Jabba_the_gut

It's a bit of a slow build this one but I've done some work on the neck for this. There have been a couple of issues but they got sorted along the way - the main one being a router bit moving when I was removing the excess in the depth of the headstock. I had to cut a slice from an old offcut from the neck and rectify this and it turned out barely visible and will be under the veneer anyway. I thought it might please @TheGreek so I decided the headstock would look nice with a matching veneer to the body! I've never had a bass of this shape before but it is really growing on me and I'm really looking forward to the finished bass. I've also put a veneer between the fretboard and the neck so this follows the veneer on the headstock. Next task will be to sort the template for cutting the neck pocket and control cavity. I've also cut some sycamore that I'll use for the binding. I've had a go at bending it just using the steam from the kettle and I think it should work though I'll still be trying it on a test piece first!

Or possibly a Dremel with a flexi shaft and a mini drum sander. The flexi shaft being a smaller diameter than the Dremel lets you get in a bit more square than just a Dremel on its own (if that makes sense!).

Here's a diagram from the StewMac site for neck rod. The full detail is at https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-ideas/online-resources/learn-about-truss-rod-installation-and-repair/working-with-carbon-fiber-reinforcement-materials.html# Cheers

One place on eBay selling graphite rods: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carbon-Fibre-Neck-Rod-4mm-x-7mm-x-620mm-for-Bass-guitar/293584983770 I've bought truss rods off eBay and from places like ToneTech luthier suppliers and have all been pretty decent to be honest. Personally, I like this style of truss rod: https://tonetechluthiersupplies.co.uk/guitar-parts/truss-rods/truss-rod-2-way-adjustable-bass-4595.html Cheers

Cheers for all the comments. The switch will be for some form of coil switching - it's a four wire pickup ( Retrovibe mudbucker) so will allow for series or parallel humbucker. If I can, I'll also wire for a single coil option probably in the neck position. I've generally built active basses but after the passive mini-bass I just finished with coil switching, I've heard how much variation you can get so I'll head the same way with this one. I'm leaning towards not having a scratch plate as the flame is growing on me! I will cut the scratch plate to size but not drill the screw holes and then I can decide at the time. I like the idea of a magnetically fitted plate - maybe one for the future as I would need to install the magnets prior to doing the veneer. As you can get neo magnet discs that are only 0.5mm thick that really could be an option. I want to put some form of binding on this as I think it will look pretty decent but also I haven't done it before so would like to give it a go. I'm thinking this will need a bit of practice on some scrap first!!

It's been a little while since I did anything to this but whilst I continue playing my mini bass instead of finishing off completely, I decided to get on with a couple of jobs on this. FIrstly, I needed to decide on what the front of this should look like. I opted for the flamed maple veneer so I can also do a matching headstock - this build is also about re-using and the maple veneer can from my dad who had this knocking around for years so sort of fits into this as it wasn't bought specifically for this build and was potentially destined for the bin as there are a few cracks in it. I cut the cracked sections away which left me just enough width for the top. I then glued the two pieces of veneer together along the straight line I just cut. I know this sounds a bit odd as the veneer is only 0.6mm thick but I wanted to do this to give me a singe sheet to glue onto the body. I glued along the edge of the veneer and held them with masking tape until dry. Net up I sanded the top of the body flat ready to accept the veneer and drew the centre line. Using a gloss paint roller and wood glue I put an even coat on both the bbody and veneer them stuck them together, holding them in place with plenty of clamps!! So this is how the tope now looks - not perfectly book matched but is fine for this project. I'm planning on having a black scratch plate on this, only because I got given one and I want to re-use that too!! Here's a mack-up of how that might look: But I also tried it without the scratch plate and that looks kind of nice too!! Decision, decisions,...

I've got a 12" Eminence speaker if anyone can make use of it. The part number is missing but a guy at Eminence identified it for me. Before you get too excited it isn't designed for bass but for our twiddly, high pitched, look-at-me guitar hero cousins.......😉 Joking apart, it looks like a decent speaker and I've got the basic specification details for it. It s a 4ohm speak and has a pmax of 150w according to Eminence who advised these were fitted to Marshall MG series guitar combos. I was thinking of having a go at making a cab but I have too many other projects on the go and need to clear some space. I don't really want to post it at this time as I don't have anything to pack it in or the time to sort it for posting. It can be collected from Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire Cheers

I knew I’d come to the right place for sympathy!!

Struggling now - need to take this to pieces to finish it off but having too much fun playing it!!

I've completed the wiring - this is passive with volume and tone, a series-single-parallel switch and a off-dim-bright switch for the side dots on the fretboard. It's not quite finished yet - I still have to dress the frets and spray a final coat of lacquer on the neck but I wanted to assemble everything to make sure the string height etc would be okay and no more sanding was required. Couldn't resist putting a set pf strings on and giving it a go - I'm really liking the Bart pickup from my first impressions. So here's the headed mini basses:

Same here. It’s a great event and the work put in to host it is really appreciated.

I heard the rule of thumb forgot drying was 1 year per inch thickness. @Si600have a look at the film 'Felled' that is on Amazon - you'll probably enjoy it!!

If Frank doesn't want his pudding, can I have it please?.. Seriously though, quite understand your position and it's a shame you won't be able to make it. Stay safe and see you sometime in the near future. Cheers

Oh, and the build is looking lovely by the way!! Interesting instrument - this will definitely need some sound files when it is done. Cheers!

Er, sorry Andy..........I've been buying all my Gotoh tuners, fret slot files and a few other bits from them for a while and I've found them to be absolutely first class. Bad me for not mentioning it.

I'm also quite looking forward to trying this bass as I have never played a bass with Bartolini pickups - most things I've done have used different types of active EMGs. I'm really curious as to how this bass will sound being passive and having a coil split switch. Just need to get it finished!!!

Frets are in and ready to fill the slot ends and dress the frets. I'm also going to get the electric bits sorted - they shouldn't be too bad as there is no preamp on this build. I've tried the LEDs and will connect them to a switch for off/dim/bright positions - I'm pleased with how white LEDs look on this. So this is where I'm at currently. Both of these basses came from the same relatively small slab of beech - there wasn't much waste from this slab at all which is quite pleasing. If I had made a bass with a normal shape/size I would have only got one bass from it. I'm on the look out for another slab of spalted beech for future projects.....

Really nice looking choice of woods for this and unique design. Looks like this build is going along very nicely too. Be an interesting bass to see at one of the bass bashes in the future. Cheers

I got a couple of sets of custom strings in the post yesterday as promised so all would seem well. I’ve really liked my previous ones so I bought some more!!

Cheers - I might just give that a go. It might actually be easier and cleaner than what I'm currently doing. Always good to try new things and learn different methods to achieve the same intended result.

A little more progress. Got a couple of coats of lacquer on the body (then ran out of spray...doh!). Thought I had another can but I didn't - schoolboy error!!! Never mond, will only be a couple of days before some arrives. I've also cut all the frets and nipped the tangs off the ends. I always do this so I can fill in the fret slots at the ends making the fretboards sides look neat. A bit of faff but worth in the end I think. Next task is to radius the board then fit the frets.

Anyone and everyone is made welcome at the bass bashes no matter how long they've been playing. See you there!

That is looking really good.

Not got round to the neck yet, but I've sorted the control cover magnets and sorted the layout of the controls. This bass only has a small cavity so it can take a bit of organising!! The controls are going to be volume, tone, coil split and LEDs on/off. I've tried these in a dummy piece to see how they are, re-jigged it and ended up with this. With a bit of luck we'll have some decent weather this weekend and I'll get a couple of coats of lacquer on the body whilst get on with the neck.