HazBeen

Hmmm, I like this a lot.... Okay, Mahogany with a Wenge top ramp/cover required.

Neck pocket routed (the scariest bit)..... and looking nice and tidy. Even though I used my best 3 flute bit, I do have 2 little chip outs unfortunately. They are small, but it is rather unfortunate. I will fill with a little sawdust and since I am staining the Mahogany red it will magically disappear Such is.... still pretty happy. Still not 100% on the ramp/pickup cover idea. Think I will just make one, and then decide what to do.

There isn’t much more relaxing than drilling a bunch of holes with a Forstner bit and Pillar Drill 😂 So today I cleaned up the neck a little and finished the scallop. I was worried for nothing..... will not cause any issues at all. Then drilled a bunch of holes, drilled the earth and bridge holes (fingers crossed I route the neck pocket right .... ), routed the control cavity. I am pondering if I should make a wooden ramp/pickup cover in one instead of the single jazz pickups. Have a nice a light bit of maple left over and mahogany. Also have a nice bit of Walnut left and some Wenge.... hmm, might go for a ramp thing... why not.

Okay, next bass build will need the Nova system. This is a really smart solution.

Man it was a late one... So I waited 2 hours and unclamped. The fretboard slip is actually even smaller than I thought. Pretty much zero and no gaps either. So feeling okay now I think I might also get away with the headstock thickness. 12mm is minimal, but just enough for the Gotohs.

Every so often I am confronted with the fact that I am an amateur builder, not a pro. ..... Today has been so so. Good news, fretboard is glued on. Opening for trussrod (allen key) made, started scalloping the headstock (will complete when fretboard has dried). Bad news, like the amateur I am I decided to not use locator pins. Fretboard has slipped by about half a mm. Normally not an issue, but as I correctly sized the fretboard to the neck it will need a little work. No disaster, but I am annoyed at myself. Also, I may have sanded/scalloped a bit too much. Touching on 12mm thickness. May need to stick on some veneer to gain a mm or 2. Also not a disaster, just more work and annoying. Building is not about perfection, it is about mitigating imperfections.... well at least in my case.....

Really neat work (again)!

You can remove the fretboard, see my 5 string or @Andyjr1515 Wal neck build thread for info, then replace the trussrod and stick on a new fretboard. Very satisfying job to do and not super complex.

Fantastic!

Further progress! - Neck and headstock cut/routed to size - Truss rod channel cut - Fretboard also cut/routed to size

My own spacing Tony. I want to bring the front pickup back a little as the short scale means it will naturally have a more “bass heavy” sound and I want to prevent it getting too muddy. The back pickup is slightly closer to the bridge compared to 70s position (relative to scale) for the same reason. I did a quick sound test with the shorter scale with the intended positions and it seemed to work well. My test rig is a 7x5 cm beam with 2 strings where I can test pickup positions.

Well spotted!

Cleaned up the blank, laid out the truss rod location and slotted and rough sized the wenge fretboard. Looks tiny .... will end up lightning fast I am sure.

Basic 3 piece maple/wenge/maple neck glued up.

With the fretless complete, now shifting attention to the shorty, Just ordered: - Brass Nut - Medium fretwire (Dunlop) - 4 Gotoh tuners 2L/2R - Trussrod - Strap buttons - Neck ferrules I should now have all parts. Will be starting the neck soon.

Fantastic progress. I learn so much from these threads.

And done!

4 coats and counting

I will be very happy to finish this one, really looking forward to progressing the 27” scale build I’ve started.

Trust me, I don’t have any real or special woodworking skills. What I do I think most could do. I am naive and brave though

I use a very sharp chisel, one you just need to look at and it cuts you, and sand from about 1mm above the ebony. But to be frank, I have never ever had veneer perfect and there is 1 spot here as well. Close but no cigar But I vastly prefer wood over polystyrene, so I will happily accept the 1 spot ....

First coat on!

Quite happy with this.... Note the 1 side dot (luminlay) on the 21st. Now it’s time to sand.... 180, 240, 320, 400, 600, 800 grit after which we start slapping on 6 coats of finishing oil. I will probably take the fretboard to 1200.