Andyjr1515

Definitely watching these builds!

There are two items in the design brief I have been getting my head around - to try to make this as light as possible without neck dive and to have covered pickups. I have combined those two requirements by routing the pickup chambers both to the largest width / length - which is basically the neck pickup, squared up, taking a bit more wood and weight out. It has the added advantage that if FuNkShUi ever wants to replace the PJ's with super-triple-gargantuan-flipper buckers, it'll be a doddle The challenge was covers. Never made those before and I only had enough camphor left over for a single shot at it. I decided that I would go for free-hand routing the chamber and then cut the shape out. The camphor offcut still has the wenge veneer stuck to it, but I thought I would leave that on for the time being. Here it is during the chamber-routing process: I went for the small router base on the little bosch because it's easier to see what is going on. I was aiming for a 1.5mm - 2.0mm thickness at the top and 5mm max sides (which will probably be sanded down a bit) I then cut the shapes out with a pull-saw and did an initial tidy up with the sander. They will be sanded further to angle the sides a bit and dome the top a touch, and will have the veneer taken off and sanded down to finished height, but at least I now know I don't have to revert to redoing them in ebony! They finished at 1.5mm thick which I'm very pleased about Andy

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1449135446' post='2920959'] The D and G tuners look very close together too, would they be awkward to operate that close? [/quote] Hi, allighatt0r! No - as long as they don't touch at their extremes, I think it's fine. My bubinga is VERY close to the point the the lobe on one tuner, fits into the cutaway of the adjacent one! When you're tuning up, you have the luxury of making sure you are turning one and not knocking the other. The difference with the drop D is that you want to be able to do that between numbers and not knock the other tuner in the process.

[quote name='alittlebitrobot' timestamp='1449095783' post='2920819'] always a joy to follow your builds, Andy. After all the to-ing and fro-ing on page one about the design, did nobody think to point out that Alder + Camphor = Alpher? Spooky. Anyway very nice work [/quote] I came up with Camder....but then again what do I know

The pretty appalling weather has halted major building work, but allowed me to plan some of the remaining stuff. The pickups are going to be covered - I have enough camphor offcut for one-shot at this...and if I bugger it up I'll pretend I wanted to do it in ebony anyway... They are going to be symmetrical, sized to accommodate the P p/up: The other thing I've done is double check the headstock with the Hipshots - particularly the Drop D tuner. At first sight, it looked OK: BUT, with the drop D dropped, this didn't leave me with enough margin for error in terms of potential tuner clash: Good job I checked! But no problem and easily solved, especially as I haven't cut any wood yet!

I'm like hubrad- I aim for zero. Nowadays I use the Warwick Just-a-nuts so I can tweak it until it's spot on.

Welcome to the coolest bass forum on the net, Skodadad! Seen this in the other place but it looks just as good here! Andy

Really something very, very special. Brilliant!

I'm not at all sure how I've missed this thread before, but that is a [i]stunning [/i]restoration. Top job. Pleased you did the update - not only that you've sorted the electrics but because I'd have missed this otherwise!

[quote name='Bastav' timestamp='1448714604' post='2917593'] I like that headstock shape. Goes real with the body [/quote] Thanks, Bastav

With a few days of rain forecast, I have been sorting some jobs that I will be able to do indoors in the spare room ("Yes, dear, that's what I said...it's not a spare room, it's the guest bedroom. Building guitars? Well, I don't think you'd let me do that in the [i]guest bedroom[/i]..."). Re-wording it a little, I have been sorting some jobs that I will be able to do indoors in the spare room when Mrs Andyjr1515 is out. I've got approval from FuNkShUi for the design of the headstock - a very nice indoor job. What he was aiming for was a non-symmetrical, medium-sized ebony plated shape that would 'fit in' with the vibe of the body. This is the design we've firmed up on: and this is what it will look like in proportion: What it is trying to do is offer a passing nod to the shape of the body, with the scoop-out exposing the mahogany and walnut to balance the colours between the head and body. I know I'm somewhat biased on this, but I think it looks tickety-boo Andy

[quote name='6v6' timestamp='1448558208' post='2916467'] Looking good! For the uninitiated, would you mind describing what the "flossing" entails? I assume it's a technique for fine adjustment of the joint prior to joining? [/quote] Yes - it's seen more when you are building an acoustic and trying to get the neck heel butting up exactly to the guitar sides. In my case, this joint needs to close up a bit: All I do is put a strip of emery cloth between the two joint faces and pull - repeated until the neck face exactly matches the body face. In reality, of course - as the only bits seen after the fretboard is on are the two small side joints - I could have just cut it away in between the extreme ends and nobody would know or care (no structural significance of this mating surface at all)...but I would!

[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1448542302' post='2916280'] Bet the wife hasn't seen that in the spare room! Wet glue / Light Carpet your livin' on the edge my friend [/quote] ..and no, she hasn't Let it be our little secret!

