daz Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 (edited) I am using this fretless horror thing i bought off ebay for £26 or thereabouts. Just thought id like to find out what a fretless was like. Anyhow the Mighty Mite pups were advertised as working but only one ever worked. Needless to say i never really bothered with it. So i am going to make it my winter project. Today i dismantled it, and started to strip the paint off the body. Some of those horrible bumps will have to go, as will some of the rest of the body. I am taking a quarter inch off the thickness to lighten the weight a tad. I think i will have a natural finish, possibly with Danish oil, or something similar. The neck is off a fretless Stagg bass i think, (the machine heads are Stagg and it looks like a Stagg, but not positive). Not sure what bridge, pups or pots to fix back on yet. Plenty of time for that though. I have a Stewart Macdonald catalogue to peruse through yet. (Maybe a Humbucker and a Gibson neck pup? ) Taking it apart was a horror show. Screw after screw was stripped off. I had to [i]drill[/i] two of the pup screws out! Then there was the obligatory screws missing, along with strange wires coming up under the bridge and going nowhere. Holes hacked out with pen knives, etc etc. The naked body of the beast weighs in at 2.5Kg and thats after i lopped off an ⅛ of an inch of thicknes, as well as some extraneous bumps (see pic of original) What i really need to do first is try to identify the wood the body is made of. I honestly haven't a clue. When i think back to junior school (do they still have them?) Our woodwork teacher Mr Bolton, taught us to identify at least six types of wood from sight. There was, Ash, Oak, Teak, Mahogany, Birch, and Pine, if memory serves me correctly. Anyway all i have at the moment is a crappy pic, i will try and get a better lit one on the morrow. Does anyone have any clues of the sort of wood the body is made from in the pics below? Original £26 ebay fretless gloss painted Horror [attachment=61483:stag_fretless2.jpg] [attachment=61484:stag_fretless3.jpg] Can anyone identify this wood ? [attachment=61481:fretless_body1.jpg][attachment=61482:fretless_body2.jpg] . Yes that is an electric plane I am using there. I'm not sanding it down a quarter inch by hand. They dont half take off a lot quick though , dont they? Even on the lowest setting. Nearly a disaster happened there. Good job i needed so much taking off. Edited October 16, 2010 by daz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 wood looks like maple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderpaws Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 [quote name='MoonBassAlpha' post='989804' date='Oct 15 2010, 11:29 PM']wood looks like maple.[/quote] Hello, It does look like maple doesn't it. You could make a Gibson Ripper bass clone! I am about 3/4 of the way through my first build, from scratch, and it is a challenge. Stalled for a while over the summer, but back on track now. Just bough a purfling cutter from America on Ebay so waiting for that to come so I can make the body look cooler. Good luck to you. Go careful with the tools there. I just levelled my frets with my stone and it took off way more than I thought it would in a only a couple of strokes. g Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz Posted October 16, 2010 Author Share Posted October 16, 2010 (edited) Thanks guys, yes im pretty sure it is maple yes. You know when I have looked over build diaries, i'm always struck by how long it takes to sand by hand, especially the edges and such like. Often sometimes a week or more. So i thought, nah lets bring in the grinder and a flap disk to do the [i]heavy work[/i], and i'll do the last bits by hand. Yes i know it may be sacrilage in the world of the bespoke luthier. But stuff it. Im 47 years old already, I aint got no time to waste no mo' I did actually try a bit of Nitromors, but this was just messy and seemed to spread the paint on the nice clean parts . Arghhh! Before flap disk [attachment=61554:fretless...ap_disk3.jpg] Five minutes later [attachment=61555:fretless...lap_disk.jpg] The body now wieghs a pound lighter, after i have chopped of the ugly protuberances (see first pic on top post) and thined down a tad. Unfortunately ther original builder has not left me with anywhere to go with the pot compartment a bit too close to the edge. I will probably take a little more off the opposite side though. pot compartment. [attachment=61557:STA71193_resized.jpg] [i]Please feel free to warn of impending snags unforseen by me, comment, critique, offer ideas or pointers, (or point & laugh) mock my ham fisted efforts, etc etc.[/i] Edited October 16, 2010 by daz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz Posted October 18, 2010 Author Share Posted October 18, 2010 (edited) I dont suppose it could be [b]Ash [/b]could it? Any timber experts ot there willing to take a gander and a guess? [attachment=61720:STA71193_resized.jpg] Edited October 18, 2010 by daz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_B Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 It could be ash. It depends on how much it weighs. AFAIK, ash is lighter than maple.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 If it is solid maple, your shoulder will know about it very quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Jack basses have a soft maple body, and that's quite light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 [quote name='MoonBassAlpha' post='993401' date='Oct 19 2010, 12:24 PM']Jack basses have a soft maple body, and that's quite light.[/quote] My Jack was heavy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Perhaps I should clarify my meaning - If it is solid [i]acer saccharum[/i], your shoulder will know about it very quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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