Jabba_the_gut

I've had a look at the side dots for this and I want to keep the colour simple. White obviously doesn't go on maple, black dots just don't look right and I don't think alabone would look right either. I decided to make some dowels from an offcut of the neck wood. I used a piece of metal sheet with a 2.5mm hole drilled in it then cut some wooden rods to roughly the right size. The wooden sticks are then hammered through the hole in the metal sheet to make them round.

These are then fitted into the holes drilled in the neck and sanded flush.

The only shame with this is that the main body wood was from a pew and has some holes in it that were dowelled. One of the dowels can still be seen on the back of the body. Not a real issue and just part of the story of the wood used.

The neck is made from two pieces of wood cut from a piece that @Rich gave me a while back. I glued it so the grain runs mirror image on the two halves of the neck - I quite like how it has turned out so far.

I'm also quite please with the contrast of the woods used, especially as this bass is a bit of a wood recycling job.

And a rough try out of where the controls will be - just a volume and tone on this one.

Decided to go for an EMG MM pickup so next job was to route the pocket for that as usual starting off by removing the bulk with a Forstner bit (there is a plastic film on this to save the veneer on the from from getting scratched which can be seen in the picture):

Once the bulk is removed then the router can be used to tidy everything up using a template to get some nice sharp edges to the pocket. After that I started rounding the edges which clearly shows the maple veneer layer producing a light coloured line around the shape if the bass.

More rounding:

I've decided I'm not going to have a forearm carve on this as it will take away from the veneer line I think but it will have a tummy carve. Out with the Shinto and other rasps to remove the bulk and to shape - something really satisfying about this.

4 minutes ago, eude said:

Nice.

Looking forward to seeing more, and hearing how you get on with those gauges. I've got some starting at 0.115 on the low E for my 26.5" bass, and I find them just too thick.

Eude

Hi Eude,

Ive used these gauges on the 4 string versions and like how they feel tension wise. Anything in particular you’d like to know? (I’ll explain if I can!). 
 

I have also got another set going down to .125 for a low B but not properly explored that yet. 

Cheers

I've done a little more on the 5 string and am hoping to really progress with it over Christmas. The postie has just delivered the 5 string set I ordered from Newtone Strings - delivered for Christmas just as Neil said. Superb strings and great service.

As you can see from the pack, the plan is to string this E to C.

I'll post the updates a little later.

So after quite a while, back to the body and neck I first starting building 18 months ago!! They've been sat in a box doing nothing other that getting looked at occasionally and put away again. There are a couple of holes in the original wood that I filled with dowels but I wasn't happy that one was on the front of the bass which is probably why I lost a bit of interest as I do like things to be perfect. I was going through the veneers I have and found a couple of pieces of cherry that would be big enough to cover the body.

I glued these together to make one sheet (only 0.6mm thick but you can still join it and it's quite strong) and, once dry, glued this and a contrasting maple veneer to the front of the body. I used another piece of veneer for the face of the headstock too.

I've got a big block of sycamore in the garage that I cut a slice off and thicknessed to be used for the fretboard.

I originally though of fitting a peizo but in the end I've opted for an EMG MM and chrome hardware as I've got those going spare. I'm also thinking of making this bass with a set neck rather than bolt on for no other reason than I haven't tried that before. Might still change my mind but we'll see how it goes!

Slotted the fretboard using the Stewmac jig I bought off here a while ago (and one of the best things I have ever bought).

Lined everything up with the neck ready for gluing

Neck glued and put next to the body to get some idea what this will look like

I've used the same template as for the other mini basses so cut neck and bridge pockets. I've also used the neck template and trimmed that to size.

The neck fits nice and snugly in the pocket and the strings align nicely with the bridge.

Next task will be routing the pickup pocket then shaping and sanding (lots of...).

Cheers.

9 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

What next?  Locusts?

I know that feeling. Been persisting it down here for ages and the water is rising. Went to check on my elderly neighbour, Noah, but he's left a note on the door saying he's gone to the marina with his wife, 2 cats, 2 dogs.....

I like it with the scratch plate though I would change it for pearlescent one to match the blocks. Looks nice!

I've also use an acrylic lacquer by Chestnut once before which has the benefit of being water based, can be applied with a brush or sponge and is non-smelly. 

Also, if you are joining two parts of a body yourself it can be worth putting masking tape along the joint length to stop excess glue going on the surface you plan on staining. 

I seem to remember some glues being better than others in terms of showing up under stains (I stay clear of Resin W - much prefer Cascamite or Titebond - just my preference).

Possibly even try a cabinet scraper

Just reminded me that I've got an ACG EQ02 I really must fit to something!! 

EMG do one:

EMG Pickups / ABC / Electric Guitar Pickups, Bass Guitar Pickups, Acoustic Guitar Pickups

Beautiful looking bass!

5 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

And to the headless system.  Now I may be wrong, but I'm sure someone has flagged this in the past.  Maybe @Jabba_the_gut ?

Yep, I bought one of these (and earlier 5 string version prior to the ball races being fitted). Nicely made and finished and not ridiculously expensive. I actually sold mine without using it as I found myself with too many things going on at the time and a 5 string headless ended up on the back burner. I sold it on here and believe it was used to convert an Ibanez Mikro to headless (can't remember where  the thread was).

