My new custom bass body...

Sundogue · #1 04-27-2006, 09:35 AM

Well, this is the "sweet piece of ash" I got. I finally got the edges smooth and straight enough to glue together without much of a seam showing.

Ignore the clamps...I just glued it up last night. It was a 48" X 2" X 8" ash board. I picked it out because the grain is very cool.

I cut the board in half and edge glued it. It almost looks like a bookmatched top, but it's solid ash. The grain swirls and curves almost to perfection with the horns.

I'll show how it looks once the glue is dried completely and I take the clamps off and transfer the pattern I'm going to cut out (that is drawn on matboard). I'll be able to move the body pattern around (staying on the centerline) on the ash body blank to utilize the grain pattern to match the body pattern to my liking.

Here's pics of the ash and my body pattern. It's patterned after a Jazz, but a bit more streamlined to my liking. I wetted the wood a bit to bring out the grain pattern more. The black outline on the design pic shows the outline I'll be cutting out. I used silver marker to cover previous lines drawn on there. I just traced my P-Bass and modded it from there. It will have a longer top horn and a much shorter bottom horn (that will also be more of a cutaway for easier upper fret access).

The whole body will be contoured on the back and sloped away from the middle on top.

sublimate · #2 04-27-2006, 09:45 AM

Why am I reminded of that Spinal Tap song:
"Big Bottoms, Big Bottoms,
Talk about mud flaps, my girl's got 'em"

But seriously, nice wood, but imho the bottom of the design is a little full compared to the horns.

Phil Mastro · #3 04-27-2006, 10:02 AM

I dig it.

Sundogue · #4 04-27-2006, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sublimate

Why am I reminded of that Spinal Tap song:
"Big Bottoms, Big Bottoms,
Talk about mud flaps, my girl's got 'em"

But seriously, nice wood, but imho the bottom of the design is a little full compared to the horns.

I can see what you mean, but it only looks that way because of the camera angle. The "fat" bottom is quite close to the lens, while the horns are away from it at an angle.

It's much more balanced than the pic shows. Think of what a standard Jazz looks like. In fact, the "bottom" is slightly slimmer than a standard Jazz. I'll have to try and get a pic of it straight on.

wilser · #5 04-27-2006, 12:03 PM

Actually, it's been my experience that a big bottomed bass helps with neck balance! So keep them bottoms as big as you can!

Sundogue · #6 04-27-2006, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wilser

Actually, it's been my experience that a big bottomed bass helps with neck balance! So keep them bottoms as big as you can!

Well, this is a solid ash body. The neck will have to be extremely heavy to offset this body. I have no idea where the final weight will be, but I do know it will be on the heavier side.

But it will also be very ergonomically designed. The body contours won't the typical armrest and slight dip on the back. The entire back will be rounded out so it wraps around me. The upper horn will curve back towards me (pushing the neck out away from me).

The entire top on either side of the "neck to bridge" will be carved back similar to an archtop.

Sundogue · #7 04-28-2006, 08:18 AM

Here's a new pic taken straight on showing the shape (the bottom is not as big as in the other oblique camera angle photo).

Sundogue · #8 04-29-2006, 12:02 PM

Here's a pic of the pattern lying on the ash body blank. I sprayed the pattern black and wetted the wood for more contrast.

I can't wait to get working on this!!!

mahrous · #9 04-30-2006, 12:42 PM

i know this could be a bit late. but i think ur center line/axis line is a bit off.

other than that the bottom part of the body needed to but cut a lil steeper like a Jazz body

good luck

Sundogue · #10 04-30-2006, 01:04 PM

I'm not making it an exact Jazz copy. I'm changing the shape more to my liking. I've rounded off the bottom more than a standard Jazz. I wanted it to be more of a cross between a P-Bass and a Jazz, but with a longer top horn and shorter bottom horn.

The pattern will be placed exactly on the centerline before drawing it on the body...though it's pretty close right now. I know where the centerline is (and it's pretty obvious in person right now)...but I can barely tell in the photo. But it will be laid out exactly before transferring the outline. This photo was more to show the look.

mahrous · #11 04-30-2006, 01:06 PM

well it looks like your neck's centerline is not in the middle of the bottom of the bass. thats what i was saying

Sundogue · #12 04-30-2006, 02:33 PM

It may be a bit off in this pic as I just quickly laid the pattern on the wood for the pic.

I'll certainly be careful when I draw the outline from the pattern I made to line it up.

