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Another 8-string hybrid fretless/fretted
- Thread starter BassCycle
- Start date
headlikeahole
Commercial User
Have you thought about trying out a flat fretboard. Might work out well on this sort of bass if the player is into tapping and whatnot. Might be worth giving a whirl in the future.
I don't think I would like a flat board. I don't think my client is going to use it primarily as a tapping instrument. I've never thought about doing a flat board, but I certainly would, if a client wanted it that way. I'm not a tapper, so I'm not really familiar with the setup.
I'd like to meet this client of yours...seems to be quite an interesting fellow. Anyway sub'd and looking forward to seeing this come together, you do great work!
Thank you so much Zombbg4!
Meet my client, J2Bizzy out of Bakersfield. I posted a vid earlier of him taking delivery of the first bass, but here it is again.
J2Bizzy plays the Classic Bass Works hybrid fretted/fretless bass
Just another bassist with a bad case of GAS, to my benefit.
There's a shot of my jig in post #19. It's kinda my version of the ledbeli jig found in the stickys. I'll post another pic here:
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Masterful. The fingerboard/fretboard really looks out of this world. 
Will the fingerboard side be filled back with light-grained veneer so it'll keep the unlined look, or are you going with a contrasting veneer?
Also, regarding the pickups, since there'll be four humbuckers, maybe a dual H-SC setup'd be nice, a hum-canceling Jazz pickup in the neck position and a regular MusicMan pickup in the bridge position. My main (fretted) bass has that combination and you can really get a kick out of all the possible combinations. I know it's up to the client in the end, but maybe it'd be a thing to consider. That, or a set of narrow-aperture pickups like four hum-canceling Jazz pickups or single-coil Precisions (the '51 models).
For reference, the NS/Stick has a quad-Telecaster pickup setup, close to the single-coil Precisions, and it can be used both as a bass and a tapping instrument.
Will the fingerboard side be filled back with light-grained veneer so it'll keep the unlined look, or are you going with a contrasting veneer?
Also, regarding the pickups, since there'll be four humbuckers, maybe a dual H-SC setup'd be nice, a hum-canceling Jazz pickup in the neck position and a regular MusicMan pickup in the bridge position. My main (fretted) bass has that combination and you can really get a kick out of all the possible combinations. I know it's up to the client in the end, but maybe it'd be a thing to consider. That, or a set of narrow-aperture pickups like four hum-canceling Jazz pickups or single-coil Precisions (the '51 models).
For reference, the NS/Stick has a quad-Telecaster pickup setup, close to the single-coil Precisions, and it can be used both as a bass and a tapping instrument.
Thank you so much, scojack!..........outragous
Brilliantly executed JD !
Masterful. The fingerboard/fretboard really looks out of this world.
Will the fingerboard side be filled back with light-grained veneer so it'll keep the unlined look, or are you going with a contrasting veneer?
Also, regarding the pickups . . .
Thank you so much for the compliment. I'm going to use some maple veneer for the lines, so they will be pretty visible. Thanks for the pickup tips. We really haven't decided on that yet. We will when it gets closer to the point in the build.
Current updates: I've been kinda busy but I did do some grinding today. First I glued the fb to the neck and used it as a pattern to clean up the neck edges with a router. I use a roundover router bit and a rasp for neck shaping.
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This is a cool build, man! Didn't see the first until now. Love the stepped finger/fretboard approach. Creative and practical for the design! And, by the way, your playing alone could sell your basses. Loved your demo. My folks live in Temecula. Would love to meet and check out your shop when I visit next summer!
Thank you Beej!
And thank you barebones. You are absolutely welcome to stop by the shop any time you're in town. So you know, the "shop" is actually a shed in my back yard. I can barely fit in there with all my tools, so I often work on the patio, hence shots of my bbq and my wife's garden in the backgrounds some of my progress pics.
I did notice the setting, and I have a sincere appreciation for it--My "shop" is my patio! Period. No shed. No nuttin. Be it rain. Sleet. Snow. Hail. All of the above. Okay, so the wife does let me store wood in the house, and I might do some glue-ups in the basement when she's not looking, but there's a strict anti-dust-in-the-house clause in our pre-nup!
I just listened to the vid of you on your 7 string, man that thing sounds great and you are quite a bassist.You play very fast, I like that
Nice satsuma vase by the way, I think that's satsuma, judging from the blue colour, about a 100 years old I guess?
I think we should have a 'show us your shed thread'.
JD are you modifying the body shape at all for this ?
Funny you should ask Ian, cause I am doing a slight modification for a couple of reasons. The first one had an extra long upper horn. My thinking was that it would eliminate neck dive. After I built a 7-string with a shorter horn, I realized, neck dive really isn't that big a problem. The other reason for a shorter horn is that it's much easier to purchase body blanks and book-matched tops at under 21". I also modified the butt, making it a little less streamlined. On those other wide basses I nearly ran out of wood on the bass side of the bridge. This mod will resolve that issue. As you can see, I still sketch my design ideas with a pencil on full size paper.
Here's the old shape
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And here's the new one
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Here's the current state. Alder body wings glued.
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You play very fast, I like that
Nice satsuma vase by the way, I think that's satsuma, judging from the blue colour, about a 100 years old I guess?
Thanks for the compliment Rob17. I don't know anything about the vase. My wife owned it when I met her.
