scojack

Thanks for all the positive comments folks

Finished Added a bone saddle, my first non vegetarian bass! . I wanted a good break angle for the strings which i managed to achieve, hopefully help with string tension {33" scale). Not had much time to play it yet but first impressions are very good. Hope you enjoyed the build. If it inspires someone to dust down their old woodworking tools and have a crack ..so much the better Ian Mid

looks really good especially on that top wood

This build was always one of those 'what ifs?' that's been at the back of my head for decades. What if you hollow out a standard body, how would it sound? Well my answer is surprisingly good. With only a few mm of wood under the bridge, convention (and dubious 'luthier' marketing bollocks) would say that you will lose on sustain as there is nothing solid under the bridge. Well..... based on this build i think this is absolute twaddle, i would go as far as to say the sustain and swell on this bass is far superior to many solid fretless basses i have played, and that's just playing it acoustically. Was not what i expected, but its niiiiiiiiiicee mmmmwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhht's all im sayin' ......for now. Ian

Cheers Andy Alyctes -- Thanks for the nice comments, i was the same about 5 strings myself....convert now though. takes most of my time to build 1 bass a year though, never mind going into production...i'd need a bigger shed. Jez -- Confession Time.. I originally set this up (before finishing) with Wilkinson Tuners. Nice tuners mind but they are a wee bit heavier than my usual jobs, so i decided just to use the lighter (standard) ones and ordered a set. It's not until i get them and try them on that i discover the screw holes are in a different place ..hence the jaunty angle you see now. (DOH). I quite like them like this though and as i say they are a little lighter so just going to use these, i can switch back to the Wilkinsons if i get fed up of the look without any problem. It would benefit from lightweight tuners to be honest as there's so much weight removed from the body and no high mass bridge to balance it out. Ian Mid

That's the piezo installed, feeding the wire took a precise blend of phsychology and extreme violence but i got there in the end. Mrs Mid's camera had a meltdown so just managed the one photo of the back. I like the walnut facings better than the front TBH. This set got relegated to the back as i couldn't get such a nice grain match and the colour didn't look so good before lacquering. [b]Will[/b] be finished this week. (note to self!) Think i'll call it the 'Shallow 5" . IanM

Think i'll put the tuners on at a jaunty angle Warwick style.. ....? Ian

Cheers Andy, Sanding...hours and hours of sanding then buffing ....hours and hours and hours of..... Ian

Dear me ......he's astounding, surpassed his usual standard with this one.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh [quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1465900996' post='3071925'] Slight thread derail, but that's LOVELY, Ian [/quote]

+1 on this Most Luthier Suppliers will add a huge markup for planing etc etc. even for relatively inexpensive wood. Unless it's exotic wood you just can't get a hold of there are much better wood suppliers out there that are probably fairly local. Ian PS RANT I must say some of the prices for exotic tops from some Luthier Suppliers to be absolutely p1ss taking TBH. Hundreds of her majesties finests for no more that a few mil of what is effectively veneer !!! rant over ! Ian [quote name='Manton Customs' timestamp='1465893778' post='3071833'] Keep in mind that unless you are buying something specialist (exotics for example) a sawmill nearby will be able to sell you blanks at under half the price of luthier specific suppliers. For example you'll often see 1 pc Ash and Alder blanks go for Ebay for £100 or so, but a local sawmill would charge you around £30 for more wood than you need. There is nothing inferior about the sawmill wood, it just often needs planing. Many sawmills will deal in woods from the US such as Black Walnut and Maple, so you aren't just limited to native species. Explore your local area and see what you can find. When you do find a mill, give them a ring and you'll often find they are interested in what you're doing and be glad to help. [/quote]

The two buttons are a nice touch and are brilliant when you dont have a stand. Here's Betsy my beloved Pangborn (early eighties) it had the same thing Im off to sob...this is the bass i should NEVER have parted with (20 years....man and boy !) WWaaaaaaaaaahhhh.....

Cheers Andy it's Melamine lacquer....brushed on. Ian

Been a bit slow on this, Mrs Mid has had me out in the good weather shed painting and fencing. Managed to get the finishing pretty much done though. All the hardware has arrived so I can start to assemble it now. IanM

Nice one Andy, what a transformation

Thanks FunkShui mibbies do some sound samples at some point (don't hold yer breath though). Greek the knobs are bought already so black it is, although i do like the idea of the wooden jobs, if someone else was paying it would certainly be an option . Owen -- derail away ! IanM

Looking forward to seeing this, wenge ...looks like it might be weighty.

Thanks Tom, Sounds really good so far although not tried with a pickup yet. There's enough acoustic noise to play without an amp (which was one of my goals) although it's not going to flap yer trousers too much. The bass response is pretty much what you'd expect from a 'standard' body thickness with a relatively small resonant chamber (s), the higher registers however are much louder and zingy, it positively sings up at the top end. What really matters though is the sound through the pickup which i am looking forward to hearing. (wont be long now, i have the lacquer on and flattened). Ian

Nice one, i had a soft spot for these back in the day, great to see it being restored to it's former glory. Going for the same colour ?

Couple of coats of lacquer to seal it then i decided to assemble it (couldn't wait for a shot!). Haven't done the plate to anchor the strings yet so improvised with a few washers. I likey very much so strip it back down now for finishing. Ian

Thanks for the comments guys. Looking forward to getting a bit of lacquer on this..... this 'walnut' looks pale and washed out when its in the raw, but once it has a finish on it looks totally different, hopefully this weekend ! Glad you like the organic look Andy , i was hoping it would [i]look[/i] a little 'acousticy' with the choice of straight grained wood on the front/back. (It was a good price too especially for something experimental like this), Ian

Right so onwards.. That's all the routing done at last. fitted the control cover and battery box. Got the hardware and lacquer ordered so just finishing off the wee stuff and a bit of sanding to do. Ian

Thanks Plunger, Wise words i think (you were answering this as i was thinking the same thing). Ian

Andy ..yer a gent Progress .. Found a 5 string piezo in a drawer that i forgot about, made up a bridge for it, tried it on the bass ,,too short !! Turns out Artec do 2 types, this was the narrow version (no good). So i will have to order one now, thought i'd hit the jackpot there. Anyhoo did another bridge that will accomodate the correct size pickup this time.. Ian Oh ..question The neck is fairly deep set,, do you think there's enough meat there to glue it in? It's a very tight fit and seriously tempting. Course if anything goes wrong with the body .. i can always recycle a good neck. Think I just answered my question there.