I also bought a couple of 4 string headpieces from Andre as they are much better than the ones you find on eBay but without being too expensive. I've got one on the short scale neck I'm tinkering with at present.

I do have plans for a 5 string headless and have another headless system for that, but that'll be a project for next year once I finish my current project and then have a clear out as there are too many basses at home now!!

Look forward to seeing your build progress - presumably you'll be taking this to the SW bash next year?....

I've made four basses that fit roughly into this category with scale lengths of 27" and of 23". All are four string - the 23" basses are headless and the 27" are headed. I'm currently tinkering with the 23" basses and trying out a 27" headless neck which is looking promising. All details are in the build diaries section if anyone is interested in seeing what they all look like.

I'm really please with the last 27" bass I made. Passive with a single Bartolini pickup (that can be switch between single coil and humbucker) and white LED side markers. It is really comfortable to play and sounds great - I really need to get some sound clips sorted and posted on here! Here's a few piccies. 

There is something about basses of around this scale and I can only suggest people trying them. I'll be taking all these short things to bass bashes, hopefully in the first half of next year.  With a bit of luck I'll have finished the five string version I'm currently building. 

Pmd

Even decent brass ones would be good rather than these soft alloy things!

The body is sprayed using rattle can nitro lacquer - can’t remember which brand.

Cheers

I like inserts for neck bolts but I don't!! They work nicely for basses like this where I'm using allen head bolts to hold the neck but there just seems to be a luck dip as to how good the inserts are. Some I have bought are so soft they are neck to useless. This is made mode difficult due to the hardness of the woods I'm inserting them into. I always use an offcut of the same wood to try them in first. So drill the holes and off we go!

With the holes drilled and countersunk I fitted the inserts and all went in perfectly! Result! Normally a pain.

I also fitted the headpiece then couldn't resist bolting it together and sticking some strings on it to get a rough idea where any adjustments might be required. Doesn't look like it will need adjusting - another result. I'm off to do the lottery now whilst I'm on a roll!!!

I was going to have just a zero fret but looks like I will need a nut to space the strings correctly. That'll be the next job.

First up was to cut the truss rod slot in the neck. I bought a palm router recently and it is lovely to use for jobs like this, a bit more fiddly to adjust  but easy to work with.

Once this was done I stuck a slotted fretboard on. Next I needed to carefully check the scale length in order to work out exactly where the heel needs to be. This was definitely one of those 'measure twice, cut once' moments (watch me eat my words later in this thread!!).

I'm using a Nova headpiece on this neck so trimmed the fretboard to a shallow slope to mount this on. After that I cut the excess off with a bandsaw then trimmed the neck on a router table using my mdf neck template.

The neck fitted quite nicely into the body and feels that it should work out quite reasonably. This really isn't the best picture but it gives a rough idea of where this is going.

Next task is sorting the neck inserts followed by a load of shaping.

I made my first bass from a block of teak that my dad gave me. It is reasonably heavy but get the balance right and it will be quite comfortable. It was really nice to work with and also finished nicely with oil.

1.5" is thick enough for a body as is in my opinion (I've made a few that are 38mm thick so very similar) but a @TheGreek says, you could put something like a 1/4" top on it. 

Look forward to seeing what you come up with!!

Cheers

I’ll have built a few more basses ready for the next one!!

I've built a few different short scale basses now at various scale lengths 23" (headless), 27", 29" and 30" and I'm still enjoying tinkering with these!!  I'm particularly enjoying playing the 27" basses so much so I'm building a 27" 5 string at the moment (on another thread). I ordered a generic neck blank and the one that arrived was quite wide, wide enough to have sufficient spare for a headless neck....

So, I'm going to make a 27.5" neck for one of the mini headless basses just to see what that is like. I'm hoping to be able to use normal short scale strings on that to achieve the right tension etc. - might work, might not!!  The reason for it being 27.5"? Well, that is the scale length of a spare slotted fretboard I have, leftover as the result of an error with my measurements from a previous build...!!! I've also made a neck blank for a 17" scale neck as another possibility - that would be tuned an octave up (@ped's fault again with his picture thread of really short basses). I've got a bit more to look at with that to see how the pocket tapers  with it being much shorter (i don't want to modify the body).

This is the neck blank for the 5 string neck - it really is quite wide!! Next to the ruler, I've got some other laminated offcuts that will form the centre section of the neck. The shorter piece is the blank for the 17" neck made from offcuts from other necks

The two necks from the one neck blank with their corresponding fretboards

Note sure what the result of this will be but only one way to find out!!

Really nice and really quickly made!!

12 hours ago, wrinkleygit said:

What an absolute gem, looking forward to to following the 5 string build, the fretless is still proving it’s worth in the trio, only rehearsing these days, hopefully better times next year, stay safe, Mike B.

Hi Mike. Hope all is good with you and glad you're still enjoying the fretless! Take care and hopefully catch up at the SW Bash next year. Just watch out for @Frank Blank though....

All the best

13 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

about the only thing I could help you with, gimme a nudge if you fancy 

I might well take you up on that at some point. Cheers