Yeah, I may try thinner screws for less pressure on the cover, but makes it harder to find ones long enough with the thicker cover.
But you're right Frankie, the curves are a B! I did it bit by bit, then when the fit was decent the body was a bit higher, so sanded that back and it just wouldn't match up.
Maybe next build will have a nice flat back 😀
Or rout out again, stick a layer of a suitable thick veneer (say 2mm) on top of the perspex, then sand the veneer so that it matches the curve of the back. If you plan on screening the control cavity, then you'll need copper on the back of the cover plate, so it won't remain see-through.
Good ideas guys, cheers. Will think on those.
Good point on the shielding Simon, I figured it wouldn't be critical with the 2 HBs arrangement.
Is the difference in a bass like this noticeable between shielded inside and not?
It's normally less critical with humbuckers, but if there's a lot of RFI about, the cavity wiring can pick it up and shielding will give you as quiet a bass as possible. It's always something you can do later, but if you are going to do it, then it always seems a lot easier to do it during the build.
Worked on the body over the last week or so
First I used an ebony grain filler, and had to resand a lot as I didn't wipe enough of the excess off (lessons learnt)..
Then I used a black stain. After first coat:
And ended up doing two more. Here it is with three coats
Haven't done the clear finishing yet, and haven't done the neck. Though I'm thinking of using the same process on the front of the headstock as for the body
As a side note, the perspex cover I did ended up taking to the intended shape on its own, just by leaving it screwed in. It's not 100 percent perfect, but significantly better than straight after I put it on
About to start wiring up, and have a couple of questions:
1. The IB5 wiring diagram shows a white hot wire from each humbucker , which looks to be a red wire and white wire pre tinned together. That how other people see it?
2. This leaves a black wire from each humbucker that doesn't seem to have a function in the wiring diagram. Anyone know what it's for?
3. I can't see how the pickups will sit flat in the body, because the only room for the cable from pickup to vol/tone controls is under the pickup, which makes the pickup sit higher than it should. It also happens at one end only so the pickup is at a slanted elevation across the strings.
I know this isn't right and feel like I'm missing something really obvious...how are the pickups supposed to sit in the cavities and accommodate the wiring?
Taking a stab - you've got a set of coil split humbuckers. The wires that are tinned together - fold them back and mask them off - they are joining the two coils of the humbuckers - you don't want these live wires touching anything as it'll likely kill the sound. Work with the black wire as the primary. In terms of sitting flat - the neck and bridge will elevate the strings off the body - this will give some room for the pickups to sit over the wires and below the strings. Alternatively - some have run a channel for the wires under the pickups if there really is no room.
Yep, Brendan is spot on. The factory has changed from 2-wire (hot and bare) pickups to 4-wire (plus bare shield) versions.
Black = hot (connect to volume)
Red & White = series link between coils (leave joined and just insulate the tip so it can’t short if you’re not doing coil splits)
Green & Bare = ground and shield (connect them to your ground point, back of pot etc).
(Brendan, looks like it may be time to update that diagram too)
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