Marc S Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 (edited) I'm sure this will be up to your usual high standard Jabba Looking great so far Edited June 6, 2019 by Marc S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted June 6, 2019 Author Share Posted June 6, 2019 5 hours ago, MoonBassAlpha said: Does the spalting affect the structural strength when used as a body as opposed to a thin decorative top? I think this would be very dependent on the actual piece of timber. I've had a few pieces of spalted beech where parts of it, generally the light coloured areas, are very crumbly so I won't use them. This particular piece is solid, with no signs of soft areas at all so shouldn't be any issue with strength (famous last words.....!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted June 6, 2019 Author Share Posted June 6, 2019 21 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said: I think I asked at the Bass Bash, and you made some suggestions (I think woodturning fairs?) but where can a fule like me find nice bits of timber like that for modest cost? This particular piece cam from an event called Treefest that used to run at Westonbirt arboretum. There was a guy there selling lots of different boards of beech, walnut, ash etc. at very reasonable prices (probably a good job I was constrained by the size of my car!). Unfortunately, that event has finished now. A possible source worth looking into are tree surgeons. I found a chap local to me selling boards from trees he'd felled. I bought a nice board of ash from him, the only downside is needing to leave it to dry for a few years. A good source but only if you are not in a rush for a few years..... You can always get boards from specialist suppliers such as Exotic Hardwoods, David Dyke, Tonetech. Generally nice timber, fully dried but not cheap. Possibly worth looking to see if you have any sawmills nearby. I found a couple within 40 miles of home and bought a very nice wide rippled sycamore board big enough for three full size bass bodies. Apart from that, eBay is the other place. I've mostly has a good experience of the timber bought off there. There are a few reasonable sellers, The Sherwin Group, Feel Good Wood are the ones that spring to mind and have some interesting stuff. Hope that helps!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 3 hours ago, Jabba_the_gut said: Possibly worth looking to see if you have any sawmills nearby. D'oh theres one about 15 miles from me. I'll call in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 (edited) On 05/06/2019 at 20:32, Stub Mandrel said: where can a fule like me find nice bits of timber like that for modest cost? I've had some Sapele boards and offcuts from Harlow Brothers of Derby. I'm not sure they'd have much in the way of exotic woods but I wouldn't dismiss the possibility without asking. They have a branch (imperceptible titter) at Burton on Trent too. Edited June 6, 2019 by SpondonBassed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 18 hours ago, SpondonBassed said: They have a branch (imperceptible titter) at Burton on Trent too. Home of Charrington BASS no less... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 2 minutes ago, TheGreek said: Home of Charrington BASS no less... Coors now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 De14 home of branston pickle, marmite, marstons pedigree and me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 ...and Pirelli. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 18 hours ago, SpondonBassed said: Coors now. ???? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PunkPonyPrincess Posted June 9, 2019 Share Posted June 9, 2019 I came for the ad-sales and stayed for Jabba’s build threads. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted June 9, 2019 Author Share Posted June 9, 2019 Things have been a bit slow for the last couple of weeks, including my planer/thicknesser playing up! Hopefully, I'll make some progress m=next weekend! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted July 14, 2019 Author Share Posted July 14, 2019 I finally got round to looking at my planer thicknesser. It isn't an expensive £160 but still an expensive enough tool for a hobby. I've had it just over three years and it hasn't been used that much, just the stuff I've done on here. In my previous post I said it was playing up, what it wasn't doing was cutting square, which is kind of an issue!! You could see looking at the top that the drum wasn't parallel to the planning surface - one side had dropped for some reason. Customer service were no help (out of warranty / Chinese import so no-one here that could advise) so I ended up taking it to bits to look for the issue. After a while of undoing bolts I removed the bearing for the cutter. Utterly knackered. You could even see where the axle had been rubbing on the bearing bracket making the shaft drop by a couple of mm. I managed to remove the bearing it fell to pieces so ended up being removed by cutting it carefully with a Dremel. The good news is that Is a standard size and a new quality Japanese bearing is only about £5 and will be here in a couple of days. Hopefully, everything will go back together without leaving me with some spare bolts and I can get on with this project and some others!! I'll see how this goes but I have been looking at other planers. Unfortunately there is a big jump in price up to the next level of quality - about £800 which is a hell of a lot. Must have a really good dig down the back of the sofa...…. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Jabba_the_gut said: I'll see how this goes but I have been looking at other planers. Unfortunately there is a big jump in price up to the next level of quality - about £800 which is a hell of a lot. Must have a really good dig down the back of the sofa...