Andyjr1515 Posted March 12, 2021 Author Share Posted March 12, 2021 Small steps, but the first cut and glue of any project is an important one Straightened up the joint line of the top wood with a jack-plane and now it's gluing Going to look nice 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted March 12, 2021 Share Posted March 12, 2021 Lovely grain on that top. I presume that's walnut? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted March 12, 2021 Author Share Posted March 12, 2021 44 minutes ago, Jabba_the_gut said: Lovely grain on that top. I presume that's walnut? Yes - walnut. It's beautiful in real life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 That looks even better now it's glued together, how many people spotted that the template is the wrong way round? 😁 Walnut is my favourite wood for instruments, I already have 2 guitars and a bass that are walnut but I'm very sure this is going to be the best looking one! Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, Matt P said: how many people spotted that the template is the wrong way round? Well...now there's a story... Not me for one I gave Matt the choice of the four configurations, and he chose one of the other ones. And I - ahhummm - had already cut it before I spotted Matt's question. Anyway, Matt has been extremely gracious and says he is equally happy with the way round I've done it. One for the 'ooops!' log I reckon. That said, it is going to look pretty splendid - this is one of the best figured walnut pieces I've come across in a long, long time. Here it is with a 5-string sized fretboard cutout: Once the proper finish is on, that figuring is going to positively come alive! Next step is to cut the oak blanks and order the neck laminates and bridge Edited March 13, 2021 by Andyjr1515 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 I've spent the last couple of days sorting out the oak, cutting the maple neck splices and getting all of the mating surfaces flat and straight: And on order from David Dyke are the two walnut splices, a purpleheart splice for the middle, some more purpleheart to use as the back/top demarcation and a 5-string AAA ebony fretboard blank 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopthebass Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 That top will look great! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roman_sub Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 On 13/03/2021 at 13:06, Andyjr1515 said: Well...now there's a story... Not me for one I gave Matt the choice of the four configurations, and he chose one of the other ones. And I - ahhummm - had already cut it before I spotted Matt's question. Anyway, Matt has been extremely gracious and says he is equally happy with the way round I've done it. One for the 'ooops!' log I reckon. That said, it is going to look pretty splendid - this is one of the best figured walnut pieces I've come across in a long, long time. Here it is with a 5-string sized fretboard cutout: Once the proper finish is on, that figuring is going to positively come alive! Next step is to cut the oak blanks and order the neck laminates and bridge This orientation of the wood grain seems both logical and stunning IMO! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 4 hours ago, roman_sub said: This orientation of the wood grain seems both logical and stunning IMO! yes, the choice came down to 2 versions, this one and the one shown originally, it was very close but seeing it together like this i think it's the right one, this is going to be a stunning bass and will definitely become my number one bass. Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted March 31, 2021 Author Share Posted March 31, 2021 (edited) Hmmm...David Dyke is certainly very busy. Even though it was only half a dozen items from their in-stock finished, it has taken twice as long and counting (and chasing) to come from East Sussex than this below has taken to come from Maine, USA : A beautiful Hipshot B-style, on brass (I like a bit of mass for the bridge) at 18mm spacing. Great service from Best Bass Gear in Kennebunk, Maine ... 5 calendar days from placement of order They will definitely be going on my 'suppliers to use again in the future' list. So this means I can start to work out the neck angle (I always start with the physical bridge at hand) so when the neck splices eventually do arrive from E Sussex, I can make some better progress. Edited March 31, 2021 by Andyjr1515 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazBeen Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 24 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said: Great service from Best Bass Gear in Kennebunk, Maine ... 5 calendar days from placement of order They will definitely be going on my 'suppliers to use again in the future' list. +1, great supplier and they have loads of stuff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 1, 2021 Author Share Posted April 1, 2021 Neck wood is on its way Might be with me tomorrow, all going well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 I'm sure that Hipshot bridge is a great piece of engineering, but that arrangement of string retaining slots and intonation screws sends my OCD into overdrive! 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 1, 2021 Author Share Posted April 1, 2021 37 minutes ago, BigRedX said: I'm sure that Hipshot bridge is a great piece of engineering, but that arrangement of string retaining slots and intonation screws sends my OCD into overdrive! 