spacecowboy

So if we took the company I work for, which designs and manufacturers products and sells them through direct to consumer channels and 3rd party retailers; The product cost you - £390 The retailer takes 50% of product value so it cost them - £195 to purchase from the manufacturer The manufacturer takes 50% of product value so it cost them - £97.50 to make £97.50 generally covers parts, labour, overheads, and you'd do the same cycle for all the parts that make up the guitar, i.e pickups, someone makes the pickups, sells to a retailer, bought by your guitar maker. £97.50 isn't going to get you too much especially in the QC department. The consumer in every market is always shafted by the final RRP, we pay the upward cost for everything, which is why I'm always skeptical about 10% off sales, that's 10% off RRP which was inflated by 50% by the retailer in the first place, so imagine a product at £390 reduced by 10% now costs you £351, bargain right? well no not really, the guitar is still only £97.50 to make, the retailer still pays £195.00 for the product, They sell it with a 10% discount for £351, the retailer is taking the hurt, but they're still turning profit, that 10% might have attracted a 25% uplift in sales negating the 10% drop hurt anyway. This is a very loose general overview and every retailer / manufacturer has different margins, we have some products that retail to consumers for £5.00 that cost us 0.01p to make so work out the value uplift on that if you can stomach it! There's very little real value anywhere.

Today was pickup cover day, glad this is done and out the way! Routed the cavities for the Bart's... Lovely snug fit... So snug intact they don't come out and need to be teased out with tools!! I'll sand the inside edges a tad. Router also decided to go awry on my bridge so I've had to remake that and it's currently gluing up... Of course it's the last bit of routing I needed to do and the first time I've messed up routing on this whole build! Grr!

More importantly look at this trooper!! You'd be quids in if you took the bet!

It's back! Racing stripe is a go! And now I see it I might agree it looks better this way! I made these tiny guys too, I need to round the ash off to circular profiles but I've basically just sandwiched wenge between the ash and put a 45 degree angle on one side, at some point I'll file in the groove for the string and hopefully these will work better than the last design... If they're anything they're bloody cute Started taking meat out of the pickup cover too ready for routing! Need to get the strings ordered soon but I think it'll be the most complex Newton's order I've ever done... We'll see!

Let's give the people what they want, I've re made the pickup cover and bridge so the grains match up, it's a small thing but I really think it's worth the effort. Tomorrow I'll be able to cut them down to size and the bass will have its "go faster stripe" once again! My missus agrees with you all by the way so she'll be happy too! Also let's place bets on this guy lasting the night... 6-1 odds on it not dripping off!

Wow! That looks killer

I have some brass bar that I could cut instead of the wood...

Very interesting!! Wonder how I can avoid that then? He makes it sound fantastic but it's not what I'm after! Do I need to just have a sharp break angle for the string to bend over?

Is that all from the saddles?!

Looks like I need to go back to it! 🙂 Watch this space!

Time to start on the bridge! Made a guide for my router to quickly cut the slots to depth and ensure they were square. Drilled out what I could before the router did it's thing. Everything routed out it was now time to make the saddles, if you have a look at the mid right of this pic you'll see Dr circular saddle tests I did, this was so I could rotate the saddle to ensure the string ran true from bridge to nut... I ended up opting for these rectangular shapes with chamfered edge and groove for the string to sit in. Idea here is the strings hold the saddles in place, they're a tight fit so they're not sliding around freely but do move with a nudge, I'm hoping I'll be able to set the intonation by moving them and tightening the string to pitch, the force from the string should be enough to keep everything happy... Something I have to test for sure though. Decided to "string" the bass (literally) to make sure that the holes lined up with the bridge, nut and tuners, thankfully it all did, don't recommend these strings however, very little tension and they sound a bit wooly. Installed the machine screws and made sure that the bridge raised and lowered as required and again it seems to work like a charm, will be very easy to quickly set the action at the bridge, my worry is the balance of the strings and ensuring they don't sit at different heights, will need to finish the slotting on the bridge when the final strings are here to ensure they sit well. Really cool to see it with strings on! The endless sanding starts soon enough!

Wow that Ash is crazy! That'll be an amazing looking bass!

2-2!!

Well! That's two in favour of how it was!

Oooh... interesting I'll be keeping both I'll see what they both look like and see how I feel 😊 knowing me it'll be purple heart in a week!

Changes are afoot! I made the bridge with the neck through detailing running through to match the pickup cover but really didn't like it so made the blank again in Ash and then made a new pickup cover from the same piece and really love the look of it being just ash, looks a lot less "try hard" At least for the next one I can plan all these pieces to ensure they all sit seamlessly with each other, but they still don't look bad as they are!

Funnily enough I do already have someone who wants the same bass making once I've made this one 🙂! Different woods but the same. I am going to build his for cost of parts only and I'll open that up to anyone else on here who wants this model too 👌

Thank you Haz 🙏

I got a Bosch one was about £60 ish and it's brilliant. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001E4EJ5S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_FEXWRQHD59GZR3KXN58M?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 I also had a small Makita knock-off palm router which I hate with every inch of my body.

Yes! The output jack is going on the front by the knobs, I always thought it looked bad there, but then I realised my Marleaux has a jack there and looks great... Also if Fodera think it's a suitable place for it then who am I to argue! ☺️

H'ok some updates! Started the body carve and shaping proper now the fingerboard is on. This one has plenty of shape and movement in the body so it's taking a while to balance out all the curves but it's getting there. I've rough cut the cavity cover and just need to sand and profile the edges, I'll be blending this in with the curves for a nice finish. The "groove" in the central wenge piece at the tail is so I can pop the bass between my legs when playing in a "classical" position, which makes it very comfy. Popped some white spirit on to clean away the grime and the ash is truly coming alive, the bass has only been sanded at 80grit so far so lots to go but the grain is lovely! Note the flat section on the upper horn this so I can lay my wrist flat against the bass while playing and that should help my sometimes awful "bass wrist" Lots of sanding to go and need to get the bridge and cavity cover sorted, oh and router the pickup slots in the cover, but well on its way. Thanks for looking!

Essentials for me are, Router (preferably not a palm one if you like your hands) Bandsaw Card scrapers (especially a gooseneck) Half round file Gouge chisel I'd like to think I could get by with just those. If I could add just one more tool it would be either a number 4 plane or spokeshave.

Threaded inserts installed in the cover cavity and holes drilled for the bolts to sit in, thankfully all lines up well, did have springs to push the cover back up when the bolts where loosened but I've found foam to be a much nicer solution so I'll be installing two foam blocks to the underside of the cover between the bolts. I have 3D printed this little jig to help with getting my drill holes nice and aligned and consistent, the two dots on the left are the 24th fret, far right 12th and centre for the rest, there's an allignment groove in the middle of each so I can line them up with the measure between the fret. All markers done, need a good clean up to get rid of the glue but I'll do most of that work when it's glued up! Need a much better jig or setup for gluing the fretboard on, too many clamps, too time consuming! Will be able to start properly on the carve in the next couple of days and work on shaping the bass.

Fantastic work