Completed: Project Fruity - 4 String Jazz Build

[benh]

Bit of a mysterious one as I have no progress pics (as of yet), but stuck this here as an eventual (near future!) build diary for my next project. I've owned and played all sorts of less conventional basses, but I've never owned a passive 4 string J or P bass. So I've decided that's what I'm going to build for myself next! Leaning towards jazz at the moment, but that may change the closer I get to pickup routing.

 

Got all the wood stacked in the spare room - gone slightly less conventional with wood choices, tried to use local where I can. So at the moment, it's going to be 34" scale 4 string with:

 

English cherry body

English rippled pear wood top

English ash/English sycamore laminated neck

Quartersawn English oak fretboard

 

Updates to come in the near future!

Edited August 7, 2022 by benh
Finished

[benh]

One thing I will share is the oak for the fretboard - rather looking forward to seeing this with finish:

[Richard R]

Following 👍

[TheGreek]

Love it when somebody builds something with the "wrong" materials......Oak fretboard hey? 👍

 

Following this....

[Hellzero]

Following too.

 

Hey Nick, remember that Brian May's home made guitar has an oak neck, which is supposed to be a sonically dead wood, so we might have another good surprise here with Ben's build.

[Jimothey]

Theres lots of acoustic guitars made out of oak so I can't see it being a problem and my next few builds are going to have Oak fretboards (and possibly Oak necks) so I'm watching this with interest...... 👍🏻 

Edited January 18, 2022 by Jimothey

[Dom in Dorset]

I've used oak for necks and fretboard, a bit unforgiving to work with and very variable in density but worth it. 

Fretboards in oak look great and the oak necks I've made seem to be solid and stable with a good feel. The resulting instruments have no loss of brightness or sustain.

I suspect that the course grain and variable density is why it's not more common.

My current build features an oak fretboard.

 

 

Edited January 19, 2022 by Dom in Dorset
I thought it was a work event.

[Henrythe8]

sub'd. 🙂

 

[bloke_zero]

I played an oak blast cult bass like this: https://www.blastcult.co.uk/product/blast-cult-magic-13-electric-bass-4/

 

Really loved it, particulaly the slightly open grain feel to the oak neck. I think the one I played was one piece neck rather than with a fingerboard. Very tight sounding and feeling.

Edited January 20, 2022 by bloke_zero

[benh]

15 minutes ago, bloke_zero said:

I played an oak blast cult bass like this: https://www.blastcult.co.uk/product/blast-cult-magic-13-electric-bass-4/

 

Really loved it, particulaly the slightly open grain feel to the oak neck. I think the one I played was one piece neck rather than with a fingerboard. Very tight sounding and feeling.

Wow, certainly looks different!

[PaulThePlug]

Mmmm... Juicy Fruit! 😉

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by PaulThePlug

[benh]

18 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

Mmmm... Juicy Fruit! 😉

 

Couldn't think of another name - seemed fitting!

[PaulThePlug]

Cherry 'n Pear flavour...

[benh]

...Chair?

[benh]

New bandsaw arrived this afternoon, so may well have some updates soon!

[Jimothey]

Ooohhh gotta love a new tool arrival! I've just had to replace the belt and blade on mine but haven't had a chance to use it yet! 

[benh]

Sneak peek of the top

[benh]

It begins... started thicknessing the cherry for the body. Unfortunately it's too wide to go through my planer thicknesser - scrub plane and elbow grease it is!

[Andyjr1515]

Not sure how I missed this in January!

 

Yes - I like oak too and have used it in a number of builds, including one using oak for the back of a 6 string electric which is the lightest of any of the builds I've done so far (5 1/4lbs including double humbuckers!)

 

Will be watching this one with interest, @benh 

[benh]

Thanks @Andyjr1515- may be a long drawn out one I'm afraid! 

[durhamboy]

Following this one. Love the range of woods you're using. Nothing wrong with working with less tried and true woods, regardless of the species, as long as the wood is stable, why not use it, especially if it's visually attractive and used in the right places. (Figured caps etc.) . Being as I live in the land down under, I've used a lot of local woods since the mid 70's and most I've tried are more than acceptable. (especially when neck laminations of different species are used, that can make up for any slight less that optimal attributes. Many had been well proved, having been used by companies like Maton and these days Cloe Clark, and Taylor use woods such as Tasmanian Blackwood.)

 

Anyway, looking forward to your build progressing.

[benh]

Body blank glued up, started planing the pear for the top - some nice figuring becoming visible

[benh]

Trying some preliminary routing for wiring - I hate drilling for wires between cavities. This will be hidden under the top once glued on, of course. The hole on the left has been filled since I took the pic, it was quite a big chunk of metal that must have been lodged in the tree - thankfully I spotted it and did some investigating with a chisel before I hit it with the router bit!

Edited March 7, 2022 by benh

[benh]

Rippled pear - me likey

[Jimothey]

Looks lovely! Very interested to see this take shape!! 😁