Jabba_the_gut Posted April 20, 2018 Author Share Posted April 20, 2018 Started making the templates for this. I've made the main body and neck templates for. I need to make one template for the routing of the neck pocket, bridge pockets and control cavity and another template for the control cavity cover. Once that is done, I can choose the wood I'm going to use and start building!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBus Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 On 4/5/2018 at 22:54, Jabba_the_gut said: Map I actually quite like the map one!! I'm not sure about the borders. Coat in hand 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naxos10 Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 Probably need at least 3 passports to play a bass with that finish 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted April 22, 2018 Author Share Posted April 22, 2018 I stacked up the templates so far and it actually gives an idea of what it will look like!! One more template to go then I can start cutting stuff. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted April 27, 2018 Author Share Posted April 27, 2018 Just finished making the final templates for this so won't be too long before I get building. There are quite a few templates for this build - I haven't included the pickup cut out as that will be done later when the pickup choice is finalised (or I build more than one with different pickups....). So here's the template set for this build all made from mdf 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 Clearly a man of the "fail to prepare, prepare to fail" school of thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted April 27, 2018 Author Share Posted April 27, 2018 15 minutes ago, TheGreek said: Clearly a man of the "fail to prepare, prepare to fail" school of thought... Absolutely! Want to make sure the neck has a nice, neat and tight fit before I cut anything. Same for the control cover, bridge etc..!!! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mottlefeeder Posted April 28, 2018 Share Posted April 28, 2018 On 05/04/2018 at 17:44, Jabba_the_gut said: ... I've got one of the cheapy headless bridges in my box of stuff and a spare MM style pickup so I've made the following scribble. The bass would be 23" scale so that should be good for BEAD tuning or EADG using the bottom 4 strings of a 5 string set. ... My experience of that hardware is that this 'headstock' string anchor will not take a roundwound or flatwould B string. The T-bars clamp the strings behind the zero fret, but after that each string is bent through 90 degrees to be clamped by a grub screw. Thick strings don't bend like that. One option is to drill out the string anchor so that each string passes through the hole where the grub screw was, and then use a separate anchor block to clamp them, as used in the conversion of double ball end headless basses. Alternatively, you can cut away most of the metal which holds the grub screws, leaving enough of a slope or a lip to retain the new string anchor, and proceed as above. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted April 28, 2018 Author Share Posted April 28, 2018 (edited) On 28/04/2018 at 21:19, Mottlefeeder said: My experience of that hardware is that this 'headstock' string anchor will not take a roundwound or flatwould B string. The T-bars clamp the strings behind the zero fret, but after that each string is bent through 90 degrees to be clamped by a grub screw. Thick strings don't bend like that. One option is to drill out the string anchor so that each string passes through the hole where the grub screw was, and then use a separate anchor block to clamp them, as used in the conversion of double ball end headless basses. Alternatively, you can cut away most of the metal which holds the grub screws, leaving enough of a slope or a lip to retain the new string anchor, and proceed as above. David Hi David, Cheers for the details. The headstock clamp was the next thing on my list to look at to see if it would work as I'd like or if another solution is required!! I anticipated that this may be awkward and require some modification so I bought a spare headstock part but your advise will save me trying some things out. Cheers Edited April 30, 2018 by Jabba_the_gut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 I’ve made some modifications to the headstock clamp (and considered the experience Mottlefeeder) to something that feels like it should work!! I’ll make a test rig to try this before to see if this works prior to cutting the neck for this part. Then if I need to do something different, at least I won’t need to remake a neck. The headstock clamp looks like it is made out of some kind of alloy and is soft in comparison to steel so will need to be careful no to strip any threads.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted May 13, 2018 Author Share Posted May 13, 2018 (edited) Started cutting and gluing!! I'm going to try to make 2 or 3 of these to try a few different things. First off is a sapele body, wenge veneer and maple top. The maple should look quite good when oiled (I'm hoping!!) Glued up sandwiches.... To make running wires through the body easier, I drill holes before gluing the two halves together. I then insert a straw in the hole to prevent any glue clogging it up when the halves are joined. To ensure I don't drill too far into the body, I draw the rough direction of the hole then mark the length with masking tape on the drill. The side have then been joined Then the outline of the bass is rough cut ready for routing Edited May 13, 2018 by Jabba_the_gut 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted May 13, 2018 Author Share Posted May 13, 2018 Here's the second one. This is going to have a sapele body, ash veneer, wenge veneer then a thin burl top Almost a shame to veneer over the ash as it has quite a nice grain. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jebroad Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 Nice work, what are you using for the fretboard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 Making the most of the good weather I see... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz39 Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 Lovely progress so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted May 13, 2018 Author Share Posted May 13, 2018 54 minutes ago, TheGreek said: Making the most of the good weather I see... Absolutely! I’m supposed to be decorating the downstairs toilet but that seems to be taking longer than expected.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Looking good from here. You've probably said, but what's the thickness of the top? Looks about 5mm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted May 14, 2018 Author Share Posted May 14, 2018 The top is quite thin - only about 4mm. I’ll try different radius cutters on the offcuts to see what looks best. Ive tried to do this top so the rougher sections will be removed when the bridge and pickup is fitted. Hope it works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted May 14, 2018 Author Share Posted May 14, 2018 21 hours ago, jebroad said: Nice work, what are you using for the fretboard? This maple topped one will have something similar to bubinga, the other will probably be ebony.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted May 26, 2018 Author Share Posted May 26, 2018 Not done that much on these (as I'm building four basses at the same time at the moment - two of these short things and two more semi hollow basses) but have glued on the burl and joined the two halves . On the basis that I'm quite slow at building anyway, this could take a while!! Think the top of this short thing should look quite nice when it is oiled. It needed quite a but of filling so some sanding dust and wood glue mix was used to fill the holes. This is what the layers look like from the side so these should look nice once the body edges have been rounded over. Next step is to cut this to shape and trip it with the router. After that, the various pockets can be routed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 (edited) 14 hours ago, Jabba_the_gut said: Not done that much on these (as I'm building four basses at the same time at the moment - two of these short things and two more semi hollow basses) but have glued on the burl and joined the two halves . On the basis that I'm quite slow at building anyway, this could take a while!! Think the top of this short thing should look quite nice when it is oiled. It needed quite a but of filling so some sanding dust and wood glue mix was used to fill the holes. This is what the layers look like from the side so these should look nice once the body edges have been rounded over. Next step is to cut this to shape and trip it with the router. After that, the various pockets can be routed. That's going to look predictably perfect, Jez. What wood dust did you use? I have to do something similar on @Len_derby 's poplar burl top... Edited May 27, 2018 by Andyjr1515 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted May 27, 2018 Author Share Posted May 27, 2018 6 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: That's going to look predictably perfect, Jez. What wood dust did you use? I have to do something similar on @Len_derby 's poplar burl top... I hadn't tried this before but I used dust from the burl top mixed into a small quantity of Cascamite glue. Seems ok so far. I do like the look of poplar - be interested to see how you get on with it. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted May 27, 2018 Author Share Posted May 27, 2018 This is how these two look at the moment. Quite a lot of the dark wood will be removed from the burl top when the routing is done for the bridge. I'm hoping the layers will look nice when the edges are rounded - I'll use the offcuts to try a couple of different cutters with different radii. But that will have to happen after I earn garage time after doing more DIY..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted June 9, 2018 Author Share Posted June 9, 2018 (edited) I have been doing quite a few bits and pieces and progress should increase soon! I have started making a neck for another bass, which I wanted to do so I could use the offcuts for the neck on one of these two. In the meantime I have routed the control cavity and battery compartment. I decided to try recessing the top of the battery box to see if it looks a better, which I think it will. It's not decided what pickups or electronics I'll use yet but the bodies have been drilled for wires so they should cater for a few options. This is the neck for the other bass - I'll use the two side offcuts for one of these two headless things.. Edited June 9, 2018 by Jabba_the_gut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted June 9, 2018 Author Share Posted June 9, 2018 I've also drilled the neck mounting bolt holes. As the neck is so short and there is going to be a radius on the top horn down the centre of the neck, I'm going to try using cap head bolts rather than neck ferrules as they are a smaller diameter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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