lettsguitars Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 (edited) ok then. pete asked me to build him a custom 4 string after seeing my work on ebay. after a quick chat on the phone, we decided on a 34" scale ziricote and mahogany deal, . heres the first series of pics. while waiting for petes timber to arrive, i forged ahead and made a 'prototype' out of meranti and some cocobolo i had in stock. pete sent me some pics of basses he loved and i jiggled my designs around his ideas. the pics he sent were of ken smith and wal basses. heres what we ended up with. follow as we turns logs into axe. pics of template, logs, roughed out body and kingwood fingerboard. pete stated that he was into the lighter centre block. Also body will be getting some cocobolo 'cat's eyes'. also, pics of the finished 'prototype' which is currently for sale on ebay. the nut must have been knocked off centre during the shoot which makes the strings look badly aligned. my nuts (ooh er missus) are not glued in, but sit in a very snug slot and do not move around easily. just unfortunate that i didn't notice at the time. to reiterate, strings are perfectly aligned with the sides of the neck in reality. meranti cor, coco top, zebrano stripes, afrormosia and swamp ash back, purpleheart and walnut cat's eyes, meranti neck and purpleheart fingerboard. kent armstrong neck pickup, one vol one tone and possibly a coil switch in the future. some pics removed coz of space restrictions Edited November 18, 2010 by lettsguitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 om nom, this is gonna be good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 17, 2010 Author Share Posted November 17, 2010 (edited) reet. cat's eyes on and body routed. fingerboard on, headstock glued and ready for some ears. had to slightly adjust the bass horn shape due to some cocobolo tearout but it's all good. today should see the the neck pocket and control cavity routed, cavity cover made from matching afrormosia, ears on headstock and possibly body carved. we'll see. Edited November 26, 2010 by lettsguitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luulox Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Hey Jon, my bass is coming on great! the finger board is going to look amazing when its finished, it has a lovely grain on it. The bass is coming on really quick, very impressed m8. Cheers Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 17, 2010 Author Share Posted November 17, 2010 (edited) glad you like it. got quite a bit done today. body carved and a coat of oil. access cover made, not the afro cover i intended, as the last piece had a long split, so i went with swamp ash, and it looks pretty funky. headstock cap glued on. headstock and neck should get shaped and carved tomorrow. been takin shots of my progress but then realised my slr had no card in it, so i've lost a few shots, mainly ears being glued on, nevermind. heres what we got. . . . Edited December 2, 2010 by lettsguitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 18, 2010 Author Share Posted November 18, 2010 (edited) new pics. neck carved, holes drilled, and all that malarky. she'll get a nut and some frets in the next couple of days. then we're just waitin for the scatterwound soapbar from ben. should be ready next week. not sure whether to vacuum form the pickup covers, or go with wooden uns. what d'ya reckon pete? Edited November 18, 2010 by lettsguitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luulox Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 looking superb Jon, sent you an email about covers. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 22, 2010 Author Share Posted November 22, 2010 been a bit lazy the last coupla days. got the fingerboard dead flat and radiused today, looking great. also, ebony bridge, tailpiece and nut blanks cut. frets tomorrow and catchup with i.m.p for the latest on pickup. should be good to go pretty damn soon. pics tomorrow. easy now. jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 23, 2010 Author Share Posted November 23, 2010 frets in, ready for a bevel and dress. all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stylon Pilson Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 [quote name='lettsguitars' post='1023273' date='Nov 14 2010, 12:37 PM']some pics removed coz of space restrictions[/quote] I suggest shrinking your images before you upload them. If they are 1024 pixels on their longest side, there will still be plenty of detail for viewing on the screen, but you'll save a whole heap of megabytes. They'll be quicker to upload too. S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 Respect to all the Fender cloners out there but it's nice to see someone applying some original thought to their basses. Like the little (cocobolo?) chunks on the ends of the wings - is it just for show or is there a purpose to them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 24, 2010 Author Share Posted November 24, 2010 [quote name='henry norton' post='1034776' date='Nov 24 2010, 09:41 AM']Respect to all the Fender cloners out there but it's nice to see someone applying some original thought to their basses. Like the little (cocobolo?) chunks on the ends of the wings - is it just for show or is there a purpose to them?[/quote] cheers. you are right my friend, 'tis cocobolo, and yes, just for show. however it does leave those edges less prone to dings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 24, 2010 Author Share Posted November 24, 2010 (edited) reet then, next up, side dots still to go, pickup on its way, clean up, wax and polish, setup and she'll be off to pete next wednesday ish. the access cover in these pics is just resting, just in case you're thinking it looks a bit scew wif. Edited November 24, 2010 by lettsguitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbowskill Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 the coulors on that body look lush! sweet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 24, 2010 Author Share Posted November 24, 2010 [quote name='danbowskill' post='1034924' date='Nov 24 2010, 11:47 AM']the coulors on that body look lush! sweet[/quote] yea, the ziricote turned out less grey than i expected. nice dark chocolate brown. hope it don't melt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 24, 2010 Author Share Posted November 24, 2010 thanks for your comments! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 26, 2010 Author Share Posted November 26, 2010 (edited) got some strings on for a test drive. signature burned into headstock. starting to look like a bass. plays beautifully. no buzzing, great resonance and really cool tone. it'll be stripped down before we fit the pickup and controls. Ben is working out a cool circuit for pete who likes to experiment a lot. coil tap at 3000 turns, blend pot, a couple of switches and tone controls. it'll be fun to play with. still no dots, i'll get them in and when its stripped down for pickup and clean up. will also get a ziricote truss access cover. i may ebony for a bone and cocobolo nut, not sure whether i like using animal bits or not. any veggie players with opinions on that? Edited November 26, 2010 by lettsguitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 gorgeous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 30, 2010 Author Share Posted November 30, 2010 we are literally waiting for the pickup now, i'm hoping we'll have it tonight. got the new bone and cocobolo nut on, which is quite special! had about 6 coats of oil and i'm deciding whether or not to finish with wax. pics t'morrow, possibly finished, we'll see. it'll need to go to ben for wiring up after pup goes in. so wont be totally ready to ship for a few days yet. easy now. jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprocketflup Posted November 30, 2010 Share Posted November 30, 2010 Gotta be honest, when this thread first appeared I looked at the raw woods and thought Im not going to like this bass, but Im eating my words (thoughts) now coz this has turned out to be absolutely beautiful. Its lucky that not everyone is as short sighted as me eh? lol Much kudos to you both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 30, 2010 Author Share Posted November 30, 2010 [quote name='sprocketflup' post='1042047' date='Nov 30 2010, 10:16 AM']Gotta be honest, when this thread first appeared I looked at the raw woods and thought Im not going to like this bass, but Im eating my words (thoughts) now coz this has turned out to be absolutely beautiful. Its lucky that not everyone is as short sighted as me eh? lol Much kudos to you both[/quote] thanks. always a bit of a gamble when choosing woods. but when you're working with timber of such a high standard, the results are usually pleasing. the high contrast of the ash and ziricote turned out nice. plus, the tone and resonance is really something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 30, 2010 Author Share Posted November 30, 2010 pics of truss rod access cover and new nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted November 30, 2010 Share Posted November 30, 2010 Very impressive looking design Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 30, 2010 Author Share Posted November 30, 2010 well, it happened! theres a great big lump of snow inbetween the bass and the pickup. tomorrow's gonna be roasting though, right? seriously, ben couldn't get over coz of ice on the road (wheres all this salt we're not short of). see what tomorrow brings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherairsoft Posted November 30, 2010 Share Posted November 30, 2010 Really liking this... Lovely looking instrument! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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