Well, figured it's time I posted my pictures of where my build is at right now. This is not only my first attempt at building a bass, it's really my first attempt at building...anything. I decided to strip the neck off an old, extremely POS-y bass I bought off some kid and refurbish the turd out of it as opposed to building my own.

The body is black limba, because I think it's a beautiful wood.

Here's what I got so far:

Original design:

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v173/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33372136_5761.jpg

How that turned out:

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v173/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33399440_4601.jpg

http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v173/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33399441_4922.jpg

And the Back:
http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v173/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33399442_5229.jpg


I'll probably start routing tomorrow. I'd love to hear what you peoples think. :D

Looks Good so far. Any idea of the weight as it sits.

6.2 lbs, pre-routed

I must say, that's a very interesting shape! How did you come to that?

And are you going to put some contours in it?

I think given the right contours taht would be a VERY cool and unique bass.

That's what I'm thinking. Maybe something for the forearm, definitely a tummy cut, maybe something near where the knee would go.

...and a huge cut the back for a giant belt buckle!

That's what I'm thinking. Maybe something for the forearm, definitely a tummy cut, maybe something near where the knee would go.

...and a huge cut the back for a giant belt buckle!

Haha. Yeah, It will be contoured AFTER i route it. Makes it a lot easier to route :P


As for where I got the shape from... I basically just free handed it. I fiddled around with different ideas for the shape and came up with that basic design. Drew it up in a 1:1 scale print, and then made a template out of it. Completely original design.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the best part of this build project:

The entire thing is costing me about $250. (College student, go figure)

finshed routing the neck cavity today. After doing so I totally understand the benefits of building a neck-through bass. It's not looking too bad, though.

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v185/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33409927_8594.jpg

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v185/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33409928_8940.jpg

And with the neck in:

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v185/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33410037_8131.jpg

Hey man, that's looking awesome so far! Can't wait to see the finished product! :bassist:

No kidding...looks great. I bet when you put that neck in it's slot you were pumped! Seeing it all come together.

How tight is the neck in its cavity?

Not much chance of reaching those last two frets, is there? Not too late to increase your treble-side cutaway.

Do you have your bridge in hand, and have you figured out the height of the strings above the body and whether or not you need a neck angle?

Nice black limba! Where did you score that? It is very hard to get right now....my local wholesale lumber guy, who probably has 20,000 board-feet of inventory, waited 2 years to get his new shipment (upon which I promptly bought as much as I could afford...). He sold it all (about 200 bf) within 2 months.

How tight is the neck in its cavity?

Almost perfect. I spent the entire day making the router template just right. The fit is much better than the original bass I stripped the neck from, actually.

Not much chance of reaching those last two frets, is there? Not too late to increase your treble-side cutaway.

The reach to the last 2 frets will be fine after I contour the body. It's going to be sloped down to make hitting those last frets fairly easy.

Do you have your bridge in hand, and have you figured out the height of the strings above the body and whether or not you need a neck angle?

Nice black limba! Where did you score that? It is very hard to get right now....my local wholesale lumber guy, who probably has 20,000 board-feet of inventory, waited 2 years to get his new shipment (upon which I promptly bought as much as I could afford...). He sold it all (about 200 bf) within 2 months.

I'm using the same neck and bridge from the bass I stripped, so, in theory, the same routed height would work. Which I did. I'm going to attach the bridge in a few days and see how everything is angled.

I got the wood from Larry at Gallery. He's stuff is pretty much always quality, so I knew I'd get good results from him. And yeah, working with Black Limba has been a breeze so far :P

Honest opinion, fellas: Best way to finish black limba?

I love the way it looks finished in the pictures I've seen. For example this one by Skelf from AC guitars that I found on the forums:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/125/346752662_37e1ee4944.jpg

How would I get results similar to that?

By asking Alan himself, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to let you know what finish he uses. It's a semi-gloss clear coat, likely a kind of poly.

Wow man your bass is looking really good so far especially for your first time.
I'm beginning my first home-made bass in a few weeks here and I hope I can pull it off as well as you!

Honest opinion, fellas: Best way to finish black limba?

I love the way it looks finished in the pictures I've seen. For example this one by Skelf from AC guitars that I found on the forums:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/125/346752662_37e1ee4944.jpg

How would I get results similar to that?

