Jabba_the_gut

It's a bit of an experiment but my plan is to use the lower four strings from a five string set which should (by my calculations so may well be wrong1) give me standard EADG tuning. I've also got some other strings I will try that are much lighter - might possibly get EADG from them but an octave up. Will also try standard strings which should give BEAD an octave up. Will be a bit if trial and error to see what works and sounds best. Cheers Jez

Been doing some sanding on the body - there's some really nice grain and flame appearing. Still hoping to get this in a playable state for the SE Bass Bash but it's going to be tight! Just need to sand the body, finish the body, shape the neck, do the inlay, fit the frets, fit the electronics etc etc...….!!! And I'm ignoring the kitchen that has been wrecked by a leak, has the flooring up, drier and dehumidifier installed, will need all the units to be removed, new floor fitted, kitchen re-installed, new flooring across the whole downstairs. That can wait - must get the build finished first for the bash!!!!

I've done plenty of sanding today and put the first coat of oil on. This first coat of oil is quite light and will show up any little flaws - there are a few that need sanding but generally I'm quite pleased so far. The top has got dome depth to in in quite a few places. I've assembled it again just to see how it looks together, took a few pictures and then dismantled it again to carry on working on the finish.

I'd need to speak to @Andyjr1515 and find out how to take decent photos first! But I'd be quite happy to add any pictures of my builds if folk are interested. I know what you mean @TheGreek, it would almost like a coffee table book that you can you just scroll though and look at the pictures. Be nice for reference and inspiration. Cheers

Done a few more bits and pieces on this in the last couple of days. I've finally settled on a EMG35 sized pickup for this as it suits the design. I've got an EMG35DC from another bass I'm going to use for this. So first thing is to make a template for the pickup route. I used my standard approach of nailing little bits of wood to make the pickup outline then using a router template cutter to cut this neatly. It sounds a bit crude but it makes very neat templates and I've found these to be accurate to within about 0.2mm. This ends up with a template looking like this: And a pickup route like this: I also made a cover for the control cavity: Next task is a load of sanding......

In my opinion for a one-off, I don't know what you would gain by using machine tools. There is nothing to stop you making a template and filing the brass back to that to keep the accuracy or curved lines you are looking for. I found just using fine files and wet and paper you can get perfectly good, smooth and flowing edges. In some respects, filing the brass was easier than working with wood as the workpiece doesn't reduce in size quite so quickly...... Look forward to seeing what you do. Cheers

Hi Honza, Just found the receipt - I used a company called Doug Taylor Metal Finishing who did a nice job. The last plate I had done was £24 - which I think is fair enough for a one off small item. The plates I've made are brass 1.5mm thick. This is what I made - my reasons for making the plates was because I wanted something to follow the curve of the bass as it looks more pleasing, which sounds like where you might be going. I drilled and countersunk the holes in the plates before plating (one plate was made for a piezo only bass with no controls, just a jack socket) Cheers Jez

I used a piece of brass about 1mm thick and it was very easy to cut and shape. I only had simple tools for it such as a junior hacksaw and a couple of fine files ( one flat, one curved). Cut the shape, filed then finished off with wet and dry paper to remove any final marks. You'll have no problem. I think is cost between £15 and £20 to get plated - more than standard plate off eBay but exactly the shaped needed. I'm looking for the details for you..... Cheers

Could you possibly get away with a Stingray type arrangement where the pickguard and control plate don't join? Would save having to re-route anything and I presume you were already going to have to get a custom pickguard. I made a control plate for a bass from a bit of brass and got it chrome plated and it looked really nice. I'll try to find the name of the platers I used and let you know. Looking nice so far though - and the neck is lovely!! Cheers Jez

I've used my router table and trimmed the neck. I must improve my technique here as the router (again) decided to have a little nibble when going across the grain. Nothing major that can't be sorted but annoying all the same. Next task are to put the side dots in and sort the logo inlay thing for the headstock. I'm going to use the same shape logo that I have on the two previous basses of this shape. I'm wasn't entirely sure on whether to use plain ebony or to use a lighter wood with a veneer line around it so I made both to see. First off, I got made a photocopies of a previous spare logo and stuck these to some slices of ebony and a slice of the birds eye maple from the neck. I used a fine saw to cut the bulk of the excess off. I've mounted my Dremel like a mini router table to trim the edges of the logos tight to the photo copy lines. For the lighter coloured one I trimmed it further as this will have veneer glued around the edge. I used superglue to stick two layers around the logo - not the easiest job as the superglue wants to run and the veneer wants to split, but with a bit of patience I ended up with these: I'm going to use the light one with the veneer edge - I think that will look the best when fitted.

Hi Christine, Very interesting and very useful! I've struggled a bit with my planes but from reading this, it's probably because I don't know how to set it up properly!! I'll add it to the list of things I need to do over the weekend...… Cheers

Cheers @SpondonBassed And as I have a new router table it would be rude not to buy a couple of new cutters. I recently bought two bearing template cutters that are opposite ends of the spectrum...... The larger of the two is a Radian tools one as mentioned by @Christine in one of her excellent build threads.

Quite agree with this!!

No worries - good luck with the build.

Shame - not local to me. I was just seeing if you were nearby as I might have been able to help you out. Cheers anyway, Jez

Put some side dots on the neck as I forgot to do that earlier. Much more difficult to get them aligned after radiusing the fretboard. Won't make that mistake again....(famous last words!!). I got the chance to fit the frets this evening. I've used thin frets for this just because it is such a short scale and I thought they might work better (not sure why!!). I've not filed the fret end or filled the ends of the fret slots, that'll be a job for tomorrow. I've also stuck some strings on it just to get an idea of angles, action etc. Needs a little bit of adjustment, probably need to drop the bridge down 1-1.5mm, but that's about it. I'll also try some different strings; my original idea with this was to use the bottom four strings from a five string set and (hopefully) that should allow me to tune it EADG. Again, another job for tomorrow.

I reckon that would suit you Mick!

@donslowWhereabouts are you based?

Hi Si, Hope it all goes well any many thanks for everything you have done. I’ve really enjoyed the bashes you organised and have met some great people. All the best Jez

1. jebroad 2. Len_Derby 3. Jabba_the_gut

My template worked - fretboard slotted, glued to neck and roughly trimmed. Next task will be to trim this using my router table then the shaping can start. Based on the short scale bass neck made with the offcuts of this neck, I reckon the finish should be really nice on this.

Done a bit of sanding on this for the belly are arm shaping. The neck is starting to look quite nice - I think the birds eye maple will finish nicely

Genuine question - what is fret re-glazing?

For info, I printed the Jaguar plans out on A4 from that link and they seem pretty decent - the sheets link together quite nicely. Might be a project for another time....

It's going nicely!!