Custom bass for Jim...

SDB Guitars · #1 12-02-2007, 09:10 PM

Met Jim through a mutual friend (and a fine builder) Darrin Huff... Long story short, Jim decided that he liked the looks of my previous builds, and wanted a 6-string monster... so here it is (in process... hope to be done soon!):

Specs:

Swamp ash body core, with curled/curly myrtle top and back, bloodwood laminations

9-piece laminated neck of flame maple and bloodwood, matching myrtle headplate with bloodwood lamination. 24-fret multi-scale bloodwood fretboard (37" - 33.25")

bolt-in construction - steel bolts and brass threaded inserts from Spirol - more about those later.

Nordstrand Fat Stack 6's with reversed pole pieces, Bloodwood pickup covers (EMG style) and knobs from Roger at THG Knobs.

Stacked vol/tone for each pickup, and 4-way rotary switch (courtesy of Sheldon Dingwall) for series/parallel wiring when using both pickups. Mini toggle switch to drop out one of the coils on the FS, basically making them like Big Singles.

Here's some pictures of the wood (Larry always has the *best* stuff...)

The top wood, dampened with some naptha to show the figure:

The body blank cut out:

And the neck blank:

Greenman · #2 12-02-2007, 09:22 PM

Blood wood and myrtle is nice contrast.

cervusflies · #3 12-02-2007, 09:23 PM

I really like the color contrast at the split. And what is the binding? Is it wood?

tdogg · #4 12-02-2007, 09:28 PM

37" neck? holy crap! hows that gonna be tuned?

SDB Guitars · #5 12-02-2007, 09:34 PM

Part Deux:

A composite of the bass with the neck pocket routed and the (still uncarved) neck blank pressed in - a tight fit!

I wanted to make this extra special for Jim, so I cut a really thin piece of bloodwood and bent it on a hot pipe to add "binding" to the neck pocket, to set off the really light colored flame maple of the neck from the light burled myrtle top... the edge was rounded over with a 1/2" roundover bit, and the tummy cut and forearm cut were done by microplane. All was cleaned up with my random orbit sander.

Here's another composite showing the neck bolts and the brass inserts:

I got a bunch of brass inserts from Spirol corp. Instead of being threaded on the outside, these are expanding inserts, which have to be inserted under the fingerboard before it's glued on. They actually have a lip that prevents them from pulling out of the neck, and they are knurled on the outside. Once you countersink the lip, you screw the bolt in from the back (bottom) of the neck, and the insert expands, biting into the neck, and becomes solid as a rock. I LOVE these things. I wanted to see what they looked like, and Spirol sent me 100 of them as a sample...

SDB Guitars · #6 12-02-2007, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cervusflies

I really like the color contrast at the split. And what is the binding? Is it wood?

That would be the bloodwood laminations between the myrtle outer plates and the swamp ash core

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdogg

37" neck? holy crap! hows that gonna be tuned?

It's a multi-scale neck, so it will be tuned from B to C like a standard 6 string bass... the longer scale on the lower strings eliminates the "floppiness" often associated with low B strings... the high C string is only 33.25" scale, and each string adds .75" to their scale length as they move south, so to speak. Fretfind will let you print out exact templates for multi-scale instruments. You should check it out. It's SO useful!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greenman

Blood wood and myrtle is nice contrast.

Thanks, Greenman... thank the customer, actually, it was his idea. I had never user myrtle before, mostly maple tops, because that's what people seemed to want. I really like the myrtle. So much variety in color and figure...

tdogg · #7 12-02-2007, 09:51 PM

37" is still a super long b string. where will you find strings?
is "fretfind" a website or a program?

SDB Guitars · #8 12-02-2007, 09:53 PM

DR Hi-Beams fit just fine...

In a pinch, I could order Dingwall strings (this is the same scale length as Dingwall basses) but the customer doesn't like the feel of tapered core strings. He specifically said he didn't want tapered cores... also, it doesn't feel that long when playing it, believe it or not.

eleonn · #9 12-02-2007, 10:06 PM

This one looks great. Nice choice of woods.

SDB Guitars · #10 12-02-2007, 10:09 PM

Thanks... all of the body woods came from Larry, the fretboard was from LMI, and the neck woods came from a couple of local hardwood places.

