Bass Guitar Construction-

needsmorecowbel · Post by **needsmorecowbel** » Sun Oct 04, 2009 7:50 pm

Hi, I'm currently building a P / J style bass guitar from two pieces of Jarrah Timber (i know that is not ideal) (P style neck, J Style Body, J style Pickup configuration)

What is the best way to get the wiring from the two J bass style pickup cavities to the tone and volume pot cavity? I was thinking of Drilling a hole with a drill at an angle? But the pickup cavities are very thin and hard to get a decent angle...Any constructive Suggestions/ Criticisms?

Pictures of the Bass Body:

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/7103/dsc00110zz.jpg

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/9836/dsc00112pl.jpg

(The Black Permanent marker on the wood is a rough guide-don't knock it- my last guitar was made using less measurements/ guides)

Previous guitar:
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9397/dscf2527b.jpg

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:49 am

Firstly welcome to the forum Needsmorecowbel (could you post your first name? save us typing that user name out everytime!)
I couldn't get your first image to load for some reason but never mind. If you have access to an engineering shop get them to make up a drill bit with an extension of the shank welded on (think commercial ones are refered to as aircraft bits). I made up one using a 3/16ths bit and about 300mm of 3/16th shafting easyflowed on. This alows you to drill at a much lower angle toward your pocket (no drill chuck to run into the top!) and also enables you to drill down the body from a neck pocket through the neck pickup routing and down to the bridge pickup routing if that's how you want to attack it.

Rick Turner · Post by **Rick Turner** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:30 am

Nick's suggestion is spot on..

"Aircraft drill bits..."

Try these guys: http://www.aircraftspruce.com.au/Tools.asp

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:37 am

Welcome to the forum. You can add a signature in your settings to include your name etc. so you don't need to type it each time, and we can get to know you better.

I've also enabled you to up load pictures to the forum, as your links aren't working for me.

Taffy Evans · Post by **Taffy Evans** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 9:21 am

Hi Some years ago, maybe 6 or so, I found a bunch of brad point drills on a stall that sell those cheap Chinese tools, 1/8 to 3/16 and 300mm long. I just keep them for this very purpose. So they are out there.

needsmorecowbel · Post by **needsmorecowbel** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:56 am

Thanks guys, really helpful stuff.

Is there any problem using really hard and heavy/ dense woods for making guitars/ basses. I have a stack of Jarrah timber in my garage that is 40 mm thick. It makes guitars that are about 4-7 kg. Despite the weight issue. Is there an issue with the wood not being tonally amazing???

"Jarrah, because of it's nature, tends to favour "higher" frequencies, or at least gives that impression due to the way the timber affects the transmission of sound energy.

The resonant frequency of a "body" essentially depends on mass, size and cellular density (which ties in with mass), sure there are other factors but these are probably the most important."
http://www.woodworkforums.com

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:22 am

needsmorecowbel wrote:Thanks guys, really helpful stuff.

Is there any problem using really hard and heavy/ dense woods for making guitars/ basses. I have a stack of Jarrah timber in my garage that is 40 mm thick. It makes guitars that are about 4-7 kg. Despite the weight issue. Is there an issue with the wood not being tonally amazing???

"Jarrah, because of it's nature, tends to favour "higher" frequencies, or at least gives that impression due to the way the timber affects the transmission of sound energy.

The resonant frequency of a "body" essentially depends on mass, size and cellular density (which ties in with mass), sure there are other factors but these are probably the most important."
http://www.woodworkforums.com

There is no problem building with any timber as long as it is structurally stable (no tendencies to split, warp or twist), just be aware that different timbers give you different sounds. As you have already pointed out, Jarrah is quite dense and so will give you quite a thin sound to your bass but the beauty of electrics is that you can 'compensate' to a certain degree at the amplifier stage. Also be aware that denser woods weigh more and so will have an effect on player comfort. Maybe OK for short playing periods but if you're playing it at a gig for 4-5 hours a wide strap (to spread the load) may stop a sore shoulder.

jeffhigh · Post by **jeffhigh** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 3:46 pm

Sometimes you can drill a hole from the neck pocket through to the neck pickup rout then continue to the bridge pickup rout and then to the control cavity.
Sometimes if you have a side mounted jack you can drill from there through the control cavity into the bridge pickup cavity.

needsmorecowbel · Post by **needsmorecowbel** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:33 pm

jeffhigh wrote:Sometimes you can drill a hole from the neck pocket through to the neck pickup rout then continue to the bridge pickup rout and then to the control cavity.
Sometimes if you have a side mounted jack you can drill from there through the control cavity into the bridge pickup cavity.

