Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Brooks EB-N


Basvarken
 Share

Recommended Posts

I've completed the build of a new bass.
Unlike other Brooks basses that I've built this does not feature a mix of a classic Gibson bass with another non-Gibson classic.
The Brooks EB-N is an original design that I came up with in an attempt to give it a bit of a classic vibe without referring to well known designs.
 
 
BROOKS EB-N
- One piece mahogany body
- Smoked oak constrasting veneer in between layer
- Bookmatched flamed maple top
- Five ply quartersawn mahogany/American walnut neck
- Ebony fretboard
- Mother of Pearl position marker dots. 12th circle inlay
- Jumbo frets
- 34" scale
- Zero fret and buffalo horn nut
- Babicz FCH4 bridge
- Spokewheel double action trussrod
- Lace Alumitone Bass Bar
- Gotoh GB 707 bass tuners
- Push-pull volume pot for humbucking or single coil
- CTS tone pot
 
 
brooks-eb-n-on-black-paper-1500_orig.jpg
brooks-eb-n-body-angle-on-black-1500_ori
brooks-eb-n-babicz-1500_orig.jpg
brooks-eb-n-truss-rod-cover-1500_orig.jp
brooks-eb-n-upper-horn-1500_orig.jpg
brooks-eb-n-jack-output-1500_orig.jpg
brooks-eb-n-body-in-black-paper-1500_ori
brooks-eb-n-neck-joint-back-1500_orig.jp
brooks-eb-n-head-on-black-1500_1_orig.jp
brooks-eb-n-inlays-1500_orig.jpg
brooks-eb-n-back-on-black-cloth-1500_ori
brooks-eb-n-back-neck-1500_orig.jpg
brooks-eb-n-body-on-white-1500_orig.jpg
brooks-eb-n-on-white-1500_orig.jpg
  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll post some pics of the build process.
 
Starting with a pic of the quarter sawn neck blank that I cut into four pieces on the saw table of a friend of mine.
mahonie-balk-kwartiers_orig.jpg
 
Next is three pieces of that neck blank with two strips of American walnut veneer in between that are going to make a five ply
alle-vijf-delen_orig.jpg
 
Glueing them together. Lots of clamps
hals-in-de-lijmklemmen_orig.jpg
 
Used an old fashioned saw to cut the headstock angle
cutting-headstock-angle_orig.jpg
 
Routed the truss rod channel
trussrod-channel_orig.jpg
 
And chiseled the shape of the spokewheel
chiseled-shape-of-the-spokewheel_orig.jp
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Found a huge blank of beautifully figured mahogany. Can take at least four bass bodies out if this one.
huge-blank-for-body_orig.jpg
 
And found a nice bookmatched set of flamed maple for the top. Plus a pre slotted ebony fretboard
ebony-fretboard_orig.jpg
 
Drilled holes for the position markers and glued them in
glueing-in-position-markers_orig.jpg
 
Cut a short piece off an aluminium tube for the 12th fret position marker
gleuing-in-position-markers2_orig.jpg
 
Sanded it all flush to the right radius
sanding-the-radius-of-the-fretboard_orig
position-markers-look-good_orig.jpg
 
Sawed the fret slots to the right width and depth
sawing-the-fret-slots-to-the-correct-wid
 
Filed a tiny angle to the slots to make the frets fit in nicely
filing-a-tiny-angle_orig.jpg
 
Cut the frets and hammered them in
cutting-the-frets_orig.jpg
frets-ready-to-be-hammered-in_orig.jpg
fretboard-ready_orig.jpg
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Glued the fret board onto the rough shape of the neck
glueing-the-fretboard-on_orig.jpg
 
Beginning to look like a proper neck
fretboard-in-position_orig.jpg
 
Working on the control cavity
pre-driled-for-control-cavity_orig.jpg
 
And routed the channel for the pickup wires
routed-channel-for-pickup-wire_orig.jpg
 
Next I glued a thin veneer of smoked oak as a contrasting layer in between the mahogany and the maple
glued-a-thin-veneer-of-smoked-oak_orig.j
 
Made a template out of MDF for the body shape
template-for-the-body_orig.jpg
 
Glued the bookmatched set of flamed maple onto the body
lots-of-clamps_orig.jpg
 
Routed the shape of the body
routed-the-body-shape_orig.jpg
thin-layer-of-smoked-oak-veneer_orig.jpg
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Routed the neck pocket
routed-neck-pocket-to-the-desired-depth_
body-with-neck-pocket_orig.jpg
 
Used the smoked oak veneer too for the headstock (completely invisible in the end result...:()
headstock-beginning-to-take-shape_orig.j
 
Test fitting the neck pocket
fitting-the-neck-2_orig.jpg
 
And checking the neck angle
working-on-the-neck-angle-2_orig.jpg
 
Cut the slot for the nut
cut-the-slot-for-the-top-nut_orig.jpg
 
Once the angle was correct, I glued the neck onto the body
neck-glued-in_orig.jpg
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Taped off the body to do some pore filling on the mahogany
pores-filled-2_orig.jpg
pores-filled_3.jpg
headstock-pores-filled_orig.jpg
 
Next I stained the top a light brown colour to make the flame pop
contrast-color_orig.jpg
 
Sanded it back to get a bit of contrast
sanded-back_2_orig.jpg
 
After much deliberation I chose blue (other options were bright red and naturel)
blue-front_orig.jpg
 
Stained the back the same colour.
backside-blue_orig.jpg
backside-blue2_orig.jpg
 
 
But oddly enough the colour simply disappeared after several layers of clear coat...
Looks almost black now.
 
almost-ready8_orig.jpg
 
Top after a few coats of clear lacquer
after-frist-few-coats-of-clear_orig.jpg
  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

Excellent stuff, Basvarken. As a Gibson fan, I've love all the basses you make, and one's you've dealt in the past- do you ever do them in short scale these days?

Thank you. Haven't built a short scale in years. 
But it wouldn't be a problem of course. I personally love short scale bass guitars.
If anyone would ask me to build a short scale bass for him/her, I'd surely love to.

The first three bass guitars that I built were all short scale:

Brooks -1 
The first one I ever built. 
2009
brooks-1-with-new-pickups1500_orig.jpg

 

 

Acoustic Fretless

My goal was to build an acoustic bass that would be loud enough to compete with an acoustic guitar without amplifying.
So I gave it a very big body (wide and deep). I used a bass bar and a staple, just like a Cello.

The experiment failed. The bass is not loud enough.


2966565_orig.jpg

 

Les Paul Bass
This is not a real Gibson bass.
I built it myself after my personal favorite: the 1969 Les Paul Bass
I tried to stay as close to the real thing as possible. 
Except it uses guitar pickups and controls
958130_orig.jpg

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Unknown_User said:

Beautiful bass and great thread with all the pictures!  Appreciate the effort that's gone into the thread.

Could I ask a couple of questions?  Firstly what clear coat did you use and how did you apply it?  Secondly did you do any grain filling on the top?

Thank you.
I use acrylic lacquer from spray cans that I buy at Action, which is a super cheap supermarket. Per can only € 2.
But I use a lot of them per instrument. I build up a few layers, then I sand it, spray again, sand it, ad nauseum.
The final step is sanding it with finer paper 500 > 1000 > 1500 grit.
Then polish it with polishing compound and a foam pad on my Makita accu-drill.
Last step is a very soft cloth with some carnauba wax.

With figured maple you don't need to do any grain filling. The grain is so tight, the paint won't keep sinkin' in, like it does with mahogany.

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...