- May 1, 2014
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- Owner Melodious Resonance Constructs
Can I axe you a few questions? What kind of neck profile are you thinking of? Are you going to keep the blades that thick?
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$100 Bass Challenge - Marceline's Axe Bass
- Thread starter mapleglo
- Start date
I'll likely keep the neck pretty thick, "c" profile-ish. Not that I particulary like that profile, but I'm a little concerned about the strength and rigidity of the mahagony. Working it is a pleasure, much easier than maple, but to me, it seems pretty soft.
There was a few posts back on page 2, post #37, when it was suggested to do an Aerodyne type profile on the body. I'm thinking about the jig/tool that will facilitate that.
- May 1, 2014
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Whoops! My memory is not as sharp as it used to be.
- Apr 18, 2008
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- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
I think the mahogany neck will be fine, especially with a truss rod. On The Panther, I carved the sapele neck (very similar properties to mahogany) down to a medium girth, strung it up, and the neck deflected so little that the truss rod was unnecessary. So I carved it down a good bit more, to my preferred profile (asymmetrical wide/thin). And you know what? The truss rod still is very nearly unnecessary! I'm thinking that might have been due to the nice thick mac ebony fretboard too, though. How thick will your fretboard be?
Mahogany is soft compared to hard maple, but very rigid. You shouldn't have trouble there.
This fretless neck is Honduran mahogany.
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/...ow-paradigm-sc/096_neck_assy4_zpsyiunlgi9.jpg
Doesn't bend a bit when I put the spurs to it.
This fretless neck is Honduran mahogany.
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/...ow-paradigm-sc/096_neck_assy4_zpsyiunlgi9.jpg
Doesn't bend a bit when I put the spurs to it.
I guess the only thing to do at this point is to keep our nose to the grind stone...
I'm thinking it'll be somewhere between 3/8" and 1/2". I have to measure the scrap I have to be sure.
I'm consoled somewhat that Gibson makes guitars and basses out of mahogany, though not when I see the headstock break. I'll hope for the best.
- May 1, 2014
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- Disclosures
- Owner Melodious Resonance Constructs
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,019
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- 31,732
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Wow, that's REALLY THICK for a fretboard. Mine from LMII is a full 1/4", which is plenty thick...
Those headstocks don't break due to the wood they're made out of. They break mostly because of the large amount of wood that's removed to accommodate their antiquated truss rod/nut, and it's aggravated by not having a volute and not having a scarf joint (excepting the instruments that do have these features, obviously).
I love it!
Hmmm, maybe I'll rethink that then. I might be able to get 2 out of the scrap I have. I plan on a volute, though no scarf joint.
Speaking of scarf joints, or lack thereof, I started on the headstock angle rout tonight.
That's my jig setup.
After a few passes, I noticed that the angled portion of the jig wasn't straight - it curved off toward the bottom, according to my new straight edge that can be seen toward the back of my work bench. So I cut up a couple of pieces of angle iron and screwed them on.
Much better. Smoother too, as the router bed is only riding on the edge of the iron.
One side done. I'll do the other side, and the truss rod rout tomorrow or Saturday. I'm working overtime on Saturday, so I'll only have a half day. The upside is that the overtime will pay for this bass completely. I guess I have a handle on that now
I started working on the truss rod rout today. Here's the jig.
First pass.
And done.
One of the clamps must have slipped, or my measurements were ever so slightly off. I'm about 1/16 - 1/32 off center, but I think it'll be ok. If the neck twists at some point, we'll know why.
I think I'll start working on the fingerboard next.
First pass.
And done.
One of the clamps must have slipped, or my measurements were ever so slightly off. I'm about 1/16 - 1/32 off center, but I think it'll be ok. If the neck twists at some point, we'll know why.
I think I'll start working on the fingerboard next.
So I rummaged this piece of bird's eye maple from my 4001 build (still in very slow progress). It's the other half of the fretboard. So I cut it down for use in this build. I'm considering this a scrap, so there's no value attached, as the original piece was bought for a different build.
I printed out the fingerboard slots and scotch taped them together.
Then I taped that to the fingerboard, got my miter box, and went at it.
The miter box itself needed a bit of adjustment, but overall, seemed to work ok.
OK, almost done.
One or two of the slots were not quite perfect, but close enough for this build, especially since these will just be markers, and not actual frets.
I went over each one with the saw free hand, while I had the depth gauge attached, so they're uniform in depth.
And here's all the pieces mocked up.
Next, I think I'll cut the fingerboard to size width-wise, and maybe then cut the neck to size. Then some shaping.
I printed out the fingerboard slots and scotch taped them together.
Then I taped that to the fingerboard, got my miter box, and went at it.
The miter box itself needed a bit of adjustment, but overall, seemed to work ok.
OK, almost done.
One or two of the slots were not quite perfect, but close enough for this build, especially since these will just be markers, and not actual frets.
I went over each one with the saw free hand, while I had the depth gauge attached, so they're uniform in depth.
And here's all the pieces mocked up.
Next, I think I'll cut the fingerboard to size width-wise, and maybe then cut the neck to size. Then some shaping.
You'll finish your axe before I can start my own project
I had a bit of a head start, and for some reason, I'm looking forward to playing this crazy thing.
I was thinking about the body taper, and started playing around in Illustrator. This is with a 50" radius curve at the top and bottom:
Looks about right. I'll have to start thinking about a jig.
Looking good. A friend of mine recently made a working axe ukulele, he used an actual axe handle for the neck, shaving down one side to a flat radius.
Then made an actual sharped steel blade.
Then made an actual sharped steel blade.
I read somewhere, maybe here on TB, that the Aerodyne has a 39" radius. Sound suspiciously like Leo was flirting with metric measurements. That would give you a little less weight and maybe a more comfortable relief for the wrist (plus look a bit more sharp, no pun intended).
Perhaps I missed it, but have you considered putting the darker fret lines where the markers would go? The 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th fret positions and so on. This would maintain a look somewhat simillar to the original while still being useful.
Another option would be to move the lines as close to the original as possible while still being in tune. I think that would be something like the 2nd, 5th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 18th, 20th and 23rd fret positons or something, based on that left handed image earlier in the thread. What a trip to play on that! Then again I guess they are in different positions in other episodes.
Another option would be to move the lines as close to the original as possible while still being in tune. I think that would be something like the 2nd, 5th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 18th, 20th and 23rd fret positons or something, based on that left handed image earlier in the thread. What a trip to play on that! Then again I guess they are in different positions in other episodes.
Hopkins
Commercial User
I had a bit of a head start, and for some reason, I'm looking forward to playing this crazy thing.
I was thinking about the body taper, and started playing around in Illustrator. This is with a 50" radius curve at the top and bottom:
Looks about right. I'll have to start thinking about a jig.
I assume you haven't glued the wings on yet, that will make life a little easier. Doing one side should be really easy, when you flip the board over to do the other side you are going to have to build some sort of cradle for the curve to sit in so it can lay flat.
My current plan is to used dyed black laminates to fill the fret slots on fret location 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, and so on, and either natural or red dyed laminates on the others.
- May 1, 2014
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I am dyeing to see how that turns out!
(Will the puns ever stop? No, They won't.)
