I've been somewhat on the lookout for a doubleneck project bass to add Gibson pickups etc too. Even if i could afford a Gibson 6/4 doubleneck, I have never liked having the bass on top. A couple days ago, I pre-ordered this Eastwood doubleneck. It should be here in early October. It has a short scale bass (on the bottom) & weighs less than some of my heavier Les Pauls. Will have to decide whether to go high or low impedance pickups. Maybe a mudbucker on the bass. Good winter project.......
(https://i.imgur.com/QuwWrDh.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/HAqxO0O.jpg)
This should be a good read!
Should be fun! I also prefer guitar on top. I bought an Eastwood electric mandola last year. Pretty decent stuff for the money.
This maybe should have been posted in "Bill's Shop". If that is the case, sorry Dave please move it..........
Three months gives me more than enough time to toss around possibilities, I'm normally kind of an impulse guy.
Worse case scenario, I might like the stock pickups & the tuners. I am planing on changing them.
On the bass side, I have in stock: Les Paul Triumph pickups
Les Paul Signature pickup
Les Paul Standard Oversized Bass pickups
Jim DeCola pickup from LP DC Tribute Bass
20/20 pickups
Mudbucker
Mini Humbuckers from EB-2D & EB-3
EB-4L Pickup
On the guitar side, I have: Les Paul Recording pickups
Les Paul Recording II (Reissue) High impedance pickup
Les Paul Signature pickups
Gibson Maurader bridge pickups
Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates neck pickups
I have been loosely tossing around the possibility of trying a set of 916 Neo pickups on both sides. They make a mudbucker replacement, a Humbucker & a P-90.
Will have to wait & see what's under the hood for room to see how much modification can be done to the controls.
I plan on running it through a Boss LS-2 Line Selector to switch between bass and guitar amps, at least for now.
Change in plans...... I was offered a black one that is currently in stock, to be shipped soon. Should be easier to touch up if necessary.
(https://i.imgur.com/DLRNx1C.jpg)
I like that much better.
The Epiphone HSC I ordered came yesterday already. The guitar was finally shipped at midnight last night. The case should be easily modified to fit the Eastwood. Will have to modify the body pocket. I may have to tip the body a bit to accommodate the different neck angles. My hatred for Gig Bags is being tested.........
(https://i.imgur.com/0levag6.jpg)
Is one of the necks shimmed, or is the opposite neck leaning forwards?
My gut feel with Eastwood is that they are $180 guitars with $780 pricetags because they copy the outline of obscure 1950s prototype guitars or 1960s catalog guitars. The hardware, fit and finish has felt a bit budget-y on the ones I've tried.
I'm just speculating, going by photos posted on Reverb about the neck position. I have never played an Eastwood but am guessing that the pickups & tuners are likely cheap. Being a cheap guitar, I'm hoping that it will be a good platform to modify with no substantial loss if it doesn't work out. Time will tell.
The top neck is probably angled like that so you can see the bottom neck. I was talking to a guy with a Ric 4080, and he complained that you can't see the lower neck very well. I believe the lower neck is the one angled back on the Ric.
That makes good sense! It should show up tomorrow that should clear up a bunch of questions & concerns.
The guitar showed up yesterday, the necks are angled like in the stock pic. Like GearHed289 said, it's likely so you can see the bottom neck. That being said, it is an awkward beast. The control cavity is plenty deep enough for stacked pots. They should be delivered today from Warmoth. The stock pickups seem weak. Oddly enough, the bass was in close to perfect tune right out of the box.
(https://i.imgur.com/7cgkfxP.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Fv5oFwN.jpg)
The case has been modified. I had to add 3/4" to the entire body pocket. I used part of the angled styrofoam piece that was on the neck end of the pocket to tip the body enough to get the necks to lay flat. Will try it next Tuesday & try to determine how much more pickup weight my back can handle. Three low impedance pickups might add significant weight.......
(https://i.imgur.com/D7Y9UpF.jpg)
Had a chance to play the beast a little more. It is a beast with crappy pickups. I think they were going for a surf sound. I am glad that the necks are offset, much nicer to see what is going on with the bass just like GearHed mentioned. I yanked out the bass pickup to see what will be involved for routing and depth. The entire pickup area is hollow. Tons of room on the bass side, the guitar side is hollowed out just past the pickup rings. I may need to place the guitar pickups a bit closer together. I measured approximately 2" in depth to the bottom of the cavity to the bass strings, more than enough room for any pickup I'd install. Only about 1/2" or less to route out. It looks workable.......
(https://i.imgur.com/01lFPgBl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/18vhyMe.jpg)
:popcorn:
My first choice for pickups, (as of now) an eight wire Les Paul low impedance bass pickup. On the guitar side, a low impedance guitar pickup for the neck pickup. Then a high impedance Les Paul Recording pickup from the 2013 reissue for the bridge pickup. I had some low to high impedance transformers I picked up a year ago off of ebay, they didn't work well. About half the output of a Shure inline transformer. I ordered two vintage transformers from old Shure bullet mics. They showed up today & worked as I had hoped. I hope to install a transformer on each of the two low impedance pickups, then wire the volume & tone like a standard high impedance guitar. The next step will be to bench test that.......
