Jabba_the_gut

This pretty much summarises it for me! I've never taken class and have just learnt along the way by trial and error. There's a few good books and plenty of videos on YouTube but also quite a lot of useful information in these threads. Folk show you what has gone well but also when things go wrong! Always worth seeing what wood and hardware is included in any course. Wood can get quite expensive depending on what you are looking for in your finished bass as can hardware. Jon Shuker's courses always get a mention when people are looking for a building course and look like good value. Just be prepared that it is a slippery slope - I only planned on making myself one bass but I got hooked and made a few more! Cheers

Lovely! That's a cracking looking bass - you must be very pleased with it!

I'm still deciding which veneer to use and also looking at binding the edges (which is something I haven't done before). In the meantime, I have finished making the neck template. You'll notice that the two pilot holes for the A and D look a bit mucky. I drilled the pilot holes based on the paper template I had but they were each about 0.5mm out of line. I filled them and redrilled them in the right place! I thinks it's always good to get the templates as accurate as possible so you don't get tolerances stacking up and something then being noticeably out of place later.

Going with the maple and ebony option! I made a couple of scarf jointed neck blanks in a previous thread one of which was maple and has now been ear marked for this build. First task with the neck blank was to add spalted beech veneer to the front and rear of the headstock. I really liked how this looked on the previous build so I'm doing on this build. On the previous build the veneer was really an after thought and was added after I had routed the channel for the truss rod and adjuster. This time it is going on before any of that is done - the only reason being the truss rod adjuster channel will look nice (even though it will be covered). But that's just me, even if something is hidden I still like it to be made well. The veneer was on for a few days and I kept looking at it and kept trying to decide if it was a good enough match to the front of the body. I got a leftover bit from cutting out the body and cut that into slices a couple of mm thick. Book matched, these are just big enough to make the veneer for the headstock. I picked a pair, glued them together and sanded them to about 0.8mm thick. I was quite pleased how they looked so I removed the veneer I'd stuck to the headstock and sanded it flat again ready to take the new veneer. I think this looks a much better match to the body than the previous veneer and was worth the effort. Now I can get on with the fretboard and those fussy little LEDs.....

To me, that is 30-40mm too long. From the picture there is no room to get an Allen key into the truss rod. How long is the truss rod you have (including the adjuster)?

The metal shaft will probably have a flat face which normally keys it to the plastic part but as that has split it just turns. If you take the plastic bit off, take a photo of the metal shaft and if you can take a measurement of the diameter of the metal shaft. What bass is it out on interest? Cheers

Absolutely! I get through lots of offcuts for template making or jigs. I also made a simple fret bender at the weekend from a few bearings and an old piece of nylon that has been knocking around for 20 years!! Bit rough and ready but it works and spared me an expense. You don't need tons of tools to start off - get a few essentials and learn to use them well. Look at places like Gumtree or Freecycle as well - I got a drill stand off Freecycle a few years ago which has been really useful.

Does the plastic piece have a screw on top of it that would allow it to be removed? There might be the possibility of removing it and using some thin superglue to fix (whilst clamping the plastic to close the crack). You may find though that once the plastic has cracked it make be weakened so this just happens again - will depend on the plastic and how it responds to the glue. It would also be worth removing the cover on the back of the tuner to see if anything is wrong in there that caused it to go tight in the first place.

I first had a go at building a bass about 9 years ago. Was only planning on building one bass and it came about from a block of wood I was given. 9 years later I'm still building them for fun! I reckon a good start is to get some cheap wood and practice (I've used old doors and shelves in the past for practice). To start with I had the smallest, cheapest bandsaw (eBay £20) and a basic Black and Decker router (hadn't used one before). I had a cordless drill but that was about it. I came up with some designs on paper and start to think about 'how'. Do I need templates, which tools are needed for the jobs, which order do I do them in etc. I spent a fair bit of time on here too looking at what others had done!! I'd recommend this book too as a really good reference: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Electric-Guitar-Bass-Design-complete/dp/3000296425/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=leonardo+guitar&qid=1590701426&sr=8-1 All the best

You can get truss rods in loads of different lengths - probably in 20mm increments from probably about 300mm upwards. What is the length of the truss rod you have and what is the length of the channel from where the retainer was on the old one to the start of the access slot in the headstock?

If I were doing it, I would get another shorter truss rod. Anything done with that one will be a compromise - I don't see how one end could protrude into the pickup cavity and the other end would be too far down the adjustment slot.

Cheers Mick. I'm not thinking of doing anything in terms of adding colour to the body - I've not tried a sunburst yet but I'll save that for another time. Looking like sticking with the plan of a plain maple and ebony neck.

I've got some flamed maple veneer which my dad gave me years ago that might look quite nice: The other option I'm thinking is to use some ash veneer: ] Anyone have any thoughts?

I drilled a couple of holes for wiring options then glued the body together and applied by usual five clamps: I'm thinking something like this which will be 30" scale. I am toying with the idea of using some veneer on the top and on the headstock but undecided at the moment.

