Bastav Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 (edited) So I haven't quite finished the 25 inch scale bass yet... but as I'm lacking in the motivation department when it comes to frets and sanding I decided to get a headstart on my next project. Not that I need another bass, I've just gotten real fond of building them. So this will be 34'' scale with 5 strings. Pickup will be a Häussel oldstyle P. Here is the drawing I'm currently working from The body will be Brazil walnut (not sure but I think it's Imbuia) and wenge, with some additional wenge veneer stylings. Neck will be wenge, fingerboard will be wenge. I'm getting rid of all my wenge (almost) with this one. Even though it smells and looks nice, it's no fun to work (which makes me think this bass might mean trouble. Wood! Glue up! I'm hoping to complete the bodyblank tomorrow. The Imbuia has got some really nice figureing, unfortunately the biggest peice is the most boring one... Edited April 22, 2016 by Bastav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted April 23, 2016 Author Share Posted April 23, 2016 I got the body down to thickness with a router, then I started the veneer trickery Glued the veneers on and cut out the shape, I oversized it quite a bit to give me some room to work out how i would go about shaping the veneers, did some carve tests. I think it might actually work out the way I thought it would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlungerModerno Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 That looks very promising! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 Thanks, I feel good about it so far. Today I routed out a control cavity (free-handed it ). Then I did some more work on the hoop, and carved away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sblueplanet Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Could be a cool-looking headless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 The thought has crossed my mind... Hmm, i do have a headless with regular tuners idea... Might have to think it over for a bit, thanks for the comment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 Im also contemplating grain filling the wenge with some kind of reddish grain filler... Has anybody done this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted April 29, 2016 Author Share Posted April 29, 2016 So this probably won't be headless, the healess with regular tuners solution would take up too much real astate for it to work with the neck I have. I'll go with gold hardware as it looks nice against the wenge... I used a bandsaw for the first time this week, cutting out thins for a control cavity cover. I finished it today. And after a initial shaping I also did some shaping of the other sid of the body (beautiful day out today ) Hpoing to start the neck this week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted May 6, 2016 Author Share Posted May 6, 2016 Routed for the truss rod, then cut the neck out on the bandsaw and finished the taper off with a top bearing router bit and a straight edge, the router bit is getting to be of a certain age and I did get some tear out, luckily it was in the portion of the neck that will be carved so all is good with the wood. I had been contemplating what to do for the back of the neck down by the body. I didnt have any big enough pieces of wenge or Imbuia and I didnt want to add another wood to the mix so I decided to do a upwards bookmatch of the last piece of imbuia I had left. I had some cracks in it but I think I'll be able to work around those... I'll fill them with some epoxy and sawdust just to be safe. I'm also working on a tailpiece in wenge that will serve as string anchor/bridge, more on that later I hope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted June 13, 2016 Author Share Posted June 13, 2016 Made some progress this last week. roughed out the fretboard on the bandsaw. glued it up and trimmed the edges with the router. Pre glue up Glueing Glued Also roughed out the headstock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted June 13, 2016 Author Share Posted June 13, 2016 Then came the frets. It went better than last time (note the shortscale without the headstock which fell off during fretting). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted June 13, 2016 Author Share Posted June 13, 2016 Then, much to my own surprise, I went on to level and crown the frets. Hadn't planned on doing that yet but I'm glad to have that out of the way... I found the crowning to be quite enjoyable. Sunshine and slow work goes well with each other. Feeling good about this one, running pretty smoothly so far, knock on wenge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Nice progress. How is the wenge to work with? I've heard it described as a bunch of splinters bound together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 This would have been the perfect opportunity to add the Spector/Warwick bow back as Andy did to my Silk Bass: [URL=http://s1167.photobucket.com/user/FairfaxAikman/media/Alembic-esque/6d3401dc-69e3-43b0-b25f-31638a3a70d6_zpshhxtxcuj.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q639/FairfaxAikman/Alembic-esque/6d3401dc-69e3-43b0-b25f-31638a3a70d6_zpshhxtxcuj.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 I love the top carve, Bastav. It's going to look stunning once the finish has been applied Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted June 15, 2016 Author Share Posted June 15, 2016 [quote name='Norris' timestamp='1465830949' post='3071369'] Nice progress. How is the wenge to work with? I've heard it described as a bunch of splinters bound together [/quote] Thanks, yeah I wouldn't argue with that description You need sharp tools and patience and perhaps a little more thought put into how you're gonna go about shaping it in the design process (the veneers I used on the shortscale comes to mind, those were a pain in the a**). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted June 15, 2016 Author Share Posted June 15, 2016 [quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1465831869' post='3071382'] This would have been the perfect opportunity to add the Spector/Warwick bow back as Andy did to my Silk Bass: [/quote] I might go for a slight bow but probably not as big as the one on your (very nice!) bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted June 15, 2016 Author Share Posted June 15, 2016 [quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1465936607' post='3072323'] I love the top carve, Bastav. It's going to look stunning once the finish has been applied [/quote] Thanks Andy, I hope so The walnut is very cool looking but the burly bits change color quite drastically from when it's freshly worked to when its been left alone for a while, from almost yellow to a brownish orange. We'll see what it looks like when a finish is applied Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 Got started on the neck carve a while back, also glued on the back portion of the neck, but haven't really made much progress since then. Afew passes with the router to get me started Then I used the shinto (love it) to do most of the rest Picked it up for the first time in a few weeks today, clamped it together to mark out where the top "horn" will join the neck. This is the back of the neck pre-glue. Got the width done with the router and glued some wenge veneers to the edges. When I went on to flush trim the veneers I (of course, being that wenge is a bunch of splinters held together) got some tear out, so Ive been patching that up today. I will not use the router to get the patch flush Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Excellent progress, Bastav I was working with wenge veneer today. Hate the bloody stuff but I can't get away from that it does produce an excellent result! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 Thanks! Yeah, it really is a love hate thing. The patching worked out well though so right now i Love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Looking fantastic! I love my shinto rasp too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 [quote name='Norris' timestamp='1471031087' post='3110167'] Looking fantastic! I love my shinto rasp too [/quote] Thank you, yes they are amazing little things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 This project is picking up steam again. First off, did some work on the body/neck join Babysteps with the router ... and started sanding. Not done yet obviously but getting there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastav Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 I've also started glueing up the wings, then I realized I hadnt thought about side marker dots... hmm... drilling for those will be more of a challenge with the wings getting in the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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