Here are some pictures of my first bass:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bowthing...lBassGuitar001
Notes:
This bass was built in about two months, with much of the time going into templates and fixtures. The profile templates were made from 1/4" acrylic sheet (Lexan next time!). All of the profiling, routing, and planing operations, as well as the fretboard radius were done with a single tool, a small milling machine with a large wood table covering the bed. I set it up to work as an overhead pin router, and also used a sanding drum for beveling the frets and doing the fretboard radius. I also used a Safe-T-Planer for all the planing/joining.
The radius jig was made from a piano hinge and two large triangular wood plates, with the neck attached to the edge of the upper piece, and the lower piece used as a guide against a fence on the table. By swinging the plate (with neck) up and down, and sliding the whole arrangement along the fence, I was able to sand a very accurate conical radius with the sanding drum. This was done when the neck was uncarved to make it easy to attach.
The headstock joint and fingerboard were glued with hide glue, and the fret slots were cut with a standard fret saw and miter box setup. I cut them shallow, and then to full depth after the radius was made, so the bottoms of the slots are also radiused. The neck was carved by hand, and is a little too thin (my only serious mistake, though it seems to be stiff enough)
It plays very well, with a nice low action, but the fingerboard is quite flat near the heel. By going to a 7" radius at the nut I would have ended up with a more normal-feeling 17.75" radius at the 21st fret (14" at the 12th fret). Next time!
The sound is really nice, though I think a little thicker neck and a little thinner body might feel a little more lively. It has an amazing lack of dead spots for a solid, unreinforced neck (very slight one on G at the 8th fret, but no others). Overall, I'm really happy with it and achieved my goal of building a basic no frills workhorse. I got some compliments on a nice punchy and full sound with good treble at my first outing with it.
Its really fun to play your own instrument!
SPECS
Body:
Alder, two piece. 1.70" thick.
Reduced size J-style profile.
Front control cavity.
Neck:
One-piece flat-sawn maple.
Nut width 1.60", heel width 2.40".
Body attachment with hex socket head machine screws, using
hardened steel inserts installed from fretboard side.
Low-profile two-way truss rod with flat bar on fretboard side.
Peghead:
Eastern flame maple.
Angled-back (8 degrees) Fender style.
Scarf-joint peghead attachment with volute.
Fretboard:
Madagascar rosewood.
21 frets.
Conical radius with all strings following linear surface (8 in. at nut,
20.29 in. at 21st fret).
Zero fret with graphite nut.
Gold mother of pearl fret and side markers.
"Evo Gold" alloy jumbo fretwire.
Finish:
Body: Target Coatings Ultima Spray Lacquer, level sanded and buffed.
Neck: Same (lacquer), satin finish on back, buffed on front of headstock.
Fretboard: Oiled
Hardware:
Hipshot A-style chrome plated brass bridge, 3/4" string spacing.
Hipshot Ultralight 1/2" tuners.
Schaller chrome strap locks.
Hand made solid nickel silver control plate with hex socket screws and
thread inserts. Recessed in body.
Nickle plated control knobs.
Neutrik locking phono jack, recessed in body.
Electronics:
Bill Lawrence J-45 pickups. Bridge at 2-1/8", neck at 6" from scale length.
Passive V-V-V controls:
Master volume (250K linear w/ treble bleed).
Neck Volume (50K with rotary cutout switch).
Bridge Volume (50K with rotary cutout switch).
My First Bass! 
