4 String Build Ressurection

[scojack]

This has been on the back burner for what seems like years.
After brushing the dust off the body i have made a few minor changes and decided
on a different (new) neck.

Here's where i left it..



Neck is now ready ..




No volute ... a first for me.
I usually hide the scarf joint too but just left it 'naked' on this neck.





Flatsawn ...another first.





Back side ...



Front Side






Still a wee bit of work to do before the weather turns bad but i should get it finished.
I can see me going for a proper bridge though , don't know if i like those.

[scojack]

Routing done, first coat of lacquer

[JPJ]

Wow looking good! Thats some stunning wood you've got there. FWIW, I'd go with a proper bridge too, I find those monorails detract something from the sound imho.

[Owen]

The man knows wood.

[Owen]

Upon further consideration, he also knows aesthetics.

[Cameronj279]

That's a really nice piece of wood you've picked there. What is it?

[JPJ]

Looking at this again there is something quite Pedulla about that body shape (in a good way) :-)

[scojack]

Thanks for the comments folks, it was getting a bit lonely in here ....cheque in the post Owen

The main body is a 2 piece Olive Ash, the cap is one piece of gnarly London Plane. (Both from UK grown wood).
The London Plane is nice to work, feels similar to maple, i was going to put a tint of colour over it but i'm glad i just
left it the natural colour of the wood. It's a nice rich honey colour which looks quite plain from a distance, its
not till you get up quite close that you can see all the figure in the wood.

I'll take Pedula . This design has evolved over a few builds (theres still a few tweaks to do yet) but i can see the
similarities...there's a retro hint of the 80's about it........Inevitable really .........!


Ian

[cheddatom]

I love it!

[scojack]

So that's the lacquer on and dry. Next few days spent flattening off (the lacquer is applied by brush) and going down the
sanding grits until the finish is completely smooth and flat.



Still a little buffing and polishing to do but it's pretty much there.
The London Plane is really beginning to look the part now, well chuffed (I have another board of this in the stash).

Edited September 22, 2014 by scojack

[Owen]

Mmmmmmm......... a solid body made of one piece of London Plane.

[Simon.]

I'm not normally a huge fan of 'coffee table' tops, but man, that London Plane is awesome! I like the headstock shape, too.

Great work!

[scojack]

Cheers Simon, glad you like it
You might see it sometime, my bro does a fair few gigs in 'burgh.


Shame no one has asked about the neck wood yet.

[Owen]

What's the neck wood?

[scojack]

Glad you asked that Owen
Looks like Brazillian Mahogany but is actually Jacareuba or Santa Maria. I was looking for some nice quarter sawn maple but stumbled across this. What first stuck me was the lovely straight grain this wood has, there was plenty of good quarter sawn stuff available but i thought feck it, i've been spouting off about using qsawn wood for years but haven't actually built a neck using purely flatsawn material so thought i would put it to the test. Bass is now strung up and feels really good.... neck hasn't moved South in the slightest. It is lovely to work and finishes really really well. It's lighter in weight and stronger than mahogany and relatively inexpensive. I'd certainly recommend it. In fact i'm going to order a few more planks for the Stash, there is plenty on fleabay at the moment.

Oh it's a rosewood board with a flamed Eucalyptus binding.


IanM

[rk7]

Lovely wood! This is a nice bass indeed. Great work.

RK

[4 Strings]

Hang on, you've got mono-rails. Not using a 'proper' bridge?

[scojack]

Thanks RK
4 Strings --- i had these lying around really so decided to give them a try.

After putting them on i was swithering on a 'proper' bridge as i wasn't keen on how they looked TBH.
But....i have the beast strung up and really like what i'm hearing. Now it's just a 'feel' thing at the moment as there's no electrics in it yet but the very old strings seem to be ringing surprisingly brightly, ..........not what I was expecting at all.
So i will keep them for the time being .... see what it sounds/feels like when i get it the electrics in.

IanM

Edited September 26, 2014 by scojack

[4 Strings]

I think it's looking great. I wondered about London Plane for the Ruach bass I had made last year, seeing as I'm from London etc, looking t yours, wish I'd stuck with it!

[scojack]

Im sure Heath could be persuaded to do you another m8
(I Love Heath's stuff...hasn't been on here in a while).

[scojack]

Nearly there, frets levelled/dressed, pickups in ...EMG Hz's, looking forward to trying these, hopefully get time with the soldering iron this weekend and thinking about knobs ... Edited October 10, 2014 by scojack

[Myke]

Woah

[Ticktock]

Looks fab, hope it sounds it too?!!

[MoonBassAlpha]

Top quality whittling man!

[scojack]

That's the knobs on and it's now completed ! Crappy pics though..bit dark in Sco Towers.

Barely put it down of late, my youngest (who it's for) can't get near it !



Very happy with the EMG pickups in the end.
Loads of Bass response. Switch to the bridge pickup and it honks away like a good 'un.

Nearly came out of retirement to do a demo ......but .......naaaahh !

Going to have to do one for myself i think....
So .......



Spent Saturday milling some[b] Golden Ebony[/b]..
One piece neck with matching FB.

The board on the left is the neck blank, one piece which is quarter sawn.
Middle board -- fingerboard, more figure on this one.
The board on the right is an example of how this wood darkens over time, it planes quite light to begin with.
.

Ian

Edited November 24, 2014 by scojack