spacecowboy

Yeah I used magnets in my last build and they work brilliantly, I just really fancied using some brass screws on this one I'm rarely ever back in to the cavity to fiddle so the time it takes to unscrew the 3 screws isn't so bad

Oh I also got a new router... turns out my little palm router I was using was absolute JUNK, even with it's larger plunge base attachment. I bought a Bosch router during an amazon sale and it is a million times better, so all the routing on the body has gone without a single problem! Maybe I don't hate routers after all!

So a decent amount of time has passed since my last update, let's blame, work, life and Covid! So while I kinda liked the build up to a point I didn't like it enough to not just ditch it and start again... I know, It's just me, it's how I am, If I'm not happy I start again. So I had this timber, luckily quite a bit of it was off cuts or pieces I had around so it wasn't an expensive restart. I absolutely love the figuring on this Wenge block I had, but I want this bass to be more understated than that, so I used the more straight grain. A lot simpler in it's appearance. I got the wood for the neck planed up and checked the fit, it's my fave looking lamination of Wenge and Ovangkol. Originally in this photo I have used Ovangkol as the sandwich between the two wenge wings, this was then removed and I replaced it with Swamp Ash. This piece of Purpleheart I machined for the pickup cover was absolutely lovely, but again far too flashy for this build so it was benched for another build at a later time. I placed these inlays to indicate the centre of the pickups underneath, i'll do this on the final pickup cover I make too. So this is the bass with the swamp ash sandwich, and you can see on this picture the pickup cover is WAY OTT! This is also the hardware I have pulled together for the build, I got some lovely old brass Schaller tuners and I managed to get a period matching Schaller bridge and Schaller strap locks! I have gold knobs that'll sit on an old very cool EMG BTC circuit with EMG J5 pickups. I will be using brass fret wire and using brass for the fret markers. I will also be using string trees due to no angle on the headstock. Just don't look at the floor Testing the hardware on the body, really love the look of the gold / brass hardware. Brass frets and inlays installed on the fingerboard, might not do top dots... might do them too... I know I should get a brass nut however the Warwick one (which is pretty much the only nut I really like) is too much money right now so this black one will do, I'm planning two string trees, think the B string is going to rip the top string tree out though... might need to test that. I'm taking some inspiration from Ritter on the placement of the jack on this bass and it will be mounted to the back of the control plate. Spot the 10 bolt holes too! Got some lovely brass inserts for the brass screws that'll hold the neck in place. It's almost done from a building point of view, just the new pickup cover to machine and then final sanding and finishing, will be using Tung Oil and Wax again as the wenge loves that! This is the block I'm using for the pickup cover, I had two pieces of Wenge i profiled down and glued them up, will just route the insides out of this and then it'll need profiling and then sanding! Cheers everyone.

Yes! Another build to follow!!

That's really really nicely done! Great work!! 👌

Awesome work Haz, sounds great, big and fat!

Looking forward to the end result mate!

Looks ace! Great job!

So so good! Great work!

What happened to the Schaller? ☺️

Hi Haz, Is that an ABM adjustable nut? Bass is looking great! Keep up the good work!

Updates! Haven't made too much progress but still cracking on when time allows! Got the pickup cover glued up and rough sanded so it fits in place, need to prepare some screw mounting holes in the corners and you can see the tear out from my planer on some of the Wenge so that will need a quick fill but nothing major. I've used Ash to indicate where the pickups will be lying under the cover so I can ensure I play over the top of them. You can see these from the top too when in playing position. I popped a little bit of Ash around the entire edge too as I think it helps make it look classy, what it will definitely do is allow me to see if I have the cover level when installed on the bass. I've made some Wenge knobs too so everything matches up, the grain on this selection of Wenge is crazy, it's a bugger to sand but I think with some perseverance it's going to look lovely. Next! Electronics cavity routing and start the cavity cover, finish the body contour shaping and sanding. I'm still focused on getting the body and all it's parts finished first before cracking on with the neck!

