6 string Jazz bass build for T. Black

As a long time lurker, occasional poster, I always kick myself for never contributing here.

so, the specs for this build are as follows.

34" scale, Birdseye maple one piece bolt on neck, Sapele body with a spalted Poplar top, Ebony fretboard, Nordstrom pickups, bridge and tuners to be decides at this time.





More to come soon...

 

the headstock veneer is .095 thick, there is a veneer on the top and one on the back.
total headstock thickness is .62

the top veneer is bent with a bending iron,

the poplar veneer is easy to bend, much more so than rosewood or other common guitar woods.

 

The neck is based on a pedula neck, except 1/16" narrower at the nut and slightly thicker all over.

 

the top and core of the body have been joined and glued.


I like to use the Go Bar Clamping tool I made aloong with several bars purchased from Stew Mac a while back to glue tops, i use any random straight piece of scrap wood on either side of the joint to hold the wood firmly against the surface, this also keeps the bars from denting into the top. I use two other pieces of scrap wood to act as barriers for the two larger clamps, which keep the joint nice and tight.


Here is the top, joined and the body traced onto it.


Here it is cut out, laying on the core.

I would like to do a back lamination of another poplar piece that closely matches the top, but have not decided for sure if that is the best path for this instrument. the other options would be no back, or a poplar/ birdseye back, or just birdseye back.

 

The fingerboard came in the mail just before thanksgiving, and being that I perfer the loner lifestyle, it was perfect timing for me to get some more work done on the bass. I didn't take time to take any pictures of the before, but here's where the project is right now.

I trimmed a bit of wood from each side of my neck blank and thicknessed it into binding for the fingerboard on either side.

The top has been glued to the core and cut out exept for the area between the bottom of the neck heel and the lower horn. i saved the cutting from the top to glue back to help with the next step where the neck joins the body.


Another luthier in my area told me a while ago the steps he takes to make a neck. My process is heavily based on his. I like to make the fingerboard the whole way through, then align it to where it will end up on the neck.

Then i take any random scrap piece of wood and carefully glue them on either side of my fingerboard.

Wait for the glue to dry on the strips and then remove my fingerboard and prep it for glueing.

 

Yes, I already have the six string Hipshot brass bridge and have a set of ultralight tuners on their way. The only parts I lack are the knobs and pots.

The pots will be double stacked vol/ tone, vol/ tone. The customer and I have discussed a third knob that acts as a passive mid control.

 

Yes. Hipshot has always impressed me with quality parts that work great and are easily adjustable.

 

Lots has happened over the weekend.

The neck pocket has been routed out and the neck attached to the body.






I routed the for the pickups and drilled the fretboard dots.




I also rounded the neck, routed the round over on the body and carved the back of the body at the waist and the front at the arm.

next step is to design and make the control cavity, finishing touches and begin the finishing process.

 

thanks man, It can be easy to just keep on working and forget about taking photos or updating a thread, I have to remind myself to document my work.

I should have some final pre finish shots here soon, then it's off to the spray booth for a bit. The customer is requesting a whitewashed look on the top.