Eude throws down the gauntlet

[Andyjr1515]

OK - well the first job, in my view, on a job like this is to draw it out full scale - and preferably with the bridge and nut you are intending to use in hand - to check out the geometry.

And so far so good:

 

The bridge saddles might be a teeny bit closer to the pickup than the original (we're talking only 3mm or 4mm closer) but so far everything checks out at the planned 31.5" scale.

Notable, because it is an area that @eude is convinced he mucked up, the neck pocket appears to be spot-on.       Having said that, it's actually probably all going to be routed off anyway, but hopefully will lay to rest a good many years of self-doubt.

In the meantime, a bl**dy great big box (bass case big!) has arrived from ACG which has delighted, as you can imagine, MrsAndyjr1515. 

Next job for completeness is drawing the headstock (and opening the box)

[eude]

That's awesome @Andyjr1515!

No bother re a slightly different bridge position, with the pickup set out for 36" scale anyway, it would need to be moved to compensate for the short scale to be in the same position in regards to string length. Where it is, would technically mean it sits further forward, so losing a bit of distance at the bridge end would bring that back a little. Does that make sense? It made sense in my head, but not as I typed it out...

[TheGreek]

2 hours ago, Daz39 said:

Oof - do you think I can get a discount off Fodera if I only want to buy the back of a bass?

You probably could...wanna guess what it would cost though?

[TheGreek]

JOOI are you going for tight (5p piece) curves or modern Spector/ Warwick curves? Andy is the master of the concave body and it can save LBs in weight.

[eude]

4 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

JOOI are you going for tight (5p piece) curves or modern Spector/ Warwick curves? Andy is the master of the concave body and it can save LBs in weight.

I'm more than happy for Andy to do what he fancies with it, within reason

I feel the curves could be more pronounced, or at least tweaked a little, the lower horn could be a little less chunky and if @Andyjr1515 fancies doing a tummy contour like on the Warwick basses, I'm sure that will come in handy as I settle into my 40's with the bass
I know he's taking a good 10 - 15mm from the face of the bass as it is, so there will be very little evidence of any of the carving I did myself left, bar the back of the bass...

Eude

[Daz39]

30 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

You probably could...wanna guess what it would cost though?

Well yes - more than my 7yr old car is worth, still. Droolworthy Wood.

[Andyjr1515]

I spent most of yesterday evening with @eude 's body on my lap (eat your heart out, russian hackers) - that carve is SO tactile!

And I came to a conclusion, that I have since slept on - and which this morning I am still pretty sure is right: I'm not going to mess at all with the external shape. 

Not even the thickness (which is an impressive 40mm).  Because to slim it down would make the curves change which then changes the look and feel.

So it's basically rout 10mm off the top, heavily chamber inside to relieve the weight, fit new top and carve as original.

But I think I may have had a flash of inspiration ref the multi-hole neck heel issue.  Going to draw it out and, if it works on paper, I shall reveal all later (russian hackers, please note)

[eude]

3 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

I spent most of yesterday evening with @eude 's body on my lap (eat your heart out, russian hackers) - that carve is SO tactile!

And I came to a conclusion, that I have since slept on - and which this morning I am still pretty sure is right: I'm not going to mess at all with the external shape. 

Not even the thickness (which is an impressive 40mm).  Because to slim it down would make the curves change which then changes the look and feel.

So it's basically rout 10mm off the top, heavily chamber inside to relieve the weight, fit new top and carve as original.

But I think I may have had a flash of inspiration ref the multi-hole neck heel issue.  Going to draw it out and, if it works on paper, I shall reveal all later (russian hackers, please note)

Can't wait!

[Andyjr1515]

Well, with a passing nod to the Carl Thompson headstock style, this is broadly how it's going to look:

I think that looks pretty

The neck - at the moment, there is a fender-style brick wall at the heel - and multiple holes from two neck plates:

So what I'm going to do is a bit radical.

I will cut out the front 4 holes completely (shown hatched here):

 

Then route the existing pocket further back to expose the end two holes and a bit more too (marked in pencil on the left here):

 

Then carve a transition in the neck heel to the full depth at the join, with an extending 30mm 'tongue' containing set screw inserts:

 

Leastways - that's the plan! 

The topwood that @eude arranged for Alan at ACG to send me is lovely:

When I get a moment, I'll have a play around with a paper template.  As is often the case, the interesting swirly bits would actually not end up on the build because that is where the waist of the body sits.  I might turn out to be more pleasing using the back:

Probably gives more figuring on the bits you will actually see. 

Anyway, we'll see.  In the meantime, let's make some sawdust! 

 

 

[TheGreek]

20 hours ago, eude said:

I'm more than happy for Andy to do what he fancies with it, within reason

I feel the curves could be more pronounced, or at least tweaked a little, the lower horn could be a little less chunky and if @Andyjr1515 fancies doing a tummy contour like on Spector basses, the design which Warwick later stole. I'm sure that will come in handy as I settle into my 40's with the bass
I know he's taking a good 10 - 15mm from the face of the bass as it is, so there will be very little evidence of any of the carving I did myself left, bar the back of the bass...

Eude

Fixed for you.

