Ok , firstly aplogies to anyone who has been following this blog for not updating it in 2 months (shocking).
The bass is now heavily under way, the neck is almost completely done and the body preperations are being finalised before the sawdust starts!
I'll add pictures over the next day or tewo but for now i'm too tired to do it all. But i hope you'll bare with me over the next few days.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Final parts arriving
A few more parts have arrived, The bridge which i ordered from Touchstone Tone Woods has arrived. ( A big thanks to Neil for all his help)
The preamp is almost wired up, i havn't had much time to work on it due to work.
I've also had to order a new SP/DT toggle switch because the one i got at the local electronic shop are really bad quality and the solder lugs just start falling out when you heat them up.
Still need to order strings...actually still really need to make up my mind WHICH strings i want!!
Marko made the order for the Top wood (figured Walnut) and fretboard (birdseye maple) on Friday and also picked up the wenge and alder blocks for the wood supplier.
Hopefully this weekend i will get the preamp ready, and then next week some point ship all the parts to Marko.
I also need to (if i can tghis weekend) do the final spec list to give Marko. Still need to decide on a couple of things like knob layout and also final neck widths.
The Neck dimensions i had given as a rough idea were based on a Warwick Broadneck 6 string, but the broadnecks are 35" scale and 20mm string spacing i think, so i'm wondering if this is going to make the neck on my bass too wide with it being 2 " shorter???
More research to do.
The preamp is almost wired up, i havn't had much time to work on it due to work.
I've also had to order a new SP/DT toggle switch because the one i got at the local electronic shop are really bad quality and the solder lugs just start falling out when you heat them up.
Still need to order strings...actually still really need to make up my mind WHICH strings i want!!
Marko made the order for the Top wood (figured Walnut) and fretboard (birdseye maple) on Friday and also picked up the wenge and alder blocks for the wood supplier.
Hopefully this weekend i will get the preamp ready, and then next week some point ship all the parts to Marko.
I also need to (if i can tghis weekend) do the final spec list to give Marko. Still need to decide on a couple of things like knob layout and also final neck widths.
The Neck dimensions i had given as a rough idea were based on a Warwick Broadneck 6 string, but the broadnecks are 35" scale and 20mm string spacing i think, so i'm wondering if this is going to make the neck on my bass too wide with it being 2 " shorter???
More research to do.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
More parts arrive and more ordered
All the electronics parts are here for the preamp and bass controls, so i will to start to assemble them all.
Also today i placed the order for the Schaller 2000 Bridge in black and gold from Touchstonetonewoods.co.uk
Still waiting on the Extra control knobs and strap locks to arrive form Universal jems.
Have decided to probably go with DR Low-riders Stainless Steel strings. I will look for the best online price and order them this weekend.
Marko is going to the wood suplier tomorrow, to pich up the Wenge and alder and place an order for the Birdseye maple and and Figured Walnut.
As I havent done so yet, here is some samples of the woods that will be used im ny bass.
Figured walnut (this is the top wood for the body)
(Birdseye Maple used for the fretboard)
(Wenge Used for the Neck)
(Alder used for the Body wood)
Note: This is Scandanavian Alder, some Alders are lighter, so this may differ in colour to the actual wood being used. I will know once i see pictures of the wood from Marko.
Also today i placed the order for the Schaller 2000 Bridge in black and gold from Touchstonetonewoods.co.uk
Still waiting on the Extra control knobs and strap locks to arrive form Universal jems.
Have decided to probably go with DR Low-riders Stainless Steel strings. I will look for the best online price and order them this weekend.
Marko is going to the wood suplier tomorrow, to pich up the Wenge and alder and place an order for the Birdseye maple and and Figured Walnut.
As I havent done so yet, here is some samples of the woods that will be used im ny bass.
Figured walnut (this is the top wood for the body)
(Birdseye Maple used for the fretboard)
(Wenge Used for the Neck)
(Alder used for the Body wood)
Note: This is Scandanavian Alder, some Alders are lighter, so this may differ in colour to the actual wood being used. I will know once i see pictures of the wood from Marko.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Preamp Schematics
As mentioned before the preamp will be set up with the following
here is a schematic of the Premap with the added Tone pot
For me i know have an extremely versatile preamp set up, it has 4 different possible combinations
These 4 options give me every possible combination or tone that i could need (for the time being...) option number 4 is a great set up for letting the natural wood tones of the bass be heard, there is no electronic boosting or cutting of frequencies.
last night i had the idea of adding another switch to the preamp setup, a mute switch (like a real Fodera has)
Once again i went to Line6man for help and without fail he delivered me the schematic with the added switch
- Stacked bass/treble
- Mid
- Pickup blend
- Passive/Active Tone with push/pull bypass
- Master Voume
- Mid frequency select switch
- Active/passive select switch
here is a schematic of the Premap with the added Tone pot
For me i know have an extremely versatile preamp set up, it has 4 different possible combinations
- Full active with added tone pot
- Full active without tone pot (bypassed)
- Passive with the tone pot
- Passive without the tone pot (bypassed)
These 4 options give me every possible combination or tone that i could need (for the time being...) option number 4 is a great set up for letting the natural wood tones of the bass be heard, there is no electronic boosting or cutting of frequencies.
last night i had the idea of adding another switch to the preamp setup, a mute switch (like a real Fodera has)
Once again i went to Line6man for help and without fail he delivered me the schematic with the added switch
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Parts
The first thing to do would be for me to order all the parts i wanted for the bass then send them to Marko. Once he had the parts he would take the first payment and then get the wood and start the build.