…. Good quality s/h planer thickeners are out there, I purchased a Sheppach for £300. A good solid German machine, Totally repairable, mine has been faultless other than my stupidity, blades do not like meeting hidden nails. Kitty like this ? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kitty-Planner-Thicknesser-woodwork-machinery/183868405363?hash=item2acf693673:g:xWYAAOSw8EhdG1NZ I have used the same model, seemed a nice machine. Edited July 14, 2019 by 3below 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted October 5, 2019 Author Share Posted October 5, 2019 I'm in the process of trying to move house and it is really dragging - hopefully this will be sorted in the next couple of weeks!! This has meant that I have had very little time to get on with building anything. I had a day off and thought 'Stuff it' so I got some tools out and had a couple of hours doing something. My last post on here was to do with fitting a new bearing on my thicknesser - that worked out a treat but was an absolute pain to put back together. I've sorted out some fretboards ready for this build and a couple of others I'll start as soon as I move house (that's my priority but Mrs_the_gut might disagree and want jobs doing on the new place when we get there - I'll cross that bridge then!!). I bought some custom length strings for this build and laid them over my templates and bridge and they looked fine. I did notice that I could extend the neck slightly to 25.5" which still looks in scale with the rest of the bass. Benefits of doing this are that you can use a standard guitar fret slotting template which would speed up that part of the process or you can buy ready slotted fretboards of that length. The other thing I'm going to try on this is a scarf joint on the neck. I've only tried this once before but it turned out well so thought I'd give it another go. This would give easier access to the truss rod at the head end I think. I've made a new neck template (very satisfying after no being able to do anything for so long) and cut the body template for the bridge. Here it is with a Bonsai tree for scale... Overall length is 33". I liked the previous mini-bass I made that was fitted with an EMG 35DC so I've got another one of those and a 2 band EMG preamp but I also got hold of a Bartolini M34 dual coil pickup (new-old-stock for £30 - bargain!) which I can try passively with a couple of different switch options. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Buddha looks happy amongst the pine cones, that’s satisfying. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted October 5, 2019 Author Share Posted October 5, 2019 Quite surprising how many templates I've ended up for these mini basses whilst trying different things out!! 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 It's no good. I cannot stop myself. I have dropped you a PM. The rest of you can guess what I want. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 I think you may have to join the queue... Come the summer Jezza's family may get two weeks in Ibiza while he spends two weeks building mini basses to pay for it..😆 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 3 hours ago, owen said: It's no good. I cannot stop myself. I have dropped you a PM. The rest of you can guess what I want. I thought you were building your next bass, not buying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 1 hour ago, Richard R said: I thought you were building your next bass, not buying? Mrs owen? Is that you? The speed I will be going at means that getting my hands on my DIY bass will take a LONG time. I actually need to learn how to woodwork first. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 Had the opportunity to do a little more work on one of these today. First up was drilling the holes for the neck bolts. This was followed by routing the pockets for the neck and for the bridge using the template I posted previously: Next up was round the edges of the bass. I fill in the pockets whilst rounding the edges to reduce any chances of splits or bits going missing!! So this is how it looks next to the headless version. I'm quite liking the way the grain is flowing on this. Should be nice when finished. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 4 minutes ago, Jabba_the_gut said: Buddha still looks happy amongst the pine cones, that’s still satisfying. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 I'm quite looking forward t getting this one done. Just trying it with the neck template in the pocket it feels quite comfortable. It's the first time I've tried using a solid slab of spalted beech for a body and, so far, the grain looks interesting where the body has been rounded. I will shape this one a bit so it will be contoured for tummy/belly and forearm. I've also got the Sapele one to continue with. I will probably stick with a 23" scale for that for comparison - if I prefer the 25.5" scale I can always make another neck later. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Jabba_the_gut said: I fill in the pockets whilst rounding the edges to reduce any chances of splits or bits going missing!! I'd say that little gem belongs on a list of top tips for prospective builders. It makes perfectly good sense... after it's been pointed out. 52 minutes ago, Jabba_the_gut said: a solid slab of spalted beech for a body It isn't something you see very often. I wonder if it's because it's easier to work around flaws in the timber by making wings than to look for the "perfect" slab. As always, the results of your work are a joy to behold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.