New Build - Heretic Paradigm 6

[Pikka Bird]

Dude, I'm so glad you're going back to your old headstock. The other one was nice, but very much like the one that ... well, that everybody else uses. Your own design is so much more unique, without crossing over into "weird for the sake of it" territory. That's a difficult thing to nail.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Thanks Pikka. I did tweak it a lot, so that it would fit six bass tuners and not look comically large or be too heavy. There's really a lot that goes into headstock design.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Also I did this yesterday,

 

[HaMMerHeD]

So, regarding tuners.

I really like angled tuning machines on basses, like this:


But I think pointing straight out makes it look bigger and more impressive.


What do you guys think?

 

[7 Strings of Hate]

Angled

 

[Albake21]

Yup, definitely angled.

 

[odibrom]

Angled is faster...

 

[MoonJelly]

Yeah, I like the straight look better on this one.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I think I'll go with angled. I love the look.

I didn't get a heck of a lot done today.

I made the cavity cover.

Holstex faux carbon fiber looks pretty legit.

And the neck pocket routing template.


The template is 2 thicknesses of masking tape on the loose side, because the neck will be finished in clear gloss lacquer, and I still need it to fit after it's all finished. It'll be a snug fit with lacquer on.

 

[Bearitone]

Straight

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I went to go route the pickup cavity today, and this happened:



It's not uncommon when routing that little spot with MM shaped pickups.

So I glued the piece back on, and i'll try again in a couple of hours.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Pickup route is done.

I did those 1/8" radius corners with an Amana 47224 router bit. I got it here: https://www.toolstoday.com/miniatur...outer-bits-with-upper-ball-bearing-guide.html

I also drilled for the pickup wire.

My technique is that I just tape a steel ruler over the opposite end of the pickup route, put a 12" long 1/4" D bit into my drill, and drill through the corner, into the control cavity. In this bass, it was 1/2" to drill through.

And I'm thinking the pre-amp will live here, attached to the side wall with 3M foam mounting tape.

Also I drilled for the output jack.

It's coming together nicely.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Last update for today.

I got the threaded inserts in, so I'm ready to install the truss rod and glue on the fretboard.

I had intended to put all five of the threaded inserts in from the top, but I accidentally installed the center one from the bottom. Oh well.



I'm gonna glue the fretboard on tonight, and hopefully bang the frets in tomorrow.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

So, last night I glued the fretboard on, and this afternoon I trimmed it to the neck (with this router bit).


I think it's coming along pretty well.

I did do one goofy thing though. I forgot to mark the neck pocket for the screw holes before I glued the fretboard on. I had made a screw for this purpose by grinding one of the 1/4-20 screws to a point, the idea being to clamp the neck in the pocket and then thread the screw into each insert in turn, until it made a mark for each hole in the pocket.

I can still do it of course, but it'll just have to be a small process change. I'll cut the head of the screw off and thread it into each insert and press it into the pocket, then take it out and put it into the next insert, etc., one at a time.

Dumbass move, but not really that huge a problem.

I still need to route the pockets for the battery boxes, and also make the control cavity a little bit deeper, and that should be all of the machine-work complete.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Took a break from bass building this weekend to get a good start on this box for my wife.



Mostly wenge, with a brilliant piece of walnut for the top and bottom.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I didn't have much time, so I did a very small amount of work this weekend.

First thing I did was route the electronics cavity a little deeper. It lacked about 3mm from being able to fasten the pots and switch.

So once that was done, I needed to do the last bit of routing:

Battery box cavities.

I bought these Kmise 9v battery boxes on Amazon...because the price was right.


But I needed a router template, so I went ahead and made one. The cavity is 1.0" wide and 2.5", and needs to be 29mm deep.

(Here's a PDF of the template if anybody wants it.)

I thought about the best way to drill the wiring tunnel from the battery boxes into the control cavity for a while, and just couldn't come up with a way to drill at the right angle.

So instead, I've situated them on the back of the body, about 1/4" "north" of where the pickup cavity is, so that I can drill from the pickup cavity into the battery box cavities. It's the obvious solution, of course, but one that eluded me for some time. I was thinking up all kinds of loony shit, including chopping a couple of hex-shaft drill bits so that I could use one of these guys.

Anyway, I marked where the battery cavities will be, but then the baby was in bed, so I didn't get to drill and route them out.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Also, here's the basic profiling plan.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I had a small surgical procedure done on friday morning (snip snip!), so I couldn't spend as much time as I would have liked in the shop this weekend.

But...I got the battery box cavities routed, and the wire tunnels drilled.

First, I drilled for the wires:


Then I routed the cavity for the battery boxes:


Had to make sure all the wires would fit:

They do, but it's a very tight fit. I might drill a separate hole for the battery wires.

The cavity needed to be 29mm deep for the boxes to fully seat, so I did that.

 

[Defyantly]

Looks sick man!! Good luck with recovery and keep cranking on this! Its gonna be awesome!!

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Good evening everyone.

I hope you have been well. I have, but also very busy. Toddlers tend to take over one's life.

Anyway, I did a little bit of work today. The neck is now fitted to the body.


So, the neck has some brass threaded inserts in it, and I used stainless steel 1/4"-20 socket-head cap screws to attach the neck, and 1/2" washers in lieu of bushings/ferrules. It should hold pretty well, I expect.