[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1448542302' post='2916280'] Bet the wife hasn't seen that in the spare room! Wet glue / Light Carpet your livin' on the edge my friend [/quote] It adds the thrill of danger.... Actually - the router does that, too....

With the fretboard now profiled, I checked and double checked the projected action height and I am sure it will be just right with a totally flat-angled neck. So flossed the body/neck join and on it goes... The pickups and EQ are on their way, so I will be able to do the routing of the control chambers and pickups. Then the fretboard can be glued on after installing the truss rod. As always, thanks for looking Andy

[quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1448520302' post='2916035'] Yep - the same, looks like tortoise shell when glossed up [/quote] Fantastic. Can't wait I hadn't seen a bass or guitar with a camphor top before and am delighted with how yours looks.

Thanks all! That's a lovely looking Shuker, deepbass5. What is the top wood on that one? Is it camphor too?

[quote name='Chris Sharman' timestamp='1448449248' post='2915456'] Ay Caramba! This just keeps on getting better. More sunny days required. [/quote]

Oooh - that's better Yes - like that

No problem, Matt. As far as I know, I'm not going anywhere, so I should still be here Andy[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1448288682' post='2914158'] How do you do the neck angle to get the strings to the bridge height without a 'flying' fingerboard? Ian Oh i think i get it now (Can't see the neck/body join in the photos). [/quote] I think you're probably already there, Ian, but in case any other readers are wondering the same thing, this is the joint (prior to 'flossing' of the mating faces) Basically, it's flat. So, depending on the measured clearance of a straight edge from nut to bridge, then I can predict the action height and the adjustability range of the saddles:[list] [*]If the predicted action is OK as it is, the fretboard will be flat across the joint. At the moment, I think that will do it [*]If the predicted action is high, I can shim the nut end of the neck body join and just sand the resulting edge of the camphor for it to sit snugly against the fretboard [*]If the predicted action is too low, I can shim the tailstock end and again sand the camphor for a snug fit of the fretboard against it. [/list] It's a bit like when you are fitting an acoustic guitar neck where, apart from very small tweaks by sanding the saddle, the bridge height is pretty much fixed. Andy

You'll both make me blush....but keep building up the courage, Matt

Another dry morning, so attacked the 'real' fretboard. I first planed it to closer to final width, then used a 12" radius block to start the profile shaping. I put a central line down in pencil to give make sure that the profile retained its straightness up the length - when the pencil mark disappears, you know you've got the desired curve and any more sanding will simply make that area thinner! I always take the opportunity to collect the ebony dust - it's great mixed with epoxy used as a gap filler - particularly for mother-of-pearl logos on ebony plates and fretboards! Here's the profiled fretboard, down to 120 grit. Once it's glued onto the neck, it will have a final profiling and then sanded down to 1000grit before putting the frets in. Andy

[quote name='Mattpt85' timestamp='1448107600' post='2913086'] Not worth starting a new thread but I started again on a new body. [/quote] Is it just me? Can't see the photo...

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1448193226' post='2913520'] Gigged with it last night, it felt great not to have 8lb of wood and metal strapped to me! This may well become the go to bass, I have to sing and play flute , I have to pick up and put down the flute quickly during songs, It's so much easier with this bass. More thoughts on the hardware to follow.... [/quote] Sounds like a result! It's a good feeling when a project fully meets its design aims . Well done.

I'm probably 'pushing the envelope' as far as MrsAndyjr1515 is concerned with the reckless neglect of jobs around the house and in the garden, but when it's not raining, bass building is what has to be done! It's now starting to look like a bass proper - I got the bandsawing of the neck done. First of all, slimmed it down to body depth: and then within a mm or so deeper than the final neck depth, got the basic side shape of the neck and headstock cut: The fretboard shown is still the spare one and the headstock will have extra 'wings' and will also be ebony plated on the top. For the slotted blank of the real fretboard, I've thinned that down by 1.5mm based on my calcs to get down to the slimness of FuNkShUi's favourite Warwick bass - a slim 23mm non-tapered depth. The reason is simple - with the blank ebony being a generous 8.5mm, once you'd added the depth of the truss-rod slot, there would only have been 1.5mm or so of depth left under the truss rod. Slimming down the ebony a tad has helped get that to a functional and safe thickness even when fully replicating FuNkShUi's slim profile. There [i]should [/i]be no reason why I can't fully replicate the dimensions and shape of the Warwick... Now, for all of the reservations and downsides of my odd way of building, this is where is really comes into its own for me personally. Once I've finish sanded the top and sanded the straightness and radius on the fretboard, I can still final fit the neck depth and angle so that I know that the bridge is going to be in its optimum adjustment range for the correct action height of the finished bass. While you can calculate these things in advance and try to build exactly to plan, having glued the neck / top early, with hand tools and basic facilities, there are too many things that can be slightly different and which cumulatively can give you a problem. With a bolt-on neck, you just bung a shim in. But with a thru-neck that is already glued in, it can get a bit more complicated. I'm still enjoying this build enormously Thanks for looking! Andy