Andyjr1515

In fits and starts, I've been continuing progress on this. Quick catchup. I did the blocks in a similar fashion to @Len_derby 's: First, used my cobbled up radius jig - Then slotted - Then stuck the fretboard blank onto the G&W template - Then found the little pin table I built for @Len_derby 's build to fit on my press drill and fitted with a 1.5mm router bit - With care - that gave me the chambers - Then cut some non-cites ebony blocks to fit - While all this was going on, the maple/walnut/maple neck blank was being glued together, more of which soon -

Nice - I remember that now.

I think the bridge weight thing is pretty straightforward, to be honest: Two bits (three really, because the saddle block is a double-decker): versus one bit:

I'll PM you. Interestingly, in the 'Bass Guitars' section of the forum there's someone else looking to lighten a Stingray...

Been there, done that.... Actually, you can get up off the floor. Remember that there are three rectangles to cut out of the top - the pickup, the bridge base plate, the stop tail - and there are all the curves to carve. Because the top wood is SO heavy, then you get a disproportionate reduction of weight for each of these. Just how much lighter it's going to be, I don't know...but it will be lighter. Oh - and as you probably can see from the outline drawing of the chambers, the MASSIVE control cavity is actually going to get bigger so that will take a few more ounces out **Thump** ? Oh it's OK, folks - @eude 's just fallen on the floor again. Anyway - don't worry - it may be big but it's going to be beautiful. And with magnets I will actually be gluing the top fairly late in the build so I can keep checking weight as I go along. Just tidying up the present chambers has taken out another 3oz, so at the moment we are only 3oz heavier:

OK - my plan in this post is to scare the willies out of @eude - and then get him to fall off his chair So - this is the chambering plan. 10mm removal between the neck pocket and the pickup chamber and 20mm everywhere else I can. Here are the areas: ...and bear in mind, the last instrument I built was only 22mm to start with... OK. I think we probably have @eude 's attention And so out comes the press drill and so far we have this: So I suspect this above will have scared the c**p out of @eude And so now is time to get @eude to fall off his chair. Original stripped down body weight: 5lbs 3oz This above, plus the cut katalox top: 5lbs 2oz Yes - katalox is heavy. But there's a but... Original bridge: 8oz Warwick bridge: 15oz So total weight (including bridge) in spite of all this wood removed is, at the moment, 6oz HEAVIER Listen...did I hear a thump? Sure I did. Told you

Central America - South Mexico through to the north of S America. So yes - quite close to Moffat...

To everyone's relief, especially MrsAndyjr1515's, I can up front declare myself out of the running to help in any actual building or modding way - I have more projects on the go already than is good for me - but yes...all of the above are valid options. You can: Chamber under a pickguard (actually, doesn't take out a lot of weight) Chamber from the back and cover with a dummy control chamber cover (again, surprisingly doesn't take out as much weight as you would expect Chamber from the back or front and hide it under a veneer or paint refinish (you can get a decent amount of weight out but have a look at the above thread of Harry's Harley to see just how much wood has to go!) Have a new body built with lighter woods and chambering Take thickness off the back (some basses have unnecessarily thick bodies) and veneer / refinish. This can take out a quite a bit of weight Have a thru-neck slimline and chambered lightweight designed and built, asking the builder to replicate the profile of your favourite neck And yes - done pretty much all of the above, either for my own use, or friends, or basschat members and other folks so I know they are all feasible. The only thing I would say, though, is that a Stingray 5 neck is VERY heavy! I can't remember where the strap button sits on a Stingray 5, but if it is any further back than level with the 12th/13th fret, then a neck diving result is a definite possibility. Hope this helps... Andy

I'm actually wondering whether it was a P-Lyte he originally had, then. Were they around in the late 60s/early 70s?

Ah - maybe that's what I'm thinking. Now THAT was a nice bass

Yes - the whole thing will darken considerably with the finish. Having said that, it's definitely going to be in the reddish spectrum rather than the brownish. It's quite like a bubinga in many ways. Main thing is that it'll look fabulous! (providing I don't pink torpedo it up, of course )

Because the eyes on the 'right' side were less diffuse, and were slightly further away from the centre, they actually would have been cut out entirely at the waist one way round, or been at the very edges of the body the other way round and because the length of the blank wasn't much longer than the bass itself, I couldn't just move it up a bit to get them into the area where the body widens. It's why I always use a paper template to check - too many times I've ended up having to cut out the nice bits! This way round - which is actually a mix of the two sides, you have one eye in there from the 'right' side, but the second eye spreads out so more of it ends up in the visible area. If that makes any sense at all!