That's a really good idea - would need a long drill bit though...

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:38 pm

Nick O wrote: I made up one using a 3/16ths bit and about 300mm of 3/16th shafting easyflowed on. This alows you to drill at a much lower angle toward your pocket (no drill chuck to run into the top!) and also enables you to drill down the body from a neck pocket through the neck pickup routing and down to the bridge pickup routing if that's how you want to attack it.

As I mentioned, my drill bit is about 350mm long and allows me to not only drill into the control cavity from either of the p/u routings but also to drill down the body as Jeff described (& so did I but maybe not so clearly?) and is how Strat drillings are done.

needsmorecowbel · Post by **needsmorecowbel** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:39 pm

I was thinking of getting a pair of J Bass Di-Marzio Pickups - they're about $259 AUS a pair... Anyone had any experience with these pickups or similar ones by Di-Marzio... My other option was to have a guy in Adelaide hand-make the pickups for a similar price.

http://www.dimarzio.com/site/#/pickups/ ... o-model-j/

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:49 pm

DiMarzio make very good pickups & I would thoroughly recommend them, I did a type of Rickenbacker shaped bass years ago that used the DiMarzio precision pick ups. They have a huge range you can get pickups that are wound the same and have the same resistance as factory fitted models right through to ultra crazy. I don't know if they still do but Ibanez used to use them on a few of their 'signature' range guitars I used them for all of my electrics unless the customer specified another brand. Another good brand is Seymour Duncan.

needsmorecowbel · Post by **needsmorecowbel** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:51 pm

Yeah i know all of those brands. I use Duncans in my custom electric guitars. But this is the first bass i've made. Have you heard of Brierley Pickups? Made by a guy called Mick Brierley...

I tried to upload some pics of my guitar on the forum but the upload feature is a tad broken for me.

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:32 pm

You've been allowed to upload pictures, so perhaps you are trying to upload a picture has a file size that is too large, or of a format that isn't supported.

You can see a tutorial on how to upload pictures here.

viewtopic.php?t=669

Cam · Post by **Cam** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:46 pm

whats with the huge join line on the body?

Also to reduce the weight you can chamber the body. Chambering is when you route out a whole heap of cavities to reduce weight, then you glue a top on so that they're unseen.

A few examples:

Gibson chamber out their les paul bodies also, heres an xray pic:

Sorry about the largeness of the pics

jeffhigh · Post by **jeffhigh** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 9:54 am

wow, I knew gibson were chambering the Les Paul, but never thought it would be that extensive.

needsmorecowbel · Post by **needsmorecowbel** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:09 pm

The jarrah wood used to be a kitchen Benchtop (bit of recycling) so it has a zigzag join connecting the planks of timber to make the bench... It's not ideal but it does the job. Really nice idea with the chambers, I'll definately have to start doing that when i start using single pieces of wood.

Cam · Post by **Cam** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:01 pm

If you were referring to my post about the join line, i meant the center line. It looks as though you have a big gap especially near the bridge end.

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:07 pm

guitarcam wrote:If you were referring to my post about the join line, i meant the center line. It looks as though you have a big gap especially near the bridge end.

I can see it too. If it was an acoustic top I'd be ripping the top apart and reshooting and regluing. Unless something is going to be covering that gap its going to stick out like dogs balls. Its your guitar so its your call of course.

Cheers Martin

needsmorecowbel · Post by **needsmorecowbel** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:20 pm

Oh right, that's because it isn't glued yet...

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:02 pm

needsmorecowbel wrote:Oh right, that's because it isn't glued yet...

You mean youre cutting out and shaping the body before gluing together? Is that a good idea?

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:03 pm

needsmorecowbel wrote:
jeffhigh wrote:Sometimes you can drill a hole from the neck pocket through to the neck pickup rout then continue to the bridge pickup rout and then to the control cavity.
Sometimes if you have a side mounted jack you can drill from there through the control cavity into the bridge pickup cavity.
That's a really good idea - would need a long drill bit though...

Rick suggested an aircraft bit....its what Id use

Cam · Post by **Cam** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 12:05 pm

kiwigeo wrote:
needsmorecowbel wrote:Oh right, that's because it isn't glued yet...
You mean youre cutting out and shaping the body before gluing together? Is that a good idea?

No, it's not.

I would be interested to see the clamping process.

Rick Turner · Post by **Rick Turner** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 12:18 pm

Pretty wussy Les Paul...

That's not how they did it in the mid 1950s!

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:16 pm

Rick Turner wrote:Pretty wussy Les Paul...

That's not how they did it in the mid 1950s!

Yeah, back then men was men and they would have refilled the cavity with lead and chest hair.

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