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1st time build/assembly-advice welcome!!!

#21
What do you think? Does this transition from the body sides to the neck look good or should I be shaping it differently.It feels okay when I imagine playing the upper frets but this is my first and I'd be greatful for any advice/suggestions/derisive laughter/etc
 

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#24
I did some more sanding then wiped a little mineral spirits to clean it (and highlight the grain for pics).I think this is as far as I'm going to sand till I figure out how I want to route out the back control cavity.That's going to be the next step.Thanks for looking!!
 

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#26
I play around on Carvin 's neck builder all the time trying to see what I can do. I want to build something, but the one neck I built and fretted was not a fun time. I'd rather use a pre-built neck and, having played a few Carvin neck thru basses, I know that I'll really like the neck.

Anyhow... That bass is looking great!
 
#28
TigerInATrance said:
I play around on Carvin 's neck builder all the time trying to see what I can do. I want to build something, but the one neck I built and fretted was not a fun time. I'd rather use a pre-built neck and, having played a few Carvin neck thru basses, I know that I'll really like the neck.

Anyhow... That bass is looking great!
Click to expand...

Thanks!! Building the fretboard and laying out/installing frets was too intimidating for me especially for my first build,this Carvin neckthru was a perfect starting point for me and 49sfine from TB here gave me a great deal on it.I've never had a chance to play a Carvin so it's encouraging to read of good experiences with their quality!!
 
#29
The story behind this Carvin unit is that it had been built into a bass already when I found it on Ebay a number of years ago. At least the body wings had been attached and were made out of some killer woods, but just were so tiny the bass looked and felt so odd; I had to cut them off to start over. I loved the quality of the neck assembly and would have kept it if it were not for the fact it was a 5 string. My main objective in selling it was just to recover my costs so I am glad to have sold it to someone who is actually doing something with it. I'm enjoying this build a lot!
 
#30
I did the headstock,first I decided on a shape,I thought I'd try and line the strings up as straight as possible then design around that.I also decided to rip some thin pieces of cherry and glue it over the headstock to match the body
 

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#33
Now for the controls! I am hoping that I can use these Nordstrand fatstacks passively without wasting their potential? At this point in my life I'll probably never play in a band again and am more a collector,some of my Gibson guitars haven't been played in years so I don't really want to worry about keeping a good battery in this.
I'm a little overwhelmed with trying to decide how to wire the controls.I don't really know if it's worth putting singlecoil/humbucking switches? Same with inphase/out of phase? are they gimmicks or do they give different USABLE sounds? At this point I'm thinking master volume,blend,pickup selector and maybe tone but if I go passive I'll probably never turn the tone down so I'm not sure I'd need one?
I'd really appreciate any advice!!! Thanks!!
 

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#34
KramerDon said:
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I'm a little overwhelmed with trying to decide how to wire the controls.I don't really know if it's worth putting singlecoil/humbucking switches? Same with inphase/out of phase? are they gimmicks or do they give different USABLE sounds?
Click to expand...
I switch between series and parallel on my setup quite a bit but honestly never use the single coil position on my 3-way switches. I can get quite a range of tones by adjusting the EQ and balance, but the switches give it even more range/tonal options.
Not sure if that really helps at all but good luck and its looking great so far.
 
#36
Very nice looking bass.

How's the access to the 24th fret? From the pictures, it kind of looks like the high frets may be hard to reach. Makes me wonder if a bit more radius on the body, near the neck, on that side might make those highest frets easier to reach.

This is very nice work.
 

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