Jabba_the_gut

And more shaping - the heel end this time. Takes a bit more time to do this as I'm blending the curves into an existing, finished body so I don't want to scratch the lacquer. Lots of sand a bit, check the fit. Sand a bit, check the fit etc. A little more to do but nearly there!

I've also got a 5 string Crafter acoustic bass that could do with a new truss rod - might do that as well!!

Manage to get a bit of time to do some more neck shaping. Starting to take shape now. The wood looks like it will have a really nice grain - it's birds eye maple but also has a nice flame to it. Hopefully that will come out nicely when the finish is applied - we'll see!

Hi Andy, Yep. I clear the entire area for the inlay and use an offcut of the neck wood in the middle of the logo. I try to find a bit of wood that lines up with the surrounding grain (even though no one would really notice!!). Cheers

Nice work! I've got a Patrick Eggle Milan IV I was going to scrap as the neck has a twist and a bump in it. Might just try removing the fretboard for practice now!! Never know, might even be able to do something with it rather than toast marsh mallows.....

The neck for this bass will need the truss rod at the head end which I have only done once before and that was a few years ago. As I don't want to ruin a nice piece of wood I'm trying this out on some Sapele offcuts to see how it goes. The Sapele wasn't wide enough so I have joined two pieces - looks quite nice how the grain has aligned. I've routed the truss rod slot and access for the allen key to adjust. I'm also making another headless neck at the same time to try on one of the mini basses. This will be fretless this time just to see if it works!!

I've used my Dremel to route the headstock for the logo - always a time consuming process!! I've glued the logo in and sanded it flat. I've also completed rounding the area on the front between the nut and the headstock. I'm also doing the neck shaping at the moment using my Shinto saw rasp - lovely bit of kit.

For me, I’d use a Forstner bit to remove the bulk of the cavities then use a router to tidy it up. I also spend quite a bit of time making templates for the cavities and the body itself to get accurate shapes with the router. Looking nice so far!

This is what someone has said to me before! You'll see from posts in my build diaries that I'm not the best at determining what can be charged for a handmade bass (I don't know what to ask for one, so I don't and I have lots of basses at home)!! I have only parted with a couple of basses.... But a lot of this is back to the old chestnut that it is worth what someone will pay for it regardless of how nice the woods, components etc. are. There are quite a few people out there that will pay £1000 - £1500 or more for a bass be it custom or off the shelf so there is a market, it is a question of finding out where you fit in. I also think that not many folk work out just how quickly the component costs can mount up when you are buying things as a one-off; just plucking figures from thin air but say £90 for a bridge, £75 for some tuners, £150 for a pair of pickups, £100 for a preamp, nut/strap buttons/knobs another £40 - that's over £450 before any wood has been bought! Even a basic body blank would easily be £60, basic neck blank £50, fretboard £40. Want a nice top and a better body wood then add another £200 say.....that's around £800 of parts. Admittedly, not everyone would want all of these but it shows how quickly costs can go up. And you haven't cut or shaped anything at this point, let alone applied a finish. It also comes down to if you are making a one-off for some one or a small batch. Someone may be willing to pay more for something that is unique to them rather than you making a bass then trying to sell it. I think people are also aware that they may spend a lot on a custom bass for them but if GAS strikes, the used value may be considerably lower. Then there is the reason you are doing this; are you wanting to make a living from it, subsidise another income or just doing for the enjoyment of building and selling to cover costs? These are the same questions I ask myself!! Not a particularly helpful response I know (sorry!) - just my thoughts. I think you just have to try and see what happens. All the best Jez

Often the piezo has four elements that sit beIow the saddle. It will be worth checking that the bottom of the saddle is properly flat and when it was put back in that it isn't snagging on the edge of the slot or any crud has got in underneath that prevents it from sitting flat. This is what quite a few piezo elements look like - your saddle probably isn't sitting properly flat on a couple of these hence the poor sound from two strings.

I've been getting on with some shaping and other bits and bobs on this neck. First the neck was marked up to give the rough shape (and so I don't get carried away and remove wood from the wrong place....it has happened...got carried away once and cut the channel for a truss rod on the wrong side of a blank so ended up having to make an upside down neck!) I've also fitted the side dots. Firstly need to find the middle point between the two frets then draw a line. I then use a drilling template to ensure that all holes are in the same line on the fretboard: Once these are done, the plastic dot rods are inserted: Then cut flush: I've started the neck shaping and working out where the logo will go so this can then be routed out with a Dremel and inlayed.

I'm thinking the spalted beech one would look nice with an ebony board and a maple neck. Nice, plain colour combination. This is the kind of thing (longer neck from another bass but this is how long the bass will be).

Very nice indeed!

Thinking of turning one into a mini fretless jazz with stacked knobs..... Will probably keep this one simple with a light matt oil finish and no fancy top.

Ow, go on then......

Bought an EMG pickup off Mark. Exactly as described and a dead easy transaction. Cheers!

I got this bridge form @6feet7 from his Zenith bass when it was converted from 4 to 5 string (see the build diaries - lovely looking bass!). I'm not going to use this so if anyone would like to make use of it then please drop me a message. Cheers Jez

Cheers Frank. No rush - got plenty to do!! Got a certain neck that is getting shaped this week...

I've run a cutter down both bodies to get a nice edge to join the two halves. Managed to miss all the holes in the mahogany body - hooray!! So this is where I'm at so far:

I've also got a block of spalted beech that I've had knocking around for a while. 40mm thick but not quite wide enough for a one piece mini bass so I've chopped it up to suit. The block is big enough to allow me to make two mini basses or one mini bass and a book matched top for my 5 string semi hollow project. This is the block and it has some nice grain I'm going to try to use: By cutting it in this kind of arrangement I can get the full width I need for the bass without wasting too much wood and should also catch the grain I like: Cut it into weird shaped pieces but it is the right size with the join down the centre line I've tried to match the way the grain runs on the upper and lower halves - quite pleased so far!

Started plotting these now and have cut a couple of pieces of wood. Firstly, I got some reclaimed pew ends - there is a smaller section which should be just about right for a body. Needs stripping and I'll need to avoid the old nail holes in the finished bass!! Here's the block I'm looking at using (currently 45mm thick) with a diagonal cut made: I'm also looking at using a piece of reclaimed wood given to me by @Rich for the neck Everything fits and now needs thicknessing.

Hi Mick. I can see where you are coming from but the headstock needs to be a certain size to be able to accommodate the tuners with the strings in a straight line and have rounded edges as I have done on other basses. I'll have a play along these lines and see what I can come up with! Cheers

Just saw this on eBay and was about to post the link!! Looks nice!

Knob posted.

Drop me a pm and I'll send one of the small knobs to you.