A Bass VI for $200?

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bassVIst
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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by bassVIst » Mon Mar 08, 2010 5:39 am

MatthewK wrote:True - although in the first round of planning for this, I looked at a top-loading Schaller 6-string bridge, so I guess it might be possible to take a loaded J bass body, remove the bridge, put on the 6-string bridge and swap the pickups for something 6-pole ...
... anyway, I think I will finish this one first ... !
that's what i've always thought of doing... and using the longscale Jazz Bass neck!

with a top loader bridge, the VI strings reach the tuners with no problem...

i've been wanting a 34" scale VI for years

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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by MattK » Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:55 am

If you try it, the bridge you probably need is a Schaller 475C - it's the only top loader hardtail 6-string which can spread wide enough:
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I have a 4-string bass version of this and it's built like a tank, highly adjustable too (string height, neck radius, intonation, string spread).

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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by bassVIst » Mon Mar 08, 2010 3:37 pm

MatthewK wrote:If you try it, the bridge you probably need is a Schaller 475C - it's the only top loader hardtail 6-string which can spread wide enough:
Image
I have a 4-string bass version of this and it's built like a tank, highly adjustable too (string height, neck radius, intonation, string spread).
adjustable string spacing might not be necessary... but how much does that thing cost?
i've got an Epiphone Jack Casady parts bass that might be the best longscale VI candidate...
mostly cuz i already own it
:)
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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by MattK » Mon Mar 08, 2010 5:02 pm

The issue was finding a bridge which could handle 6 strings and spread out as wide as the 4 strings on a bass. Standard hard-tail electric bridges don't go quite that wide, and 6-string bass bridges are way too wide. It was pretty expensive, like $50 or so, but if it's similar quality to the bass one it's probably worth that easily.

Probably easier to sort out the tuner and headstock issues on a 2+2 tuner bass like that, too.

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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by The Dead Ranch Hands » Tue Mar 09, 2010 3:25 am

This short scale bass might be a good option, if you want to add a Bigsby to your Bass VI.


http://www.rondomusic.com/wvebvs.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by MattK » Tue Mar 09, 2010 3:34 am

It's got a Mustang tailpiece, so it has a vibrato. Well - if I can make it work!

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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by MattK » Sat Mar 13, 2010 4:20 pm

Been busy at work so I have only done a few things. As raised by nwordjim here, my main fear was that my headstock rebuild would snap when I tightened up some strings on it, so my priority was to get it to string-up stage and see whether it broke.
Drilled pilot holes for tuners - you can see the A is slightly too close to the low E.
Image
The piece-o-crap drill press I have been using is to blame, for anyone else contemplating headstock work - you MUST get a reasonable drill press. I got kind of depressed afterward - I didn't actually realise the pilot hole was off until I did the rest of the drilling. Another thing I found out - using a large drill, the work will get grabbed and pulled upward by the drill bit, even if you are expecting it, and even if you say "well, I'm not going to let THAT happen again." So my plan to drill 11/32" on the front and 1/4" on the back only succeeded for 4 out of 6 holes.
I marked out my bridge line (the frontmost edge of the saddles should be at the line, in case anyone's wondering) and the locations for the plate. I figured screw holes were easier to fix than post holes, so I decided to do a temp tailpiece mount by putting screws into the tailpiece bar and "floating" the plate slightly above the body. I used an old Strat copy bridge to sit in place of the Jag bridge to see how it lined up.
Image
All I had were three used bass strings so on the basis of length I tried stringing them up randomly to put them under tension and see what happened. Basically it works, no sign of movement or stress that I can see. The strings are up to pitch, or at least in the ballpark.
Image
Obviously only a half-load at this stage, I need some more long strings! Also at this stage - the tailpiece is way too high (I used M6 / 20mm screws, which sit up very high above the plate). The plate is also a few mm above the body because I didn't want to rout anything yet. The Strat bridge is also way too high. End result ... somewhat high action:
Image
But I think we are well on the way now, at least with the mechanics. Now I have to figure out the body routing. I put on the plate and pick-guard as a motivator to push on, it looks pretty good I reckon:
Image
Next steps: drill bridge posts, bump in some tiny holes for the tailpiece temp screws, and get it all down to a realistic height, then string it up for real if I can get the right length of strings.

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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by MattK » Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:08 am

Progress: cut the nut and am fully set up now, pretty much.
Sanded a Tusq blank to fit the slot (flat bottom slot in these SX necks). Marked it up for fret height using the flat half-pencil technique:
Image
Then marked out the string spacing from an online gauge I downloaded (Telecaster pages I think), nicked it with a knife, cut down using a thin coping saw blade a bit, then because the slots needed to be wide and rounded for bass strings, I got to work with my handy file set. The round tapered file (centre left) was perfect for almost everything:
Image
I found bass strings need the nut cut lower - in fact I had to get right down so the slots touched the "fret" line (also my pencil may not have been properly flat). Took a pic of the installed nut and found out the slot is slightly crooked! I might fix this later if intonation is a problem, but I doubt it will affect anything much.
Image
By this time I had purchased a .024 wound-G guitar string (only JUST reached the tuner) so I was good to go. Set it all up (thank god for adjustable Jag bridges, will need to file some slots though) and DAMMIT THERE WAS A BASS VI IN THE HOUSE.
Image
Goes well with my other shortscale offset:
Image
Next - a couple of pickups in the existing routs, wire it up and play for a bit. Then pull it apart, reshape and re-rout the body, rewire, paint and done ... should only take about a year.

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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by Stereordinary » Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:37 am

Nice. You work fast! 8)

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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by bassVIst » Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:44 am

stereordinary wrote:Nice. You work fast! 8)
agreed.

i'm liking it even more than i thought i would!
:w00t:

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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by MattK » Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:28 pm

stereordinary wrote:Nice. You work fast! 8)
Not really - the nut took me about 3 hours!
Incidentally the pic with the Jag made me realise, this neck would drop straight onto a Jag / JM body with only a slight lengthening of the neck pocket. The Mustang bridge would end up almost exactly the same place as the Jag tailpiece.

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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by thestratomaster » Thu Nov 25, 2010 4:45 pm

cool!

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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by MattK » Thu Nov 25, 2010 6:53 pm

Thank you. If only I had done ANYTHING AT ALL on this project since March ... except play it unplugged for a while.

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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by atomicgarden » Tue Mar 01, 2011 1:37 pm

How is the mustang trem? I've been considering one for the day I build a VI style instrument, but there was some speculation somewhere on here that design wouldn't hold up to the increased tension

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Re: A Bass VI for $200?

Post by MattK » Tue Mar 01, 2011 2:18 pm

Instead of the spring posts, at the moment I have a couple of M6 screws going from the plate to the string bar, so it's effectively a hard tail. When I "get my life back" from my current work commitments I will be routing for the spring cavity and I will have an answer for you then.
At the moment my only useful information is that you need to cut rounded grooves into the string bar for the bass strings to wrap around. In stock form, the string bends 90 degrees where it comes out of the bar, and this just breaks thick bass strings instantly. With curved grooves the strings tuned up to pitch and intonated perfectly, it was actually very nice to play. At the moment I have it apart for neck shaping and in preparation for routing and reshaping the body - but no time to do it!

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