Jabba_the_gut

It's been a little while since I last posted but I have got a few things done - wish this work malarkey would stop getting in the way of this project!! I've settled on this being 32" scale so I purchased a set of La Bella Black Nylon Tape wound strings. I wanted the strings in hand before I started cutting anything or finalising the templates as I wanted to be sure where the silk would be to ensure that the bridge and nut would be in the right place. The reason for wanting to check this is that this design has slightly different lengths from where the string is anchored to the nut. I could have relied on the details on the La Bella website but I much prefer to have the parts in front of me so I can see how it goes together. After sizing up the strings, the design has ended up at 800mm scale, so just slightly shy of 32".

I like that!

Absolutely. This printer complained about 'incorrect print head fitted' even though it was the one that has always been there! With a new print head costing as much as a new printer and no guarantee it wouldn't happen again, not much choice but to bin it. Utterly wrong.

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1502215208' post='3350061'] I hope I'll have enough room on BC for the remainder of the photos of this build. I've had to delete all of my previous images. [/quote] Try using something like Imgur for your pictures - you just include the link in your post and you can add as many pictures as you like!!

[quote name='honza992' timestamp='1502133998' post='3349541'] Wow, so many great things in this build. Love the beech. Is it soft by the way, like spalted maple is? For some reason in the the photos it looks hard. (Why do my comments also end up sounding like double entendres? They're not supposed to be, honest) I'm just about to build a piezo bass with an artec and a Cafe Walter pre amp, so really interested to see how yours ends up. I've never heard of Shadow, and didn't know of the existence of that John East MPM01 either, so this is already worth the price of entry. Do you mind if I ask a question? I see that you are gluing the top onto the two halves separately. I think I've mostly seen people do it the other way round, ie glue the top together, glue the two halves of the bottom together, then stick the top on the bottom. I've sheepishly copied this method without really thinking about it. Why do you do it the other way? Does it make jointing the two edges easier? [/quote] Hi Honza, I know - too many opportunities to make this sound like a script for a Carry On film!! The beech is pretty hard with the exception of the bit where the neck pocket will be which a fair bit softer. I've aligned the top in that way purely so all the soft wood will be cut away. There's a couple reasons why I put the tops on the two halves first, then join them (I do the same if I am making a solid body bass with a top on it). On this bass, there is a spine running down the centre of the body. By putting the top on each half at a time I can make sure I'm clamping all of the surfaces where the back joins the front - if I joined the two top halves then joined to the back, I would have any clamps that could reach the middle of the bass to ensure it was properly clamped. And because I nearly always use veneers between the front and back, I want to make sure any excess glue is pushed out from the centre of the wood so doesn't create a bulge when adding the other layers. Probably a number of other ways of doing this but this is just the route I took. Also, I have quite a few clamps but not enough to go all the way round an entire bass in one go!! The reason for the two g-clamps on the previous photo is to do with aligning from front to back. As I use the veneer layers, I want to ensure they align when I join the two halves - they wouldn't need to be far out to look very wrong. The John East MPM-01 has two inputs and can be used to mix a magnetic and piezo pickup. I might still keep it for another project for that reason, or swap it out of this at a later date. I keep looking at your build diary too - there are loads of builds ongoing on here at the moment!!

I've managed to get a couple of other jobs done today but unfortunately work will now rudely interrupt this until the weekend. I've roughly cut the body to size with my bandsaw. My saw is a tiny Kinzo machine which really is only just capable of cutting wood of this thickness - generally it is best for wood up to about 25mm. I would love to get something a little bigger in the near future but it does work and it only cost £20 off eBay and has worked well enough for the past few years doing this so I can't grumble at all. This should look quite nice - there are a few interesting areas of grain showing already. I've also made a 'JR' logo for the headstock using a bit of left over spalted beech with a dark veener edge. Should look nice on a maple headstock. Next task is to make a new neck template, neck pocket template and bridge template. Hopefully I'll get time next weekend.

Two side are now glued together and clamped. The two G clamps are used to prevent any movement front to back. I use three sash clamps on opposing sides to ensure the pressure is a bit more balanced to keep the two sides stay square. If they were all on one side they could potentially just apply pressure that may cause the joint to move while setting or push the joint up a bit. That's the thinking anyway!!

I'm using an ebony fretboard for the other build that I had prepped previously. Each side dot on it is an individual LED. Works well but an absolute pain to solder as each LED is something like 0.8mm x 1.6mm. I haven't tried using fibre optics yet, but might give that a go another time.

Drum sander? Luxury. Jealous? No.....😢

The printer has gone but I have three full sets of unused cartridges (black, yellow, cyan, magenta and large black) types CLI-521 and PGI-520 and a few odd and sods. They're not genuine Canon but worked fine until the printer threw its toys out of its pram. Any interest before they get binned?

Indeed, I am JR. I'm looking at putting this design on the fretboard of the bass with the magnetic pickup along with red LED side markers - chucking everything at this one! I've got to choose three different coloured woods that I think will match the rest of that build - early days on that one. I've got a couple of pieces I'm happy with but need one more of a suitable colour and grain.

