Craziest build yet (for me)!!

[Hopkins]

I don't really know the process involved, but I have a friend that made his own silk screen. Considering this friend, it couldn't have been difficult at all, and may be a viable solution.

[Rip Topaz]

I've considered screen printing it. My drummer's wife is an amazing artist with a silkscreen. However, I'm not sure the shop she works in will allow it due to copyright issues.
Mike Anthony had Jack Daniel's make the labels for his.

I did however find something really cool while shopping their site. They have a flask that has the Old No. 7 logo and it's ROUND, in the exact dimensions I have drawn up for the headstock!! Unlike the original, my customer will actually be able to drink JD out of his bass!! EDIT: the flask is approved.

The site also has a 12"x16" sign with the label, like those (insert football team) Parking Only signs. If I adjust the body size a hair, I can make that work. Only issue will be cutting it for pickups. EDIT: the sign won't work. Too big.

Since there are no real revealed specs on the body, and my customer is such a big guy, I can make some changes to it without making too much difference.

[Rip Topaz]

Here's a crazy thought to ponder. On both the copy and the Yamaha, the string path isn't perfectly straight. It splays slightly (and not so slightly) after exiting the bridge on the way to the tuners.

I want to fix this. So here's the question. Who makes a tuner that I can mount close enough to get the straight path OR who make replacement bass tuner knobs that aren't so big? Kinda like the Gary Willis tuners.

EDIT: talked to Bill over at Hipshot and he's gonna make me a set. Problem solved.

[Rip Topaz]

We've got wood.

Some nice looking maple for the neck (3 piece) and the ash for the body wings.

Still working on the drawing. No cutting for at least a few more days while I figure all this out.

I did take the time to weigh the ash. Without the cap piece, it's 24 pounds. So I guess we will definitely be chambering as much as possible to relieve a little (ALOT of) weight.

I realize that's just the weight of the board but this thing is a giant square. Hence the 1/4" cap on the back. I can make all the access covers needed for anything we decide to add.

Brokencode, email sent.

[Rip Topaz]

Today, I glue the neck blank. Nothin special, we've all seen a million pictures of a million clamps. Mine looks just like that.

No need for a pic. Nah, this is a BUILD thread. There's always room for pix.


I gotta remember to shower sometime soon so I can add the "hair shot".

[Rip Topaz]

Hair is ready.



So is the drawing. Tomorrow I'll start drawing it all up on the wood. I don't have a router table so I do my edges differently than normal (ie, correctly).

I transfer my drawing to heavier stock, then onto the wood. By that point, if there's an error, I should have caught it.

Then I cut and so forth. But that's another day.

[Beej]

Wow, that is unreal. You look exactly like the suspected serial killer who works at the gas station down the road. The resemblance is uncanny...

[Rip Topaz]

Originally Posted by Beej

Wow, that is unreal. You look exactly like the suspected serial killer who works at the gas station down the road. The resemblance is uncanny...

Please don't call the cops. I've gotta finish this bass before they find the bodies.

[HaMMerHeD]

A Maker's Mark bass would taste better...

[Rip Topaz]

Got the body wings rough cut.

The cover for the back was easy, just had to go slower so it wouldn't chip. The splinters from ash suck.

The main body wings are 1 1/2" thick solid ash. My bandsaw was not happy.

That's all for today, I'm giving the neck a little extra time in the clamps, and I'm waiting for parts to arrive later today.

EDIT: Truss rod, side and face dot markers are here. Got one of the wings sanded to closer to final shape.

Got the neck out of the clamps. Gotta wait for an extra set of hands before attacking it with the jointer. The blank is a lot longer than I needed it to be, but on purpose. I want plenty of room for error when I start working on it.

[Rip Topaz]

The headstock arrived.

It's perfect!!! Except it isn't magnetic, so I will have to epoxy a magnet to the back of it.
Also got a JD guitar strap to go along with the bass.

[Rip Topaz]

Neck blank is squared and the fretboard is planed.

I'm done for the day. Feeling a cold hitting. The kids must've brought something home with them.

The fretboard has a little figure to it. Pleasant surprise.

[Musiclogic]

Originally Posted by Beej

Wow, that is unreal. You look exactly like the suspected serial killer who works at the gas station down the road. The resemblance is uncanny...

I was thinking Craig Chaquico from Jefferson Starship....LOL

[Rip Topaz]

Originally Posted by Musiclogic

I was thinking Craig Chaquico from Jefferson Starship....LOL

That's the first time I've heard that. Usually it's either Nikki Sixx or oddly enough, Jimmy Page. Must've been the lighting.

BTW, I took the time to weigh the body wings last night, and as they are now, without the cavities cut and no roundover on the edges, it's at 11 pounds. It's a beast. Good thing the owner is a big guy.

[Musiclogic]

Nikki no, Jimmy...you aren't near british enough looking, or that haggard...LOL. I would say Craig or Alice Cooper, and on a bad Day Harry Shearer as Derek Smalls.....LOL

[Rip Topaz]

Originally Posted by Musiclogic

Nikki no, Jimmy...you aren't near british enough looking, or that haggard...LOL. I would say Craig or Alice Cooper, and on a bad Day Harry Shearer as Derek Smalls.....LOL

Now THAT is closer to the truth.

[Rickett Customs]

How about Rex Brown who woke up hungover?

[Musiclogic]

I don't see any needles in the pic, can't be Rex without dusty mirrors and half loaded heroine needles

[Rip Topaz]

Originally Posted by Musiclogic

I don't see any needles in the pic, can't be Rex without dusty mirrors and half loaded heroine needles

Wow. Ouch.

[Musiclogic]

ok, my work here is done....back to making sawdust and wood chips....LOL