New Bass Build

Al Heeley · #1 12-02-2007, 03:09 PM

Having put together various home made lead guitars I decided to have a go at building my first neck-thru-body bass to be used in a band I've recently been recruited into. First time for me doing fingerboards and fretting too.

The construction is a core of maple/walnut/maple, the wings are zebrano on mahogany, shape sort of based on the Warmoth Gecko basses. It will be fitted with a pair of Jazz Bass puppies when they arrive and a nice simple 3-pot control for master tone, master volume and a blend pot.
Wenge fingerboard from Simo on the UKGB forum. Fingers crossed

Greenman · #2 12-02-2007, 04:09 PM

Looks very nice Al. Do you have a shot of the back. You gotta love maple and walnut.

Al Heeley · #3 12-02-2007, 04:20 PM

Very light coloured mahogany - central american- they had a sale on, with a bit of Danish oil it's gone almost sandy in colour.

Al Heeley · #4 12-02-2007, 05:51 PM

I was doing a search earlier for some advice on placement of pickups (JB neck and bridge) but came across nothing of much use, mostly an argument that turned a bit sour about sweet spots

Been toying with either following the classic JB spacing or not needing to...all I'm after is the best possible tonal range using a blend pot to mix 2 jb pups. Any suggestions or recommendations?

Al Heeley · #5 12-08-2007, 06:01 PM

Slow progress finishing this, still waiting for the pickups before routing the cavities. Happy with the neck profile now, sanded thru 400/800/1200 grit then tru-oiled wet with 800 and 1200. Got a lovely silky sheen to it.

cervusflies · #6 12-08-2007, 07:24 PM

I really like the shape. And the wood. And that it's a 4 banger.
Forgive my ignorance, but why the double strap buttons?

Al Heeley · #7 12-08-2007, 07:27 PM

Stops it falling over when I prop it up against my amp in the pub

Actually, using the lower button helps the bass hang a lot more to the vertical plane which means far more comfortable playing position for my left hand, although harder to see what's going on.

Al Heeley · #8 12-10-2007, 12:30 PM

Pickups finally arrived this afternoon. (GFS Jazz Pro)
Got the body routed for them, lined the ctrl cavity with copper shielding and got her all wired up.
She'll be taken thru her paces at tonight's rehersal. Really looking forward to hearing how she sounds.
Nice and comfortable playing position, neck couldf be a little thinner up beyond the 12th fret but on the whole I'm really pleased how this one came together.

Rear:> http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...y/CIMG1632.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...y/CIMG1631.jpg

cervusflies · #9 12-10-2007, 01:35 PM

Looking good! Like that shape so much! Like the dot placement, too. What's the scale?

Al Heeley · #10 12-10-2007, 05:41 PM

Thx! It's a standard 34" scale (slotted fretboard from Simo on UK GB forum). Sounded good tonight, quite fruity and meaty, lots of low end and quite a bright top - the neck could be slimmer for more comfort and the action can come down a bit, but the GFS jazz pickups are sounding really good for very little outlay.

cervusflies · #11 12-11-2007, 04:21 PM

What type of music do you play, what instruments in the band? will you adjust the action at the nut?

Al Heeley · #12 12-11-2007, 04:47 PM

There's a 70's and 80's pub covers band with the usual rock and pop repertoire, blues, stones, a couple of springsteen numbers, a couple of rocked-up abba covers which are great fun, a few 12 bar ones of our own, we have male and female vocals, drums, bass, lead guitar (90% les paul, 10% telecaster).
Then there's band 2 who are more indy-punk, arctic monkeys, green day, ramones, babylon is burning, high energy stuff - 2 guitars, bass, drums., vocals.
Nut height is actually pretty ok, i just need to redo the truss rod and the fret levelling once the beast has bedded down. Trouble is, this bass sounds so damn fine when you hit it hard it really begs a higher action

cervusflies · #13 12-11-2007, 04:57 PM

Keeping busy and making some scratch with cover band, I would guess. Had a blues band www.myspace.com/stormtroopersofblues
it was so much fun.

I'll bet you can find the happy medium for the music styles as far as the action is concerned. A little lower on the covers for comfort and less strain on the fingers and forearms and a little height left on it to really dig in on the aggro stuff.

Glad the build is working. Keep on! I will be rocking my first build really soon.

Al Heeley · #14 12-12-2007, 05:59 PM

Good luck with your build. I filed the nut down this evening, releveled the fretboard, tweaked the truss rod, pickup and bridge height. OK, the neck is still on the 'chunky' side above the 9th fret but she has a really slick low action now. She will get a good try out at this Friday's gig

Only niggle is the blend pot which seems to really dampen the volume at the centre position. As the wiring has been rechecked the pups cannot be cancelling eachother out, there must be some residual resistance in the blend pot when in the centre detent position. This is quite annoying as its robbing me of about 30% of the volume in this position compared with either full bridge or full neck position.

cervusflies · #15 12-12-2007, 08:03 PM

Yeah, the electronics can really rain on the parade sometimes. Wish I could offer help, but I'm a caveman when it comes to electronics. I thought I was keeping mine simple, but there seems to be kinks to work out no matter the configuration.

Sounds like it's shaping up nice for you so far, though. Good luck Friday.