Forgive me, Bass Gods

[Richard R]

On 21/10/2021 at 13:30, Andyjr1515 said:

 

Well - I play sax.  And the golden rule with sax impro is that if you hit a bum note (quite a frequent occurrence in my case) is to play the bum note again and everyone just thinks it's jazz!

 

So...what I would do if this was mine (because that line looks like it was meant to be there) is  :

- I'd slurry-and-wipe with true oil / finish to fill the crack with wood shavings sealed in finish - so it's just a colour difference rather than an actual split

- then I'd get a sharp nail or scribe and a metal rule and I'd score an equal and opposite line the other side of the truss rod hole

- then slurry-and-wipe that too

 

Then wait and see if that design feature is copied on my other folks' designs - because I reckon it would look cool     

 

 

 

Just a thought...

  

When I first read this, I thought you were joking. Then I realised you weren't,  so I read it again and looked more carefully at the headstock.  It's a really neat idea! 👍

What might also work instead would be to run a parallel scratch also from the top of the headstock, exactly the same length, pointing to the 3rd string hole. The current one points exactly to 5th. The two lines would then frame the bau logo and match.

[Rexel Matador]

So the neck is pretty much done, save for a nut, a fret job and a bit of a clean because the fretboard god a bit messy during finishing. I left the little crack to its own devices in the end - it doesn't really bother me - and made a matching magnetic truss rod cover. You can't really see it in this pic but there's a layer of rosewood under the matching wood

 

 

Back to the body now. I'm figuring out all the cavities and holes before I get on with the serious sanding. I'm a sucker for a scratchplate though, and as I never really make the same design more than once, they end up taking up a lot of time. It's pretty much shaped, but still needs the neck pickup cutout doing, as well as the semicircular cutout where the first volume knob goes - an "implied control plate," kind of similar to my last bass build (pic at the bottom for reference). I still need to bevel it too

 

 

[Andyjr1515]

You are right.  With the trussrod cover there, it's hardly noticeable.  It continues to be a lovely job.

[Rexel Matador]

Getting there - I couldn't resist screwing everything together to get a look at it, but it's far from finished. It's finished in oil and wax, the finish is not great, so I might give it a rub down with wire wool and apply another coat of wax or two, and see where I'm at then.

 

Still to do:

 

Wiring - mostly solderless thanks to EMG, but I'll need to solder the jack and the switch.

Nut - I have a piece of lignum vitae so I'm going to use that as an experiment. If it's useless it's not a massive job to replace it with something else

Control plates - there's one for the switch and one for everything else - they're made from the same wood as the top and attach with magnets. They're shaped but still need to be sanded and finished, so I'll show them in the next update.

 

 

 

Overall I'm very happy - the colour really helps the "super-modern take on the earliest telecasters" vibe

Edited November 7, 2021 by Rexel Matador

[Richard R]

34 minutes ago, Rexel Matador said:

 

 

Overall I'm very happy 

You should be!

It looks like it could be old,  then you realise the shape is definitely something modern. And the EMGs will be excellent, because they just are.

 

That is officially a Very Cool Guitar.

[Rexel Matador]

Fret dressing today, then, if time permits, wiring. Then it just needs a nut and it's good to go!

[Rexel Matador]

Done - now I can get back to building basses as god intended.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I find the final set up work quite tedious but I powered through and it plays very nicely. The lignum vitae nut seems to be doing the job fine. It might wear out, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

 

A few minor issues persist - most notably the horrendous miscalculation around the placement of the tuners and logo! The string pull is just about adequately straight, but the logo sitting right under the massive low B string is unforgivable!

 

There was a bit of ground buzz when playing through my laptop interface which I wouldn't expect from EMGs, but I soldered the switch and jack myself so it might be something to do with that. I'll have another bash at it at some point.

 

The front strap pin should either be higher up of in the back of the body. I thought the positioning might help with balance a bit (and I think it does), but the strap gets in the way a bit there.

 

This is how we learn though, right?

 

Other than that, I'm very happy with it.

[Hellzero]

Wow, superb build and wonderfully looking guitar (allowed by the gods), congratulations !

[Richard R]

Definitely a Very Cool Guitar!

[Rexel Matador]

Thanks! These EMGs are loads of fun - I assumed I'd just be chugging away on the bridge pickup but since I finished it I've been doing nothing but jamming Sleep-esque riffs on the neck one with the tone rolled off - it sounds immense 

 

I think little Barry Baritone and his big sister Betty BEAD are going to be a sludgy, doomy match made in hell  🤘

 

 

[Andyjr1515]

Excellent result!