Jabba_the_gut Posted December 22, 2017 Author Share Posted December 22, 2017 17 hours ago, Hamster said: Organic Shapes - 1970's prog rock band? I like that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted December 22, 2017 Author Share Posted December 22, 2017 2 hours ago, Norris said: You can't beat a bit of Shinto action. Lovely work! Cheers Norris. Really useful tools these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted December 22, 2017 Author Share Posted December 22, 2017 And the back marked out for a bit of carving too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted December 23, 2017 Author Share Posted December 23, 2017 Got lots more sanding to do but this is how the body looks at the moment. Next task was to mark out the position for the fret slots and cut them. I used StewMacs online fret position calculator for this; the bass has a scale of 800mm. The scale length was determined as the templates were created for a previous bass that was being strung with LaBella nylons and that was the maximum length available for that design so the silk wrappings were in the correct place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted December 23, 2017 Author Share Posted December 23, 2017 Routed the tabs for the pickups. One more little job done. Pickups fit quite nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevvo66 Posted December 23, 2017 Share Posted December 23, 2017 I'd love to build a short scale ,I made a guitar years ago mmm the action was awful the neck was Nicked of something awful but the pups worked ok , so how do you-build such beautiful basses no idea myself , but maybe one day I'll have another go , can't wait to see the finished project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted December 23, 2017 Share Posted December 23, 2017 9 minutes ago, kevvo66 said: ...so how do you build such beautiful basses.... Magic....don't believe them when they say it's just hard work.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted December 24, 2017 Author Share Posted December 24, 2017 (edited) Fret slots cut and went for 24 frets again. I'll need to be careful installing the 24th fret so it doesn't chip any pieces of the fretboard out. I've routed the channel for the truss rod and fitted that whilst I still have a full width neck blank. The neck blank has been trimmed to a rough size so I can keep the offcuts to make a neck for a short scale bass (or even one of those funny high pitched plinky 6 string things that some folk seem to use...). As per usual, I've used everything to clamp this together. Edited December 24, 2017 by Jabba_the_gut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted December 24, 2017 Author Share Posted December 24, 2017 (edited) Once the glue on the neck was fully set, I trimmed the neck to the finished shape and checked it fitted the neck pocket. It fitted nice and snuggly first time - well chuffed!! Just for an idea of how this is going to look when finished, I put bits of hardware in place and it looks like this: Still got lots to do but pleased with the progress so far. Edited December 24, 2017 by Jabba_the_gut 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 2 hours ago, Jabba_the_gut said: Once the glue on the neck was fully set, I trimmed the neck to the finished shape and checked it fitted the neck pocket. It fitted nice and snuggly first time - well chuffed!! Just for an idea of how this is going to look when finished, I put bits of hardware in place and it looks like this: Still got lots to do but pleased with the progress so far. That’s looking really good it has got a lovely flow to it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 4 hours ago, Jabba_the_gut said: Once the glue on the neck was fully set, I trimmed the neck to the finished shape and checked it fitted the neck pocket. It fitted nice and snuggly first time - well chuffed!! Just for an idea of how this is going to look when finished, I put bits of hardware in place and it looks like this: Still got lots to do but pleased with the progress so far. I can see another masterpiece coming on. Curses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevvo66 Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 That's a fine looking beast 😸 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted December 29, 2017 Author Share Posted December 29, 2017 Cheers for the comments! Hope everyone had a good Christmas and is enjoying a break. I've had a few hours spare so I've got on with a couple of little jobs. First I thought I'd sort out the logo inlay for this. Decided to use an offcut of the fretboard: I cut this to shape and then put an ebony veneer edge around it to create a defined line around it. I drilled the holes for the machine heads and tried the logo for size. Next job is to fit the logo and start shaping the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 Lovely work and some beautiful attention to detail that takes it to another level! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevvo66 Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Man alive, it's Gorgeous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 Not managed to get too much done in the last week or so but I have done the following: 1. Fitted the logo 2. Fitted the machine heads (one of the holes was marginally out of line - about a mm but I'm picky so I filled it and re-drilled. Much better now!) 3. Drilled the holes for the neck screws. The other job that need doing was mounting the bridge. The bridge I'm using has no left to right adjustment so it has to be in the right place of the strings will be out of line and there will be no way to fixt it. So measure. measure again, and again and again..... I marked up where it needed to go with tape and used some string so I could check the position of the strings. I made a couple of templates for the bridge and set to work... The bridge fits quire snugly and neatly. Access to the screws for intonation might be a little restricted but once set should be fine. I put it all back together and thankfully the strings are where I want them!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 Looks nice with no control knobs on the front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 On 07/01/2018 at 16:34, MoonBassAlpha said: Looks nice with no control knobs on the front. Yep, but I am going to ruin that by fitting two chrome knobs! I have found some really nice very domed knobs that fit the curvy look (I think anyway..) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 A couple of flush jog-wheel controls in matching ash would look cool too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 On 1/7/2018 at 16:27, Jabba_the_gut said: Not managed to get too much done in the last week or so but I have done the following: 1. Fitted the logo 2. Fitted the machine heads (one of the holes was marginally out of line - about a mm but I'm picky so I filled it and re-drilled. Much better now!) 3. Drilled the holes for the neck screws. The other job that need doing was mounting the bridge. The bridge I'm using has no left to right adjustment so it has to be in the right place of the strings will be out of line and there will be no way to fixt it. So measure. measure again, and again and again..... I marked up where it needed to go with tape and used some string so I could check the position of the strings. I would not call wanting to be accurate 'picky'. Your accuracy is what makes the shapes your designs fly. If you were wanting to be picky; I'd recommend using proportionately accurate thicknesses of strings appropriate to the position, E, A, D or G and preliminarily gauge the nut slots. I'm liking it. I even checked your bridge screw heads for signs of poor tooling but, assuming they have actually been tightened down, they're fine. Heeheehee - inspection passed with flying colours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 It's been a couple of weeks busy with work and work related things but I have many to get a few things done. I've made a control cavity cover (I made two but didn't completely like the train on the first one when I tried it so I made another!!), I've suspected back of the neck and heel and I've started sanding on the body. I'll stick a few pictures up later in the week for anyone interested and hopefully I'll get to radius they fretboard and fit some frets this week!! Planning on having this bass finished for the bass bashes in April and May. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 23 hours ago, Jabba_the_gut said: (I made two but didn't completely like the train on the first one when I tried it so I made another!!) Have you got something against Thomas the Tank Engine then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 57 minutes ago, Norris said: Have you got something against Thomas the Tank Engine then? You see, there are some people who shouldn't be allowed near technology!! Bloody predictive thing.... Mind you, I was writing some test document at work for a 'shut down' but 'u' and 'i' are right next to each other in the keyboard and the spell checker didn't see any errors.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted February 9, 2018 Author Share Posted February 9, 2018 So I had great plans to do lots of jobs on this but for one reason and another it hasn't happened as quickly as I hoped. But I have got a few things done. 1. I've fitted side dots to neck. I find this much easier to do before radiusing the fretboard and shaping the neck as there is a nice square edge to work to. Here's the neck marked up for drilling (the neck in the background is the one off the semi hollow bass I built recently which is the same shape as this one). 2. Once the dots were fitted I started shaping the neck. I use a small sanding drum to shape close to the heel and head then use a rasp to shape the actual neck. To me, this is the time consuming bit as it needs to be right. Take a little off, check the profile, check everything is cutting straight and repeat. Lots of times...... 3. Once the neck was pretty much there I sanded the fretboard radius. Again, just a sanding block and patience!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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