$100 Bass Challenge - Texas Jelly

[TinyE]

Well, that's what I'm calling it for now.
Nothing to post yet, just collecting parts.
This will be my first official build, excited!

 

[Splods]

What's the plan?

 

[TinyE]

ah sorry, i'm deciding on a tele bass shape - wanted single cut, but am thinking of doing the 51P since there is a template for it. But I'm going to put Jazz pickups in it (i.e. Tele + J = Jelly). 5 string because I've been wanting a 5-er for a while. It will be a unique (hopefully) finish that will reflect my roots in Texas. Being my first build, I'm mostly just using this as an excuse to do something I've been wanting to do for a while.

The body will be part made of a table top and some barn wood. I'm debating on hardware right now, but am leaning towards copper. I've got a lot of parts lying around from old guitars, so hoping between that and chinese parts, i can stay under the $100 ceiling. I'm pretty sure if it sounds 1/2 decent that I'll eventually upgrade the pickups, but for now, the ones I have will work ok.

Once I get going, I'll post some steps. I'm going to use the G&L neck. The neck was keeping me out of the challenge, but for $33, it seems like a great way to step in without getting defeated by frets.

Also, i know in the original post, it was said, "must make neck", but I think that may be too much for my first one, so I'm going to buy. It's ok if I don't qualify for the contest, it will still be fun making the rest of it.

 

[mapleglo]

I have one of those G&L necks and find it to be a superior bargain. The rules are pretty lax for this challenge, so I don't think you'll run into an issue with buying the neck. Looking forward to seeing your progress!

 

[potomac]

sub'd

 

[Luke19Boarder]

sub'd

same

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

I have one of those G&L necks and find it to be a superior bargain. The rules are pretty lax for this challenge, so I don't think you'll run into an issue with buying the neck. Looking forward to seeing your progress!

I agree, and sub'd.

 

[TinyE]

Ok. Parts are slowly coming together. I got the neck today. It needs fret work on the ends. They stick out to far. Otherwise, it is awesome. Under it you can see a couple of pieces of wood off a local barn, which will be the veneer, and under that the wood that will be the main body. Plans rolled up on top.

Expenses so far,
$33 for the neck
$6.88 for the woood.

I was thinking about relic-ing the neck, but unsure at this point. Has any one relic'd between the frets? What would you use that wouldn't rust the fret wire? Not sure if I would do it, but was thinking I might make it look like the neck on my acoustic (well played). I have a couple of parts trickling in later this week, and the order the rest of the parts next week.

Still deciding on body shape, but I'm liking the '51 Fender body.

 

[TinyE]

 

[TinyE]

Regarding the nut. I was thinking it would be cool to make it out of a bull's horn. Has anyone done this? It can be pretty porous, so it may not work, but it fits the theme I'm going for. The other thing I could do is use a cow or horse bone I suppose.

 

[TinyE]

Ok. A few updates. The Barnwood was too far gone to work with. It split at every turn. Luckily my neighbor saw what I was up to and donated a nice 1x probably pine, to my cause. If there was ever an attempt to disprove the "wood matters" argument, thus will be the bass. so now the plan is to apply a finish to the wood to age it a bit. But I'm also thinking about painting.

I'm having doubts about staying under $100 though. Not because I cant, but because I want to love this thing. I found pickups for $11 from china. I was really wanting to wind my own but can't do it and stay under budget. I also bought a set of fender noiseless for the long term. If I decide against the China ones, I'll need to drop out of the contest. I've got time to decide.

I'm going copper on the hardware, and going to plate it myself. I'm awaiting a test tuner to arrive so I can see how it looks.

I found a piece of copper strapping from my electrician friend that is going to be formed into the nut.

Here's a pic of the wood bonding.

 

[TinyE]

scratch it! A little bit of digging, and I think i can make my own pickups (score!) and stay under budget.
I'm going to try and wind them to the NJ4SE specs (except in a 5 string version). fingers crossed they sound as good!

here's my projected costs so far:

6.88
40 pickups (if i use the fender noiseless)
32 pickups (if I do them myself)
11.84 bridge
18.68 tuners
33 neck

It's going to be tight.

 

[TinyE]

well, not that anyone's watching my psycho-babble but i ordered the china pickups. i can't fit in under the $100 ceiling without them.
the good news is, i have the N3's on the way, and am going to wind my own single coils, so look for a 3-way pickup shootout to come shortly after the bass is finished .

total price
6.88 - wood
13.38 - pickups
11.84 - bridge
18.68 - tuners
33 - neck

total = 83.78

 

[mapleglo]

I'll probably swap out the tuners, pickups and bridge once the challenge is over.

 

[tedious1]

sub'd

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

I'll probably swap out the tuners, pickups and bridge once the challenge is over.

This is not a criticism at all, but does makes me a bit melancholy to hear that. I get it, trust me I do, but it's still a bit sad.

 

[TinyE]

I'll probably swap out the tuners, pickups and bridge once the challenge is over.

The bridge I chose is integral to my theme/design, and since I'm plating the tuners, they aren't going anywhere. ..but the pickups...it's every magnet for himself!

 

[TinyE]

Progress finally. I got the shape cut out and a lot of sanding done today. I feel like I have only scratched the surface. A long ways to go.

I also tested out my home copper electroplating and failed. More testing to come and I'll post pictures as my technique is perfected.

In the meantime, here's a quick pic of the body.

 

[TinyE]

things just got interesting....

before

after

 

[TinyE]

And copper ferrules