A project to use some wood.

[tommorichards]

Basically i had this plank of wood from a previous build which wasnt enough for a full sized (read: precision size), so i came up with a design that would maximize its yield, so i designed this shape to be used with a 24 fret neck, and some barts i got hold of from these parts. I also wanted it to have a cutout as i reckon those are pretty dam cool.

So here are some starter pictures. Ill probably upload the other parts in a while if not tomorrow:

My template:


The plank of wood (yellow pine)


Both together


After the general shape has been cut out, showing the grain patterns


With the template


All glued together with titebond


Lower view.



I took a while trying to get the clamps to sit properly as they dont like slanted surfaces, so offcuts had to suffice. Got there in the end.

Thats all for now........

[rubis]

Nice one Tom
Will you be using one of your tasty pre-amps in there?

[tommorichards]

Not sure. I have one, but there is a different two band I have. We shall see.

[tommorichards]

Got some more shaping done, and the cutout is pretty much there too!

Shaping the top horn:


Bit more shaping:


Doing the cut out, using a pillar drill and jigsaw:


Rasping it to size:


And ready for routing:


And mocked up:

[BassBus]

Looking good so far. Certainly unique.

[tommorichards]

Been a while so here are some updates:

routed the neck pocket





shaped the body contour (tried using a radiused cutting tool, but didnt work so well)



Next up is the control cavity, a biggie. Start off with a 22mm forstner bit where the pots were going so i could make it about 3mm thick wood so they'd attach alright



From the front



And the back



Next is the strat style jack plate



Then the pickup routes. Forstenered every bit i could do to remove material, then routed the rest. Mostly freehand, but tried using a clamped buit of wood for the straight edges

[tommorichards]

forstenered the rest of the control cavity to remove material, as i dont like using the router to just remove material, more for polishing.



Once i finished routing the control cavity, i stuck some bits of dowel for screw points for the cover, and for something else too....



i made a miscalculation when routing the control cavity, so i accidently removed part of the pickup route. This meant that i couldnt secure one side of the pickup in place as there was no wood for it to screw into. So i shaped this bit of dowel to fit the space, and luckily, it works.



Lastly, to hold the battery and preamp box, i glued in some walls, using pva+sawdust for the bottom to strengthen. Sort of inspired by a guy who routed his entire cavit, then glued in a frame with the walls for holding things, and spector, modulus, etc.



And that pretty much brings us up to date. next thing to do is to make a cavity cover, then paint. but of course, im attaching everything to sound test it too.

[tommorichards]

IT LIVES!!!

I got the electronics installled. and tested. Sounds cool

[Dolando]

That's great! I've built a few guitars from parts. I'm waiting on my order from warmoth. I can't wait!

For a future project far far away, I'd like to shape my own body. Would be for a jazz neck to keep it simple. Do you think it's best to start with a jazz shape as a first go at it?

[tommorichards]

i reckon a headless bass shape, ala hohner headless bass would be simplest. But jazz is always a good route to go down, i think there is a guy on ebay selling routing templates for them which helps.