You, Sir, rock. This has been brilliant fun to watch and I can't wait to see the remainder of the build - and how it sounds! It's really encouraging me to get into woodwork, maybe one day I'll be able to pull off a feat like that :)
Woodwork is fantastic fun, you don't even need any of the expensive tools or a big workshop - handsaw, drill, hammer, set square, bench vise, a ruler and a sharp pencil. Maybe a couple of clamps and screwdrivers. That's all you need to build a coffee table, or a bookshelf, or a guitar rack. You'll pick up other tools as you need them for different projects but when you get started you'll be amazed at what you can achieve and the things you learn along the way. Thanks and good luck.
"That's what Sharpies are for." 😊 That's the spirit! Jokes aside, I enjoy the pragmatic approach, as it make this whole bass building thing much more accessible.
A lot of it is about accessibility, and demystifying the whole process. I wanted to build these things for 20 years before I finally decided to waste the materials and the time and make the mistakes I needed to learn. I'm not trying to save people from making their own mistakes, but maybe I can save them the 20 years of feeling like it's impossible. Thanks.
This is my favourite build of yours so far! Also the first that you've done since I found your channel but it's so well thought out and it's coming together very nicely!
Hi there! Glad you thought the idea was good. As to custom PCBs the company i see most often referenced is PCBWAY (guess what their URL is!) who do custom PCBs. They are an American company, but have european sales too, but whether they ship "down under" too, or at least for a resonable price i don't know. Should be worth checking. If i had dimensions i could probably do the layout for you as a PDF. YOu could then at least prototype it if you wanted to do it yourself. If I was doing it, that;s what I would do. You can buy blank PCB boards with UV sensitive coating, that would be ideal for a small batch. You would need the board layout printed on clear film, and then use this as a mask for teh photosensitive layer. Once exposed to UV you then etch the exposed copper in a bath of chemicals ( i used to use ferric chloride but there are other etchants available) and then drill any holes if required. I'm sure there are videos here on YT that detail teh process for you.
Yes, I've had a cursory glance across the web to see what the custom PCB market is like, it's quite a big world out there🤣 Luckily I have a couple of tame electronics engineers I can call on for advice and help with the CAD. I've only dabbled with that enough to get totally confused. I can draw anything in the world with a ruler and a sharp pencil but I can't get solidworks to do anything. Happy to send you a photo of a pencil drawing of what I think it would look like, would probably need a 4 string and a 5 string version, flick me an email fanbladeinstruments@gmail.com and we'll brainstorm, and thanks again😁
This is a great series to follow! I never saw someone using CA glue for finishing before, I might try it on an neck I bought unfinished for a pretty project. You're just applying layers of superglue with pieces of paper towels and sanding with micromesh between layers ? That looks great !
Not paper towels, never paper towels, they fall apart and you'll get shards of paper lint stuck in your finish and it'll be a nightmare. I'm using polyester cleaning towels, I buy them on a big roll from the hardware store and cut them into little squares so I get the most mileage out of them - they really suck for environmental reasons but they're lint free and work quite well. Some things you need to know: 1. Superglue is bloody awful to work with, you want to have gloves and either a respirator or a VERY well ventilated area. The fumes that come off it as it's curing is basically formaldehyde gas and it's deeply unpleasant. 2. The pads will stick to the gloves. You will tear holes in the gloves. You will go through a lot of gloves. 3. As the glue starts to set in the pad it has an exothermic reaction and can get quite hot, be prepared to whip your glove off as soon as that starts, sometimes it gets a little hot, sometimes it gets VERY hot, don't hold onto it to find out. 4. Atmospheric conditions are pivotal, I've found that 16-20 degrees C (60-68 F) is perfect. Too hot and the glue will cure in your hand with rapid heat, too cold and you're waiting an hour for each coat to dry. I believe humidity also plays a role, 50-60% is usually fine though. 5. The first couple of coats will raise wood fibers that will tear the pads apart, I lightly sand with 600g in between each of the first 3 coats, then I go to town, you can do up to 6 coats before sanding with 400g to flatten everything then another 6 to fill the rest of the grain and you should be getting close depending on the type of wood. So there's a lot more to it, and it takes a bit of practice but with a bit of experience the results can be outstanding. I recommend practicing on scrap to get the hang of it, good luck.
@@fanbladeinstruments wow, many thanks for the detailed answer ! I might try it, but as often on build video you make it look easier than it is ! I'm definitely taking notes, thanks again !
It's only easy for me because I learned how to do it, it was hard before that. That's one of the things about videos like this that kinda gets lost/forgotten: I'm only good at this stuff because I didn't give up when I was bad at it😆
Amazing work mate. I am always inspired by your talent. I would like to learn how to wire these quad coil style pickups that you make. Is the upright bass video the right one to watch? I really need to understand how to wire them up too. Which wire goes where. My brain needs simple step by step processes. Many thanks again
I can't remember how much detail I went into in that video, but the idea is that they're all wired in series, but two of them are wound clockwise, and two are wound anticlockwise. If you're using the sewing machine bobbins like I did then what you do is start each coil by poking the wire through the little hole in the side of the bobbin, that's your starting side, I always mark it with a 'S'. Once wound you've got the start wire sticking out the top and the other end running off the edge. Connect the edge of one to the start of the next and so on, the only difference is that the end wire comes off the opposite side of the anticlockwise coils, you still connect it to the start of the next. In the case of this particular design the magnets can go up any way you like, it only becomes a problem when you want more than one pickup, and you start getting into weird humbucker theory, it's best to keep them all the same if you can. Also, I'm winding them quite loose, there's a lot of scattering going on to reduce capacitance, if you pack them too tight you can lose some high end. Thanks and good luck.
@@fanbladeinstruments Hello sir. I am finally going to get started on this after a few delays. I have a question as this is going to be for a 1 pickup bass. What do i need to do to make this humbucking? Would the magnets on each coil need to be North, South, North and South? Also, I have read that the wires would need be wound the same way but connected differently? Any direction would be great appreciated.
Yep🤣🤣 They were the most readily available bobbin that's the right size for what I needed, and they worked so well I kept using them. I'd love to find something with the same outer dimensions but an 8mm hole, I'm instinctively drawn towards bigger pole pieces so the aperture is a bit wider to really catch all the dynamics, that's why Stingrays sound to good for slap, you get all the attack + all the tone. Thanks
