Tait Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 (edited) [i][/i]this monday-friday im going on a five day course with jon shuker, where he takes you through building a bass guitar and you get to keep what youve built at the end of it. there are two courses available, the five person one where you get a choice between building a precision or jazz (which jono has been on), but im going on the one-to-one course where you build a bass more to your specifications. i thought id put up a five day build diary for everyone to see my progress through the week. I'll try and post everyday, but i might be staying in a hotel for one night, in which case ill text simon1964 so he can tell you what ive been up to. so heres my basic spec that im going with: -precision width neck -seymour duncan quarter pounder p pickup -seymour duncan ceramic musicman pickup -ash body -wenge neck/wenge fretboard -seymour duncan 2 band eq -controls are volume/treble/bass with a mini toggle switch for pickup select -natural with black pickguard the shape's going to be like this [attachment=6664:teledeluxe.png] what do you think? Edited March 28, 2008 by lwtait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassmonster Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 ah this should be interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Have fun! I'm sure you will. Looking forward to the pics... One day I'll get around to posting mine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul, the Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Cool beans! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Thanks ¬_¬ Good luck though Hope you get something fabbo at the end of the process! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBowman Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Sweet! Honestly, I'd love to do this. Plus Jon is a great bloke! I'm looking forward to seeing your reports and your final product! All the best, Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 As someone who can't even saw straight I have nothing but admiration !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted March 21, 2008 Author Share Posted March 21, 2008 I don't know whether i can saw straight... yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwbassman Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Cool - be really interested in your experience and looking forward to seeing your creation... I spoke with Jon at Bass Day last year with a veiw to doing eaxctly this - I've been so busy lately that I not even had chance to get a spec over to Jon for his feedback but it is something I'd really like to do... Have a great time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoop Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 This is going to be fascinating. I'm more than a little envious to be honest. I've got to do something like this at some stage. Can I ask how much this one to one course is costing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted March 22, 2008 Author Share Posted March 22, 2008 about £1000 i think. im not 100% but i think it was £950 for the course, and that includes all the woods and stuff, but then you have to pay extra for pickups, hardware etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_citizenbass Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 wow i'd love to do something like this. have fun! and i like forward to the pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Nice one. I'm sure it will be great. Good luck and measure three times, cut once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-basser Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 looks a very interesting week if i ever had the pennies for it, how far in advance did you book it outta interest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted March 24, 2008 Author Share Posted March 24, 2008 (edited) just got back from day 1 of the course. we began by talking about the shape - you cant get a 34 inch scale bass on a standard telecaster guitar shape. i took the lower horn and neck socket area from a precision template, and used the tele template along with the precision template to make a bass sized telecaster. we then used this sketch to transfer onto a wooden template. [attachment=6812:shuker__3_.JPG] we then found a nice looking piece of swamp ash and copied the template onto it, in two pieces. we roughly cut out the two pieces out, glued them together and left them to dry. [attachment=6813:shuker__2_.JPG] next we moved onto the neck. i changed my mind about the wenge, i didnt think it would look right with a swamp ash body and decided to go with a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard. the headstock shape was the first thing we talked about - i wanted it to be a telecaster kind of shape, without it being a direct copy of the telecaster headstock. i decided on this: [attachment=6814:shuker__1_.JPG] we cut the neck out with that shaped headstock. i put in the truss rod and two sticks of carbon fibre, and covered the truss rod with some wood. i moved onto the fretboard, where i made my first mistake. first try i cut the fretboard too small so it wasnt covering the neck properly, but i did it again and it came out fine. i cut the slots for the frets, but didnt have time to do any more. [attachment=6821:shuker__4_.JPG] the red on the fretboard is just tape - it wont be there when i've glued the fretboard on. thats about all i did today, tommorow i think jon said that we're going to glue the fretboard on and then work on the body. d-basser, i booked it a while ago, but its only been this long because i had to go in the school holidays and jon was away for christmas. jon could have done it pretty much anytime, he doesnt have set times for the one-to-one courses. if you wanted the five person course i think the next ones in july. Edited March 24, 2008 by lwtait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Horse Murphy Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Very