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Acoustic Electric Bass

#241
One of the issues I ran into was the depth of the bolt holding the bearing to the router bit.

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The depth of the neck and pickup cavity prevented the cutting portion of the bit to extend to the entire depth of the 1/4" plywood top.

That left a ridge around the routs.

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Nothing a little sanding couldn't fix though.

It did leave a slightly burnt area in the pickup cavity though.

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It also appears I didn't set the top part of the pickup cavity perfectly - it was a little high. Not too bad though.

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Anyway, I mounted the neck with 2 bolts, the bridge with 2 screws and restrung it. It may sound a little brighter now. It's also weighing in at just about 8.5 pounds on the bathroom scale - a significant reduction in weight. So I'm calling the new shell a success. If I were to do this again, I'd use the light weight hipshot tuners and Babicz bridge, which combined would save about a pound I'd estimate.

I have to decide what I'm going to do about the edge of the top. On the last one, I put a round over, which was quite comfortable. If I do the same on this plywood top, we'll see the plies. I don't think that's too much of an issue, unless there's a void, which I suppose I'll have to fill. Also, I'm thinking of finishing it with some kind of acrylic lacquer, maybe one of those Rustoleum versions, or a poly urethane. I really don't feel like using the nitro - I don't think the finish will be thick enough to offer protection of the birch laminate, and it just takes do darn long to cure. I'll look around home depot next time I stop by. I also need to make another pickup cover, unless I use the darker shedua cover I made for the previous top.

It's pretty close to being done, and so far, I am very happy with the way it's coming out. I'll have to disassemble it, round over the top, refinish the back and top, deal with the pickup cover and wire it up, and then reassemble. I'm also thinking of installing some kind of plastic flared port tube in the sound hole. I can see the vertical brace and interior shell support through it. I'll see what I can come up with.
 
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#243
Yes, the weather today has been fairly epic. :)

This is looking really nice.

It does occur to me, though, that I am not far from the Phx area, and, if you're looking for the input of others, I could be made available. ;)

Perhaps someday I could drag my basses over and we could share for a bit. :)

Yours appear to be nicer than mine. This includes the ones you have made. :(
I am ok with this, though, and still willing to share. You can even bring your husband. :D
 
#249
daveman50 said:
As an alternative to rounding over the top, look into arm rests used on acoustic guitars. They fit onto the top. Google John Pearse Armrest to get the idea.
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Thanks for the tip - that looks pretty interesting. They claim it also increases volume, though I'm not sure how it does that. I might be able to make something similar out of some scrap maple I have laying around. I could then leave the current edge of the top as is, and perhaps just paint it black to match the shell.
 
#250
The volume thing is probably more of an issue for a standard guitar; if your arm lies across the top, especially if you sort of squeeze the guitar towards you, your arm dampens the top, thus lowering the volume. You might not hold your arm in the same position on the bass, so you might need a different placement than on a standard guitar. But you're so creative and determined, I bet you can come up with something!! I play with an excellent acoustic guitarist who swears by arm rests.
 
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#251
I'll be working on the design for that arm rest over the next week. Thanks again for the tip daveman50!

I did a little more work on the shell today. I sanded the top as flush as I could get it to the shell, and then brushed on a thin layer of the last of the fiberglass resin, just to seal it up and offer a little more strength than paint alone would.

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What I find fascinating is how clear two layers of fiberglass mat and resin is. You can see the plies of that 1/2" plywood I used as an inner surround right through it. JIO's idea to put lights inside makes me think about how cool that would look, if I ever decide on using fiberglass again on a future build.
 
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#255
Splods said:
Isn't a ric 4003 one of your favorite looking basses? :laugh:
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It is. For me, binding is not a deal breaker, but if I have a choice, I'd rather not have it. My Leafenbacker doesn't have it, as an example.

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And my favorite bass is the 4003 without the binding, either a 4003SB, or the 4001V63, neither of which feature body binding. Of course, you pay dearly for that privilege.

That said, I'm not entirely dismissing the idea of putting binding on this build. Many acoustic guitars feature it, so it may look a bit "naked" without it. I'll see once it's closer to completion.

I picked up some Rust-oleum clear enamel spray today and laid on a coat.

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I really don't want to deal with nitro as it just takes too long. This stuff is dry to the touch in 30 minutes, and cures overnight. I'll see what kind of a finish it offers.
 
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#257
mapleglo said:
And a second coat. You can also see where I sanded down the sides where I applied that last coat of resin.

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I'll let that cure overnight, and sand it tomorrow.
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Rather than putting binding on, you could just put a thin line/inlay around the perimeter like on a violin. Aesthetically that would look really nice. You could even put a matching line around the sound hole.
 
#258
gmjhowe said:
Rather than putting binding on, you could just put a thin line/inlay around the perimeter like on a violin. Aesthetically that would look really nice. You could even put a matching line around the sound hole.
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That's an option. I'll wait until I'm further along. I'd like to see how the transition from shell to top edge comes out. So I sprayed the shell with another coat today. I purposely did that prior to smooth sanding the top, in case any black gets on there. I'll be able to sand that off if necessary. I'll shoot another black coat on the shell today if I have time.

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#260
mapleglo said:
And another coat of black on the shell.

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My OCD is killing me with the multiple imperfections on the surface :sour:

It's just a concept build, it's just a concept build...
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My vote is to give into your OCD and fix them. Its easy enough with some auto body spot putty, which I wouldn't recommend on wood, but is perfect for fiber glass. I would give the whole shell a thin coat of filler and block it out with 120 grit followed by 220, then coat it with your black.
 
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