Merton Posted January 14, 2019 Posted January 14, 2019 (edited) There's no denying it, none of you will know who Conway Instruments are. "They" are my good friend Phil, who I met ten years ago when I started a new job. A few years later Phil moved on to bigger and better things and started doing wood turning. He progressed from there and started building guitars and ukuleles, and last year we decided it was time for a bass. I've been very fortunate that I've (finally) had a little money come my way from a messy breakup in 2012 and I decided to treat myself. Treat no. 1 is the Zoot Funkmeister (see here for that build). This is treat no. 2. Treat no. 3 is ACG flavoured and will follow soon So... the Taranis. Taranis being the Celtic god of thunder, it seemed a good name (and entirely Phil's idea!). My original thinking was something along the lines of an Ibanez Artcore but we threw a few sketches and ideas back and forth and decided to go a different way. Phil had a body blank for a shape somewhere akin to the lovechild of a Shuker Uberhorn, an ACG Finn and a Jackson (you'll see, it has slightly pointed ends to the horns!). Phil's got some very cool bits of wood to use, and a great idea for making the grain on the top pop out really nicely. I won't explain what it is as I can't pretend to fully understand it, but Phil's pretty excited... Stop waffling and tell us the specs, I hear you cry at your screen. OK: 30" fretless with thru-body stringing Black limba body, ash top, black limba back, black veneers between layers 5 piece limba/maple neck but also with contrasting veneers between the main 5 components so it'll look pretty epic Sexy unlined Pau Ferro fretboard with a 16" radius Grainger bridge with 19mm spacing (wider than I'd usually go), hipshot tuners Nordstand MM5.4 pickup with vol and pickup coil select switch. Here's a pick of the bookmatched back, it's quite stunning I'm sure you'll agree Edited January 14, 2019 by Merton smelling pistake 4 Quote
eude Posted January 15, 2019 Posted January 15, 2019 Oooooh... Looking forward to seeing this come to life! I see you've got yourself 3 treats now, and yet nothing for me. Eude 2 Quote
Merton Posted January 19, 2019 Author Posted January 19, 2019 Forgot one important aspect - this will be a set neck design, the first time I’ve had one. Anyhoo, here’s the bridge and ferrule for the thru-body stringing: 1 Quote
MoonBassAlpha Posted January 25, 2019 Posted January 25, 2019 I've often wondered why the ferrule block isn't angled at about 45 degrees to give the strings an easier curve up to the bridge. Especially given the popularity of flats these days, that don't like sharp bends. Quote
Merton Posted January 26, 2019 Author Posted January 26, 2019 Interesting point! I’m not using flats on this - it’ll have Newtone nickels on it - but even so the B string would no doubt benefit from a less sharp angle across the saddles. Don’t think we have enough room on the body though.... will check! Quote
Merton Posted February 2, 2019 Author Posted February 2, 2019 Neck laminated now glued up. Black limba/ flamed maple / cooba/ maple / limba with black and white contrast veneers. Uber sexy. 4 Quote
Andyjr1515 Posted February 4, 2019 Posted February 4, 2019 On 02/02/2019 at 16:07, Merton said: Neck laminated now glued up. Black limba/ flamed maple / cooba/ maple / limba with black and white contrast veneers. Uber sexy. Very nice lamination job 2 Quote
Guest Marcoelwray Posted February 10, 2019 Posted February 10, 2019 This black limba ! Lovely! I'm curious about that! Quote
Merton Posted February 11, 2019 Author Posted February 11, 2019 The black limba is amazing, not sure where Phil sources his timbers but he struck gold with that! Today he’s routed and fitted the truss rod and carbon rods into the neck: 4 Quote
Guest Marcoelwray Posted February 11, 2019 Posted February 11, 2019 So long carbon rods are ok for the truss rod set-up? I Always thought (and seen) shorter rods…. Quote
Merton Posted February 11, 2019 Author Posted February 11, 2019 32 minutes ago, Marcoelwray said: So long carbon rods are ok for the truss rod set-up? I Always thought (and seen) shorter rods…. No idea, I don’t build these things, I just post the pictures 🤓 1 Quote
Guest Marcoelwray Posted February 11, 2019 Posted February 11, 2019 28 minutes ago, Merton said: No idea, I don’t build these things, I just post the pictures 🤓 OK OK , I'm curious about that because I try to look how "big" luthiers are foing it, in most cases it's a 200mm long rod… But everything is good to learn ! Quote
Merton Posted February 12, 2019 Author Posted February 12, 2019 @ybotyawnoc May be able to provide some insight on it since he’s doing the hard work Quote
ybotyawnoc Posted February 13, 2019 Posted February 13, 2019 Shorter rods are customary, longer is not essential but I’ve put them in for additional stability 1 Quote
fleabag Posted February 17, 2019 Posted February 17, 2019 Isnt Limba also known as Korina ? Just curious. I think there's black and white Korina Quote
Merton Posted February 17, 2019 Author Posted February 17, 2019 Spot on! Gibson call it korina; this is black limba Quote
ybotyawnoc Posted February 18, 2019 Posted February 18, 2019 It has several ‘common names’ including limba, black limba, white limba, korina, afara. The scientific name is Terminalia Superba 2 Quote
Merton Posted February 27, 2019 Author Posted February 27, 2019 The glorious fingerboard in all its, er, glory: 5 Quote
Guest Marcoelwray Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 1 hour ago, Merton said: The glorious fingerboard in all its, er, glory: Woooowwww ! Quote
ybotyawnoc Posted February 28, 2019 Posted February 28, 2019 Yeah the sunshine makes tonewood photos really pop. Quote
MoonBassAlpha Posted March 1, 2019 Posted March 1, 2019 That's a lovely piece of Pao Ferro. Two of my basses have it, and it has been very wear-resistant on my fretless. I was never sure if they had impregnated it with something, as the finish is really satin smooth, and about 10 years as my main bass, always with rounds, has barely imperceptible amounts of wear on the fingerboard. As the manufacturer (U.S. Masters) ceased trading a few years ago, I can't even ask if the board was treated. Mine has black epoxy line markers with no front dots. 1 Quote
ybotyawnoc Posted March 1, 2019 Posted March 1, 2019 1 hour ago, MoonBassAlpha said: That's a lovely piece of Pao Ferro. Two of my basses have it, and it has been very wear-resistant on my fretless. I was never sure if they had impregnated it with something, as the finish is really satin smooth, and about 10 years as my main bass, always with rounds, has barely imperceptible amounts of wear on the fingerboard. As the manufacturer (U.S. Masters) ceased trading a few years ago, I can't even ask if the board was treated. Mine has black epoxy line markers with no front dots. At a guess I’d say it probably wasn’t impregnated. Not only is it a relatively recent development - not unheard of that long ago but pretty rare - but it’s also a very hard species. Several large scale manufacturers have moved over to it due to its availability, and its genetic similarities to true Dalbergias. 1 Quote
Merton Posted March 1, 2019 Author Posted March 1, 2019 Phil’s been a busy boy! The body blank is now cut to shape, the headstock has had its veneer added and some of the twelfth fret inlay has been, um, inlaid. 2 Quote
Guest Marcoelwray Posted March 1, 2019 Posted March 1, 2019 The woods, the construction, all is amazing. I feel like stinky poo. Glorious job. Quote
Merton Posted March 1, 2019 Author Posted March 1, 2019 Just now, Marcoelwray said: The woods, the construction, all is amazing. I feel like stinky poo. Glorious job. Dude, your builds are superb too! 1 Quote
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