Z4 Short Scale

[rockandroller]

Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking...

Ok, it's time to get some of these projects rolling!
I got all the parts for this nearly FIVE YEARS ago, before I moved out east.

Back when I was still living in the same building as my recording studio (now being managed by a good friend of mine), this was planned to be my dedicated "tapewounds" bass as I was in the process of selling off all of my long-scale and medium-scale basses, to fully return to my roots as a short-scale bass player.

Therefore, as tapewounds do not have a functional string ground, this was to have EMG active pickups and a battery box. Well, just one pickup, but one of their TW style that are actually two pups in one.

Usual Schaller hardware, and a simple oil finish, similar to my previous Black Limba Warmoth. All the hardware is in one of my several big boxes of guitar parts, this week I am going to round it up!

The woodwork has been aging like a fine wine, now seeing the light of day once more after nearly five years in their original boxes. The fretboard could use oiling but all the wood is looking good!

Anyway as I am short on bench space with two more Warmoth builds waiting in line, this bass guitar is going to get put together in record time!

 

[rockandroller]

Yup, shipped to me Oct 2020

 

[Strangs]

That's going to be a fun bass! Tapewounds can be so cool

 

[rockandroller]

Progress! The seventh box of guitar parts I opened today had ALL of the Z4's parts collected in one place

(That's a Schaller 2000 bridge, one of my favorites.)

In a drawer nearby I found a couple sets of short scale tapewounds

I think I will try the light gauge ones first.

But thats a few days away still, today I wiped on the first coat of the oil finish out in the garage

It went on real nice, this stuff seems to have a real affinity for swamp ash!

 

[Hodgo]

Yeah this gon b goooood. The 30” SSB is so nice to play.

 

[rockandroller]

I'm sure impressed with this neck! Aside from it being almost perfectly quartersawn, I noticed today that despite having gone thru almost five years of severe temp and humidity changes, there is absolutely zero fret sprout! I'm very pleased to see that, as it has stainless steel fretwire...

 

[rockandroller]

Another coat of oil, feels really nice. They say I could build 6-8 coats to make it quite glossy, but i'd rather keep it more 'woody', like the neck. Tomorrow I will ponder a third coat...

 

[rockandroller]

Nope, I'm really digging the feel of this after two coats. It's clearly got a hard protective film now, but still feels nice and woody.

Two coats is enough for this! Assembly starting soon..

Osmo sez ...

Durability: Extremely hard-wearing – will not crack, flake or peel.
Water repellent: Suitable for kitchens, bathrooms, and other rooms exposed to high humidity
Spot repairable: Can be refreshed without requiring sanding
Stain resistant: Resists wine, beer, cola, coffee, tea, fruit juice, milk and water according to DIN 68861-1A
Child Safe: Suitable for children’s toys as per EN 71.3, safe for humans, animals, and plants.

Sounds good enough for me! Time will tell...
.

 

[rockandroller]

All parts are present and accounted for. And I also found a brand new EMG VMC concentric sweepable mid control in a box, contemplating adding that to the build.

But first up, shielding the control cavity...

 

[Hagwood]

That's going to be a cool one ! I like the Osmo, been using it and Rubio on wood working for years. First time I used Rubio in a Guitar was on the Rosewood Soloist build and love it. The Osmo is very similar, it should work great.

 

[rockandroller]

Osmo is amazing over this swamp ash! Two days, 30 minutes work, and its a perfect finish.

I now have three coats over my new alder Esquire body, and I think that might be enough. That one now feels a tiny bit tacky after sitting overnight, but indeed they did say full cure takes a couple weeks ( zero tack on this bass now...)

 

[Hagwood]

Osmo is amazing over this swamp ash! Two days, 30 minutes work, and its a perfect finish.

I now have three coats over my new alder Esquire body, and I think that might be enough. That one now feels a tiny bit tacky after sitting overnight, but indeed they did say full cure takes a couple weeks ( zero tack on this bass now...)

I believe it actually molecularly binds to the wood similar to Rubio and doesn't really absorb after 2 coats.

 

[rockandroller]

I believe it actually molecularly binds to the wood similar to Rubio and doesn't really absorb after 2 coats.

Hmmm... do you think I should wait a few days then hit it with the 800-1200-2000 grit?
( The Esquire, I mean... )

 

[Hagwood]

Hmmm... do you think I should wait a few days then hit it with the 800-1200-2000 grit?
( The Esquire, I mean... )

I saw this on their site:

• Over application – there is a limit to the amount of oil that the wood can absorb, excess application can cause the oil to dry on the surface – which can create a sticky or tacky surface. Remedy: allow for extra ventilation to enable the drying, or remove excess with cloth.

Maybe try removing anything you can with a cloth and let dry a few days before buffing. Maybe a fan on it ?

 

[rockandroller]

Aaaannndddd.... Z4 Project abruptly grinds to a screeching halt! The holes in the headstock have apparently just slightly shrunk during the past five years. Or the tuner bezels have put on some weight! The tuners are the correct ones and were purchased the same time as the neck...

I "should" be able to just go grab my nice peg reamer and fix this up in five minutes, but the 'guitar tools' box is nowhere to be found, buried somewhere in the hundreds of other boxes that haven't been unpacked yet

So, on the back burner it goes again, Until I can procure another nice peg reamer. Someday I will find a box or three with a lot of cool stuff, maybe even my Shinto saw rasps...

 

[stratamania]

You know, you could use some low grit sandpaper wrapped round a piece of dowel or similar to widen the holes. It is slower than a reamer but will do the job.

 

[rockandroller]

Back on track! Went with a variation of 'dowel and sandpaper'

 

[rockandroller]

Continued with Gotoh battery box...


Then prepped up some stainless steel and beeswax...

And attached the neck - awesome tight fit!!

 

[rockandroller]

Finally, roughed in the intonation point so I could locate the bridge and eyeball in some prospective knob locations, just laying out the parts for visual reference.

Still debating whether or not to install the VMC control I found... (Its an older one so I would want to fabricate a solderless harness from my big box of spare EMG bits!)

 

[Hodgo]

Ahhhh this is so cool.

I’ve never messed with tapewounds. I put flats on the SSB I built for my pops, which had 6230 frets. Felt almost fretless.