Jabba_the_gut

The glue won’t even have set by then..

I was really impressed with the mini cabs at the SW Bass Bass - very surprising the volume and tome that can be achieved from these little beasts!! Nice one!

A little rounding to the edges and that me up to date!

As happens with things like this the design evolves a bit as you work on it and branches out a bit.... I came across some round wound strings for uke basses and thought that seemed like a good idea. These can be used for basses with a scale of 23" or 25" which I like the idea of. So, I made another neck template for a 25" scale bass that has the same heel dimension but is just a little thinner at the nut (which is fine as the short, rubber string neck was a little wider at the nut). By keeping the heel dimensions the same, I can re-use the templates. The 25" neck and strings would use normal tuners so the thing that started this whole project, the uke tuners, wouldn't be required. Can't be having that so I'll just have to make a second uke...... These pictures give an idea of the dimensions 21" scale 25" scale

The neck pocket was then cut using the template. The pocket template took a bit more effort to make as it must be accurate to ensure the strings line up correctly with the bridge and string holes. This really is a case of measure and adjust a number of times before cutting the template and measuring a number of times again prior to cutting the pocket. Masking tape was used to protect the top from being scratched whilst cutting the pocket Holes for the neck bolts were then drilled

Another picture of the templates and the neck with the veneer on the headstock

Holes drilled for some ferrules to make the top look neat The veneers have also been glued to the front and back of the neck blank. There are three templates shown here; one for the outline shape, one for the inside shape and one for cutting the neck pocket.

Next, the body outline was cut and sanded to look like this The holes for the string holes have been marked up prior to drilling. I'm also quite pleased how the grain matches.

I used my bandsaw to cut the angle then sanded it to final shape. The photo makes it look like a weird angle but it isn't!!

I reduced the thickness of the top and applied a couple of braces to maintain the strength. I'm looking to use a leftover bridge from another project for the piezo. I've also started looking at the position of the jack socket and where the strings are going to come through. I drilled a hole for the volume/tone pot (thinking of stacked pot for this). I've also looked at the headstock and made it a little bit mor compact but sticking to the basic shape I've used for all my recent builds. I've also shaped a sound hole as such in the upper horn.

I cut a spare piece of the top into two slice and ran it through my drum sander (new bit of kit to me and I really like it!) to make two veneers for the front and back of the headstock when I get on to that. The drum sander is great - these are sanded to about 0.8mm. One difference with the Uke tuners compare to normal ones is that the headstock thickness cannot be more than 12mm thick as the winding drum is wider than the tuner hole so there is no room for movement. I usually make my headstocks 14-15mm thick so I'll have to bear that in mind when I get to that stage.

The back was marked up as to where the battery box would go and a small recess routed The back was then cut for the main part of the battery box There is no control cavity cover on this bass, I planning (and hoping....) that I can fit the pot, and preamp through the battery box hole once the top is glued on.

Once I had removed the bulk around the edge I used the router to tidy things up I then removed the remainder of the wood to leave one big hollow

I made a template that will be used for the final routing of the body cavity once all the excess wood has been removed My Forstner bits got some use removing the bulk of the wood

Body wood was cut into two pieces, the edges squared then glued and clamped. As was the top and a layer of wenge veneer in between The top is not glued on at this point, just in position to see how it looks.

The body for this is being made from some mahogany that I got in the form of the end of a church pew. It's been cut to size and thicknessed and looks quite nice. The top is maple (I think - I bought this a long time ago and can't remember what I was told!!) There's enough for the top and a piece left over to cut a couple of matching veneers for the headstock.

This build is completely @Owen's fault... A while back Owen gave me a set of tuners from a bass uke and the other week I thought it was time to turn them into something. I had a go on a rubber stringed Kala bass and kind of liked it so that's the plan. The plan is for a 21" scale, hollow bodied 4 string with a piezo pickup. I've already got some way with this (I took the body to the recent SW Bass Bash) so this build thread is catching up a bit. This is the scribble for the design with a couple of rough MDF templates

#7 Jez (Jabba_the_gut)

And the first one finished!

And it was great to meet you S’manth! See you next time

Thanks again to @scrumpymikefor organising this event. Always nice to catch up with folk again and meet some new ones too. Nice turnout and lots of really interesting basses and amps. See you next time!!

I’ve got an old Axl guitar amp I’ll stick in the raffle or give away. I was going to repurpose it as a guitar speaker cab but didn’t get round to it!! My Line 6 Studio 110 amp I’m bringing will be up for sale if anyone is interested. I’ve also got a Harley Benton Shorty for sale that I’ll bring along. Looking forward to it - see you all tomorrow.

Excellent news. All the best.