4 string double cutaway. Curly maple and bocote.

[Big B.]

This is the 3rd in the trinity of builds I have been working on. Its a very different build for me as I rarely do 4 strings, 34" scale or double cutaways and this bass has all three. I started this build to use some spare parts I have and after a friend saw it he decided to call dibs and it became a bona fide build.

Specs:
Neck through 4 string with 7 piece neck. Cherry, wenge and maple neck.

Body wings are cherry and will get a full width curly maple top and back.

34" scale bocote fingerboard with veneer position markers.

Hipshot A type bridge & Gotoh tuners.

EMG pickups w/Bart preamp.

I started taking pictures after the neck was glued and body wings attached. The neck is scarf jointed with a wenge strip in the scarf. The neck was cut to thickness all the way to the beginning of the body before the scarf was cut.

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Here is a pic from the front. Before the top can be glued I will have to route the neck even with the body up to where the fingerboard will be glued. You can see the single cut shape drawn on bit my maple tops are just to small so I adapted the shape to a double cut instead. There are 2 layers of veneer that are glued to the neck so you see maple on top of the neck block.

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Before the top and back are glued on the electronics cavity is cut out and a layer of 1/16" black dyed veneer is attached to the top and back to add an accent line between the top/back and the wings. The cover plate is cut from the back plate and the the back is glued on.

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[Big B.]

The fingerboard is cut from a very cool piece of bocote I stumbled onto at Woodcraft.

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Once the board is slotted and tapered I install the veneer markers and glue tha fingerboard to the neck block. Here's a pic with top and fingerboard attached.

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[Big B.]

A little creative carving and sanding and we have this:

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By no means is the shaping done but this gives a good idea of how things are gonna look.

 

[nicoli]

That looks great so far, some attractive pieces of wood involved.

 

[jmorbita]

subscribing!

 

[Khronic]

subscribing!

+1

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I really like that layer you put between the neck and headstock in your scarf joints.

 

[Big B.]

I really like that layer you put between the neck and headstock in your scarf joints.

Thanks! Many people try to hide their scarfs with a layer of veneer, and to each his own, but to me a well executed scarf joint is a sign of quality craftsmanship and doesnt need to be hidden.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Thanks! Many people try to hide their scarfs with a layer of veneer, and to each his own, but to me a well executed scarf joint is a sign of quality craftsmanship and doesnt need to be hidden.

I agree. With your approval (since it's your thread), I'll post this:

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd60/hardmark/guitarwork/002/first_volute.jpg

It was my first volute, and my first laminated neck. It lined up better than I had any right to expect. Very proud of it. I didn't expect it to line up nicely, so my first plan was to cover the back up with a veneer. I ultimately decided against the veneer though.

 

[Big B.]

Thats very sharp. I avoid volutes because I dont like the feel of
them but that looks sweet.

 

[Stealth]

Looks great so far. Subbing.

 

[iamlowsound]

Wow, this design looks fantastic! I like it better than your single cut design. Great work as always. BTW, with the quality of your work, I could see you being a major player in the custom world at some point in time.

lowsound

 

[Rickett Customs]

I really like your approach with the scarf that you do, looks good.

 

[kris pung]

WOW this bass looks incredable.

 

[Definitely]

subbed, this looks tasty

 

[Nidan]

Very nice work!

 

[Big B.]

Howdy folks, since TB was down for a day or so, I actually managed to get in the shop and get some work done.

This bass has been coming along ever so slowly but since I'm moving out of state in a month I need to get it finished before I leave. After using one in my short scale build we are going with a Delano Xtender. I cant say enough about how great routing the curved shape of the Xtender is. No fiddly corners and fragile router bits. I just chucked up a 3/4" pattern bit and away we go.

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With the bigger bit and router friendly shape it literally takes about 5 minutes.

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With that done it's time to finish carving the profile on the back of the neck. I picked up a nice coarse rasp at lowes that gets after it when removing material. Once roughed in I use a Dragon rasp to clean and smooth out the profile.

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Once it's nice and even the orbital sander cleans it all up.

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[Hopkins]

I really like your double cut design. The lines are very elegant and flow very well. Your single cuts are nice also, but I'm just not a single cut kind of guy in general. And as always your craftsmanship is top notch.

 

[Big B.]

Thanks Hopkins, I appreciate the kind words. It really is just the single cut shape with the upper horn cutout. I've done one other doublecut as well but it was much closer to a Roscoe skb. It's actually my second bass I built but the first completely custom built. It has a nice shape but the hook behind the bridge is the first try and doesnt capture the true swoooosh of the later designs. I actually never meant to do it but one piece of wood was too short and the hook was a mistake that became a design point.

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This bass was made before my singlecut design and still has the shortened upper horn of the skb but the reversed lower horn I currently use. The newer design has a longer upper horn for balance and some of the lines are slightly altered as well.

Now, I very much prefer the look and feel of a singlecut but I also loathe carving the inside of the horns that cant be reached with my sander and the doublecut is twice the irritation.

 

[Hopkins]

Now, I very much prefer the look and feel of a singlecut but I also loathe carving the inside of the horns that cant be reached with my sander and the doublecut is twice the irritation.

Thats understandable