Some scribbles... [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/cdr9dEy.jpg[/IMG]

I got the lower half glued on Monday but have been away with work for a few days so have not been able to do any more since. Roll on tomorrow when I can get back and get on with it! The only good thing about being away is that I have had time to do some scribbles of the headstock, bridge and some inlay work I'm looking to do on this and the other bass I'm making of the same design but with a magnetic pickup. I'm trying to do a few different things (for me) on this build such as it being semi hollow, the inlay work and how the strings are retained. I'd like to get this done for the SE Bash but that could be tight as unfortunately work looks like it might interfere....

Bit of faff to get this done - a part on my drill stand snapped whilst using the Forstner bits to remove most of the excess wood prior to routing. I ended up using the router to remove most of the wood in the end so many shallow cuts were needed to ensure the router bit didn't bite and decide to take chunks out (a lesson learnt a while ago). So, both halves have now been routed, and any holes drilled to run cables. Time to glue the tops to the backs, once they have set the two halves can then be joined. I'm really enjoying this build so far, there is even something satisfying in just holding the unglued parts together and getting a hollow sound when you tap it! Weird, I know....

The veneers are glued to the body so was time to do some routing. I didn't get as much time as I hoped today (rather good food festival in Gloucester and two hungry kids!!) but managed to route out one half of this. So this is the top and the corresponding back section ready to glue together. Hopefully get the other half done this weekend too. I've also cut the front of the bass - I'm quite pleased with how this is looking so far but still a long way to go......

First job has been to make some templates and started by thinning the top where the pockets will be. The top is 10mm thick so reducing this to about 5mm. I've also been gluing the veneers to the sales - you can't have enough clamps!!

https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-bass-amplifiers/ashdown-abm-300-evo-ii-bass-amp-head/1256623796

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1501002404' post='3341721'] Not sure whether you have the Shadow p/up already... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shadow-Bass-Pick-Up-Sh965nfx-/142449570627?hash=item212aa7f343:g:GMIAAOSwjONZblVG [/quote] I've already got the piezo cheers, just trying to decide if to use this or get a five string Artec one. I've also started another build of the same design but with an EMG MM pickup, American walnut top, sycamore body and some kind of inlay on the ebony fretboard fitted with red LEDs. I'll start a separate thread for that one !!

Time for the next build! I'm going to make a semi hollow bass this time with a piezo pickup. I've got a piece of sapele for the body and spalted beech for the top. These are the same woods I used on a short scale bass build recently with which I was really pleased with the result. I haven't decided if it will be four of five string, 32 or 34" scale of if it will be fretted or not!! I am leaning towards 32" fretted. .. we'll see! I have a Shadow SH064 pickup for this and an East MPM-01 preamp. Cheers Jez

https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-bass-amplifiers/trace-elliot-gp12-smx-4x10-bass-rig/1255040833

I'll try to come along - was good last year.

Just following on rom what others have said, I really think you would find this easier with a template cutter router bit. They aren't that expensive - I think I paid about £6 for one off eBay of a certain depth that I wanted specifically for cutting neck pockets. They really make life easier and remove a lot of the trial and error. These are the steps I would typically do to make a neck pocket template (just remember that mdf produces a fine dust and if you use a router to cut it it goes everywhere so make sure you use the right mask, dust extraction etc.) Get a piece of 9mm mdf and make out the body shape. This might seem quite big but this will give the router base plenty of support when you cut the pocket. You could also use the same piece of mdf for the pickup template. Mark out on the centre line where the neck pocket should end. Put the neck on the template and line up to where the end of the neck pocket will be. Get some strips of wood with a straight edge about 6mm thick and run them down the side of the neck. By using long enough strips you can measure from the centre line where the bridge will be to make sure everything is in line. Use some panel pins and nail the strips in place. Check and measure again (the good old 'measure twice, cut once' thingy) to make sure they are still tight against the neck and still correctly aligned. Pin another couple of strips parallel to these. They don't need to be accurately place as they are just to provide support for the router base to keep it level when you cut the template. Make sure all the heads of the pins are just below the surface of the wood so they don't snag on the router base. Use a small strip and pin this where the neck pocket ends. Add a second piece to support the router as before. Cut out the bulk of neck pocket leaving 1 to 2mm around the edge to finish off with the router. This is just to minimise the amount of dust the router will create. Fit a template cutter and cut the last of the pocket by running the bearing against the wood strips that were pinned on. Once cut, try the neck in the template pocket - should be a snug fit. Remove the wood strips. This is a cheap template cutter I use. The template is ready to use. As you have already cut the body shape a bit of support might be needed to prevent the template bending when you use the router. Take an offcut from the body and use this, as it will be the right thickness, to support the template either side of the pocket. You can align the template along the centre line of the body. Use Forstner bits to cut the bulk then finish off with the router. Jobs a good 'un!!

Are they the same size as ABM3901 bridges? You can find the dimensions easily for these off the web. Cheers

That is a nice piece of wood - look forward to this build. Must catch up with Dave as he is local to me!!