After a few days of searching and asking about parts distributors and "where to buy?" type questions i settled for getting the majority of the parts from bestbassgear.com. It seemed to have the most reasonable prices for the parts i needed and also had more or less all the parts i needed, so it was a one shop stop.
20/07/09- I ordered the following from Bestbassgear.com
The parts were shipped the next morning and arrived 5 days later In Finland. The parts were held at customs and i went a picked the package up on the 28/07/09.
I realised when i opened the box that i hadn't ordered enough single knobs, so i would have to put another order in a get more knobs.
29/07/09
1M ohm Resistors ordered from Ebay arrived.
UPDATE:
Finally managed to sell my Warwick bass head to add to the funds!
Ordered Strap locks and extra control knobs from Universal Jems
After a few days of searching and asking about parts distributors and "where to buy?" type questions i settled for getting the majority of the parts from bestbassgear.com. It seemed to have the most reasonable prices for the parts i needed and also had more or less all the parts i needed, so it was a one shop stop.
20/07/09- I ordered the following from Bestbassgear.com
- Bartolini G6 Pickups (pair)
- Aguilar OBP-3 preamp (comes with all pots, switched and connectors)
- Black domed knobs (1 stacked and the rest single)
- Gotoh Tuners (4 black, 2 Gold)
- Pick up screws (4 black , 4 Gold)
- an extra DPDT switch
The parts were shipped the next morning and arrived 5 days later In Finland. The parts were held at customs and i went a picked the package up on the 28/07/09.
I realised when i opened the box that i hadn't ordered enough single knobs, so i would have to put another order in a get more knobs.
29/07/09
1M ohm Resistors ordered from Ebay arrived.
UPDATE:
Finally managed to sell my Warwick bass head to add to the funds!
Ordered Strap locks and extra control knobs from Universal Jems
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Finalizing the design....
Over the next few weeks, i spent alot of time looking at lots of pictures of basses and emailing with Marko and between us we came up with a spec that made us both happy.....
Final Spec:
Woods
Other Design Aspects
(A rough photoshop to show the fret marker layout)
Final Spec:
- 6 string, Fodera Imperial Elite, Neck Thru body design
- 33" scale
- 19mm string spacing
- 24 Fret
Woods
- Body - Bookmatched Figured Walnut Top with Alder body
- Neck - Wenge Neck with Figured Walnut veneered headstock
- Fingerboard - Birdseye maple with custom brass and black fret dot markers
- Finish - Matt Lacquer
- Pickups - Bartolini G6 single coil pickups
- Preamp - Aguilar OBP-3 (18v) with passive/active switch and custom tone modification
- Stacked Bass and Treble
- Mid
- Pickup Blend
- Master Volume
- Passive/Active Tone (push/pull bybass)
- Passive/Active Switch
- Mid Frequency Switch (400Hz or 800Hz)
- Gotoh Tuners (4 Black, 2 Gold)
- Schaller 2000 Bridge (Black and Gold)
- Brass Nut
- Flush Mount Strap Locks
Other Design Aspects
- Wide pickup spacing
- Radiused Wenge ramp
- My Initials Inlay on 12th fret
- Figured Walnut truss rod cover on body
- Wenge or Alder electronic and battery cavity covers
- Tuners angled like a Warwick bass
- Jack socket mounted on front of body
(A rough photoshop to show the fret marker layout)
The bass....
I have always been a fan of the Fodera Imperial bass, it's very elegant looking but at the same time very bold, and i've always wanted to own a single cut bass. I decided that the body shape i would want would be that of an Imperial Elite, like Jesse's first bass.
( A real Fodera Imperial Elite 6 String)
I already had a fair idea of some of the specs i wanted for the bass before i contacted Marko. So after he contacted me i sent him an email with a rough guide for what I wanted the bass to be like.
The first specs were...
At this point i really didn't know what i wanted as far as the electronics and pickups went.
( A real Fodera Imperial Elite 6 String)
I already had a fair idea of some of the specs i wanted for the bass before i contacted Marko. So after he contacted me i sent him an email with a rough guide for what I wanted the bass to be like.
The first specs were...
- 6 string, Neck Thru, Fodera Imperial Elite shaped body
- 33" scale
- Body woods - Crotch or Figured Walnut top with an Ash or Alder body
- Neck woods - Wenge neck with Walnut veneer headstock
- Fingerboard - Birdseye Maple
- Warwick Tuners
- 2 piece Warwick bridge or a Schaller bridge
- Warwick just-a-nut
- Birdseye maple pickup covers
- Radiused Wenge ramp
At this point i really didn't know what i wanted as far as the electronics and pickups went.
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