Making my own Baseplates ... with pics!

[belwar]

Hi everyone,

Just thought i'd share this little project I was working on today - i'm working on a guitar for a German/Austrian artist and he wants a special bridge humbucker in the guitar i'm building for him. He was very specific about what he wants in the construction of the pickup. He wants the humbucker angled like a strat bridge pup, but wants the coils offset so that the poles fall directly under the strings A-la-nighthawk. However with different string spacings of 1.98 and 2.05).

So anyway, i've drawn up the pickup and started making the baseplates for them.. and I somewhat documented the process. Very basic I know, but might be cool for beginners; boring for you experienced people.

I started with nickel silver sheet stock that I bought online, then Laser etched the shape and placement of the holes of the baseplate as well as fold lines onto the sheet. Ok it's not a tool that everyone has, but you can use a sharpie to mark it.



Then I drilled all the various size holes on the drill press at high speed using cobalt drill bits - it was like butter. Once all the holes were drilled, i clamped the metal to a 1/4" piece of MDF and cut the rough blanks out maybe leaving 1/32 of an inch around the edge. I used by dewalt jig saw with a metal cutting blade from home depot.



working with the small roughed out blanks was a little more challenging so I clamped a 1/8" scrap of lexan on top to make the fine cuts



Here are the four fine cut blanks I made:



Next I put them in a vise and filed the edges clean with a single edge file. I also rounded all the corners. Very fast and so easy.



Here's a shot of the four filed blanks just about ready for bending



Next I taped the leg holes with a 3-48 tap so that I could use standard leg screws. Sandwhiched it back between the lexan with a drop of rapid tap. I was all paranoid about breaking the tap but it slipped threw the 8 holes like shit through a goose.

[belwar]

Next I grabbed a small 1/2" piece of aluminium and sanded a slight angle on it. The aluminum was acting as an anvil while I tapped the bend into place with a hammer. I had to put a small angle on it so that I could "overbend" the bends. If I didnt overbend it, the angle of the bend would never get much beyond 100 degrees. So I sandwhiched the baseplate in the good vise with the aluminium, and using a fretting hammer and a small piece of 3/16" x 1" x 6" steel bar I tapped on the join to bend it to 90 degrees. Note that the bending edge of the aluminium was not sharp, but had a slight round over. that was just the way the bar came, but it seemed to make sense for the bend so I left it.



So below is the finished product. There is some oxidization on the bottom that I need to sand off and buff out (very easy). But I think they look really cool. All said and done, it was maybe 2 hours. However that included trying to figure out how to hold things, find tools, etc. If I make them again it would be 10 mins a piece. It was a lot of fun, and was a great way to make a custom pickup for a guy. Tommorow the bobbins and slugs!



Hope you enjoyed it, and or got something out of it.

[big_teee]

Very nice!
Terry

[JoshG]

Excellent work!

[Mark Hammer]

My late father was a tool and die-maker with a small shop and things like that were the bread and butter of shops like his. You may be able to find a machine shop or two in your area eager to take on nickel and dime gigs that could stamp those suckers into shape in no time flat. It doesn't take a lot of machinery, just the right kind.

That's certainly not a criticism (indeed, I salute the effort and result); merely an observation that there may be an easier way the next time around.

[belwar]

Mark, there is a company I know that can do it.. If I had my druthers, I would get the machinery for myself.

I have a couple manual H frame presses from Harbor freight and i've been thinking about trying to design a tool to "stamp" a cover. I think I can get enough pressure in the H frame. I would have to make a couple of molds with interlocking tops and bottoms that could be squeezed in the press to form the shape

[Mark Hammer]

Think of it like bringing your stuff to a copy center vs owning a photocopier. If you know exactly what you're doing, it's cheaper to do it yourself. But if there is any doubt, it can be more cost-effective to let the service provider eat the cost of the screw-ups.

I leave it to you to determine whether the cost-effectiveness is to be found in doing it yourself or using someone who already has the equipment and savvy in how to make it dance.

Before he passed away, my dad found his niche in hanging out at the auctions and buying up used equipment for resale to the many small shops he had become familiar with over the years. There were dozens and dozens of guys he knew who had the equipment to do this but not that, and often a contract he had taken on could only be completed by moving the job from shop to shop. I'm not suggesting you do that. But I am suggesting that the equipment, or at least part of it, may well be available at a better price than you imagine....if you too hang out at the auctions. And whatever steps you may not be able to do yourself can then be farmed out to a small shop that is able to take it through the last (or maybe first) lap.

Just an idea.

[Danelectron]

Nice work. They look very sturdy.

[copperheadroads]

Nice job , They look great

[NightWinder]

Best thread I've seen here in such a long time! No old grumpy men bitchin' at eachother. Just strait talent. Nice job, and thanks for sharing.

[LtKojak]

He wants the humbucker angled like a strat bridge pup, but wants the coils offset so that the poles fall directly under the strings A-la-nighthawk. However with different string spacings of 1.98 and 2.05

I find this great, as it looks like I'm not the only OCD afflicted dude that would go to such lenghts to have something done with such a precise description. Funny to see he's Austrian, as I too have Austrian blood (Tirol),from both great-great mothers from my late parents.

Having said that, WHY no big name p'up maker's offering neck HBs with a 48mm polepiece spread? Nobody think 'bout we poor OCD inflected souls?

[kevinT]

great job. they're not as hard to make as I thought they would be. What model laser do you have?

[belwar]

Universal Laser XL12000. It's got two 60 watt laser catridges and a 48 x 60 bed with 8" of vertical travel... Wow, that felt like I was showing off my e-penis.

[big_teee]

Good Read.
Here's another thread that was posted by Walcan a while back that has a PDF on DIY Baseplate, also.
Wan a be luthier
The PDF shows making the baseplate with a small bar,and a vise.
Another way to do it.
Later,
Terry

[David King]

Universal Laser XL12000. It's got two 60 watt laser catridges and a 48 x 60 bed with 8" of vertical travel... Wow, that felt like I was showing off my e-penis.

This has become my favorite quote from around here... Why wear pants at all?