Random piece of wood

[itu]

Now you have to do some work and carve the wood heavily. Then you need to add a top to it and you have a lightweight bass body. Yes, I have similar thoughts in my latest project.

[JBoman]

I'm starting to lean towards a paint job... specifically this color/texture combo:

 

Maple neck, backside clear satin finish

Ebony fingerboard

Body matte/satin black, matching headstock

Chrome hardware

Dot markers white or... I'm also tempted to go fluorescent 🤩

 

(Image from the web as an reference)

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

Body cut to template. Started the electronics cavity. And rounded the edges a bit.

 

 

[JBoman]

Edge roundover done. There was only one feasible rounding bit here, did not want to buy an extra just for this project. So I went YOLO and used the one that happened to be available.

 

It's apparently close to a vintage stingray roundover, about 9-10mm radius.

 

Also made this "table router" contraption. If you look closer your will see some ahem questionable setup, don't try this at home kids...

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by JBoman

[Si600]

1 hour ago, JBoman said:

If you look closer your will see some ahem questionable setup, 

I imagine it's along the lines of the "Any landing" gag.

 

Any questionable setup that doesn't cut a finger off is a good questionable setup 

[JBoman]

12 hours ago, Si600 said:

I imagine it's along the lines of the "Any landing" gag.

 

Any questionable setup that doesn't cut a finger off is a good questionable setup 

 

Power button jammed down with a zip tie.

 

Ok, I had an extension cord on the floor with a switch

[JBoman]

Fretboard came in the post. I got this with pre-cut fret slots. I do have access to a japanise razor saw, but better have these made by someone with actual tools for it. Also, this is the first time that the main pieces of wood are in the same room together

 

 

[JBoman]

Awwww...crap...

I was not paying enough attention when gluing the fingerboard and now I noticed later that there are a couple of places where there is no squeeze out. Meaning a dry joint. Just 1-2cm areas.

But for peace of mind, I'm prepared to separate the glue joint. Titebond, so it should give loose with heat.

What do you think? Worth the hassle? Or just try to seep in some CA glue..?

Edited September 3, 2021 by JBoman

[SpondonBassed]

1 hour ago, JBoman said:

Awwww...crap...

I was not paying enough attention when gluing the fingerboard and now I noticed later that there are a couple of places where there is no squeeze out. Meaning a dry joint. Just 1-2cm areas.

But for peace of mind, I'm prepared to separate the glue joint. Titebond, so it should give loose with heat.

What do you think? Worth the hassle? Or just try to seep in some CA glue..?

 

Heating the fingerboard might melt the PVA enough to allow you to reclamp.  @Andyjr1515 might know how successful that's likely to be.

[JBoman]

You know, scratch that. My paranoia just acting up. I think its fine. Just this section here showed no squeeze out. Added some water thin CA glue that "drained" in there.

 

 

[Andyjr1515]

29 minutes ago, JBoman said:

You know, scratch that. My paranoia just acting up. I think its fine. Just this section here showed no squeeze out. Added some water thin CA glue that "drained" in there.

 

 

Good call.  Should be fine

[JBoman]

Sometimes it's like launching a space rocket. You have done all your preparations but after T=0 all you can do is just watch it go.

 

Oh, I also gave the electronics cavity the final touches. Next up is the cover. 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

Cover done. Actually re-done, since I managed to crack the first piece. It's still too thick but it was getting late in the evening...

Also shaved the extra stuff off the headstock and made that slope towards the nut area. Test fitting tuners, which are Gotoh GB11W.

 

Edited September 6, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

About paint/finishing/etc... a couple of other ideas. 

 

So, in addition to the black satin, I've been thinking about a kind of "Cherry burst" and this fade from natural to black.

 

What do you think?

[JBoman]

Got a radius block and sanded the fingerboard to 9,5" 

And made the nut slot.

 

 

But then I discovered an interesting .....issue? Let's see if I can describe it.

I noticed that the fingerboard edge appeared thicker towards the nut area. "That can't be" I thought... I measured like a zillion times that the overall thickness from the bottom of the maple to the top/centerline of the fingerboard is the same from heel to nut.

Then it hit me. The radius and the fact that a neck widens towards the heel makes this effect. 

 

Here are two cross sections. I overlayed the nut area to the left, do you get the reason why this edge effect happens?

 

 

Now what to do about it? Nothing?

Slanting the fingerboard surface towards the nut would make the edge equal to the heel area, but I don't know what this would mean for relief and string alignment and stuff....

 

Weird!

 

 

 

[bertbass]

I found this after spending hours sanding with a radius block.  I cured it by even more sanding but with more emphasis on the nut end.  It worked but I'm sure there must be easier and quicker ways to do it.  Thinking about it, even using a jig must give the same result unless the nut end of the fingerboard is raise a bit.

[JBoman]

3 minutes ago, bertbass said:

I found this after spending hours sanding with a radius block.  I cured it by even more sanding but with more emphasis on the nut end.  It worked but I'm sure there must be easier and quicker ways to do it.  Thinking about it, even using a jig must give the same result unless the nut end of the fingerboard is raise a bit.

 

I think the most interesting thing is: what is correct? in terms of geometry, neck relief... and setup, etc...

Or there is no right answer?

Edited September 10, 2021 by JBoman

[bertbass]

Can't answer that one other than to say that it just didn't look right.

[Pea Turgh]

Just run off to check my two, but one is bound, the other one piece!

[Andyjr1515]

Yes - perfectly normal and yes, it's just the geometry.  Generally, with a shallow radius and taper, it isn't enough to notice. 

 You could even it out, by tapering the blank, but in my book that's in the 'too hard' territory and for dubious benefit!

 

Looking good, btw

[JBoman]

I checked my MM P-bass neck. It has this "effect". So it's normal.

I ended up slanting the fingerboard slightly towards the nut. This will also make the neck very slightly skinnier towards the nut. Can't be a bad thing

And it will be countered with string tension and relief.

Edited September 10, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

It was a good thing to continuously check with a radius gauge. Here I'm intentionally scratching the surface to reveal high/low spots.

It's very easy to sand a "roll-off" on the edges, be mindful of that. I imagine it could cause problems when installing frets.

I'll do a couple of passes with some kind of sanding beam, then it's ready for some frets!

 

PS: sanding Ebony is hard work. And wear a respirator. The dust is like coal dust, you don't want to breathe that in. 💀

 

 

Edited September 11, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

One interesting thing about this bass will be the scale lenght. It will not be exactly 34".

I was checking the measurements on that fretboard with pre-sawn fret slots. There is a systematic error on the positions that becomes visible at around 12th fret. Here I'm comparing with a printout from my plans. That difference is about 1mm, making the full scale lenght about 865,6mm or 34.08". Since this is a systematic thing, the fret slots are actually correct, but the scale length is 34.08".

I sent an email to the shop where I purchased this board, just to let them know that their saw jig might be out of adjustment.

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

Side dot markes...

I got some plastic tubes and glow-in-the-dark powder from a hobby store. Much cheaper than luminlay. Here I'm experimenting by packing the powder in and drop-filling with superglue. Totally works. But that green is a bit obnoxious 🤢😁 I'll probably get a different colour eventyally.

 

 

[Henrythe8]

Excellent thinking. I tried with some nail varnis then phosphorescent paint but it was too messy. The powder + glue in tube is a good idea. Thanks.