For me, I love them, I really do even if my build diaries tell you otherwise... What I dislike about them is how quickly things can go from smooth sailing to rough seas. I understand the good jig argument and agree this is essential, but in my experience even with a good jig, it'll depend on the wood you're cutting, If you're routing wenge for instance and the router catches some crossed grain it can cause catastrophic damage to your work, it'll quickly rip a good chunk out of your timber regardless of your cutting depth, alder and ash however, rarely a problem will occur. Brilliant tools, superb finishing capabilities but unpredictably destructive at times. Like @SpondonBassed says, a healthy amount of caution and respect for the tool is essential!

Haha it's just in my nature to CAD everything first and get something in 3D in my hands, as a business we use proper rapid prototyping but on our desks we use the relatively affordable Anycubic machines, they're about £300 and PLA material spools are around £25 and last ages, very stable with very little clean up. I wouldn't replace an MDF jig however they're quite brittle.

From my experience of this place everyone is more than happy to help share their expertise and experience, it's a definite learning curve and there's lots to get wrong but it's very fun.

That's the perk of my job I'm afraid... Need a lot of 3D printing in my line of work and now we're working from home... The printer came with me 😉

So... The Claro Walnut turned up and it doesn't really look like what it does in that photo... the frog is barely visible... so... I have some walnut for something else... like the bin. Updates! Got the body blank glued up, picked up some Wenge with beautiful grain, decided to sandwich in a slice of swamp ash to help keep the weight down and mix up the visual a bit. Routed out the body shape and marked up the pickup cavity / cover section ready for drilling and routing. That neck on the right of the photo ended up being 3mm too thin... bummer... I'll use it for something else. Routed the cavities, I absolutely hated this job, I hate routers at the best of times but this job tested my resolve by the end of it I was absolutely sick. I've also started knocking the edges of the timber here to start shaping the curves. I have some felt lining to put in the pickup cavity... perhaps weird, but it looks lovely, the pickups will be mounted as normal with screws and springs but I think the felt just sets the whole thing off... Belly scoop popped in, got a cut in for my arm and scallops for my knee, super comfy so far. I 3D printed my pickup cavity blank with the pickup positions in so installing the pickups can be an easier job, I'll also use this print to route my pickup cover which I have gluing up now... but I really want that to be finished before I reveal it for thoughts... Next! I want to carry on working on the body before I start a new neck, this is the best bit of doing a bolt on bass you can work on every element individually. I'm going to get the electronics cavity started and I'm hoping to get the pickup cover finished while the weather is pants tomorrow. Body needs more shaping and sanding but it's coming along nicely. Thanks!

It's the same headstock / nut layout as my neck through build and they were fine so hopefully all will be well here. The position of the string trees will need looking in to however as I'll be using 2 hipshot style "3 string" trees so the A will be covered twice essentially. Need to make sure there's good pressure all round

Need to see a pic of that logo!

So I bought this piece of Claro Walnut... Why? Cause it looks like a frog (...yes it does) and I love frogs. I have finished a design for a 32" scale bolt on bass that I want to make... So what happens when you combine the frog with my new design? Froggy pickup cover! 😍 I've taken delivery on the timber I want to use on this bass and the construction will be; 2 Piece Wenge body (neck pocket, chambered pickup cavity, and electronics cavity should help keep the weight down) 3 Piece Wenge and Bubinga neck, (bubinga central laminate) "Frog" Claro Walnut pickup cover with Wenge walls Ovangkol fingerboard (I have a wonderful piece with what looks like ripples on it) If I can get tarnished brass / gold hardware then I will, or I'll try and tarnish it myself, no frog would have shiny super clean stuff, so that's tuners, bridge, knobs, and bolts, which will be hex bolts with brass inserts. I have brass frets but I'll leave them shiny I guess... No headstock angle this time round, flat head stock with string trees. Using an EMG jazz setup again but with master vol, pup blend, independent bass and treble. Work will begin next week! But really excited to get this one started!

Yeah these are vinyl's mate I couldn't find much else, I'm hoping they will survive!

Yeah? That's excellent, I have family who live in Malltreath and we go paddle boarding and dipping all around the island, Newborourgh is another personal fave!