I am planning on using plain maple for the neck and an ebony fretboard but the last photo has the necks I'm making next to the spalted beech body so I thought it might be good to look at what goes together as I keep eyeing up the padauk one,, I suppose this is the process we all go through to decide what looks good together. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but somethings go better together than others!! Here's a bunch of pictures of some different woods I had to hand just to give an idea. Stuff that looks nice (to me): Spalted beech / maple / ebony (my plan) Spalted beech / padauk / ebony Spalted beech / birds eye maple / ebony Spalted beech / maple / marble wood Spalted beech / maple / wenge Spalted beech / maple / ovangkol Other combinations of woods: Spalted beech / maple / flamed maple (fretboard just looks wrong to me) Swamp ash / purple heart poplar burr / Sapele? unknown hardwood (from Frank Blank) / flamed maple / birdseye maple / ebony / maple Frank's wood / ovangkol / pafdauk / purpleheart / maple As an example, to me the burr, flamed maple and swamp ash in this picture just shouldn't be next to each other (too much going on): I like the flamed maple next to the Sapele but not next to the spalted beech

I started detailing the new build in the other thread - this is what I'd written previously: Nice to have a day off today. Been working on another 27" bass in spalted beech again. Had a piece left from the previous bass so marked it up for cutting - odd shape but sufficient for his build. First, I placed the templates on to work out which was would avoid any of the knots or faults in the wood and look the best when done (always a bit of a guess with spalted beech when you are going to carve some of it as it changes pattern throughout it's thickness) Then marked the line to cut: and ended up with this which lines up quite nicely across the join: I've also been practicing making scarf joints and have a nice selection of blanks for a neck: I've got another body glued up made from ash which may also get turned into one of these.

Probably because she knows I'm all 'Bah-humbug'.... And this was my previous attempt at a Christmas tree...

This will be a little less detailed build diary as it is very similar to my previous build. I'm really enjoying playing the other bass so I'm making another 27" headed fretted mini bass with a spalted beech body, maple neck and ebony fretboard. This one will differ as I will use a different type of pickup and will fit LED side dots. I was trying to decide which colour LEDs (red, white or blue) but was told quite clear by Mrs_the_gut that they must be white. So that bit of the specification is fixed!! there will be a couple of other little differences but I'll detail them when it gets to the appropriate stage in the build.

This is going to be a slow build - I'll only be doing work on it in between DIy and other builds. So a few years back at the SW Bass Bash @Rich gave me a piece of hardwood from an old window that looked like it might be useful to make a neck from. Last year at another bass bash @Frank Blank gave me a couple of pieces of hardwood that 'might be useful' to me. The pieces weren't quite big enough to make a standard body from so I put them to one side. I saw a picture of a Telecaster bass using what looked like a Telecaster guitar. which I thought looked interesting. I checked the dimensions and still the larger piece of hardwood Frank gave me was still just a little narrow. After a quick scrat through the offcuts I had, I found a piece long enough to make up the difference and end up with a body bank of a suitable size. My initial plan for this is for the bass to be passive using a Retrovibe Mudbucker pickup with coil tapping, hardware I already have (generic elephant ear tuners, Wilkinson bridge, Telecaster scratchplate, Telecaster control plate) and for it to be 30" scale (as that seems to suit the shorter body size). There's a good chance something will change along the way but this is something a bit different for me! So first up, I cut the man piece in half and tried the offcut to make up the centre section. I thicknessed all three pieces to 45mm then flipped the two halves to get the grain running in opposite directions. The centre section was tried with the grain running quarter sawn in between the two wings. This ended up with a block big enough for a Telecaster body. The offcut for the centre section has turned out being very similar to the wings which is a bonus. I've dried clamped this to make sure it all lines up. I've also thicknessed the neck wood. This has highlighted a couple of small faults in the wood but nothing that can't be worked around. Next task for this will be to glue the blank up and to make templates for the body and neck but this may have to wait for a little while as I have another mini bass build in progress.

Absolutely!

Just for reference, the basses I've built so far have been between about 37 and 42mm. As you say, main reason is to ensure there is enough to bolt the neck on. I am building something at the moment that is 45mm thick but that is the thickest body I have ever done - generally 40mm is my aim as it seems to suit my builds. It's also worth considering the thickness from a playing and aesthetic point of view depending how thick the neck is or how high you want the fretboard over the body. Weight of a bass hasn't really bothered me but I don't gig two hour sets!! I seem to remember @Andyjr1515 making one bass that was really thin bodied - around 25mm if I remember right!! The body you are making is looking really nice - I'm looking forward to seeing this one completed. That is lovely grain on that timber you have chosen for this and I think it will look superb when finished. What's your plan - to make it thinner then check the weight and if it is still above your target then to do the chambering or will you chamber it anyway? Cheers

You could put mealworms in it too.....

Also in Staffordshire is https://www.woodwiseuk.co.uk/home/

New truss rod?

@Stub Mandrel Sorry - missed this post. I quite like the Wood Veneer Hub for veneers - they have some nice stuff and quite reasonably priced I think. Fancy wood tops are quite pricey - it isn't difficult to spend £100+ on some exotic top. As for body woods, there often isn't a particularly cheap option if you go down the route of the usual luthier supplies (typically £50+ for a body blank, £25+ for a neck blank). There are generally some decent UK wood suppliers that sell neck and body blanks that are already at the right thickness and are dry. The other option is if you have some form of timber/diy shop nearby (not the big chains). I'm quite lucky as I have a handyman diy shop locally that stocks woods like sapele and sometimes things like ash that is reasonably priced. Always worth a look to see if you have a saw mill or timber supplier local to you - these can be quite well hidden - I've come across a couple of places right on my doorstep which I knew nothing about (turned out a guy who works for one of them lived a few doors down my road!!). The other place I came across was a local cabinet maker - again worth a shout as they might be able to help you out or point you in the right direction. Someone did once suggest to try the local recycling centre as they has seen some quite nice wood there!!