Jabba_the_gut

I've done a little more on the 5 string and am hoping to really progress with it over Christmas. The postie has just delivered the 5 string set I ordered from Newtone Strings - delivered for Christmas just as Neil said. Superb strings and great service. As you can see from the pack, the plan is to string this E to C. I'll post the updates a little later.

So after quite a while, back to the body and neck I first starting building 18 months ago!! They've been sat in a box doing nothing other that getting looked at occasionally and put away again. There are a couple of holes in the original wood that I filled with dowels but I wasn't happy that one was on the front of the bass which is probably why I lost a bit of interest as I do like things to be perfect. I was going through the veneers I have and found a couple of pieces of cherry that would be big enough to cover the body. I glued these together to make one sheet (only 0.6mm thick but you can still join it and it's quite strong) and, once dry, glued this and a contrasting maple veneer to the front of the body. I used another piece of veneer for the face of the headstock too. I've got a big block of sycamore in the garage that I cut a slice off and thicknessed to be used for the fretboard. I originally though of fitting a peizo but in the end I've opted for an EMG MM and chrome hardware as I've got those going spare. I'm also thinking of making this bass with a set neck rather than bolt on for no other reason than I haven't tried that before. Might still change my mind but we'll see how it goes! Slotted the fretboard using the Stewmac jig I bought off here a while ago (and one of the best things I have ever bought). Lined everything up with the neck ready for gluing Neck glued and put next to the body to get some idea what this will look like I've used the same template as for the other mini basses so cut neck and bridge pockets. I've also used the neck template and trimmed that to size. The neck fits nice and snugly in the pocket and the strings align nicely with the bridge. Next task will be routing the pickup pocket then shaping and sanding (lots of...). Cheers.

I know that feeling. Been persisting it down here for ages and the water is rising. Went to check on my elderly neighbour, Noah, but he's left a note on the door saying he's gone to the marina with his wife, 2 cats, 2 dogs.....

I like it with the scratch plate though I would change it for pearlescent one to match the blocks. Looks nice!

I've also use an acrylic lacquer by Chestnut once before which has the benefit of being water based, can be applied with a brush or sponge and is non-smelly. Also, if you are joining two parts of a body yourself it can be worth putting masking tape along the joint length to stop excess glue going on the surface you plan on staining. I seem to remember some glues being better than others in terms of showing up under stains (I stay clear of Resin W - much prefer Cascamite or Titebond - just my preference).

Possibly even try a cabinet scraper

Just reminded me that I've got an ACG EQ02 I really must fit to something!!

EMG do one: EMG Pickups / ABC / Electric Guitar Pickups, Bass Guitar Pickups, Acoustic Guitar Pickups

Yep, I bought one of these (and earlier 5 string version prior to the ball races being fitted). Nicely made and finished and not ridiculously expensive. I actually sold mine without using it as I found myself with too many things going on at the time and a 5 string headless ended up on the back burner. I sold it on here and believe it was used to convert an Ibanez Mikro to headless (can't remember where the thread was). I also bought a couple of 4 string headpieces from Andre as they are much better than the ones you find on eBay but without being too expensive. I've got one on the short scale neck I'm tinkering with at present. I do have plans for a 5 string headless and have another headless system for that, but that'll be a project for next year once I finish my current project and then have a clear out as there are too many basses at home now!! Look forward to seeing your build progress - presumably you'll be taking this to the SW bash next year?....

I've made four basses that fit roughly into this category with scale lengths of 27" and of 23". All are four string - the 23" basses are headless and the 27" are headed. I'm currently tinkering with the 23" basses and trying out a 27" headless neck which is looking promising. All details are in the build diaries section if anyone is interested in seeing what they all look like. I'm really please with the last 27" bass I made. Passive with a single Bartolini pickup (that can be switch between single coil and humbucker) and white LED side markers. It is really comfortable to play and sounds great - I really need to get some sound clips sorted and posted on here! Here's a few piccies. There is something about basses of around this scale and I can only suggest people trying them. I'll be taking all these short things to bass bashes, hopefully in the first half of next year. With a bit of luck I'll have finished the five string version I'm currently building.

Even decent brass ones would be good rather than these soft alloy things! The body is sprayed using rattle can nitro lacquer - can’t remember which brand. Cheers

I like inserts for neck bolts but I don't!! They work nicely for basses like this where I'm using allen head bolts to hold the neck but there just seems to be a luck dip as to how good the inserts are. Some I have bought are so soft they are neck to useless. This is made mode difficult due to the hardness of the woods I'm inserting them into. I always use an offcut of the same wood to try them in first. So drill the holes and off we go! With the holes drilled and countersunk I fitted the inserts and all went in perfectly! Result! Normally a pain. I also fitted the headpiece then couldn't resist bolting it together and sticking some strings on it to get a rough idea where any adjustments might be required. Doesn't look like it will need adjusting - another result. I'm off to do the lottery now whilst I'm on a roll!!! I was going to have just a zero fret but looks like I will need a nut to space the strings correctly. That'll be the next job.