[eude]

1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Well, with a passing nod to the Carl Thompson headstock style, this is broadly how it's going to look:

I think that looks pretty

The neck - at the moment, there is a fender-style brick wall at the heel - and multiple holes from two neck plates:

So what I'm going to do is a bit radical.

I will cut out the front 4 holes completely (shown hatched here):

 

Then route the existing pocket further back to expose the end two holes and a bit more too (marked in pencil on the left here):

 

Then carve a transition in the neck heel to the full depth at the join, with an extending 30mm 'tongue' containing set screw inserts:

 

Leastways - that's the plan! 

The topwood that @eude arranged for Alan at ACG to send me is lovely:

When I get a moment, I'll have a play around with a paper template.  As is often the case, the interesting swirly bits would actually not end up on the build because that is where the waist of the body sits.  I might turn out to be more pleasing using the back:

Probably gives more figuring on the bits you will actually see. 

Anyway, we'll see.  In the meantime, let's make some sawdust! 

 

 

That's a brilliant idea @Andyjr1515, a little like Fodera set neck they do but with bolts, the middle one in question  

I really like that idea and it'll really get away from the Fender Road Block too.

Love the tribute headstock and the Katalox is gorgeous too isn't it!

Eude

[eude]

41 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Fixed for you.

I do prefer Warwick basses over Spectors though, but let's not get into that here

Eude

[Jimothey]

14 minutes ago, eude said:

I do prefer Warwick basses over Spectors though, but let's not get into that here

Eude

I agree!! 🤫

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, eude said:

That's a brilliant idea @Andyjr1515, a little like Fodera set neck they do but with bolts, the middle one in question  

I really like that idea and it'll really get away from the Fender Road Block too.

Love the tribute headstock and the Katalox is gorgeous too isn't it!

Eude

Yes - exactly like that middle one.  Clearly Fodera have been stealing my ideas! 

[Andyjr1515]

So the first cut is the deepest, they say.  Off comes the front part of the neck pocket:

Nice join, @eude !

 

 

Next is to take 10mm off the top.

Now as it happens, about a month ago, I finally got round to making a routing sledge to cope with pieces of wood that wouldn't fit in my thicknesser.  Well - talk about fortuitous!

Here's the rig:

 

It's a heavy router and yet there appears to be very little deflection.  The frame runs on two sets of bearings between a couple of dimensioned bearers:

And 20 minutes later, the first 2mm is successfully off:

[eude]

13 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

So the first cut is the deepest, they say.  Off comes the front part of the neck pocket:

Nice join, @eude !

 

 

Next is to take 10mm off the top.

Now as it happens, about a month ago, I finally got round to making a routing sledge to cope with pieces of wood that wouldn't fit in my thicknesser.  Well - talk about fortuitous!

Here's the rig:

 

It's a heavy router and yet there appears to be very little deflection.  The frame runs on two sets of bearings between a couple of dimensioned bearers:

And 20 minutes later, the first 2mm is successfully off:

It's like I'm actually there, awesome updates @Andyjr1515, glad you approve of the join too, to be fair it was such a good piece of timber, there wasn't much effort required.

"Olive Ash", apparently. It's certainly the most intensely dense Ash I've ever come across, what about you?

Eude

[Andyjr1515]

20 minutes ago, eude said:

"Olive Ash", apparently. It's certainly the most intensely dense Ash I've ever come across, what about you?

It's certainly heavy!

 

[Andyjr1515]

And there we are - 10mm off the body.  

And it's flat!

 

I've also cut a paper template to look at the options for the top.  I'll play around with the various combinations, but this isn't bad for starters!

[TheGreek]

Are you making a curved one of these for future carved bodies???

[Andyjr1515]

20 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Are you making a curved one of these for future carved bodies???

Actually...hmmm. It's worth a thought...

[eude]

Looking great @Andyjr1515!

[Andyjr1515]

A small but important step today.

 

So I don't lose the interesting figuring of the top with the bits you end up cutting away, I took off 15mm from the width so that the two 'eyes' weren't off the edge of the waist.  Having done so, I had to re-jointer the mating faces.  For this I used the offset fence technique again on the router table.  It needs careful set up but works a treat:

 

Then the two halves were glued and clamped:

 

And we had a piece of joined top wood:

Seen through a paper template and dampened a bit, this will be the broad look.  Once it's been sanded and finished, it's going to look v good :

 

 

[eude]

That's awesome @Andyjr1515!
Great way to keep those all important interesting details in the figuring too.

Cheers,
Eude

[Andyjr1515]

And the top is now rough-cut:

 

I will probably use an ebony veneer as a thin demarcation line between the ash and the katalox.  Doesn't need a lot of demarcation but even a thin strip does add a bit of class to any join

Before weight relief, this is presently 5lbs 10oz.  I will probably weight relieve the top as well as the ash to try to get a decent amount of weight out. 

I've also got to test the bond on the offcuts of the katalox - it's a relatively oily wood and may need to be epoxied to the back rather than tite-bond.  I'll try and break the offcut from the neck in half and see how strong the titebond is.

Relatively soon I will be joining the neck splices - mahogany/walnut/mahogany.  I can be fiddling around with the weight relief while that is gluing...

[eude]

That looks a darned good fit @Andyjr1515, and being a classy guy myself, I thoroughly approve of the use of a contrasting ebony veneer 😎

Eude