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Fernandes P-Bass tear apart and Complete Rebuild

R

RHanlon1982

Feb 1, 2010
22
0
North Augusta
www.myspace.com
#1
So I have an old P-Bass rip off that I got over ten years ago. I love this thing everything I learned on the bass I learned on this. Anyways long story short a while ago I left it in a friends basement and when I went back for it a month later it had the worst warp in the neck. So I messed with the truss rod and got the neck kinda straight but it was no good. So I've decided to tear everything off of it and build a whole new body. This will also be my first build. I have very good woodworking skills and I feel confident in this project. I have spent countless hours going over all the info available here and now its my turn.

This bass will be simple, Nothing fancy just a straight re-build for my first time, with some nice changes. Tomorrow I am milling a beautiful White Ash log that will be the new body. No top, no paint just ash and I will finish it so the natural grain shows through. I am thinking of changing to a neck thru design and I want to use a quartersawn piece of maple and make the neck and fretboard one piece.(Unless some of you fine people tell me other wise) other that I will be using the same bridge and pick ups I pulled off of my old bass. Also there will be no pickguard.

So that's it for now the project starts tomorrow and I will post photos ASAP. Thanks Everyone. P.S. I already have a beauty piece of Birds-Eye ordered for my 2nd build:hyper:
 
#3
Ok so there was a change of plans today. Can't mill my ash till tomorrow but I went to a hardwood dealer today and found a nice piece of Walnut on sale for $5 then I found a piece of rift sawn maple. So as you can guess my neck will now be a Maple/Walnut/Maple combo. I was thinking if I had enough Walnut left over I would build the fretboard out of that instead of a one-piece design.
Pics tomorrow I promise.
 
#4
OK so I milled my ash. Before I go on I know alot of you are saying, if not screaming, that I cant use this wood for atleast a year. Let's just say I got excited about my first build and I thought a log that had been sitting for 2 years would be dry enough to work. I know now I was wrong, so as soon as I can I will go buy some dry ash to build this project.
In the meantime here are some pics to give you all an idea of what my plans are and what I'm working with.

First this is the bass I'm salvaging parts off of.
B]


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Milling The Ash - not me in photos

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The Payoff

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The neck material - which is what I will be building first, till I get my body wood.

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Gotta Love $5 Walnut. Anyways thats where I am at. I start the neck this week and hopefully I be able to grab some ash for the body soon. Thanks all.
 
#13
Just looking for some advice. I've planed all my pieces to be glued for the neck but there are still tiny hairline gaps between some areas of the pieces. I've tried sanding the pieces down more but I dont want to ruin my wood. Should I do everything I can to get rid of these gaps or do they generally take care of themselves once glue and clamping pressure is applied?

Thanks in advance
 
#14
Ok so I got alot of good advice from my Neck Gluing thread and I sanded down my pieces and got my joint to fit alot nicer, well nicer than this pic shows.
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So I got excited and forgot to take a pic of the joints after I sanded them and I just went ahead and glued and clamped everything and this is where I'm at for the next 24 hours.

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Thanks again to everyone who gave me tips.
 
#16
RHanlon1982 said:
I want to keep the look of the neck going through the headstock, can this be done or will its cause a separation of the woods when I drill for tuners. All the projects I have seen on here so far have a laminated headstock.
Click to expand...

You can leave the headstock as it is, no cap, but you will see the line from the scarf joint assuming that's what you're going to do. I think I heard the cap adds strength as well.
 
#17
Zombbg4 said:
You can leave the headstock as it is, no cap, but you will see the line from the scarf joint assuming that's what you're going to do. I think I heard the cap adds strength as well.
Click to expand...

Since this is my first build I am just copying the headstock from the old neck and it isn't angled it's straight. and I wasn't planning on doing a scarf joint. Is it better to do and angled headstock?
Thanks
 
#18
RHanlon1982 said:
Since this is my first build I am just copying the headstock from the old neck and it isn't angled it's straight. and I wasn't planning on doing a scarf joint. Is it better to do and angled headstock?
Thanks
Click to expand...

I would say so, in that all the strings have equal pressure at the nut/zero fret, that way you won't need a string retainer. Other reasons are more subjective and why I like scarfs- easier to glue a cap on, cooler looking, nicer volute ect

If you do go straight though, "Fender Style", it should be no problem having the headstock match the neck.. Some older Yamaha's among others have that.
 
#19
Zombbg4 said:
I would say so, in that all the strings have equal pressure at the nut/zero fret, that way you won't need a string retainer. Other reasons are more subjective and why I like scarfs- easier to glue a cap on, cooler looking, nicer volute ect

If you do go straight though, "Fender Style", it should be no problem having the headstock match the neck.. Some older Yamaha's among others have that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely do a scarf joint on my next build. I figured for ease of construction I would just do straight for my first build. I do admit that angled headstocks look cooler.
Thanks
 
#20
Hey there here's an update this is the neck after clamps have been taken off and it has been planed to thickness. Turned out pretty good for my first time. I was really happy. In this pic you can see the design of my headstock kind of, nothing flashy but I like it. I'm gonna cut it out on the bandsaw tonight hopefully and start shaping.:hyper:
 

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