spacecowboy

Is that all from the saddles?!

Looks like I need to go back to it! 🙂 Watch this space!

Time to start on the bridge! Made a guide for my router to quickly cut the slots to depth and ensure they were square. Drilled out what I could before the router did it's thing. Everything routed out it was now time to make the saddles, if you have a look at the mid right of this pic you'll see Dr circular saddle tests I did, this was so I could rotate the saddle to ensure the string ran true from bridge to nut... I ended up opting for these rectangular shapes with chamfered edge and groove for the string to sit in. Idea here is the strings hold the saddles in place, they're a tight fit so they're not sliding around freely but do move with a nudge, I'm hoping I'll be able to set the intonation by moving them and tightening the string to pitch, the force from the string should be enough to keep everything happy... Something I have to test for sure though. Decided to "string" the bass (literally) to make sure that the holes lined up with the bridge, nut and tuners, thankfully it all did, don't recommend these strings however, very little tension and they sound a bit wooly. Installed the machine screws and made sure that the bridge raised and lowered as required and again it seems to work like a charm, will be very easy to quickly set the action at the bridge, my worry is the balance of the strings and ensuring they don't sit at different heights, will need to finish the slotting on the bridge when the final strings are here to ensure they sit well. Really cool to see it with strings on! The endless sanding starts soon enough!

Wow that Ash is crazy! That'll be an amazing looking bass!

2-2!!

Well! That's two in favour of how it was!

Oooh... interesting I'll be keeping both I'll see what they both look like and see how I feel 😊 knowing me it'll be purple heart in a week!

Changes are afoot! I made the bridge with the neck through detailing running through to match the pickup cover but really didn't like it so made the blank again in Ash and then made a new pickup cover from the same piece and really love the look of it being just ash, looks a lot less "try hard" At least for the next one I can plan all these pieces to ensure they all sit seamlessly with each other, but they still don't look bad as they are!

Funnily enough I do already have someone who wants the same bass making once I've made this one 🙂! Different woods but the same. I am going to build his for cost of parts only and I'll open that up to anyone else on here who wants this model too 👌

Thank you Haz 🙏

I got a Bosch one was about £60 ish and it's brilliant. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001E4EJ5S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_FEXWRQHD59GZR3KXN58M?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 I also had a small Makita knock-off palm router which I hate with every inch of my body.

Yes! The output jack is going on the front by the knobs, I always thought it looked bad there, but then I realised my Marleaux has a jack there and looks great... Also if Fodera think it's a suitable place for it then who am I to argue! ☺️

H'ok some updates! Started the body carve and shaping proper now the fingerboard is on. This one has plenty of shape and movement in the body so it's taking a while to balance out all the curves but it's getting there. I've rough cut the cavity cover and just need to sand and profile the edges, I'll be blending this in with the curves for a nice finish. The "groove" in the central wenge piece at the tail is so I can pop the bass between my legs when playing in a "classical" position, which makes it very comfy. Popped some white spirit on to clean away the grime and the ash is truly coming alive, the bass has only been sanded at 80grit so far so lots to go but the grain is lovely! Note the flat section on the upper horn this so I can lay my wrist flat against the bass while playing and that should help my sometimes awful "bass wrist" Lots of sanding to go and need to get the bridge and cavity cover sorted, oh and router the pickup slots in the cover, but well on its way. Thanks for looking!

Essentials for me are, Router (preferably not a palm one if you like your hands) Bandsaw Card scrapers (especially a gooseneck) Half round file Gouge chisel I'd like to think I could get by with just those. If I could add just one more tool it would be either a number 4 plane or spokeshave.

Threaded inserts installed in the cover cavity and holes drilled for the bolts to sit in, thankfully all lines up well, did have springs to push the cover back up when the bolts where loosened but I've found foam to be a much nicer solution so I'll be installing two foam blocks to the underside of the cover between the bolts. I have 3D printed this little jig to help with getting my drill holes nice and aligned and consistent, the two dots on the left are the 24th fret, far right 12th and centre for the rest, there's an allignment groove in the middle of each so I can line them up with the measure between the fret. All markers done, need a good clean up to get rid of the glue but I'll do most of that work when it's glued up! Need a much better jig or setup for gluing the fretboard on, too many clamps, too time consuming! Will be able to start properly on the carve in the next couple of days and work on shaping the bass.

Fantastic work

Well... You'd think I'd learned my lesson after dropping my fret press caul on my big toe... Lots of swearing for 5 minutes ...

Frets filed flush to the board, none of them had moved or tried to wriggle free so that's nice! Just waiting for some inlay material to arrive before doing the fret inlays then I can glue the board on! made a start on the nut and got the inserts installed, grub screws fit and raise the bridge up well, won't notch it until the strings are ready to go on and I'm setting all my heights. It's the same wood piece as the fingerboard so I assume they're happy being back together! And this handsome chap is my dog who is busy telling me I shouldn't be in the garage on such a nice day!

Absolutely brilliant! Thanks for this! Looks like a need to make myself one of those space age tools for running against the stone first! Seriously though that's probably the easiest to understand guide I've seen! Should get it published online pronto!

So I usually always post good news and it sometimes looks like nothing goes wrong during a build... but... I managed to totally balls up the fretboard glue up by not fitting my carbon rod properly and not realising until half of it was clamped up 😬! About a 3mm gap was visible! By the time I got the board off some of the glue had hardened so it wasn't going to be easy to clean up to glue straight back on so... That fretboard was binned as I couldn't trust it to be perfectly flat and this new one was made. Actually remembered to put the truss rod tool access in to the fretboard too before gluing it, something I forgot on the last one! Frets went in nice and easy, the last frets I used only had 2mm heads and they felt very small so I'm back to 2.7mm on this board. Going to leave the fretboard (currently backed on to a steel bar to keep flat) until tomorrow so I can see if any frets have popped up, and now that's done I can get the nut started!

Best of luck mate! Looking forward to seeing what comes next!

Yeah I use the gooseneck alot and the rectangular one every now and again, I've watched a couple of vids on it, probably more just getting on with it! 🙂

Please share your knowledge oh wise one! I can't for the life of me find any guide that makes me confident enough to get sharpening them, I love my gooseneck scraper but I'm fast running out of uber sharp edges! Any guidance that you followed would be brill!

Yeah no doubt naked is best! I use a satin lacquer at the moment you can still feel the timber but it gets a nice Matt sheen, I used it on my last build for the first time and I love the stuff, smells great, goes on easy, buffs well and you still get that wood feel!