Jimothey

If anyone is interested I’ve got some full size plans (PDF) Dimension IV Bass, Jazz Bass, And some guitar plans Jaguar, Strat, a few different Teles and some Gibson’s PM me if you want any of them and I’ll email them over to you

I was going to recommend crimson aswell but also Minwax have some nice stains

I completely agree they are scarily good!!! I seen builds on here that are better than some work by professional luthiers!!! Just got to try an save up so I can try and start my scratch build and hope it turns out half as good as these

Looks good, nice and road worn!!

@mcnach I was just thinking from the aesthetics point of view but that is a good point about 90 degree cables also a few people I know put the cable loop the through the strap at the bottom button to stop the cable being knocked or pulled out which seems a good idea as well

Just a quick mock up the body is just primered I had a incident with the routing of the pickups my cheap flush trim bit broke the bearing exploded (lesson to be learned here the router bit was cheap for a reason!!!) so it broke out a couple of bits next to the pickup lugs and the router kicked taking a chunk out aswell So I’m going to rout out bigger and fill the cavity again with timber then re-rout them again I cant decide whether to put a side jack in or put it on the face??? I’m swaying more towards the side jack as I like just the two knobs on the front

I find it’s best to build your template from scratch as heel widths can vary slightly depending on what neck you use, I understand that Harry is buying the neck? When he’s got it just draw round the heel (making sure to mark the centre line) to the length of the neck pocket he needs then cut it out carefully then hey presto you’ve got your template then transfer it on to you body and drill out the bulk of the pocket with a forstner but then finish off with a trim flush router bit You can also do that for the pickup cavities Great news!! With the 34” scale make sure that you take into consideration the balance issue you may have due to the shorter top horn on the body

Yeah all chrome hardware The pickguard is in the style of a ‘72 ish tele bass I don’t think they were as popular as the 51/55 style I did have my heart set in a walnut stained neck but I’ve primered the body (red) and it just didn’t look right so it’s gonna be some work but I think it will be worth it in the end taking the neck back to maple

I sanded through when flattening off the face of the headstock so I’ll have to refinish it anyway I just think with the cream pickguard and red body, maple would tie it together better?? Right I best grease up my elbows and get the sandpaper out!!..... I really need to make a plan and stick to it

No worries, you should be able to make a good bass with that budget!! Keep posting the pictures of your progress

You very brave to take on a scratch build at the age of 14 (I take my hat off to you!!) I probably wouldn’t make the body out of ply as I had a ply bodied p bass and it was really heavy and the sustain wasn’t very good (but that’s just my opinion...) some of the seasoned luthiers on here have probably got more experience on the subject so hopefully they will give some advice As for a the neck some people have had some good luck with the necks on eBay but it depends how much you want to spend?? Check out the for sale part on this forum for pickups you might be able to pick yourself up a bargain It might be an idea to consider starting off with a kit build ie a Jazz bass kit and reshape the body to the Jaguar shape and reconfigure the pickups and make a custom pickguard....... just a thought??

So that’s 1 to maple then!!....

I’m seriously considering sanding the neck back to maple instead of walnut stained as I’m not too sure if it looks that nice!?! What does everyone think about the walnut stain should it stay or or should it go now???.......(sorry I’m listening to the Clash whilst writing this)

That’s looking lovely!!!

It’s the first 5er that I’ve tried so I’m not used to the low B growl but I’ve only got a little 10w practice amp at the mo so it sounds ok?!.... probably sound better with a better amp?!......

Thanks @Andyjr1515 it’s come out better than I thought it would Once I’ve finished the others I might try and do a Streamer style aswell (Adam Clayton signature)

I’ve had this guitar in parts for about 3 years but it’s finally finished!!!! I’m really happy with the way it’s turned out!! It’s much better plain than chequered!!! 2 down 2 to go!!.......

@BreadBin I was considering changing the hardware to black but I’m liking the chrome on white but who knows I might change it at a later date?..... @SpondonBassed it does look a bit unconventional but I didn’t want it to be an exact copy of a Warwick, but if you think this looks odd wait and see what a full paddle neck will look like on a telecaster body??......

Here’s a mock-up of how it will look when finished.......

Bass heaven: Listening to a great bass player Bass hell: Listening to me try and play the bass

My contribution is the 4 or 5 string Quincy Monaco (£199) I’ve heard nothing but good things about them

Well body is now all sprayed!!! So over the weekend I’ll drill out for the jack and pots and get the wiring and shielding sorted then start getting it back together

@SpondonBassed You were right I definitely prefer it with the black tuners!! Now it’s time to try and finish some of the other projects

Obviously the quality isn’t as good as a Fender As a beginner it plays ok (still got to set it up properly) and I had fun building it so all in all it’s a win/win situation for me

I’m the last of the big spenders!!!!