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Matteo Marziali

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Posts posted by Matteo Marziali

  1. More pics
     
    This the woods for control panel, I placed a Padauk layer under Rosewood
    attachFull2850247
     
    Here is the shaped control panel
    attachFull2850248
     
    Knobs layout, on the right a killerswitch
    attachFull2850249
     
    This is the jig to route the fretboard end
    attachFull2850250
     
    attachFull2850251
     
    Then I placed a Wenge cover on the end of the neck
    attachFull2850252
     
    White plastic dots inside an aluminum pipe
    attachFull2850255
     
    Fretting job, I use a fret tang nipper found on Ebay, I needed to modify it to fit the fret. It works well for what it costs. And as you can see I use superglue in the slot.
    attachFull2850263
     
    On the right the self made jig for filing the fret ends
    attachFull2850264
     
    attachFull2850265
     
    The headstock with magnetic TR cover made out of Rosewood with Padauk accent
    attachFull2850267
     
    Control panel on the body
    attachFull2850268
     
    The whole bass ready for the hardware
    attachFull2850269
    • Like 3
  2. Hello there!
    It's been a long time since my last post, also the second bass is done and gone, more than one years ago.
    Sorry for this delay, I think it's because of Instagram, I use to share pics there nowdays, you can follow me here
     
    If you remeber my customer want me to remove a part of the Padauk binding, this is how it looks after the job
    attachFull2844818
     
    And this is the fretboard-end, with the Padauk heel block and the Wenge center part of the body
     attachFull2844822
     
    And here all the parts of the body, I used IKEA dowel pins to keep all these parts together
    attachFull2844824
     
    And this is a trick to create a room for batteries 
    attachFull2844826 
     
    Gluing the body
    attachFull2844832
     
    My offset template, I use a router bushing
    attachFull2844834
     
    The routed body 
    attachFull2844835
     
    With the neck, front:
    attachFull2844839
    and back:
    attachFull2844840
     
    And this is the neck obviously
    attachFull2844819
     
    attachFull2844820
     
    The body after routing and carving job
    attachFull2844842
     
    attachFull2844843
     
    attachFull2844844
  3. Shaping the 3 pieces Maple neck
    attachFull2533374
     
    With the frets on
    attachFull2533375
     
    A detail of the Ebony binding and of the fret side. I found a cheap fret tang nipper on Ebay, it works fine.
    attachFull2533376
     
    I routed the fretboard end
    attachFull2533377
     
    The back with some carving works
    attachFull2533378
    attachFull2533379
     
    The neck glued
    attachFull2533380
     
    How does it look with the top
    attachFull2533381
     
    Carving the heel
    attachFull2533382
     
    The carving on the back is done
    attachFull2533383
     
    I glued the top and I'm carving it
    attachFull2533384
     
    Room for the Barts
    attachFull2533385
     
     
    Headstock with custom TR cover
    attachFull2533386
     
    First coat of oil varnish
    attachFull2533387
  4. I have not posted updates here for many months. Both basses are finished.
     
    I will show you some pics of the building, first the "Traditional".
     
    This is the Ash body glued and routed, front and back
    attachFull2533350
    attachFull2533351
     
    I glued a black veneer on the back and added the magnets for the back control plate
    attachFull2533352
     
    Here how I cut the back control plate from the Maple
    attachFull2533353
     
    Making space for the magnets
    attachFull2533354
    attachFull2533355
     
    I glued the back Maple wing using the back control plate to find the exact position
    attachFull2533356
     
    Ready to route the extra long neck pocket
    attachFull2533357
     
    The bass with the neck on (not glued)
    attachFull2533358
     
    and the back too.
    attachFull2533359
     
    The back control plate is pretty good
    attachFull2533360
     
    As you can see I had to enlarge the holes for the magnets to find the exact alignment, it's not so beauty, but I will cover with copper foil.
    attachFull2533361
     
