$100 Bass Challenge - Double Trouble

[tedious1]

sub'd

 

[Hamish MacCleod]

Very cool, Michael... I was wondering if the $100 challenge might get your attention.
Rondo

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

Very cool, Michael... I was wondering if the $100 challenge might get your attention.
Rondo

It gives me a chance to practice my scarf joints!

 

[cchorney]

Make 3, I'll take one!

 

[Hamish MacCleod]

Make 3, I'll take one!

Something tells me you'll have to wait in line...
Rondo

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

Something tells me you'll have to wait in line...
Rondo

It would be a long wait.

 

[Five String]

sub'd

 

[fishdreams]

Awesome! Subbed.

 

[soupofthedave]

i can't sub hard enough

 

[mellowinman]

I started on the strongest Colombian...

 

[wmhill]

mine would be the bass version of this.........

 

[RyanJD]

This is awesome. Can't wait to see the outcome!

View attachment 547954 mine would be the bass version of this.........

But can you imagine the sustain!?

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

I decided on using white limba top wood as I have enough scraps on hand to make the caps, and it dyes well. Here's an updated concept drawing with my children's chosen colors and using textures for the target woods:

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

They looked a bit "wrong" to me, so I tweaked the design a bit. No changes to cost, but I like this design much better.

 

[JustForSport]

That last one is really nice.
How to make them individual, tho?
Maybe lightly tint the wings, or tint the fingerboard instead?

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

That last one is really nice.
How to make them individual, tho?
Maybe lightly tint the wings, or tint the fingerboard instead?

Each one will have a dyed top according to my children's color preferences. My boy wants blue, and my girl wants as close to pink as I can get. Here's a quick update with fret lines, and a back shot - the sassafras grain on the back of the neck is wrong as I am going to cut it into strips and glue it "quartersawn", but it's good enough for now:

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

Possible change of direction...my father-in-law has this giant pile of black walnut and russian olive wood that is about to be converted to firewood. It was salvaged from deceased trees on one of our relative's property. The wood was not cut as thick as I would like, but I think I may be able to get some decent lumber out of it. I took a smaller limb and milled it down to do a sanity check and it's gorgeous wood. If I use this as a base wood and top it with my limba scraps it's going to look gorgeous.

He told me I can have as much of it as I want, so I am going to see what I can salvage out of the pile. Forgive the crappy phone photos:

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

After some measurement I am finding most of the wood is about 16" long, which is going to put a damper my plan....but I am still going to get as much usable stock as I can from it. The board I milled is 2" thick, so I can easily cut it in half and a limba top can provide the extra 1/2". That will only be for one instrument though...sadness. Once I get the stock cut down and milled I can start jigsawing things together to see what my options are. I have been reconsidering the neck and may end up using oak for both necks which frees up the sassafras. Decision, decisions....

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

This evening my daughter changed the plans somewhat. She wants to change the body shape so she can have a bass to match the Aleph. That build got mostly finished today and she sat for a while plinking at the strings and decided that she HAS to have one just like it, but with a sassafras top. My son still wants the body shape we had planned, so we are good on that count. Once I finish up my current commission I will be getting started on this build. The end date is June 31st I believe, and that is more than enough time to get both of these builds hammered out while working on the next commission.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

After talking with my son today the parameters of his bass changed a bit as well. He wants a purple bass made completely out of ambrosia maple. It's very cool that my kids are starting to be able to identify wood species and have opinions on the types of wood they like. I am still tweaking the manifest, but the total cost for the two basses is now approximately $90. Here's an updated concept for my son's bass. I am still working on my daughter's, but my influence is starting to show - she insists that her bass have the piano pin tuning system. I like her style.