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$100 Bass Challenge - Nucifera (The Violent Squirrel)

#81
Oohhh that's kinda spooky ...all black & a squirrely scull ...:)

And I heard they switched to ash from hickory because when hickory broke it was more apt to have long spikey splinters on the broke off bit that were flying into the crowd & impaling the fans.
 
#82
Rôckhewer said:
Oohhh that's kinda spooky ...all black & a squirrely scull ...:)

And I heard they switched to ash from hickory because when hickory broke it was more apt to have long spikey splinters on the broke off bit that were flying into the crowd & impaling the fans.
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The hickory will not be a super dark black and there will be visible grain and a lovely golden glow to it. I am considering coloring the epoxy for the inlay yellow to emulate amber.

My addled brain has invented a post apocalyptic story that goes with the theme. It's stereo typical Science Fiction fodder where AI reaches sentience and rebels against mankind, but when the AI attempts to kill off all of the humans with an engineered virus it exponentially increases the intelligence of the squirrels who rise up and conquer the AI, and ultimately the world. The last vestiges of both the AI and human kind are driven into hiding.
 
#85
All this talk about squirrels makes me think of Foamy.

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#94
vmabus said:
They are vicious!
They take territory from the gray squirrels by killing them.
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I just did a bit of research on the Black Squirrel....wow! I inadvertently picked the EXACT right animal for the "spirit" of this build. The fairy tale I have in my head just got some excellent source material. The squirrel uprising was led by the blacks, and there is a strong caste system in place in the squirrel ranks.
 
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#95
How about an update that includes actual work on the bass? ;) Today I routed the channel for the set neck, and put a 1/4" round-over on the body. The fingerboard and part of the neck is about 3/8" off the body providing a finger ramp and some visual eye candy. I am going to use iron acetate to blacken the walnut, and the small strip of neck visible between the body and the fingerboard should provide a nice accent line when viewed from the proper angle. I am going to use black aniline dye on the hickory, and my test pieces have turned out lovely.

The neck fits in the pocket like a glove, and the 1/4" round-over is just enough to smooth it out without softening it too much. In future builds I plan on using a cove bit on the back where the neck meets the body to provide a smoother transition. Eventually I will have the Aleph build perfected to a place where I am fully happy with all aspects of the design, but not today.

Next steps are to apply a 3/4" round-over profile to the back of the neck, and a 1/8" round-over to the fingerboard. Once that's done she will be ready to be glued up. I may or may not get to that tonight - I am wiped.

As a cool aside my daughter told me this evening when I tucked her into bed that she loves the way I smell after working with wood. My wife recently washed my flannel and my daughter was upset that it didn't "smell like daddy" anymore. Childhood memories like this tend to stick with you. My wife is reminded of her father whenever she smells an organic solvent due to the smells she often experienced in his garage growing up. It's pretty cool, and I am feeling very blessed right now.

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#97
She's out of clamps this morning and looking good! Here are a few pix to get an idea of size courtesy of my daughter. The bass comparison photo is side by side with a 7 string 34" scale bass, and you can see the 30" scale Nucifera stacks up fairly well from a length perspective. The bridge location of each bass is different and the Nucifera could have been easily 2 inches shorter if desired.

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#98
michaelwayneharwood said:
As a cool aside my daughter told me this evening when I tucked her into bed that she loves the way I smell after working with wood. My wife recently washed my flannel and my daughter was upset that it didn't "smell like daddy" anymore. Childhood memories like this tend to stick with you. My wife is reminded of her father whenever she smells an organic solvent due to the smells she often experienced in his garage growing up. It's pretty cool, and I am feeling very blessed right now.
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Dude....That is such an awesome warm/fuzzy!

The bona fide "good stuff"! Hold on to & cherish those moments as long as you can. Because they are just "moments" in the big picture. And it's way too soon before they're getting older & the childhood warm fuzzy gives way to teenage indifference:(

Bass is looking good!
Are you doing any fingerboard side marking dot type thingies?
I glued my body to the neck on my current build & realized it would have been much easier to do the dots before hand... Not impossible, just easier.
(frets too for that matter)...
 
#99
Rôckhewer said:
Dude....That is such an awesome warm/fuzzy!

The bona fide "good stuff"! Hold on to & cherish those moments as long as you can. Because they are just "moments" in the big picture. And it's way too soon before they're getting older & the childhood warm fuzzy gives way to teenage indifference:(

Bass is looking good!
Are you doing any fingerboard side marking dot type thingies?
I glued my body to the neck on my current build & realized it would have been much easier to do the dots before hand... Not impossible, just easier.
(frets too for that matter)...
Click to expand...
Thanks for the complment! No side dots for.this.build. I am hoping the lines prove to enough as they are exposed on the side. Excuse any typos as I am on my phone and have fat thumbs. ;)
 

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