🙂 I gather it is a modern take on the original BBOT that is equally OCD unfriendly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 1 hour ago, BigRedX said: I'm sure that Hipshot bridge is a great piece of engineering, but that arrangement of string retaining slots and intonation screws sends my OCD into overdrive! 🙂 it's never really bothered me, I have the same bridge (but in black) fitted to my Letts 5 string, my only minor gripe is that the black finish isn't very hardwearing, the chrome fixes that. Matt 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 1, 2021 Author Share Posted April 1, 2021 51 minutes ago, Matt P said: it's never really bothered me, I have the same bridge (but in black) fitted to my Letts 5 string, my only minor gripe is that the black finish isn't very hardwearing, the chrome fixes that. Matt ..and nicely chromed it is too! In the flesh it looks splendid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 3, 2021 Author Share Posted April 3, 2021 I always like to have the physical bridge to hand when I am working out the bridge position and neck angle. This way I can check the actual and usable range of saddle height and intonation movement. I then draw the fretboard height, fret height, nut height full-size as a side view to the previously drawn plan view of the bass and plot the string run from nut to saddle at it's lowest set action height: I then match that against the saddle height range of the bridge to work out what, if any, the neck angle needs to be to allow the saddles to be able to have reasonable adjustability once it's all assembled: And this says that, in fact, I shouldn't need a neck angle. Which is, as it happens, a decent double check to what I had assumed. Why? Because the hipshot B-style is a modern take for the Fender BBOT...and Fender basses also generally do not need a neck angle. So when the neck splices arrive on, presumably Tuesday (unless UPS are delivering today), I should be able to make a burst of decent progress 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 6, 2021 Author Share Posted April 6, 2021 Hooray....Mafeking has been relieved....the wood's arrived! And the gluing of the sections will start this very day This is how it should look when it's all together: Purple heart in the middle, walnut stringers either side, maple everywhere else So by the weekend, we should have a neck glued and cut and the top demarcation purpleheart bonded, ready for the top to be glued to the neck 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 that looks perfect! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 8, 2021 Author Share Posted April 8, 2021 I glue the splices one face at a time - I find there's too much floating around of wood on glue to do all 6 faces (or even 2!) at a time First one - I am using the two thicker outer sections of maple as my main clamping cauls (they are also protected from the clamps by some plywood packers) and the name of the game is to have squeeze-out all along the length. I'm using the two bench clamps either end and then as many G or screw clamps as necessary in between: ...and a few hours later, the last one is curing in the clamp: I will leave this all to fully set overnight, then in the morning start cleaning and squaring it up ready to rout the slot in the top surface where the walnut top will slot. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benh Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 That's going to look great 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 8, 2021 Author Share Posted April 8, 2021 It's out of the clamps and with a quick scrape to get the glue off, it's ready to go through the thicknesser in the morning once everything is at its full strength. This is the other side to the above photo - quite pleased that the sections, held flat against the bench clamp supporting tubes are lined up nicely...and it's actually square to the sides! : The other side is a bit of a dogs dinner at the moment (no - I'm not going to post the photo...think Pal with a bit of Winalot and a few spoons of last night's left-over gravy ), but with this side being flat, square and straight, a couple of passes through the thicknesser in the morning will get me the ready-to-use blank The purple of the purple heart will come out properly once the light has got to it and the finish is on (when you cut and scrape it, it actually starts off brown). Good job there's a lot of timber to be cut away from this - the blank is currently 7lbs 6oz...which is heavier than the final bass is going to be 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 I thought I was pretty excited at the beginning of the build but this is getting better and better! Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 9, 2021 Author Share Posted April 9, 2021 Spent a happy morning making lots of noise with the Makita thicknesser. First was slimming and narrowing the through-neck blank to thickness and width for the next steps. After that was slimming down some purpleheart splices that will become the demarcation between the walnut top and the oak back wings. The main pieces of purpleheart were then cut, oversize, ready for gluing. The final couple of pieces of purpleheart will be cut when the rest are glued on so I don't end up with any cumulative dimension changes once they are all glued: And the gluing of those pieces is underway...what was that old adage about clamps...hmmm can't quite remember. It's on the tip of my tongue 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 beautiful! What a wonderful thing to see at the end of the working week. Is there some purpleheart to go between the oak and the neck as well? Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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