SDB Guitars · #11 12-02-2007, 10:21 PM

I've been sitting on these pics for a few months, because I'm lazy, and never got around to posting any of them...

Here is a composite of the neck... including the headstock and the logo:

I was perusing my local Woodcraft store, and what should I find out, but that they have a guy who does laser engraving. We chatted for about 30 minutes, and then he said "give me a wood sample, and a logo in JPG format, and let's see what we can do!". 3 days later, he calls and sends me this:

Well, it didn't have the bloodwood inlayed into it, but you know... that was a cutoff from the top, and I took one look at that and sent him off with my nicest myrtle headplate. He does amazing work (or rather, his $45,000 CNC laser does amazing work

)

Greenman · #12 12-02-2007, 10:32 PM

Hey Shawn I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with a crappy camera.

SDB Guitars · #13 12-02-2007, 10:33 PM

this is true... and when I can afford an SLR camera, I'll buy one. Unless someone wants to donate one to me. I'm a man in need, really!

ehque · #14 12-02-2007, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greenman

Hey Shawn I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with a crappy camera.

EVIL!

I like bookmatched tops which are "you cant see the line" matched, so... I've seen a cleaner bookmatch, but i suppose wood is wood. Nice bass, though. Colours working well together.

SDB Guitars · #15 12-02-2007, 10:43 PM

The stark contrast of the figure made it nigh impossible to get a line you couldn't see. Maybe if I was glueing with a vacuum press or something, but even then I think that the opposition of the figure would have made the line obvious.

Even so, I think it's some pretty neat wood. I'm glad Jim picked it, as it would not have crossed my mind. Pushing me in new directions isn't a bad thing

scottyd · #16 12-03-2007, 07:12 AM

Very NICE shawn!!

shrimphead · #17 12-03-2007, 07:35 AM

can't wait to see what the finished project is going to look like, looks amazing so far

SDB Guitars · #18 12-03-2007, 04:24 PM

Part, the Third...

More of the neck... I'm particularly fond of the volute. I bought an oscilating drum sander pretty much just for headstock shaping... now I've found it's useful for a lot more

Jim (and seemingly everyone else, these days) wanted the Hipshot Ultralite tuners for this bass, so here they are, in all their glory. Also, the frets have been installed (but not levelled or dressed, at this point).

I know you're seen the body before, but I took a few pictures of different angles, the back, etc., and made a nifty little composite, like the ones above. I actually posted this image earlier, but it was so freakin' huge that it made the screen all wonky. > 800 pixels wide is my friend.

The back cover was cut out with what Woodcraft calls a "Fretsaw", which is nothing like what I was looking for when I went in there. It looks a lot like a really deep coping saw or jeweler's saw (about 12" throat depth), and takes standard scroll saw blades. Fortunately, since I don't have a scroll saw, I was able to pick that up for $20 and now I use it for my control cavities.

SDB Guitars · #19 12-03-2007, 08:59 PM

Parte Cuatro...

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottyd

Very NICE shawn!!

Thanks, ScottyD! I'm honored that someone of your build level thinks so! I'm just a guy working out of my garage (and basement, and shed... LOL).

Quote:

Originally Posted by shrimphead

can't wait to see what the finished project is going to look like, looks amazing so far

Well, then... prepare to be amazed! Just kidding...

Seriously, though, here's where I strung up the instrument to get a feel for fret issues, action, etc. You can kinda get an idea of what the instrument will look like, although it will have several coats of oil and then wax that will really bring out the figure (also, yes Greenman, another shot with my crappy camera... lol)

And who's the jolly looking cat with the beard? ME!!!

I was very nearly staring into the sun, and trying to get the bass in the right light, and dammit, no one needs to see *me*, anyway... but there's the bass, with a scale reference, of sorts (I'm 5' 9" tall). From stem to stern(er, strap button to headstock), the bass is 46.5" long... now if I could just learn to hold STILL!

PilbaraBass · #20 12-04-2007, 12:25 AM

man a great looking bass...

and YES a crappy camera ...lol...

when it's finished, get some decent shots, ok?