(https://i.imgur.com/PFOAMwc.jpg)
Change of plans........ I'm going to install a set of Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickups on the guitar side. I bought a bridge pickup & it is here. Will be installing a TB+ neck pickup from a Les Paul Oversized bass on the bass side. It is humbucker sized. Waiting on a few parts, but mostly a humbucker template for my router. Going this way should reduce the weight a bit. Also, I would still be able to re-rout it for the larger low impedance pickups down the road if I choose. The three low impedance pickups are likely more valuable than the guitar. I plan to strip everything off of the guitar in a couple days.
That seems like a good place to start.
It's lighter now!! When the template & final parts show up, I'll be ready to make chips...........
(https://i.imgur.com/hwctu5Z.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/31SoE35.jpg)
You're giving me ideas I shouldn't be getting!
The pickup cavity routing is done. Should be able to mount the pickups & start wiring when the pickup screws come tomorrow.........
(https://i.imgur.com/LKiyXma.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/sgjOsUhh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/hp93Z21h.jpg)
Did a portion of the wiring today, just have the stacked pots & jacks left to wire.
(https://i.imgur.com/bpxOSm1.jpg)
Looking good!
Wiring is done, everything seems to test ok. Next step, put it back together. Bought a set of Chromes for the bass side, Ernie Ball Super Slinky for the guitar side. The Chinese strings that came with it didn't cut it........
(https://i.imgur.com/ksuHNHO.jpg)
The guitar went together as planned everything worked like I hoped it would except for the hookup to the amps. My plan was to run both bass & guitar through two separate Boss WL-20 wireless systems into the Boss LS-2. "A" from guitar side to the guitar amp, "B" from the bass side to the bass amp. Hit the switch once, play guitar side through a guitar amp. Hit the switch again, play the bass through a bass amp. The LS-2 didn't work for that application. I dug around through my stash & found a Boss FS-6 that I never had any use for before. It worked fine, with the exception that you have to shut one switch off before you turn the other switch on. I will be on the hunt for an A-B switch that will switch the guitars & amps in one hit.
(https://i.imgur.com/oImouek.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/O7AEDjc.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/LpfSA3q.jpg)
It bothered me that the LS-2 pedal wouldn't do what I hoped it would do. This is one of the most versatile switching pedals I have ever com across. It has done anything I ever wanted. I have three. I actually looked at the manual, nothing..... It needs to have something in the input to even turn it on and a the output goes to the amp. I wondered what would happen if I bypassed the input to the output with a short chord......... IT Worked!! The A & B Return jacks are too close together to plug in the two WL-20's, but that is easily remedied..........
(https://i.imgur.com/Ckh3ztml.jpg)
That turned out great, congrats!
Quote from: BTL on August 09, 2024, 08:10:26 AM
That turned out great, congrats!
Thanks! Here is the current foot switch setup.....
(https://i.imgur.com/ylMCsjd.jpg)
Explanation of controls on guitar.........
Stacked Volume - Bottom Bass / Top Guitar
Stacked Tone. - Bottom Bass / Top Guitar
Guitar Jack. - Closest to Tone / Both Guitar & Bass signal out of this jack if nothing is plugged into the Bass Jack.
Bass Jack. - Furthest from Tone / Separates Bass & Guitar output to individual amps.
Mute Button. - DTDP switch mounted in Pickguard. Mutes both Guitar & Bass at same time.
I have been happy with the results. Changed tuners to Hipshot Ultralites on the bass side. Original tuners on guitar side.
The bass pickup is real hot, I have to tune it down a bit with the volume. The Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickups sound great on the guitar side.
The two Boss WL-20's are working great together. After pairing one set, the next set is supposed to find an unused channel. It has worked every time. The Boss LS-2 is also working well, one stomp switches from guitar to bass & back.
I might buy two sets of Xvive U2 Digital Wireless Guitar Systems. They come in different colors with four switchable channels. They also will fit better in the Boss LS-2, the jacks are very close together.
(https://i.imgur.com/oImouek.jpg)
Looks very clean. I like the Fender style bridge cover, too.
Final chapter on the Eastman Doubleneck project. I bought the two Xvive U2 Wireless Transmitters. One in gold & one in black Gold=guitar Black=bass. Coincidentally, those are the only two colors guitar hardware is available in besides chrome/nickel. I bought color coded nuts & washers for the input & output jacks. Hopefully when I'm six feet under, the next owner will be able to figure out what that crazy old man was trying to do!!
(https://i.imgur.com/hEAaFYc.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/VOLVMBJ.jpg)
The nuts and washers are a great detail!
Why not one black and the other chrome? Like the rest of the bass. I mean, the bass has no gold hardware...
Quote from: Basvarken on November 08, 2024, 10:25:29 AMWhy not one black and the other chrome? Like the rest of the bass. I mean, the bass has no gold hardware...
I was thinking at that time, keeping track of each side by color. "G" for Gold & Guitar, "B" for Black & Bass. I'm not sure if Chrome was an option. On the stacked knobs, I wired the base knob for Bass to keep track of that. I agree, it would look better with black & chrome or silver.
Love it and Gold Guitar and Black Bass is a good find!
In this colour with the white rings it would be the perfect bass for Brian Ray of Paul McCartney. He plays bass and guitar during the set and this one looks like his signature guitar!