Hi Not a large tortuous thread, you'll be relieved to know. A 'mature' former professional bassist I know was bemoaning the sale many decades ago of his beloved 60's Fender Precision. The two things he remembered - different to the cheap and cheerful no-name P he'd recently bought - were the smooth feel of the neck, and the lack of a sharp heel where the neck abruptly meets the body. I said I might be able to help by building a cheapish 'bitsa' and doing a couple of mods. The first was the neck - straightforward. Bought a P-bass neck, tinted it with chestnut spirit stain and finished it with the tru-oil slurry and buff approach described in a number of my tortuous threads For sorting the sharp heel, I wanted to use a cutaway neck plate but I also wanted to use an old Washburn body bought for a song - and for time and cost reasons - didn't want to have to strip and refinish it. Here's the plate: In that my mate wanted function over form, I could have just filed the corner off, stained the bare wood and treated the hole as an object d'art. Instead, I decided that if you can't hide it then flaunt it! So I decided to drop a piece of contrasting wood in. First forstnered and routed a pocket at the back: Then set in a piece of figured dark wood from a previous project: Shaped that to remove the corner: Drilled through the three relevant existing holes and the new offset one, then a touch of finish: And I've got to say, wow - what a difference! I thought that you would still hit the heel with your palm, albeit not on a sharp corner, but in reality, you can play right up to the top frets and your palm doesn't hit the heel at all. My mate is over the moon. Clearly, the fact that the offset plates are readily available means that this is a regular feature on some basses but has anyone else tried a retro like this? I'll certainly be doing this on my own VM Jag!

It's a pity I don't have spray facilities - some of these recent 'poster paint' colour jobs look SO good. This looks fabulous

Lovely job

Love it! That looks really smart

And the top is now rough-cut: I will probably use an ebony veneer as a thin demarcation line between the ash and the katalox. Doesn't need a lot of demarcation but even a thin strip does add a bit of class to any join Before weight relief, this is presently 5lbs 10oz. I will probably weight relieve the top as well as the ash to try to get a decent amount of weight out. I've also got to test the bond on the offcuts of the katalox - it's a relatively oily wood and may need to be epoxied to the back rather than tite-bond. I'll try and break the offcut from the neck in half and see how strong the titebond is. Relatively soon I will be joining the neck splices - mahogany/walnut/mahogany. I can be fiddling around with the weight relief while that is gluing...

A small but important step today. So I don't lose the interesting figuring of the top with the bits you end up cutting away, I took off 15mm from the width so that the two 'eyes' weren't off the edge of the waist. Having done so, I had to re-jointer the mating faces. For this I used the offset fence technique again on the router table. It needs careful set up but works a treat: Then the two halves were glued and clamped: And we had a piece of joined top wood: Seen through a paper template and dampened a bit, this will be the broad look. Once it's been sanded and finished, it's going to look v good :

Actually...hmmm. It's worth a thought...

And there we are - 10mm off the body. And it's flat! I've also cut a paper template to look at the options for the top. I'll play around with the various combinations, but this isn't bad for starters!

I sometimes use a router to get the 'spine' dead flat and correctly tapered, but I personally wouldn't trust myself with a router anywhere near the rest of it

It's certainly heavy!

So the first cut is the deepest, they say. Off comes the front part of the neck pocket: Nice join, @eude ! Next is to take 10mm off the top. Now as it happens, about a month ago, I finally got round to making a routing sledge to cope with pieces of wood that wouldn't fit in my thicknesser. Well - talk about fortuitous! Here's the rig: It's a heavy router and yet there appears to be very little deflection. The frame runs on two sets of bearings between a couple of dimensioned bearers: And 20 minutes later, the first 2mm is successfully off:

Yes - exactly like that middle one. Clearly Fodera have been stealing my ideas!

Well, with a passing nod to the Carl Thompson headstock style, this is broadly how it's going to look: I think that looks pretty The neck - at the moment, there is a fender-style brick wall at the heel - and multiple holes from two neck plates: So what I'm going to do is a bit radical. I will cut out the front 4 holes completely (shown hatched here): Then route the existing pocket further back to expose the end two holes and a bit more too (marked in pencil on the left here): Then carve a transition in the neck heel to the full depth at the join, with an extending 30mm 'tongue' containing set screw inserts: Leastways - that's the plan! The topwood that @eude arranged for Alan at ACG to send me is lovely: When I get a moment, I'll have a play around with a paper template. As is often the case, the interesting swirly bits would actually not end up on the build because that is where the waist of the body sits. I might turn out to be more pleasing using the back: Probably gives more figuring on the bits you will actually see. Anyway, we'll see. In the meantime, let's make some sawdust!