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Posted

I've been working on making some high quality laminated bodies for a set neck semi hollow bass in the same vein as the Gibson EB-2 and Guild Starfire. It'll eventually have a small centre block just under the bridge and a set mahogany/maple/mahogany neck with a 31" scale. I got fed up looking for a decent short scale semi with double cutaways and decent pickups/electronics, so here I am wrestling with birch veneers and vacuum presses.

The first will have a DiMarzio model 1 and Schaller HB with some interesting switching options and a second fretless one with a piezo bridge and no centre block. I'd like to do one with Darkstars but at 200 dollars a go I'll wait 'til the first two are proven.

Shed loads still to do but watch this space...

Posted (edited)

ooh very nice! i've always been a fan of 335 shaped guitars and basses! what colour is it going to be? will it have binding? i gotta say i love 335s in white with black binding or vice versa.

Edited by Tait
Posted

Thanks for the encouragement! My first prototype will be in black with white binding, unbound rosewood board with dots and mostly chrome hardware. The one headache I have is sorting out a chrome cover for a DiMarzio Model 1 as they usually come with a black cover already attached.
If I get around to doing a piezo bridge version I'll do it in natural blonde with a fretless ebony board.

Anyway, more laminating to do....

Posted

[quote name='henry norton' post='823799' date='Apr 30 2010, 10:34 AM']Thanks for the encouragement! My first prototype will be in [b]black with white binding, unbound rosewood board with dots and mostly chrome hardware.[/b] The one headache I have is sorting out a chrome cover for a DiMarzio Model 1 as they usually come with a black cover already attached.
If I get around to doing a piezo bridge version I'll do it in natural blonde with a fretless ebony board.

Anyway, more laminating to do....[/quote]

sounds great!

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Sorted out the basic body, now I need to bind it and cut the pickup and neck holes. It's fantastically light thus far so I hope the choice of ali bridge, knobs etc. will keep it that way. The neck blank is mahogany with a quartered rock maple stripe (a nod toward the Guild Starfire). I've got other more important things to do over the next few weeks but will hopefully be able to put in a bit more time on this.

Posted

Nice work, have you got any more pics of attaching the sides to the back or front? did you just use small wooden blocks around the edge?

Posted

[quote name='steve' post='841383' date='May 18 2010, 09:59 PM']Nice work, have you got any more pics of attaching the sides to the back or front? did you just use small wooden blocks around the edge?[/quote]
It goes a little something like this - I haven't used kerfed linings before (the wooden block things) as my violin-making training always specified solid linings bent before they're fitted. The kerfed linings look OK but I'm looking into building ply linings directly into the sides while they're being formed.

  • 2 years later...
Posted (edited)

I can't believe it's been over two years since I started working on this! I still don't have that much time to work on it but whilst I'm puzzling over finish issues with Dave's (Rumple's) Fretless maple Jazz, I thought I'd get on with some woodwork. In spite of how it looks the majority of the work is done and I'm now working on details such as headstock veneers and inlays. This first one will have a Model 1 neck pickup and a Schaller H in the bridge - both black but I'm looking into some chrome/nickel options for the proper vintage effect. It'll be black with cream binding and dots, nice and simple.

Since I started this Hagstrom have released the Viking which ticks quite a few of my original boxes but bugger it, I'll carry on with it anyway. The next one I make will be in some interesting veneer and maybe a couple of BiSonics/DarkStars if I can find some....

Edited by henry norton
  • 3 months later...
Posted (edited)

I've managed to find a bit of time to move this on a bit. I've bound the body, shaped the neck, veneered the headstock and fretted/inlaid the board. The neck's glued on too so I'll soon be ready for the finish.

Edited by henry norton
Posted

[quote name='untune' timestamp='1350827074' post='1843890']
P.S. Is this what the Darkstar is destined for? That'll look amazing if so...
[/quote]
Thanks Chap ;) Yes I will put a pair of my BiSonic/Darkstar replicas (I call mine NuSonics), in a semi hollow some time in the near future but I'm waiting on some parts to be finished at the moment so this one will have a DiMarzio Model 1 and Schaller HB - much like a Gibson EB-2D. I'm hoping the next semi I build will use the NuSonics, probably going into an acg filter preamp - a real Jack Casady bass :lol:

  • 6 months later...
Posted (edited)

Pretty much finished although I'm already working on a new, improved version in blonde. Then there's the fretless version with piezo....... I'm quite pleased with the way it handles and sounds with the humbuckers but I might add a few switching options - making nickel/chrome covers for the pickups too. The bridge looks a bit modern so I'm thinking of replacing it with a Supertone 2 point, just because it's got a nicer shape. Lots to think about still.

Edited by henry norton
Posted

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1368521754' post='2077880']
Looks great, and reminds me how weird Gibson's black ES-335 bass looks with no body binding.
[/quote]
Thanks for the comments and yes, so far as binding goes I think it is intrinsic to a 335/EB-2/general semi solid's look and feel. I based the shape on a mash up between a Guild Starfire and the aforementioned EB-2. More development pictures to come....

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