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2nd Bass build and a LP to boot

#41
Finally! Wounds from the wedding are licked! Christmas survived! Been working a ton of overtime as well. Been so down in the dumps not having any money to spare for parts I just didn't feel like doing anything. Basically been at a standstill as I am not going to route for the pups or anything without having parts in hand. Now to get back at it.

Got a boxful of goodies coming from StewMac that should arrive today! More tools and stuff to work with. Especially inlay tools and pearl to put logos on my creations. Also binding for the LP. Next month should be able to get pups and some more stuff.
 
#43
Thanks man. I showed them to a friend of mine who's a very good bass and guitar player. He loves the way I build them. Light and sleek were his words. Getting the binding done on the LP and will be attacking the bass as well.

My friend also was telling me about GFS pickups and parts. He was raving about them, in particular the MM pup I was considering. Good to get a good opinion on them as I didn't want to spend a fortune on hardware.

Been working on the binding on the LP. Letting the glue dry for now.
 
#44
Inbetween a busted heat pump (ouch) and other snafus I managed to get parts. The bass pup and tuning keys just arrived today. Been doing a little bit. Now to get serious as the weather is wonderful right now. So good that my new peach tree is flowering and the blueberries are leafing out.
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Both are fretted and ready to go.
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New toy. Orbit sander from sale at hardware store. $1 over cost!
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#45
Pup is a GFS Musicman pro. Tuners (GFS) are Wilkinson. Single string bridges and ferrules from Choppers Music (ebay). Loaded up on pots, switches and other tools from Stewmac and Luthiers Merc. Also got some scrap carbon fiber for making nuts, etc. from Luthiers Merc as well.

The bass will have pretty basic wiring with a mini switch for series/parallel. Once I get better and more consistent at what I'm doing (and actually sell some of these) I'll get into active electronics.

As far as the brass nut goes. It is a PITA to get it right. I really don't have the tools, plus I missed the string spacing and height on this one so it's scrap. Using the carbon fiber instead, much easier to work with.

Now to route out the pup cavity, line up and drill the tuner holes, install the hardware to make sure it works, get magnets for the rear cover, sand it down like crazy, and start finishing with Tru Oil. See ya in a while. Got to get Busy, Busy, Busy!
 
#47
Thanks man. Appreciate it.

I wasn't happy with the cover plate I made, plus I found a thin piece of flame maple. So I thinned it down on the thickness sander and cut it out to fit. Cut it a little too big and used the circle sander on my belt sander, just a touch at a time, marking it with a pencil til I got it just right. Now to find some magnets to hold it down. Next paycheck, I'm tapped out for now.

Got busy and got some more done. Routed out for the pup. Had a template I made for the Choppers Music pup I used in my first bass. Perfect fit. This GFS pup looks better made. A lot more solid in the way they potted it. Took my Ohm meter and grouped the wires for each coil as I'm going to use a miniswitch to do a series/parallel thing. They also have wiring diagrams and included screws (they are way too long, shucks). At least they tried. I think Fastenal might have some in the industrial park.

Anyway, back to the pup routing. Attached the template with double sticked tape. Put a forstner bit in my corded drill and hogged out most of the wood. Then went to town with my router. Used a short straight bit which worked well with the template, going down a little at a time. Finished it up with a small roundover dremel bit to touch it off. Perfect fit.

Next to drill for the tuners. Know why I love the lines? makes it easy to locate tuners, pups etc. Got them located then took my digital caliper to determine the right size of hole to drill. 9mm! Right between 1/2" and 9/16". You got to be kidding me! I got four sets of various bits, but no metric. Maybe I can find a 17/32" bit. Want to get this done so I can start final sanding for finishing.

What I did on my first bass (got this idea from Ed Roman) was to sand the neck down to 1500 grit to make a super slick neck. Got my Tru Oil ready and raring to go.

Want pix? Next reply.
 
#51
Routing and fiddlin and frettin are all done. Now on to the Tru Oil!

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You can guess where I got the wood for the knobs.
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I'm geting to love Tru Oil. 3 coats so far. So smooth I don't think I need to do any sanding. I sanded it down to 400 grit as it is. Took some elbow grease to get the first coat on. Love the way it makes the flame pop. Just way too cool.:hyper::bassist::hyper:
 
#52
I work the next 3 days (12 hr shifts) so I might put a coat on each night after work if it needs any. The control cover is held on by magnets. Found some neodiums at the local hardware store. Powerful lil buggers. Also epoxied in nuts for the pickup bolts rather than screws. Started soldering the controls together. Vol, Tone, Miniswitch for serial/parallel.

Got Wilkinson tuners and a GFS MM Pro pup from GFS. The tuners were short a washer and a screw. Shot an email off to him and in a few days got 4 washers and screws. That's service! I'll be back for more from GFS! Can't wait to hear this thing roar.
 
#53
Couldn't stand it. 5 coats of Tru Oil and it looks awesome. Calling it done.
Installed the hardware and strung it up. Started setting it up. Took it to work to work on the nut and set up what I could. Got the action down to gnats ass! Got to work on the frets and the nut some more but that neck is awesome. Took it up to church where I keep my bass amp and plugged it in. Smokin'! I really like the series/parallel switch, good for going between finger pickin and slappin. The GFS pup works great. I'll see if I can get my wife to take a video tomorrow night after church so you can hear it.
Anyway, enough yappin! Pix:
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