****ING SIIICK

Finished routing the Pickup Cavity 2 days ago and STARTED routing the control cavity today. The lip/ledge the cover rests on will be routed out today. Enjoy:

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v185/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33454514_8264.jpg

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v185/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33454516_8897.jpg

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v185/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33454518_9494.jpg

Looking good so far... :)

Really nice shape and a beautiful piece of wood!

-Johan

looks sweet, im gonna go ahead and say you think of Carl Thompson as inspiration.
it looks similar to what he did in the 70s. cant wait to see the final.

ALRIGHT! Got a lot more work done, with a little luck this baby will be done by this time next week. Cross your fingers.

Heres the updates: The control cavity cover has been made, and then I painted it black.

The neck has been BOLTED ON. Which is fantastic for me because now I can actually hold the damn thing.

And maybe most importantly I began contouring. These pictures are NOT the completed contouring. And please, any comments on how I can contour it better would be appreciated. Enjoy!


http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v182/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33469776_4202.jpg

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v182/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33469778_4793.jpg

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v182/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33469779_5065.jpg

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v182/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33469780_5339.jpg

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v182/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33469781_5623.jpg

Looks good! Keep us posted!

Looks good! Keep us posted!

Heh, thanks. I got a lot done lately. The body has been contoured, all everything drilled, and is now hanging in my garage with the finish drying on it. I'll probably try to get pics up tomorrow before i start the electronics.

HOLY SHIZ IT'S DONNNNNE. And it WOOOOOORKS. Haha I made a bass guitar from a block of wood, what the hell?

Anyway, I won't go into crazy details about the rest of the process, most of you can figure it out from the pictures.

As for how it sounds: It's pretty bright. Basically what youd expect from MM pickups.

Oh, and don't mind the missing 3rd knob, I gotta pick that one up, still.


http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v167/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33500789_1905.jpg

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v167/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33500791_2436.jpg

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v167/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33500792_2687.jpg

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v167/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33500793_2941.jpg

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v167/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33500795_3442.jpg

http://photos-463.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v167/170/61/8101463/n8101463_33500796_3703.jpg


I'd be happy to answer any additional questions. And to everyone on the board who provided me help thank you so much!


Edit: Oh, and it only cost 300 dollars.

That was fast, good work! Looks like the finish came out pretty nice too.

Wow looks realy unique :hyper:

k

Sort of related question here:
I notice you put copper shielding in the pickup cavity and in the control cavity. Is your bass passive? Would you still need the shielding if it was passive?

Nice work! Any plans on making it active?

Sort of related question here:
I notice you put copper shielding in the pickup cavity and in the control cavity. Is your bass passive? Would you still need the shielding if it was passive?

It is passive. And as far as I can tell in my research, by me NOT grounding my stings out from the bridge I needed a way to cancel incoming electro magnetic radiation regardless of whether your instrument is active or passive. The strings act like antennae and pick up whatever signals are flying around. The copper shielding limits this. (And it works pretty well, too)

Nice work! Any plans on making it active?

As for right now, no. The goal of this project was price, and I'd rather not throw another 100 in a preamp as of right now. There are several changes I'd make BEFORE making it active, including: New Tuners, New Bridge, New Nut, as those were all stripped from a lame-y-er bass for cost reasons :P

It is passive. And as far as I can tell in my research, by me NOT grounding my stings out from the bridge I needed a way to cancel incoming electro magnetic radiation regardless of whether your instrument is active or passive. The strings act like antennae and pick up whatever signals are flying around. The copper shielding limits this. (And it works pretty well, too)
I thought It was the preamp and not the strings that did that. Thanks! I'm buying a body blank from Warmoth and I'll have to know that for the project.:)

Nice job man, looks like avatar material to me!
Next is da sound clips., bring em on.

That is truly slick. I dig it. It's always refreshing to see something that's not a Fender or Music Man clone. :)

Damn!!! I HAVE to work faster!!! To be honest I didn't like it much but seeing the pic of the guitar once completed I DO like it!!!

Damn!!! I HAVE to work faster!!! To be honest I didn't like it much but seeing the pic of the guitar once completed I DO like it!!!

Haha, thank you :D