nice and I love the headstock shape. Can't wait for more updates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wotnwhy Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 nice! good start! look forward to seeing more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-basser Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 lookin good, i think i will save any extra cash i have for a while to do this (but I am not good at saving so it probably wont ever happen) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwbassman Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Seems like good progress for day 1, you must be pleased with your efforts What sort of finish are you planing on having, is a proper paint job out if the question in the timescale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nash Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 looking sweet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 just got back from day 2 of the course. today we mostly did work on the body. i cut out the body, with a 1.5 inch radius around the edge. i also routed the precision pickup and the control cavity but we didnt route the music man pickup because it wasnt important today. i spent most of the day sanding the body. [attachment=6847:shuker_day_2__1_.JPG] the reason we routed the precision pickup and control cavity was so that we could cut the pickguard and mke sure it covered what it needed to, the musicman pickup isnt going to be in the pickguard, so that's why it wasnt important. we cut the outline of the pickguard but need to cut the gap for the precision pickup, the gap for the neck socket and the holes for the controls. [attachment=6848:shuker_day_2__2_.JPG] the only other thing we did today was to glue the fretboard to the neck [attachment=6849:shuker_day_2__3_.JPG] homework - sand the body some more, so that its ready for spraying tommorow. jwbassman, i could have had any finish i wanted to, and i decided to go for a natural finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Wow, You're a lot faster than Jon Looks like a good project and for that money you get to do it under the watchful eye and guidance of Jon so you will end up with a good bass whatever happens - and in a week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul, the Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 It's looking fantastic. It really is. It sounds like a great experience and like it's going to be a great bass. What woods are/were available to you? How does the pricing work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwbassman Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 (edited) Coming along nicely - really liking the body shape you've got going on there and of course the natural with the black pickguard is a classic combination, great stuff... Can you stay at the workshop to do your homework or do you have to get everything done in a set time during the day?, I know what I'm like and if possible i'd be putting in as many extra hours as I could to try and make as good a job of it as I could. That said I guess Jon has it all worked out and if you follow his instruction there won't be any issues and he probably quite likes going home too Looking forward to tomorrow's installment, great thread you've got going here and thanks for info on the finish Edited March 25, 2008 by jwbassman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 [quote name='OldGit' post='163295' date='Mar 25 2008, 06:14 PM']Wow, You're a lot faster than Jon Looks like a good project and for that money you get to do it under the watchful eye and guidance of Jon so you will end up with a good bass whatever happens - and in a week![/quote] me and jon were talking about that. its not that im a lot faster than jon, its that im only building one bass. jon says with each bass he does, in the 3-5 months hes building he'll only do about 7-9 days worth of work, but he evenly shares out his time between all his basses. [quote name='paul, the' post='163300' date='Mar 25 2008, 06:35 PM']It's looking fantastic. It really is. It sounds like a great experience and like it's going to be a great bass. What woods are/were available to you? How does the pricing work?[/quote] any wood in jons woodshop's available to me. the pricing (i think this is what it was, anyway) is £950 for the course, including all the woods, tools, etc. but then you have to pay extra for pickups, your own choice of hardware, etc. [quote name='jwbassman' post='163313' date='Mar 25 2008, 07:06 PM']Coming along nicely - really liking the body shape you've got going on there and of course the natural with the black pickguard is a classic combination, great stuff... Can you stay at the workshop to do your homework or do you have to get everything done in a set time during the day?, I know what I'm like and if possible i'd be putting in as many extra hours as I could to try and make as good a job of it as I could. That said I guess Jon has it all worked out and if you follow his instruction there won't be any issues and he probably quite likes going home too Looking forward to tomorrow's installment, great thread you've got going here and thanks for info on the finish [/quote] no i cant stay at the workshop. i dont even HAVE to do the homework. its just that we're lacquering it tommorow, and the smoother the body is, the better it looks. i've done a lot of sanding today at jons workshop, and he just lent me some sandpaper and let me take the body home so that i cn sand it more if i like. as to a set time, its roughly 9am-5pm, but its not strict. jon doesnt mind if i turn up late, and we stop when we cant fit any more in. today was good because i just spent the time till my mum picked me up sanding, but yesterday we stopped about half four and i had to stand around for half a hour in jon's workshop (not that i'm complaining!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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