Shuker Bass build 7 year itch

[deepbass5]

Hi all, thought I would share some pics of the my recent modification I have made to My old Shuker build course bass circa 2017. If you are booked on one or thinking about it take your time, think what you really want to live with. because tastes change.

 

I did post the build course some years back, It was planned as a 5 string in Ash with Padauk board and to that point I'm still happy.  I wanted something like Lee Sklar's old P bass and Dusty Hills Tele bass. so went for a slab body 5 reverse P.

The drawback has been it has not been something I wanted to play much, a bit like a picnic table.  Bulky and awkward.

 

So I decided to take the jig saw to it this week and re profile the horns and smooth out the other body angular profiles to make it sleeker and more ergonomic.

 

Original profile from build course

 

 

 

Now here is my Sept 2024 modifications.  Re profiling of the upper and lower horns, I took about 2.5 mm off the front of the body and slimmed down the horns width also, I re- profiled the rib cage contour and the forearm contour to flow into the body  and generally rounded off the sharper slab body edge rout. I had thought about setting fire to it with a blow torch to bring out the grain and then give it the old rusty nails in white vinegar treatment, but I couldn't face the extra sanding involved. So decided to Lemon oil the whole body then wax it when dry as per the Old Warwick finish. 👍   

I built this with Volume /tone , Volume /tone but later changed it to Vol,Pan,Tone and a kill switch.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking, good luck with your projects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 20 by deepbass5
Remove unwanted photos

[Mediocre Polymath]

Nice work. I did a very similar project a year or two ago. I'd made a baritone guitar back in 2018 that played nicely but was insanely heavy (ash, man). Took the whole thing apart and completely reshaped the body to reduce the weight.

 

I don't know about you, but I found taking a big set of rasps and gouges to an instrument I'd already decided was finished to be even more nerve-wracking than building one from scratch. It feels like you're going back to square one.

[deepbass5]

8 hours ago, Mediocre Polymath said:

I don't know about you, but I found taking a big set of rasps and gouges to an instrument I'd already decided was finished to be even more nerve-wracking than building one from scratch.

 

Yes totally agree, I drew the shape of my intended mods on the bass in pencil and looked at it for days.