LeftyBassist.com

I would agree that black hardware would look great with this wood combination. hmmm ... I just happen to have quite a bit of black hardware lying around


and while packing up some of my wood supply I came across a package of Wenge veneer - I like the chocolate look of this .04" (1mm) veneer much better than the stark black lines of the black dyed Maple veneer I referenced in an earlier post. I have just enough to complete this one body

I think I could cut a veneer thin enough to bend onto the headstock, but I don't have a vacuum press to do the glue-up job. I'll have to think on this one a bit before making a commitment to a matching headstock - but it would look fantastic for sure!

all the best,

R

Rod,
It is not fair!! Have you got an answer to all questions?

This topic is turning from: LeftyBassist 4-string bass build, to Lefy68Bassist 4 string bass build

André

definitely not - just ask my wife!



no prob ... you've made all the "right" decisions so far


as Andrew well knows, I've really wanted to build a lefty for some time now. if I wasn't 'officially' closed this would have happened quite a while ago ... but the house sale is taking significantly longer than originally planned, and now that all the repairs are completed I find myself with a little free time to 'relax' out in the shop

all the best,

R

here's three lightly flamed Easter Maple neck blanks I have on-hand that could be candidates for this build



I think I favor the top one, but all of these are relatively equal in the figuring department despit what the image shows

all the best,

R

here's an image of another bass where I utilized Wenge veneer accent lines



if you look closely you can see the thin lines between the Spanish Cedar and the Mahogany laminates

all the best,

Rod

last call for anyone who wishes to contribute on the body specs ...

unless there is a vote for something different, the specs for this body will be:

* Swamp Ash body core, bookmatched figured American Cherry top and back, Wenge veneer accent lines between the Ash and Cherry
* 1-5/8" (42mm) body thickness
* rear routed control cavity (no pickguard)
* carved arm contour on front
* carved tummy contour on back
* clear gloss finish

any changes anyone?

I'll keep specification and a general level body build progress discussion in this thread, as it captures the overall process of specifying a custom bass and the general correspondence that a builder would share with their client during the process. But I'm also going to detail the process of building a body from rough materials in this thread

building: creating a bass body from rough lumber
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=23

beyone the body specs, there's still ample time to discuss neck materials, hardware, and electronics. the need to know pickup selection is coming quickly, but is still a week plus away since the pickup cavities won't be routed until after the body is significantly along in its construction

thanks for following along!

all the best,

R

Hi Rod,

For the neck blanks,the top one is cool but the last one (down) is not bad at all it have a lot of "waves"
The Veener of Wenge is surely a good way to highlight the different wood,i'm not sure about the piece of Wenge on the head

André

for a headstock veneer I would choose to use a piece of the same Cherry that will be used on the body. I need to perfect my veneer cutting/gluing skills before making the decision to bond a veneer onto the headstock.

agreed, Wenge would not look good with a Cherry body

all the best,

R

Is it time to talk about Hardware and electronics?
For now we have that:









For the preamp i would prefer the OBP-3 instead of the OBP-1,perhaps more flexible
Could you tell us more about the Nordstrand? they seems big!!

André

detailed steps on how I achieved this are shown in Step 2 here

http://www.leftybassist.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=23







I'll address your electronics questions in a follow-up reply ...

all the best,

R

I really like the OBP-1 for its neutral aspect when the controls are set flat (no boost/cut) - it is really difficult to hear if the pre-amp is on or bypassed when set this way. to my ear this tells me that any modifications are purely going to be colorless manipulation of the bass' natural characteristics. in contrast, a pre-amp like a Bartolini NTMB has a distinct coloring even when the tone controls are set flat ... and I really dislike this kind of coloring to a bass' sound because it imparts a "Bartolini sound" to everything it's installed in. boo, hiss! (I'll also admit that I'm not one who prefers a mid cut/boost control on a fretted bass ... but it's a requirement for fretless IMO)

many of my customers have temporarily used an OBP-3, and all of them switched to a different within the year. the common quote is that Aguilar got the OBP-1 right, and their other pre-amps are just OK but nothing special to take notice of.

if you wanted to go more into tone shaping capabilities, might I suggest looking into an Audere pre-amp (http://audereaudio.com/index.htm) and its abaility to pre-load the impedence of the pickup so that the volume retains a consistent sound no matter where you have it adjusted. these pre-amps are receiving very high praises and come in a huge number of configurations ... but they are significantly more expensive than the OBP-1



Nordstrand pickup model information can be found here (http://nordstrandpickups.com/bass-picku ... ional.html) and additional models and sound clips can be found here (http://x.nordstrandpickups.com/)

the Nordies fit into the standard Bartolini BC ('soapbar' type) pickup cavities, but they sound nothing like a Bart pickup. the Fat Stacks are a stacked humbucker pickup (two single-coil pickups on top of each other) that can have the lower coil groounded to provide a true single-coil pickup as well. both the Fat Stacks and Big Singles have huge windings and are very high output ... and they sound H-U-G-E! I like the Fat Stacks since you have two modes of operation within a single pickup, and the single-coil mode is near identical to the Big Single sound. list price for a Fat Stack 4-string set is $249US, and a Big Single 4-string set lists for $199US

if someone wanted to install a more standard J-bass set instead of these, I would recommend a Nordy NJ4SE (split-coil) set for a more modern sound, or a NJ4 set for true vintage bliss. if the desire was for a P/J combination, I would highly recommend a NP4/NJ4SE combination


all of the Nordstrand pickups play well in total passive mode, as well as sounding incredible with an OBP-1 or Audere pre-amp

all the best,

R

I'm about two weeks away from ordering pickups and the pre-amp ... any additional thoughts anyone?

André - you still leaning towards the OBP-3 pre-amp?

body construction progress images as of last night





all the best,

R

After your explanation i think you are right ,it is better to keep the bass' natural characteristics ,so i think your idea of the OBP-1 is really good!!,for the pickups i would tend to the Fatstacks because i like the idea of the lower coil grounded to provide a true single-coil pickup
What will be the controls of the OBP-1?

Cheers

André

I typically configure an OBP-1 with a 4-knob lay-out like this:

Volume + Blend + Passive tone + Bass/Treble stacked pot
-or-
Volume + Volume + Passive tone + Bass/Treble stacked pot

* for the pre-amp bypass, the client has the choice for either a push/pull Volume pot or a dedicated on/on toggle. either configuration will work fine with the Fat Stack coil tap toggles

* the Passive tone control is always in the circuit, whether in active or passive mode, so that you can easily tame the highs for that classic passive treble roll-off sound

* it is easy to swap the configuration of the tone control locations for those who prefer the Passive control at the extremety of the physical control positions


if this was to be a 3-knob lay-out, I would configure it like this

Volume/Volume stacked pot + Bass/Treble stacked pot + Passive tone


so many choices, eh?

all the best,

R

Ohhh yes ,i got an headache!!!

If it was only me.. i would choose : Volume + Blend + Passive tone + Bass/Treble stacked pot,and a dedicated on/on toggle for the pre-amp bypass

Cheers
André

Seems like you are putting together a pretty sweet bass guys.

here's a peek at the body with a neck template



there's still a l-o-n-g ways to go before it'll be ready for a real neck (and I still need to build the neck), but you get the idea of where this build is headed

all the best,

R

" I had a dream!!!!"
Rod made it !!!!

anyone care to post comments on the knob configuration? (neck and hardware shown is for reference only)



this is my typical 4-knob configuration lay-out

all the best,

R

Hi, Rod,
I do care about it
I think it is a little bit straight,it brake the general curve of the body,perhaps it will be better to follow it ?

Cheers

André