scojack Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Looks great Jez, neat and tidy as always ! What's this the neck for now ? ...i'm getting kinda lost .... in my dotage Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 Kind of been a while since I did much to this one but finally got the time today!! As a bit of a recap, I made two bodies from the from door. The first I turned into a PJ bass, which I really like the sound of and has been to a couple of bass bashes with me. The second body I want to use to make a fretless, piezo pickup'd bass with the neck being build from the old shelf. I recently bought a used set of LaBella nylons which I've had on another bass for a few weeks now. I really like these! So for this bass, I have an unused set of Rotosound Tru Bass strings that I bought from a Manchester bass days a few years back that I'll use. I did a bit of work on it at Christmas (carving the neck profile and starting to fill/sand the body) but I've either been busy or the garage has been too cold since....... One other thing I have done to this is to make a new bridge. This has come about partly to gain a bit of extra length so the string silk and taper is in the right place for the machine head, but also because this time I've used some ebony for the bridge. This matches the fretboard so looks better than the previous one. I'd also managed to damage the veneer on the head stock so have fitted a new piece. The back of the back has been shaped to suit the neck - I'm quite please with how the shelf has turned out for the neck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 I've still got a fair bit to do, but I feel like it is getting there now! I'm going to fit a scratch plate and control plate the same as the ones I made for the PJ bass; the control plate is packaged up ready to be sent off for chrome plating. I've also set the neck angle today as the action was too high as it was, and I've moved the bridge slightly to make it align exactly where I wanted it. It was only a couple of mm out but it was annoying me! I did assemble the bass a couple of days ago, stuck a set of round wounds on it and plugged it in through a bog standard, cheapy onboard guitar preamp. I really liked how it sounded. The bad news is that I know this project is going to cost me for a decent preamp, such as a Fishman or Headway, but that will be used for my next project also (got to get this one finished first..!!) I've put it all back together this evening and fitted the Tru Bass strings. String height is looking pretty good, needs a little adjustment but not much, and the bridge is more pleasing to my eye now. Was quite a bit of hassle to move due to the inserts I'd fitted to bolt it into. they needed to come out, be filled and some new ones fitted in the correct place. But that's done now. I've plugged it in again and had a quick go - first impressions with the new strings and set-up is quite pleasing. All the major build work is done so will get on with the finish over the next couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 It's also quite lightweight - when finished it will be about 3kg / 6 1/2lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Gosh, Jez - that's flipping beautiful! Lovely, lovely job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Excellent. I love the minimalism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Absolutely stunning bit of recycling. Beautiful work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sblueplanet Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 I want to see evidence that these basses are built from scrap!!! Only joking. Amazing skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Truly stunning work, Jez. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Lovely. I look forward to seeing it at the next bash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Looks fantastic - love the way the brass finish control plate compliments the warm tones of the wood - personally I'd leave it copper and consider mixing and matching the machine heads to black and gold. Hope to see you with it at this years Herts Bash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 [quote name='Jabba_the_gut' timestamp='1486156142' post='3229769'] It's also quite lightweight - when finished it will be about 3kg / 6 1/2lbs. [/quote] Jez, you are not helping my GAS. I'm SO pleased this isn't a 5 and it's not for sale. [quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1486574348' post='3232944'] Looks fantastic - love the way the brass finish control plate compliments the warm tones of the wood - personally I'd leave it copper and consider mixing and matching the machine heads to black and gold. Hope to see you with it at this years Herts Bash. [/quote] Hey! There IS hope for Mick! I actually agree with you, Mick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 [quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1486575734' post='3232960'] Jez, you are not helping my GAS. I'm SO pleased this isn't a 5 and it's not for sale. Hey! There IS hope for Mick! I actually agree with you, Mick! [/quote] I was tempted to leave the plate alone, but I like shiny things so off to be plated it went!! I'll be at the Herts bash again this year so will bring it along. I haven't done anything else with it this week except play it. I really like the sound, it's completely different to my other basses. I'll try to sort a sound clip of my poor fretless playing just to give some idea of what it is like. I wanted to try a fretless piezo bass as I'm planning on building another but this time chambered and made from some nice maple/walnut I have. I'm also looking at another recycled/scrap build of a short scale (not sure how short yet..) bass. Last year I glued together the offcuts from the wood I was using for another bass neck and should be good to make something up to about a 30" scale. I also got some short scale strings off here a long time ago - so should finally get to use them!! But I need to finish this build first and also the sycamore/wenge build I still have going on....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 I will be very interested in your conclusions and thoughts using piezos - there's another project in the pipeline.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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