Basvarken Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 Completed the build of the Brooks EB-TB-IV today. - Neck through with mahogany body wings - Nine ply mahogany/walnut neck - Ebony faceplate on headstock - Tobacco burst gloss transparent acrylic finish - Rosewood fretboard - Jumbo frets - 34" scale - Handcut bone nut - Three ply white-black-white pickguard - Wide travel Thunderbird bridge plus tailstop - Spokewheel trussrod - Thunderbird style pickups nickel. - Hipshot Ultralite tuners - Output Pure Tone - d'Addario EXL170BT Balanced Tension strings - Strapnuts: Dunlop Straplok Nickel Dual Design - Weight: 3.5 kg I'll post pics of the build process in posts below 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted December 4, 2023 Author Share Posted December 4, 2023 As always the build starts with same blanks. I had my limber supplier make me a nice neck blank. He made it to the exact specs that I asked for (nine ply khaya mahogany with walnut strips in between. Plus two khaya body wings. Ordered parts and hardware. Initially the customer and I agreed upon a single pickup bass, so I ordered just one Thunderbird humbucker. Routed the slot for the spokewheel trussrod And chiseled out the spoke wheel part. Next I prepared the fretboard for the inlays Glued the inlays in After I had sanded the inlays flush to the radius of the fretboard, I prepared the fret slots for the frets. Cut the fretwire a little oversized to the width of the slots. And taped off the fretboard for protection. Hammered the frets in Cut off the excess ends. And filed them. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted December 4, 2023 Author Share Posted December 4, 2023 Cut out the truss rod access slot And made the truss rod cover from a matching piece of rosewood Planed the centerpiece to the desired neck/body angle After the angle was done I roughly sawed the neck shape, in preparation to glue the fretboard on. Shot in a staple and cut it off just a little bit proud of the surface. This helps to prevent the fretboard from sliding off center when glueing onto the neck. The glued the fretboard onto the neck. Using inner bicycle tubes for a clamp. Drilled the holes for the side markers Glued the side markers in Filled the gaps underneath the fret tangs with a past of Titebond and rosewood sawdust. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted December 4, 2023 Author Share Posted December 4, 2023 Shaped the neck profile Prepared the ebony faceplate for glue up Cut out the moustache (or open book) shape with a jewelers saw, before I glued the faceplate onto the headstock Glued the faceplate to the headstock Drilled the tuner holes Didn't drill all the way through to prevent tear out. And to keep the diameter of the holes on the other side slightly narrower than the front. I've learned that the Hipshot Ultralites barely cover the entire width of the holes. Shaped the volute Shaped the headstock outline 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted December 4, 2023 Author Share Posted December 4, 2023 Routed the pickup cavities. As you can see the customer had decided he wanted two pickups instead of just one. Glued the first wing on And then the other Drilled the bridge stud holes Roughly cut put the body shape, prior to routing it along the template Routed the body outline Didn't risk to route too close to the neck join area. So I had to clean that up by hand. Starting to look like it Routed the controls cavity Drilled some holes. Ready for the finishing process 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted December 4, 2023 Author Share Posted December 4, 2023 Cut the top nut for a piece of bone Filled the pores with Rustins porefiller And then took to staining the bass First a coat of yellow to give to that golden glow under a certain lighting and angle. I use Clou waterbased stain. Then did the edges with a light mahogany stain and feathered it out with a dry brush. Stained the neck and headstock And the last phase was to stain the sides of the body a very dark mahogany color mixed with dark walnut Then sprayed with sanding sealer And then started to build up layers of clear. With lots of wet sanding in between When the surface was completely smooth I applied the decals to the headstock Customer found out it is the 100th bass guitar he has ever owned. So he asked me to add the number 100 somewhere And I live in Velp 😉 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted December 4, 2023 Author Share Posted December 4, 2023 Laser cut the pickguard. Customer wasn't sure about the pickguard. I gave him the choice between none at all, White or Vintage White. In the end we chose for Vintage White When the bass was wet sanded to grit 2500 and polished with Meguiars I mounted the hardware and pickups It's hard to capture the color of this bass. Looks different in each light Final step was soldering the electronics 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted December 4, 2023 Author Share Posted December 4, 2023 Also made a few pics of the bass without the pickguard 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 Another beauty Rob, fantastic looking axe 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slojo Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 Lovely work, I enjoyed that, thanks. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 That's stunning! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basvarken Posted December 6, 2023 Author Share Posted December 6, 2023 And here's the inevitable video demo 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbacco Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 wow ... what a beautiful story, pictures and, obviously, work! amazing skills and results!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 Lovely looking Bass - hope that the customer is happy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 Lovely job. I like that a lot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamIAm Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 What a lovely looking bass! S'manth x 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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