HazBeen

Side dots and lines done!

And we’re back around the block yet again ..... no BC member asked for the hassle, but it is the result of decisions made and we will need to live with it. Although I am happy Thomann is still available to me, with free shipping and no BS.

Forgot to take my phone so pics will have to follow. Had a very productive day today: - Trimmed the fretboard flush with neck - Reshaped the neck (slimmed down 2mm) - Scalloped the fretboard to match the headstock - Radiused the fretboard - Rough fit the nut - Got really frustrated trying to make the maple veneers - Gave up and ordered maple veneer in the correct thickness (0,6mm) Just the side dots, lots of sanding in various grits and 6 coats of finishing oil to go.... plus tinkering of course.

Am building this mainly from stuff I have lying around. Gotoh bridge from an old JB I had, early 90’s Barts from a Bogart I modded (my Thunder Blackstone, see old build thread) and a Tele style Ki0gon loom off this parish. Modern meets classic.

Did a carve on the entire front of the body, really just creating a contour. Also did the belly carve, following the entire top half of the back side. For an off the cuff design, I am both surprised and pleased. I really like it. I most certainly will use this shape again. Just took the dust of with water, so it may look a bit blotchy in the pic.

Clamps taken off, it is on straight and there are no gaps. Thank heavens. Will now let it dry, then put in the maple fret lines. Once those are dry I will trim flush with the neck (have 1-2mm overhang at the moment) , trim the bit on the headstock side and put in the 20” radius. And then slim down the neck a little, install side dots, nut and redo the oil finish.

Since I need to wait a few hours for the glue to dry on my fretless, I decided to make use of the time. Body shape pretty much done, corners rounded and been playing around with where I want the arm cut. I am probably going to carve the body a little and incorporate the arm cut in keeping with the more modern design.

Glued and clamped..... seems to be all fine. Will leave clamped for two hours and then remove to check for issues. Just in case.

Bottomline, buying 2nd hand in UK from EU or in EU from UK is only interesting if you have a specific itch to be scratched. Generally it is not worth the hassle.

The BTB will not make you sound like Dave Swift, but they are cracking basses for the money. Even the “cheaper” versions.

As half English, half Dutch having spent a large part of my early youth in the UK and my teens and adult life in NL all I can say is that I regret seeing all the polarisation, lying and political failure on both sides of North Sea. Can we please accept what is and move on. Neither side needs to add anything more to the intellectual side of the discussion, it is all just details from here on in. In my mind this thread can do with closing, it has run it’s course.

Phewww 😀

Sanded off the remaining glue and prepped the new board. Ebony scares me as it is quite brittle, so I am taking it slow. Will re-size the fretboard to be a hair larger than the neck and then very carefully glue up.

As it happens I am also close to gluing my ebony board. I chickened out today, as I wanted to triple check everything. You’ve given me some solid tips

They are both quite “taxing” ......

Time for Basschat.eu @ped

And off! No issues or damaged maple, so happy.

I don’t think the wenge fretboard will survive Bending like Beckham

And we are in....

We have a slotted fretboard...... now to get the wenge one off, and make 21 (or maybe 22) maple fretlines...... going to take me ages, but worth the effort I think.

Slow as $&7)$, but we glued some Mahogany and cut a rough body shape! Also did a “design” ..... just having some fun really. Fun bass, so it needs a quirky design. As most that will have followed builds I do know, the process tends to dictate the outcome so I never make CAD drawings or such.

Good point, it certainly requires less space. And the tech is amazing in any case. Very cool.

Great tool, but I have to note that you can buy a pretty decent CNC table for that type of money.

An update needed on this one. It has been a joy to play over the last month or two, but I have come to a few realisations and decisions. 1. Untreated Wenge as a fretless board is not something I would consider doing again. It is too soft given the marks even my Cobalt Flats have left. 2. The neck is almost perfect, but I’d like it to be a little slimmer 3. I am very used to lined fretless, to a point that I wish I had stuck with my original plan and had gone for a lined neck So what to do? Well.... next week I am going to redo/mod my neck and end up with a lined fretless, Gabon ebony fretboard, slightly slimmer neck. Shouldn’t take me too long, so watch this space...