The bridge is mounted, fortunately no drama there, so time to focus on the headstock, string paths & tuner positions.
First off was determining where I wanted the strings located when I get the new nut cut. At the bridge each pair of strings is 1/4" center-to-center, but the neck is only 1.5" wide at the nut, so they need to be closer together there. So I settled on 5/32" center-to-center per pair, with 7/32" between pairs.
Next was determining how I wanted to lay out the tuners. Ideally I wanted the string path to continue straight ahead from the nut, but with the neck being so narrow, the two furthest tuners were trying to occupy the same space. I tried staggering them, but that just didn't look good to me.
After looking online at several 8-string headstock pics, I decided to setup the tuners in two parallel rows, directly across from each other. Something like this.
At this point I started considering headstock designs, while also trying to keep it something I could cut out with a jigsaw. Because the guitar tuners are so much smaller than the bass tuners, this caused some grief. Also, since there's a bass tuner on one side of the headstock, but a guitar tuner directly across from it, my options were pretty limited.
This is what I ended up with.
While I didn't intend it, this shape is similar to a bass a built with a luthier friend of mine almost 25-years ago.
You know, it just dawned on me, how beefy is that neck?
I can imagine the added tension of the extra set of strings may cause some issues.
In reply to Azryael :
It's a small neck, but I'm using light gauge strings. Though this neck is way beefier than a Hagastrom 8-string. The bass strings I'll be using are .040-.090 while the octave strings are .020-.045, so I don't expect any problems.
Ah yeah, that lighter gauge will also make fretting much easier. You've got me toying with several instrument build ideas, and I began to contemplate modding an existing bass I have, but that neck is way too skinny.
In reply to Azryael :
I'm sure the main reason this neck is so skinny is because it's short scale. I'd recommend checking out Eden's offerings, this seems very well made & way cheaper than Warmouth.
It's times like this I crave to have an actual shop for woodworking.
Watching with interest as I'm also building a bass. It's a kit. I can't play a note...yet.
It's a Solo J-Bass kit with (not swamp) ash body and maple neck. Only weirdness is the bridge pickup "ears" are closer together than most of the other bridge pickups I can find. I'm going to rout new ear pockets so I can use whatever I might want to try. The neck pickup pocket is massive under the pick guard. I could probably fit a humbucker or soapbar with zero fuss, though I'm not sure why I would.
Not much visible progress today, but that was mostly because I was going slow & trying not to berkeley up. I did get all-8 tuner holes drilled, though I had to team out the smaller guitar tuner holes for them to fit. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to cut the headstock down to shape.
This thread makes me want to convert the project bass I've posted here into an 8 string....
Azryael said:
In reply to Antihero :
24-strings or get out.
Lol, it's a short scale too, I don't think you could even fret it as a 12 string
In reply to Antihero :
Unfortunately so. However, those that have accomplished making such an instrument have created something unique, and then those who can actually play it...
I enjoy Davie, not only for his meme-ness, but his skill that he has.
Azryael said:
In reply to Antihero :
Unfortunately so. However, those that have accomplished making such an instrument have created something unique, and then those who can actually play it...
I enjoy Davie, not only for his meme-ness, but his skill that he has.
It is cool, I'm not really sure it's a bass anymore though either. I think the high end has to be thought of as extended scale guitar really, but who knows where that line starts
In reply to Antihero :
I'd Love to try one, but it would be completely a tapping instrument for me. There's no way I could reach the top-3 sets of strings with my fret hand.
The bass in question. I considered doing a bass vi conversion since I absolutely loathe my bass vi but I wanna see what Pete does with an 8 string, never seen a short scale 8 before
In reply to Pete Gossett :
I haven't tried Eden at all, any good?
In reply to Antihero :
That bass is badass!
This is my only experience with an Eden neck, but I'm really happy with it. Just eyeballing the neck it looks straight & level, and seems really well built. It's definitely a small neck in all directions.
Just be mindful of both scale length & number of frets. Since your bass has a 19-fret neck, if you bolted on a 21-fret short-scale neck like mine you'd have to move you bridge forward a couple inches to compensate. Or you could modify the neck like I did.
In reply to Pete Gossett :
Thanks, it's not anywhere near as custom as yours but im happy.
I might have to give Eden a shot then. I need a 157th project to occupy the 7-8 seconds I have free every other week lol
Pete Gossett said:
In reply to akamcfly :
That looks sweet!
Thanks! 
I freehand routed the ear pockets today and filled the neck pickup mounting holes as they're slightly off for the new one. Waiting for the goop to cure and I'll sand it level. Then I need to find my drill and start poking some holes!
I got the headstock cutout today.
And painted.
So I figured why stop there?
It sounds pretty good. The pickups don't have any noise that I could hear. There's a slight scoop to the midrange, which surprised me, and for some reason if I roll up both pickups it kills most of the high end, but it sounds really good off the neck pickup only.
The slots in this nut aren't deep enough, so the action is too high, and the A & D strings keep popping out of the nut slots. I'm not going to worry about that since I'll be having a new nut cut once I get the 8-string GHS set here.
I'll likely have to wedge the neck back a little bit too, as I can't drop the saddles any further & the action is still too high when fretted at the 1st fret.
Ballpark weight on the old bathroom scale in the garage is around 6-7 lbs. so not light, but certainly not too heavy. Edit - I just measured it & total length is right at 42", so now I can start shopping for a case or gig bag.
This thread is not helping my totally un-needed urge to buy another cheap bass project. Looks awesome so far!
Tony Sestito said:
This thread is not helping my totally un-needed urge to buy another cheap bass project. Looks awesome so far!
Same here, I really gave been thinking of grabbing a Harley Benton short scale p bass for a project.....
Ok, so I went ahead & filed the nut slots so I could actually play thing, got the intonation set as close as I can with my boss pedal tuner & ear, and spent about an hour playing it.
On the front pickup it has a bit of a pbass tone to it, though I'm not sure why the bridge pickup is killing the high end. I suppose it could be due to the pickups being a bit too low still. I may need to glue another block of wood in each pickup cavity.
I need to raise the action on the A & D strings slightly, and the battery is rattling inside the box a bit, so I need to cut a piece of foam for it. It's comfortable to play though & I quickly realized I didn't need to look at the neck to find the notes, so that's a good sign
Now I just wish those GHS strings would ship...
In reply to Pete Gossett :
Is the battery new? I rarely touch active pickups but the one time I did the battery being dead killed high end.
