Five string scrap pile build

[two fingers]

Those fret marker inlays on the side of the board are just beautiful. Such a beautiful, original, simple thing but it just sets this whole instrument off for me. I would grin every time I looked at them if it were my bass.

The rest of the bass ain't bad either! Ha!

[Big B.]

Managed to squeeze in some lab time over the holiday and I've got some pics to prove it.

The next order of business was to attach the neck. In solidarity with Mr. Habraken I decided to use some old ferrules I had laying around and some nice fat screws.

First the holes are located and drilled.

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The heck heel is transferred to the neck with a pencil to avoid shaping past the heel transition.

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Once the holes for the ferrules are drilled I tap them in with a hammer and attach the neck.

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Once the neck is attached the bridge can be located. The tuners and bridge are from last year's Mad Scientist bass. This bass will keep the satin hardware and the fretless will get the black hardware it deserves.

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Next I locate the tuners and drill out the holes.

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I used a piece of ziricote and cut it to size for the nut. A few drops of CA glue it in place.

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A little work with a rasp and orbital sander and the body is really starting to take shape.

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In the next installment we"ll rout the pickups in and slap some strings on it. Good times.

[Big B.]

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(That's how Mad Science works)



Now that you know where we're going I'll show you how we got there.

First I found a piece of half inch mdf for the template and used the pickups as a pattern to attach blocks for routing. I use a thin piece of cardboard as a spacer to give just a slight bit of air around the pickup. This lets the pickup fit with out friction and opens the corners just enough to let a 3/8" pattern bit do the entire rout.

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Next I use the same 3/8" bit to rout out the template.

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I attach the template to the body with two long strips of double sided duct tape. It works great. Give it a good wack with a hammer up and down the template and it wont move unless you want it to.

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Using the 3/8" bit and a plunge router I rout the pickups as deep as the template allows and then after removing the template I can use the opening itself to rout to final depth.


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Next we simply add pickups and strings and it's damn near being a real bass. It plays really well with a nice slap feel and thick acoustic sound.

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Next time we'll make the truss rod access and finish carving the neck.