headstock (can be done but a PITA), or cut down the length of the screw threads so that the nuts can be done up tightly (my choice). Stick the end couple of mm of the thread in a vice (the bit you are removing), and cut through with a hacksaw. 3 or 4 mm should do it, though double check by testing the length of thread needed to achieve a decent overlap first by removing a tuner and measuring against the side of the headstock.

Then smooth off the rough thread end with a file so that it

And maple isn't a soft wood. By far about the hardest wood normally used in guitar construction and you certainly need to drill decent pilot holes in it to prevent screw heads from stripping or breaking off.

[jarro_2783]

Ok problem solved. I think I was afraid to over tighten, and there is a bit of wiggle room with the various holes. So it was all just too loose. I loosened off the strings, lined it all up and tightened and they are staying put now.
You're right about maple now that I think about it. The neck holes were the hardest to drill out of all the drilling I had to do.
Thanks for all the help to everyone. It even sounds pretty good on the kit strings, but I look forward to trying some Ernie balls soon.

[Simon Barden]

Good news. I always tighten the nuts up each time I change strings on my guitars, as they do become loose with vibration. Worth checking them every 6 months if you tend not to change bass strings that often.

The kit strings are awful. Almost always low output, quite dead sounding and have been known to sound pretty uneven from string to string. Only really good for an initial set-up. If it sounds good with those, it should sound a lot better with EBs on.

[jarro_2783]

Can someone please decode this capacitor value for me? I'm trying to work out if they gave me the right ones because the tone pots don't seem to do much.

[Simon Barden]

Just Google 6n8j. 6.8nF capacitor. Normal values are 0.022uF between 0.047uF, (22nF or 47nF). I tend to use 15nF caps as I don't like too muddy a sound, but 6.8nF is really small. Not surprising you aren't hearing much effect, especially if you are using the kit linear pot for tone. (nF= nanofarrads, uF = microfarrads).

The smaller the capacitor value, the higher the low-pass frequency 'knee' value is, so the less treble and mids get removed.

With bright single coils, 0.047uF is the standard factory value, and for duller humbuckers, 0.022uF is the typical capacitor value. With quite thick sounding humbuckers, 0.022uF is probably a good bet.

[jarro_2783]

Ah that was a J, I thought it was a T. I had a suspicion it was 6.8nF, but it seemed low since 0.047uF and 0.022uF were the values I was seeing. So I thought there was some magic code I was missing.

They actually gave me 3 log pots in the kit, so I used two of them for tone. That definitely explains why nothing happens. I'll try getting 0.022uF next time I can get to Jaycar.

[Simon Barden]

You should be hearing something happening, but probably not a lot.