Looks amazing Simon. Very impressed by your ideas and solutions. How did you compensate for the 3mm aluminium on the other piece of blackwood? Just sand it away?
cheers,
Gav.
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Looks amazing Simon. Very impressed by your ideas and solutions. How did you compensate for the 3mm aluminium on the other piece of blackwood? Just sand it away?
cheers,
Gav.
Thanks gav! I free hand routed out the shape but I went 1mm too deep. I glued on some veneer to compensate for the height difference later on.Quote:
Originally Posted by gavinturner
Sorry haven't been posting. I was trying to do as much as I could during the week. I'll write up a detailed process when I have the time, but here's some pics.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...ps4jbgoo63.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...ps0nsxuz7y.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psdlalcmlh.jpg
With some mineral spirits applied. The wenge became really dark so I think I'll have to sand to a higher grit and hopefully that won't make it too dark when the oil is applied.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psj0whjkzd.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psnmkokumr.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psynwd1gyq.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psln9ananu.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...ps5vkokiyz.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psav4s0qzd.jpg
Almost there! I'm doing the headstock inlays tomorrow and will have to make a truss rod cover. I already made some matching wooden knobs and hopefully they'll turn out nice.
And then I have to wait for the machine heads to come before I can complete the headstock. Then it's the finish sanding and finishing!
What a cracker of a build Simon.
Thanks Tony!
A work of art, sensational build
Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk
Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssss! Looking amazing.
That is truly snazzy, The rebate in the back of the upper bout to allow for access to the higher frets is unusual but works really well.
Great job mate!
What can I say Simon stunning looking bass and a real inspriration to anyone who has built a kit to step up to a scratchy with minimal tools
Great Build Simon.
I did notice that you were wearing some sort of Laboratory coat with your crocs in the first pictures, practical/comfortable luthier wear?
Hahaha now fashion doesn't matter when you're working alone in your own place! Yes but the lab coat is to protect my clothes from the dust and it gets cold too. The crocs are just a substitute for the thongs I used to wear. I go in and out of my place for breaks regularly so I'd hate to keep taking off my shoes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy40
Yup I can easily access the upper frets despite it being a single cut. It's a design inspired by some of the major luthiers and it works well. I could have designed the lower horn to sit a bit further from the neck because it obstructs the hand a little.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
And thanks for the comments everyone. Close to finish!
Really impressive work mate, hats off to you!Quote:
Originally Posted by SIMpleONe89
Real cool looking Bass Simon.
hats off to you , sir, that is magnificent
Thanks guys!
Wow Simon, not even finished and it looks a stunner.
Take a bow mate.
rob
Thanks for the comments everyone.
Previously I left off with the electronics cavity. Now I'll show you the steps I took before gluing on the body wings.
First, I had to cut off the excess on the neck. I positioned the body wings and drew the outline.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psycuntmcd.png
Then cut it out with my hand saw. I reckon it would be much easier getting as much done on the neck before gluing. Don't want to be manoeuvring a 34" scale bass around too much!
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psaxfixsvs.png
Then I also had to get rid of excess wood on the neck heel. I'm going for an all-access neck heel which would allow me to easily get up to the 24th fret despite it being a single cut. You may have seen the pictures from my previous posts and this is how I did it.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...pszu8c1y96.png
I tried a few ways of removing the excess wood from the neck.
1. Hand saw - wasn't good because the saw was large and hard to control. I could've risked cutting more than I should. Maybe with a Japanese ryoba saw (have been eyeing on these for a long time) I would have more control.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psomhseb7x.png
2. Chisel and hammer - effective but very time consuming.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...pscbgdiozs.png
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psiacibdxm.png
3. Router - the easiest, fastest and most accurate way.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psd1ldiz8x.png
After the heel was roughly shaped, I also had to go back and carve out the neck. I also took this opportunity to round the neck over a bit more, but still maintaining a D-shape profile.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...pshvxcwfmw.png
I also did a fret level and dressed the frets because it would be easier without the body. I'll polish it up after I finish it.
So the last thing I had to do before gluing would be to thin the neck to match the body thickness. The neck was 43mm and the body was at 40, so I had to remove 3mm of wood with my router. Ignore my poor math in the picture. Definitely was a typo!
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psunzju0pq.png
And of course I had to make sure the edges were trued before gluing.
I used some of the off-cuts as clamping cauls to glue the body wings. I did one at a time because it's my first time. I also used toothpicks as locating pins to prevent the pieces from sliding around.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psvihyipdh.png
Once both wings were glued and sanded flat to the neck, I started to carve the contours. I did the belly, forearm contours and also carved the neck heel transition. Here's a video with a timelapse of what I did. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo-iP62xE8Y
cool videos Simon, looks unreal being all glued together, love the carvings looks great. Don't let DB see the mineral turps, it's not safe to use the fumes are pretty toxic. DB saw a bottle at my man cave and said get rid of it and use Diggers gum turps is much safer and natural to use
Amazing Simon, just amazing.
cheers,
Gav.
Uh oh really? I didn't know! I hardly use them though. They smell bad.Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
Thanks Gavin!Quote:
Originally Posted by gavinturner
Ok I've been spending the last few days sanding and sanding and sanding...Sigh I really, really hate sanding. But it's important to get a great finish!
This is after one coat of wipe on poly...
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psab2yu7xf.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...pstsdcmh0p.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...ps8yhsdpam.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psblvgpskg.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...pssg8yxuje.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...ps0nz3n7mv.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...pswvauyreq.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...pseefnglvo.jpg
There are a few spots where the tear outs were which I couldn't fix well enough. Also some glue spots in the tight corners which I can't be bothered to get rid of. It's been a long two months and I have to finish this project. Other than that, I am very pleased with how this turned out. Definitely the hardest project to date but worth it.
I also made matching wenge/vic ash knobs and a flamed maple truss rod cover.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...pso7e0ro5f.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psa4qcr2rd.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psmfhdwa4f.jpg
Good tip this one Wokka, thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
Dude I think they fall under the "Only YOU and the pedantically fastidious are going to notice it" banner. This is a wonderfully executed Original build.Quote:
Originally Posted by SIMpleONe89
on the home stretch now Simon it's looking like a real piece of art. Love the knobs and truss rod cover. How did you shape the knobs and did you glue the wenge to the vic ash ?
Hahaha yes. Must suppress the perfectionist in me!Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
Thanks! I'm glad it's almost done. It's been a long while.
Thanks woks. I used a hole saw to cut out pieces, glued them together and sanded them. The best way would be to use a lathe which I don't have.Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
ah ok I'll remember that technique Simon cheers, so it must have been the smallest hole saw you used about 18mm diameter ?
I'll write about how I did it soon! I used two diameters for two different sizes. I plan to use the smaller knobs for the active 3 band, and the larger ones for the volume, blend and passive tone.Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy