Über-Jay V, Camphor Burl, Wenge, Ebony.

[metallutca]

Looks good

[MrArose13]

BTW another great wood combo, you keep putting them out and I keep watching. Nice work Maurizio

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Great stuff! Wenge is amazing... I really would to use more of it for necks and bodies... it's just those dang splinters!

[miziomix]

Originally Posted by metallutca

Looks good

Originally Posted by MrArose13

BTW another great wood combo, you keep putting them out and I keep watching. Nice work Maurizio

Originally Posted by Geoff St. Germaine

Great stuff! Wenge is amazing... I really would to use more of it for necks and bodies... it's just those dang splinters!

Thank you guys! I am glad you enjoy watching this build come to life. I've got to say, every time I consider starting a new thread I think - naaa, not again. Who would want to see this again... Then I surrender because I really like posting here. You guys are great.

Wenge has become one of my favorite wood. Yes, the splinters suck. But it's an amazing wood and I will experiment with more combos. I loved the Wenge/Ebony neck of the Ü-M fretless. Besides,a black neck is a boost to any combo

Ciao! M

[miziomix]

Neck time for this bass too. I have done the profile of this one together with the Funk Machine. It's cool to perform the same task on more than one build. It saves a lot of time and keeps you focused. That's why I am trying to bring most of the builds at hand to a similar stage.



So, here is the rough neck profile. Mostly rasp and 60 grit sand strip.



Here is the neck sanded to final thickness and profile.





Some more work to do but we're basically there

[metallutca]

Perfect! The neck wood combination looks so right!

[Hopkins]

Originally Posted by metallutca

Perfect! The neck wood combination looks so right!

+1

Wenge and Padauk go together like like one of them round pegs in a hole

[wraub]

Again, your work is inspired, and your designs both familiar and completely unique, in the best way, for each.

Wish I could play one someday. I'd really like that.

wraub

[miziomix]

Originally Posted by metallutca

Perfect! The neck wood combination looks so right!

Originally Posted by Hopkins

+1 Wenge and Padauk go together like like one of them round pegs in a hole

Thank you! Glad you guys like the combo. Funny how I have never been particularly interested in Wenge necks as a bassist. Probably because I have never been really into Warwick basses.
Now I just love it. The tone, the look... ahh, the things building does to you...

Originally Posted by wraub

Again, your work is inspired, and your designs both familiar and completely unique, in the best way, for each.

Wish I could play one someday. I'd really like that.

wraub

Thank you so much for your kind words. Keeping myself focused on the differences each project comes with, instead of the similarities it's the hardest part - albeit also the most fun. It's great that you notice that.

You should drop by sometimes. I live just East of hell. That shouldn't be too far from you . BTW, there is a place just about half an hour away from where I live called Raub. You're not from there by any chance, are you?

----------

I will be away from Friday for two weeks. On the 10th the Chinese New Year festivities start and that usually lasts the whole week. I will double that and ride to Thailand on my bike

There won't be and WIP pictures until my return, although I can upload some other kind of pictures if you like

Keep it groovy!

[miziomix]

Hi there. It's now time for this thread to show some progress. In fact, since I got back I have done quite a bit of work on this bass. Didn't have the time to take pictures and upload them though. Well, week ends come for a reason.



Here is the headstock after routing the contour. I do that with a 45 bit first. Then use various tools on the edges and to blend it with the neck profile. You can see where the router has stopped. The back will be sanded later on, hence those little, superficial irregularities around the holes will go away.



The neck pocket being routed. The p-up template in the picture is for a Delano whereas this bass goes with Barts. I just use that to get a clean end of the neck pocket. Then I replace the template with that of a Bartolini x series 5.

I have so far made templates in both MDF and acrylic and have come to the conclusion that I prefer MDF when I need to route a profile - like, body, headstock... Acrylic works best for me when the area to be routed is inside the template - neck pocket, cavities - so I can see through when placing the template.



Here's the body routed. One of the things I really like about Bartolini is that the profile is rounded just right for the router bit. I'm not sure if that is by design or by accident. But it makes it so much easier to get a clean and tight fit. I wish p-ups were all made this way.



Finally it starts looking like a bass. As you can (probably) see, the headstock is now shaped. Quite a bit needs to be done still. But this build is moving ahead rather fast and I have no doubt it should join the Funk Machine in the spraying booth.

Thank you for following this build. A great week end to you all

[metallutca]

Best TB update for this weekend!

[Yelo]

Haha, your bass has a face, and it's not amused

Looking so awesome!

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Looks great, as always!

[miziomix]

Thank you metallutca, Yelo and Geoff.

Originally Posted by Yelo

Haha, your bass has a face, and it's not amused ....

ahahaha that is true. And it reminds me of an old computer games character

[miziomix]

Time for another set of pictures. I actually finished this a few days back but didn't have the time to write the update.

Here's the electronics cavity. I have to say that routing through Wenge feels really nice. It's smooth and easy. This wood is almost perfect. I would re-design it without splinters and availability issue. But I'm afraid that's out of my jurisdiction.



I had the idea of routing channels for wiring when I build my first Ü-Jay prototype. It makes me smile every time I see it and how well it works. That bass was packed with ideas. Some have survived the test of time. Some have become special order - because they were are a PITA to make. But I digress, as usual...

So here's is some Wenge galore shots.



Body awaiting contours, bridge recess and screw holes. I'm waiting for the hardware of most builds at hand. They should ship today and likely be here in a week or so.





After all that Wenge it just so happened to be snack time. The owner of this bass said that the combo made him think of strawberry syrup on chocolate brownie. It must be subliminal.



I'm afraid I run out of strawberries though.

That's all for today. Thank you

[metallutca]

Originally Posted by miziomix

Yummy wenge! Love this shot with the sawdust at the bottom!

[suraj]

You, sir, are a craftsman..!! that wood combination and the wenge body makes for a sexy looking bass.. I generally dislike headstock contouring but it looks fantastic on your builds

Also love that stone wall backdrop

Is this bass really heavy ?

[miziomix]

Originally Posted by metallutca

Yummy wenge! Love this shot with the sawdust at the bottom!

Thank you. I know, right? LOL... I am always amazed at how much sawdust a little routing can produce. You look at it and think - where did all that extra Wenge come from??

Originally Posted by suraj

You, sir, are a craftsman..!! that wood combination and the wenge body makes for a sexy looking bass.. I generally dislike headstock contouring but it looks fantastic on your builds

Also love that stone wall backdrop

Is this bass really heavy ?

Thank you Suraj. I'm glad you like the combo, especially the stone wall It has become my favorite photo shoot corner and it's just a back alley behind my place. Literally, I open the back door and there it is.

The bass is not heavy at all, although it could certainly have been. When the contour of the body is done and all parts are installed I expect it to be around 5.5 lbs +/- like most of my basses.

[deepestend]

subscribed!

[miziomix]

Thank you.

Quick update. This build is basically ready for body contour. Among other things, I am waiting for custom cavity covers to be delivered. UPS just called that they have cleared custom. 10% tax, thank you very much.

Once I get those and checked that they do match my templates, I can route the recess and move on to the contour. I do that with a router bit first, then on a belt sander, then with a orbital sander and by hand.

In the effort to make my building process more streamlined, I am arranging the builds by task. This week is all about body routing and drilling. Next week is necks and then they should all be ready for contour.

Your already needing a holiday bass geek