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$100 Bass Challenge - Double Trouble

#61
The main body blank sections are glued up, and has passed inspection by my youngest son. The configuration of the blanks may look a little odd. I had two 4/4 boards of varying widths and so I optimized the wood to make two piece backs and three piece tops. The middle section of the tops will be routed out when the set necks get put in. It's a bit of a waste - the more of these I make the more I think that I need to optimize the blank building process to maximize used wood.

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#63
It's body blank jigsaw time. There's a big nasty knotty void that had the potential to cross a body line. A little tweaking here and there saw the two halves lined up so that the knot can be avoided. The center seam of the back is not going to be "on center" - I am a little annoyed by that, but it's knot the end of the world. I will clean up the blank with a bandsaw tomorrow night after it's fully cured.

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#67
A minor mishap on my Aleph 5 has me rethinking the head piece design. Obviously a bass should not be dropped from a 4 foot ledge (sigh), but since these basses are for the kids that is not just a possibility....it's an eventuality. ;) I am thinking I may engage my in-laws machine shop to cut out a few headpieces out of aluminum.

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#69
gsnad2000 said:
Ouch! Maybe aluminum might be a better choice even for the adult version? Luckily it looks like no other damage, just that one piece that broke?
Click to expand...
It was just that one piece that broke, and it sheared right long the grain lines. I can always double up the headpiece and laminate two pieces of wood with crossing grain patterns to try and provide strength and avoid the issue...it's a thought anyways. I had a custom headpiece machined for a different bass that worked out very well, and as long as I give them decent drawings they will fabricate almost anything I ask them to....within reason of course. At some point I am going to have them make me an aluminum fretless fingerboard just for the fun of it. ;)
 
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#73
I have an older 70's Ovation Matrix acoustic guitar that has an aluminum fretboard and frets, molded from one piece of aluminum. While it sounds smooth and bright, the frets have worn over the years, and there's no way to fix that, other than to file down the frets flat, cut new fret slots, and put in new frets - equal to double or triple the original cost of the guitar. Aluminum doesn't do well over time with round wound strings.
 
#75
A small issue of tearout happened during the trim up of the body on the router table. It wasn't terrible, and I was pretty sure the 3/4" round-over the back was about to receive would get most of that cleaned up. It did, and a little work with a file fixed her right up.

*whew*

In other news the bodies weigh in at 3 1/2 lbs. Yikes!

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#76
We are working on some color tests ahead of time. The sassafras is very soft and a little wire brushing creates a lovely landscape with all sorts of possibilities. Our first test is a black base. Once it dries I will seal and fill the crevices with Crystalac in an attempt to lock the black in. After a quick sand to knock the black off the raised grain sections I will drop some other dye colors on. We will also do other tests where we start with the main color and do black at the end. A little experimentation will provide lot's of options, and some of them may even work. The final color decision is in the kid's hands....within reason. ;)

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#77
Crystalac grain filler has been applied to the test piece. It goes on white and dries clear. Once it's dry I will sand it back and see what we have. If things look good I will dye one side purple (or blue - depending on the momentary whim of my son) and the other red.

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