    Curly Maple back
    attachFull2533362
     
    Epoxy with photoluminescent pigment
    attachFull2533363
    attachFull2533364
     
    The Buckeye Burl filled with epoxy
    attachFull2533365
     
    and the headstock
    attachFull2533366
     
    My new logo
    attachFull2533367
     
    The top on the body with some hardware
    attachFull2533368
  5. @JTUK I hope my builds will look better than mockups! Ahahah
    Seriously I think to get enough close, but as I’m not building replicas I have some freedom...
    I started to build instruments 5 years ago, I built 7 basses and 2 guitars, and all this instruments currently works
    But honestly I didn't have any furniture making skills, and I'm still not able to make forniture! A friend ( an ex violin maker) taught me how to use hand planer, chisels, scraper and how to sand the wood (he also gave me the [/size][/font]carpenter's table and some chisels!) and a guitar maker taught me how to do fretjob. I learned all the other things watching Carl Thompson videos on YouTube (I spent entire nights watching..) and in various forums.
     

    I did all the fretboard inlays, I was at the first attempt with inlays, the block was not so difficult, instead the custom inlay was a real PITA! and radiusing deleted a part of it attachFull2477019 so I had to replace the missing parts...
     
     
     
    Block inlay pics:
     
     
    attachFull2477020
     
     
    attachFull2477021
     
     
     
    attachFull2477022
     
    attachFull2477023
     
     
     
    attachFull2477024
     
    This Paua Abalone is really awesome! After this pic a glued the blocks with Epoxy and Rosewood dust, then I glued Ebony bindings on the fretboard and then I glued it on the neck.
     
    Custom inlay pics:
     
    attachFull2477025
     
    attachFull2477026
     
    attachFull2477027
     
    attachFull2477028
     
    attachFull2477029
     
    attachFull2477030
     
    attachFull2477031
     
    attachFull2477032
     
    attachFull2477033
     
    This is how it looks like before radiusing... it was almost perfect!...
     
    attachFull2477034
     
    And here how I restored it:
     
    attachFull2477035
     
    This is the extension to allow the use of long scale strings in this medium scale bass. Now I need to remove some Padouk binding, because for my customer it's too thick, I will route away the side of the neck and apply a Wenge binding under the Padouk
     
    attachFull2477036
     
     
     
    And here both the necks with the fretboard on:
     
    attachFull2477037
     
    attachFull2477038
  6. [quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1450769563' post='2935579']
    This stuff is agonising though and you're better off not actually having a choice! Presented with any of those as a finished bass I'd be happy, but having the choice leaves you forever wondering if you've chosen the right one!
    [/quote]

    You are right!
    I will delete pics and topic immediatly after cut it!

  7. [color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]
    [/font][/color][color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]
    [/font][/color][color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]
    [/font][/color]

    [color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]
    I have this piece of burl[/font][/color][color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]
    [/font][/color]
    [color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]
    Please help me to choose the best looking top.[/font][/color]
    [color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]
    thanks![/font][/color]

  8. Thank you all for the kind words of welcome!!

    Slowly I'm working...
     
    Today I glued the skunk stripes
     
    attachFull2457206
     
    Here you can see how I  work on the skunk stripe in order to let it fit the truss rod
    attachFull2457207
    attachFull2457208 attachFull2457209
     
    Clamping
    The TR is glued with epoxy, skunk stripe with Titebond
    attachFull2457210
     
    I also start working an the MOP custom inlay for the "Mio": I glue the MOP on Rosewwod, I cut a circle with a hole saw and I filled with epoxy and Rosewood dust.
    attachFull2457211
     
    This is inlay design
    attachFull2457212
  9. Hi there!
    I'm a newbie in this forum, I'm an amateur bass builder based in Italy, I build 2-3 instrument per year, I started making Carl Thompson copies, but now I'm trying to find my own style.
    I hope to learn a lot here, receive precious advices and share what I know.
    Thanks

    • The first is for a Canadian guy, he want something that look like an Elrick, I proposed my model "Traditional" (like this), he want also a pair of Bartolini that will sounds good with slap technic, so I choose the new Singularity pickups: a single-coil jazz pickup in a soapbar shape. The Buckeye Burl top will be filled with photoluminescet epoxy, and i will place an Italian flag somewhere, because my customer is proud of his italian origins.
     