First up was to cut the truss rod slot in the neck. I bought a palm router recently and it is lovely to use for jobs like this, a bit more fiddly to adjust but easy to work with. Once this was done I stuck a slotted fretboard on. Next I needed to carefully check the scale length in order to work out exactly where the heel needs to be. This was definitely one of those 'measure twice, cut once' moments (watch me eat my words later in this thread!!). I'm using a Nova headpiece on this neck so trimmed the fretboard to a shallow slope to mount this on. After that I cut the excess off with a bandsaw then trimmed the neck on a router table using my mdf neck template. The neck fitted quite nicely into the body and feels that it should work out quite reasonably. This really isn't the best picture but it gives a rough idea of where this is going. Next task is sorting the neck inserts followed by a load of shaping.

I made my first bass from a block of teak that my dad gave me. It is reasonably heavy but get the balance right and it will be quite comfortable. It was really nice to work with and also finished nicely with oil. 1.5" is thick enough for a body as is in my opinion (I've made a few that are 38mm thick so very similar) but a @TheGreek says, you could put something like a 1/4" top on it. Look forward to seeing what you come up with!! Cheers

I’ll have built a few more basses ready for the next one!!

I've built a few different short scale basses now at various scale lengths 23" (headless), 27", 29" and 30" and I'm still enjoying tinkering with these!! I'm particularly enjoying playing the 27" basses so much so I'm building a 27" 5 string at the moment (on another thread). I ordered a generic neck blank and the one that arrived was quite wide, wide enough to have sufficient spare for a headless neck.... So, I'm going to make a 27.5" neck for one of the mini headless basses just to see what that is like. I'm hoping to be able to use normal short scale strings on that to achieve the right tension etc. - might work, might not!! The reason for it being 27.5"? Well, that is the scale length of a spare slotted fretboard I have, leftover as the result of an error with my measurements from a previous build...!!! I've also made a neck blank for a 17" scale neck as another possibility - that would be tuned an octave up (@ped's fault again with his picture thread of really short basses). I've got a bit more to look at with that to see how the pocket tapers with it being much shorter (i don't want to modify the body). This is the neck blank for the 5 string neck - it really is quite wide!! Next to the ruler, I've got some other laminated offcuts that will form the centre section of the neck. The shorter piece is the blank for the 17" neck made from offcuts from other necks The two necks from the one neck blank with their corresponding fretboards Note sure what the result of this will be but only one way to find out!!

Really nice and really quickly made!!

Hi Mike. Hope all is good with you and glad you're still enjoying the fretless! Take care and hopefully catch up at the SW Bash next year. Just watch out for @Frank Blank though.... All the best

I might well take you up on that at some point. Cheers

Cheers Ped. I must work out how to record it - I've got the gear but no idea!!!!

I've made a couple of 4 string mini basses which I'm really pleased with so the time has come to make a 5 string version! It is going to have the same body shape as the previous build but just be a little wider to accommodate the extra string. I'm thinking of the 5th string being high rather than low - I've tried a low string on the previous basses just to see what it was like and I don't think it was quite defined enough. I will try a couple of different things before I make the final decision. Going for a more minimal look in terms of wood finish this time. The body will be ash (nearly quarter sawn), plain maple for the neck and padauk for the fretboard. Hardware will be chrome for this one. I've made a start, cut the templates for neck and body and headstock. I've also cut and trimmed the body. I've also got a body left from a previous mini bass that I have veneered the top with maple and cherry layers but haven't decided what it will become yet!! This will be another slow build as I've got loads of jobs to do around the house.......

Finally took this to pieces to finish the last couple of bits off and ow it is complete!! Here's a few pictures of the finished bass:

Just my opinion....... If you buy a pre-slotted fretboard, the board is generally not radiused and the fret slots will be a uniform depth. Many luthiers will use a specialist, thin circular saw to cut the slots and home builders often use the StewMac fret slotting jig, again both of these cut a slot parallel to the bottom of the fretboard and therefore when the frets are fitted, there will be a small gap behind the fret when fitted. You can get a guide that fits to a fretsaw to control the depth of cut. If you were slotting a radiused board then this would give you a slot that follows the radius. Does it make any difference? I have seen a website for a boutique builder (can't remember who) that claims these voids cold be heard but I tend to be a little sceptical and wonder if it did, could the vast majority of us notice and why do we always assume things like this have a negative impact. When a fret is fitted it is the bottom of the fret that is the contact area with the fretboard, the tang with it barbs is there to prevent the fret from coming out. Some folk will glue frets in that might fill this void, some don't. I think getting the slots in the right place as not to affect intonation is probably the most important thing and what we would notice if it wasn't correct. That's where accurate jigs like this come in. As say, just my opinion!!!