HazBeen

It should be banned from existence, but such is.

Did some stuff on the “GEETARRR” Trussrod installed, rough cut the neck, slotted the fretboard. Made my first mistake by slotting 24 frets and needing only 22 .....thankfully not an issue.

Certainly the drop in value on custom builds is astronomic, you literally lose 40% on most makes with very few exceptions (certain US brands I would say) instantly. So worth keeping in mind.

I think the OP mentions “loosely based” on a J, I would therefore certainly advise to speak to a luthier. I am lucky as I build my own custom instruments (plus the odd commission for others), to my specs and being able to choose whatever you want is a wonderful, although sometimes daunting feeling. Contact @Andyjr1515, he has done things I do not see other luthiers take on. Simple fact is that the more you rely on building as your main income, the less willing you will be to go outside the box unless you can charge a fortune to do so.

I would say the only drawback of wenge is that it is quite varied in hardness. Some of the grain is surprisingly soft, some quite hard. So you do need to be mindful of that, especially on intricate carves. Other than that, great wood to shape and work with.

Looking at it again, am doing a cap.... wenge probably, and I will als make a matching cover for the trussrod cavity.

Btw, the plastic will much more evenly mat, this is just 1000 grit. I will take it to 2-3000.

I started with the Ibby neck. The headstock looks ugly as, so I decided to reshape. Nothing spectacular. I also routed of part of the facing (some sort of plastic) where the logo was. The plan was to add a maple cap to replace the bit I routed off and take the shine off the remaining plastic (as I will be doing the same with the pickguard) for a mat finish. That said, I think it looks quirky as is, so may just round off the plastic and leave the wenge/bubinga exposed. Sometime a bass designs itself.... Thoughts?

The good thing about building is that you can change your mind .... looking good!

Now the multi-scale is done I am starting this tandem build thread. Infinite Bass 4.4CL: 4 string PJ style, but with Thunderbuckers Passive 34” scale Remodeled/reused Ibanez Grooveline 4 wenge/bubinga neck Alder body Chrome hardware Black stain/oil finish Gotoh tuners Hipshot bridge Infinite Custom Mocking Jay 6: 25.5” scale Alder body Dual humbuckers, 3 way switch Red stain/oil finish Chrome hardware ... who cares

I used it for band practice yesterday, it is a “heavy” sounding bass. A lof of natural girth and compression. Maybe the wood combo, maybe the Fishmans. Great pickups, although even the “classic” voicing is quite modern. I like them (I like EMGs too), but they may not be everyone’s cuppa. I am going to hold off on recording for a few weeks, so it can break in a little but it will come!

4068 grams, including batteries for those who want to know.

No issues with rear pickup sensing area btw, phew

Wow, that took much more time than expected 😂. Lots and lots of wires to solder.... anyway, all done now. Clearly I will shoot some daylight pics soon and so a quick recording. The thing sounds monstrous through my headphone amp, so bodes well! Will tidy up strings when fully intonated.

Been putting things together..... just the wiring to do and then we are pretty much sorted. Expect to post pics of the finished bass tonight, I got lucky and pretty much have perfect action everywhere, just need to raise the E string a little and we should be golden. It is looking mega!

It looks glorious!

Fluence pickups are very different apparently, the similarity ends on the exterior. And they certainly extend beyond EMGs, my screwdriver test made that very apparent. You see a lot of guitars where they are really close to the rounding, which would not work with EMGs. Anyway, we will know soon enough. 6 layers of oil on the body, 4 on the neck. Just 1 more coat tomorrow (but lemon oil) and then dry overnight and I will start putting things together. Whilst I knowingly took a risk for the sake of the “design”, and I have a solid “what if” I’d hate to have to make covers or surrounds on this one, I really like it as it is now. So pics like this are what I am relying on...

Hi, from a design perspective it looked better for the pickups to align with the flared heel, so they are off-centered ever so slightly, well spotted! The picture angle makes it look as if the B is a little further towards the edge than it actually is. I could not find too much on the net on the sensing area, but if you look at the Spector Dimension 5, it is also pretty close. Roughly the same as I have it and I had seen examples where it is even closer to the edge (especially on 7/8 string guitars with Fluence pickups, they have the same design as the bass ones). I did a quick test (screwdriver tapping) and the sensing area appears to run to a few mm from the edge, but it is a bit of a gamble if honest. Should be okay, worst case I will be creating some wooden pickup surrounds .... I will let you know!

I will let the pics do the talking,

Not something you see too often nowadays...

Phew, I can breath now

So, at least we have the alignment and string spacing right, now to carefully route out 4mm cavities for the saddles to slot into and get some better access to the tuning knobs. Will be using my Dremel and tiny router base for this job...... very slow, very gradual. I can still b@lls this up of course, but so far so good And yes, I have had a little play..... appears to be very resonant, very comfortable neck.

@Andre_Passini, installing your wonderful bridge next

String clamps check! May keep the strings on, great tone