First bass in 6 years

[ZoldosCustom]

hey all. I've been out of the bass building game for awhile, due to the navy and guitar customers, etc. This is the first bass I have had a chance to build in about 6 years. It's all left over parts and spare wood from cabinet doors and past guitars and even hardwood floors. Here are the specs for it:

34" scale, 24 fret
Cherry top, Alder core, Curly Maple back
5 piece Maple, cherry, maple, cherry, maple set neck
Brazilian cherry fretboard w/ maple block inlays
Wenge/ cherry pickup covers
Wenge tranny block
Black schaller hardware
EMG pickups

I started this project on Monday, so here are a few pics.

 

[BioDriver]

That sounds like it's going to look gorgeous when it's done!

 

[punkanidea]

i like the belly curve!! sweet!!

 

[Saetia]

Tightness, subscribed!

-Benny

 

[ZoldosCustom]

Thanks for the kind words. I just hope this thing turns out how I have envisioned in my head. I have a few updates today before I head up north for the holiday. The pup covers are just about done, the neck is tapered and fret board is glueing up, and I started carving the scroll and shaping the body. I hope that you all like it. I forgot how much I enjoy making basses over guitars.

pup covers

fret board glue up

body shaping

 

[sofnlo]

smoothness

 

[adam.beauchene]

Any updates?

 

[ZoldosCustom]

Sorry about the delay, but i have been up north for the holiday weekend. I have some updates that I will post in a little bit once I load up the pics. This week should yield some good progress though. Stay tuned.

 

[koobie]

Nice looking, looking forward to updates. I really like the idea of using reclaimed wood, surprised I don't see it mentioned more on TB.

 

[ZoldosCustom]

The main reason that I am using reclaimed wood is because money is a little tight today, and I always have some fairly decent pieces left over after most projects. The cherry top is left over from a bathroom vanity that I recently built. The fingerboard is from my father-in-law's hardwood floor. The alder is extra from an old guitar I built, and I can't remember where the curly maple came from. It was buried away in the back of the barn. Anyway, here are some recent photos of the progress:

Here is the headstock next to the template that I made. You can obviously tell that something doesn't match up. I had a pretty bad blowout that I couldn't patch up. It made me a little mad, but I guess you have to roll with the punches.

Here are some pics of the neck with fretboard and tranny block glued up:

Here is just a little mock up w/out hardware. Nothing is routed, but i just wanted to get a broad overview:

Let me know what you all think. I should get the neck pocket routed and the fretboard bound w/ maple tomorrow. Hopefully I can fiind more to do, but time will tell.

 

[bronzehydra]

I love the head stock!

 

[Sterling_Bass]

You have a great design. I really dig it.

 

[ZoldosCustom]

Hey thanks for all the compliments. I'm not really trying to reinvent the wheel or anything on this bass, I just wanted to make a nice smooth bass with some good details. To me, it just has a flowing design that may attract a lot of different people. I will post some more pics tomorrow, once the fingerboard is radiused and fretted. I started radiusing it today but had to stop to watch my daughter, so i will finish up that step tomorrow. Any input otherwise will be greatly appreciated. thanks

 

[ZoldosCustom]

Okay, so I lied. I managed to find a few minutes to load up some pics. So here we go:

Thinning the neck down to 11/16ths with the router.

The neck pocket routed.

Glueing up the maple binding.

Here are a few of the neck as it stands now. The back is shaped and the f.board is almost done being radiused.

Sorry, but i'm no photographer, but i guess that it has to do.

 

[ZoldosCustom]

Well I was able to get the bass fretted today in between my daughter taking naps Tomorrow I will drill for the tuners and glue in the neck, then it will really be taking shape. I like getting to that point, because then all the control routing starts and I can start shaping the transition, and it actually starts looking like something. Everything is going really smooth so far. Anyway, here are a few pics. The neck is just setting in the pocket for now.

 

[Sterling_Bass]

The neck and inlays are too cool.

 

[ZoldosCustom]

Hey, thanks for the compliment. I really don't enjoy inlaying but I always seem to find myself in the middle of doing it. I am finishing up the headstock logo inlay which will be posted tomorrow along with a bunch of other stuff that I was able to get done today.

 

[ZoldosCustom]

Well I managed to get a few things done on the bass yesterday and today. The neck is glued in, the back is carved, tuners are drilled, logo is inlayed, pickup cavities are routed, bridge is recessed and I started the sanding process a little. I still need to route for the control cavity and drill for the strap buttons. After that though, it's down to sanding and getting ready for finish (still not sure which route I am taking on that one). So here are a few pics of where the bass stands now:

 

[alexei]

looking awesome!! subscribed!

 

[thedude77md]

I dig it. Not too radical of a design but still different. Very classy. The wood is not overstated either which I tend to fine in a lot of custom/high end builds.