Silky999

This one’s a customer commission, so the customer is always right… unless it’s truly horrific, at which point we pause, laugh nervously, and then have a sensible conversation about why maybe we shouldn’t do that. I always try to use one-piece bodies where I can — so far, that’s been the case on all my builds — as it forms the main structural backbone of the instrument. I’m perfectly happy with a two-piece drop-top, but I like the core of the bass to be a single slab if possible. Entirely unnecessary? Possibly. Deeply satisfying? Absolutely. A P/MM in full stealth black is still whispering bad ideas in my ear though…I found this matt black nitro paint from a paint brand I’ve used before and think it might make an amazing finish on a bass; https://ebay.us/m/3sJlTs Paired with either a full matt or satin nitro clearcoat🤔 You know where I am if you feel the need to. 😄

A bit of neck TLC today on the roasted maple neck for the ongoing wenge Jazz bass build. Full fret level, crown and polish from end to end — slow, methodical, and accompanied by the usual internal monologue of “that’s fine… that’s fine… please be fine.” Roasted maple behaved beautifully: stable, clean, and took a polish like it was showing off. Frets are now level, crowned cleanly, and polished up to a mirror finish. Before it gets married to the body it still needs a coat of Monty espresso wax on the rosewood fretboard and a gentle edge roll to take the factory sharpness off — small details, big feel. Tuners have also been mounted, which is always a testing moment when drilling for those tiny mounting screws — measure twice, drill once, briefly question life choices, then carry on. One of those stages where nothing looks dramatic, but everything feels right. Low-action territory firmly unlocked. Next up will be final neck fitting and setup once the wenge body is ready to reunite with it. Progress pic attached 👍

It’s black grain filler then Liberon finishing oil hand sanded in, shellac and finally Blackfriars gloss poly. I wanted to use the Liberon on the wenge and the elm to help blend it together with the ambering.

What about a razor wire saw?

Thank you…..you don’t see the swearing, sweat and tears.

A bit more progress on this one today, with equal parts satisfaction and quiet concern. The roasted maple neck has had a test fit into the wenge & elm body (dry fit only). Alignment and scale are behaving themselves, centreline is where it should be, and for once nothing has tried to fight back. Always suspicious when that happens. I’ve also been polishing the gloss poly finish, which has reached the stage where it looks finished enough to give you false confidence, but still has plenty of opportunities left to catch you out. This build was started before I’d properly refined my build process, so there are still a couple of jobs left that now feel… character-building. Chief among them is drilling the bridge earth hole, which is one of those operations where you stare at the body for ten minutes, measure it again, stare some more, and then wonder why you ever thought this was a good idea. Still, progress is progress. Next update will either involve a neat earth wire… or a lesson learned. It would be rude not to mention that a worrying amount of today’s progress was made possible by my Narex chisels, which continue to justify their place on the bench every single time I pick them up. Sharp, predictable, and refreshingly uninterested in drama, they’re basically the opposite of most of my builds. Clean cuts, no tearing, no surprises — just quietly getting on with the job while I mutter “that’s lovely” to myself like a man who’s spent far too long in a workshop.

It’s nearly done!

@Beedster, give me a message with what you you’re looking for and whether they are pre-finished or finished bodies. Finished bodies can be an absolute nightmare with new routing as they can chip and lift finish.

The bum - puckering drilling done today in @HeadlessBassist graphite neck sourced from @Kiwi. My advice for anyone doing this for their own neck…..pillar drill set at slowest speed, new sharp cobalt drill bit which was 9.5mm to fit the supplied threaded inserts. I did some test holes into scrap wood to get the drill size and technique. Make sure the drill bit doesn’t get hot and clear the swarf regularly during drilling as this can generate heat. Holes are slightly chamfered/countersunk so the inserts are under the neck surface to make the joint completely flat. The machine screws supplied with the neck are M5 but are torx headed. A couple of these rounded off so I am replacing with M5 x 40mm Philips head. Tuner mounting screws and tree string screw should also be machine screws and into inserts.

+1 for the Gotoh. It’s now the bridge of choice for my builds. Excellent quality at a reasonable price. I have also used some of the Guyker and Wilkinson bridges if you wanted to go more budget friendly.

It’s polyurethane sprayed on.

Neck pocket has had it finally adjustment for @Kiwi graphite neck and cavity channels drilled ready for pickup wires and earths. @HeadlessBassist bass is starting to look…well….bass-like. Bum puckering drilling for the neck threaded inserts planned for the weekend😬.

my fault, I should’ve put a link….. https://www.frtlzr.com