Sundogue · #13 05-07-2006, 03:29 PM

Well, I decided against doing any kind of arch top kind of thing, though I will shave down the body around the edges and horns a bit (I just don't like real blocky looking horns).

So, my 2" thick body needed to get planed down to 1 1/2"...but I am really short on cash right now and I don't have a planer.

So, I rigged up my router table and using some boards the same thickness as what I was "planing" off, I got it all down to 1 1/2" using my router. Then I just used my belt sander to clean it up.

Using the router was VERY tedious, only taking about an 1/8" off at a time (1/2" deep, but 1/8" passes side to side). Whew! that took forever...but it worked.

I'll be getting my neck on Monday, and by the end of the week I'll also have a new bridge and a Mighty Mite MM pickup (yeah I know it ain't the greatest...it will be upgraded eventually).

I'm going to put the P-Bass pickups in it but moving the D & G side of the split pickup closer to the neck side to make room for the MM pickup towards the bridge side. To me, an added benefit of reversing the P-Bass pickups is that the D & G always sounded too thin as compared to the E & A side anyway, and reversing it towards the neck side should give it some added depth.

I'm putting in a 3-way switch for the pickup selection (P-Bass, MM, or both) and use the existing single volume and tone control for both.

I've got my routing all planned out. Once I get all the other stuff, I'll make my templates.

It's a long, slow tedious process, given that I can't devote much time to it. But, as they say..."Good things come to those who wait".

SnakeAnthony · #14 05-07-2006, 06:23 PM

The only things I would change would be shaving just a little bit more off of the bottom and making the upper horn curve in more. But thats just me. Looks great man. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Sundogue · #15 05-07-2006, 06:30 PM

Thanks.

I'll post pics of the build process as I go along. It helps to have some feedback.

It's still subject to changes. Once I have it routed out and the outline cut out and the neck mounted on it...I can look at it for a few days and see.

I may very well change it up a bit. One thing I wanted was to not make it too much a P-Bass or a Jazz (though I like both).

I like the Jazz shape the best overall, but it's a little too much like Gumby. I kind of like the P-Bass shape but it's a little too boxy. I don't really like the long thin horns on some basses, ala Carvin, as they look out of place with the rest of the body. So this shape is kind of a morph of my favorite looks. Mostly a Jazz...but a bit different.

Sundogue · #16 05-10-2006, 07:52 AM

My custom Warmoth neck finally arrived yesterday. Here's a few pics of it that show some nice figuring to the maple, even though I didn't order it with figured maple. Ebony fingerboard with jumbo frets.

And here's my bass laid out, kind of showing what it will look like. See previous pics of the body, as this camera angle makes it look kind of wierd. The sock in the pic adds a touch of class to the photo, doesn't it? LOL. And the electrical tape pickups don't work very well.

Sundogue · #17 06-02-2006, 07:40 AM

I tell you I really hate that I have no time to work on my bass. I'm lucky to have a half hour in the early morning, but no one is up yet, so I can't use any power tools.

After I get home from work I don't have any time either and the weekends are filled with either gigs or family things.

So, progress is slow. Though I do plan on at least getting templates made and maybe even do some roughing out with a forstner bit.

I made a few alterations to the body shape and I'm happy with how it looks now. The neck and pickup cavities are drawn out (the bridge is just outlined where it will eventually be...I just put it on there so I know how far I can go with the rear routing...and kind of how things line up along the centerline).

Here's the final layout that keeps staring at me...

Bassline_Delux · #18 06-02-2006, 03:08 PM

Which of those pick-ups do you have in it's sweet spot?

Sundogue · #19 06-02-2006, 03:25 PM

As far as I'm concerned, the sweet spot is where the P-Bass pickups are going (only reversed).

I'm only adding the humbucker (between the bridge and P-Bass pickup) to give the "P-Bass" sound a little brightening, and perhaps a different character on some songs. It remains to be heard what the two will sound like together. The P-Bass pickups are in the standard location, albeit reversed to give the D & G strings a bit more depth.

The drawn-in square at the bottom of the bass is just a reference point for the bridge.

Sundogue · #20 06-05-2006, 07:33 AM

I got a chance to route out the pickup and neck cavities...

Here's a pic of them roughed out with a forstner bit...

And here they are routed out. I really did a half-ass job on it and parts need to be cleaned up more and because I had some trouble with the router bit and the "stop" slipping and riding up the bit shaft, I'll need to putty a few spots. Ugh!

The rear electronic cavity still needs to be routed out and of course the body outline needs to be cut out yet.