    Spec:
     
    Handmade custom bass model "Traditional" with tonal chamber and sound hole
    34" scale
    24 medium jumbo fret (21 on E and A string)
    3 pieces Maple neck
    Buckeye burl headstock with Ebony TR cover
    Single action Stew-Mac truss rod
    Indian Rosewood fretboard with Paua Abalone square "Gibson-style" inlay
    Fretboard radius 12"
    Ebony nut
    Thin neck width 38mm thickness 19,5mm at nut
    Set neck (glued in the body)
    Ash body chamberd with Buckeye burl top and Maple back
    Top filled with photoluminescent epoxy
    Varnished with Danish oil
    2 Bartolini Singularity pickups single coil in a soapbar shape
    1 EMG BTS preamp (bass-treble) 18V with Active/Passive switch
    Hipshot A style bridge black
    Black strap lock
    Strings DR Lo-rider nickel-plated medium
     
    A mockup:
    attachFull2450495
     
     
    • The second is for a Swedish guy, initially he ask me to build a Claypool replica, but with different wood: Wenge, Padauk and Rosewood. I propose to him one of mine model (I called it "Mio" that means "My" in italian) and he accepted. This model shape is a mix between a CT Claypool and  Ritter Roya, and with the body stripes, the tremolo bridge and this control panel it's very close to the Claypool bass mood. The customer immediately had very clear ideas about this bass, he want an EMG 35DC at the neck, a Bas-Mid-Tre preamp, a bolt-on Wenge-Padauk thin neck (I suggest a Ritter style multi-screws bolt), an inlay at 12° fret, no battery box in the back. He use to play in BEAD, so I choose a Kahler 2400f with forward saddle, in order to have more space to use D'Addario XL  long scale strings, because it's not easy to find low-B strings for 32" scale bass, and also the headstock is 1cm forward; I choose  .135/.100/.075/.055 strings gauges in order to have a light and balanced set.
     
    Spec:
     
    Handmade 4 string bass model "Mio"
    32" scale
    24 medium jumbo fret (21 on E and A string)
    Wenge neck with Padauk stripes
    Wenge headstock with Padauk TR cover
    Single action Stew-Mac truss rod
    Indian Rosewood fretboard without dots, only on the side
    Custom Inlay at 12° fret
    Fretboard radius 16"
    Ebony nut
    Thin neck width 38mm thickness 19mm at nut
    Neck bolt-on with multi-screws
    Wenge body with Padauk stripes, thickness 32mm
    Indian Rosewood control plate
    Varnished with Danish oil
    1 EMG 35 DC pickup in Precision position
    EMG BQS preamp (Bass - Mid/Freq.selection - Treble)  18v  with Killswitch
    Kahler 2400f tremolo bridge black
    Black strap lock
    Strings D'Addario XL nickel wound .135/.100/.075/.055
     
    A mockup:
    attachFull2450496
     
    In this mockups you can see my old "thompsonish" logo, but I will not use it anymore, I'm working on a new logo, as well as I'm working on my building style

    _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
     
    This is the Buckeye burl  for the top:
    attachFull2452639
     
    My customer want to fill the burl with photoluminescent epoxy (it's my first time with epoxy...:
    attachFull2452640
     
    And I will try ro recreate the color of the Paua Abalone inlay, I will try with different pigment colors.
    attachFull2452641
     
    Some stuff
    attachFull2452642
     
    This is the wood for the second, the body:
    attachFull2452643
     
    The neck:
    attachFull2452644
     
    Fretboard and control panel:
    attachFull2452645
     
    This is the Kahler 2400f tremolo bridge, a beautiful piece of engineering:
    attachFull2452646
     
    I'm checking if the long strings scale will fit in this bass, they do!
    attachFull2452647 attachFull2452648
     
     
    About woodworking:
    I cutted 3 pieces from a flat European Maple blank, in order to have a 3 pcs quartersawn neck
    attachFull2452649
     
    With an hand plane I planed one surface
    attachFull2452650
     
    Than I planed the other side with my neck-blank-router-jig, in order to have an angle on the blank itself
    attachFull2452651
     
    Here you can see the angle
    attachFull2452652
     
    I did the same with the Wenge-Padauk neck
    attachFull2452653attachFull2452654
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