Bass Build #1

[rick0link]

After years of speculating, I have finally decided to start building a bass!!

I have a solid design and soon will have access to all of the tools needed to complete this project.

Here are the specs:

6-string neck thru
fretless, 36" scale
single cut away body
3 piece neck - mahogany/maple/mahogany
cocobola fingerboard with 24 "frets"
walnut top
walnut ramp
mystery wood body - more on this later
ebony nut and bridge
single soapbar pickup in bridge position
passive electronics (pickup - vol control - input jack)
black Gotoh tuners
Hipshot D-Tuner

it may be a few days/weeks before I get more pics or posts up. my wife and I just bought a house and it requires pretty much all of my free time at the moment. looking to have it ready to move in before christmas. after all that has passed, the build will begin!!!



P.S. I just want say a quick THANK YOU to all of you who post pics and stories of your builds on TB. without you, I would not want to do this.

 

[roberthabraken]

Great! Subscribed! I wish you a lot of fun building. And good luck with your new house .

 

[rick0link]

okay, so i have 1 pic so far, and it's of the "mystery" wood i plan on using for the body wings. this piece of wood was found after my wife got her job as an art teacher and we had to clean 30 years of junk out of the room. it is about 4 feet long, 2 feet wide and around 2 inches thick. plenty of material for what i'll be needing it for. i have no idea what species of wood, nor how old it is. but it is a good piece of hardwood.

i'll try to get some shots of the other pieces of wood the next time i am at the house.

 

[Rockingbird]

Pine?

 

[rick0link]

Great! Subscribed! I wish you a lot of fun building. And good luck with your new house .

thank you good sir!!

 

[WardEarth]

DUDE! Make it a solid 1 piece! You just have to find a way around that lightning bolt knot at the end

 

[rick0link]

DUDE! Make it a solid 1 piece! You just have to find a way around that lightning bolt knot at the end

there's not enough there for that. plus i have some awesome looking wood that's gonna be a part of this. i plan of posting pics of the different lumber tomorrow evening.

stay tuned!!

 

[rick0link]

okay, i promised pics.......her ya go

here is the raw layout of what will become my bass

cocobola, awesome grain. this will be the fingerboard

walnut for the top

i think this compliments my hardwood floor nicely

so far, so good. can't wait to start putting it together!


cell phone pics................. yeah, not the greatest

 

[rick0link]

well today is my birthday, and i finally started on the bass.

here are a few pics

here are the neck laminates pre-glueing

clamped up

here is the body design. the giant slab 'o wood i have for body material has only one section that can be used. the rest is all knotted up and cannot be used.

here are the walnut pieces i'm going to use for the top.

got a lot done today, can't wait to do more!!!

 

[rick0link]

getting more and more done each day!

got the fingerboard rough cut

cutting the scarf joint

gluing the top pieces to the body

.............and since everyone else is doing it....... the hair shot

 

[JayGunn]

Hi,

I just saw your project and subscribed.

The mystery wood sure looks like white ash in the picture--distinct pores, near white sapwood, medium tan heartwood. Could be?

 

[rick0link]

Hi,

I just saw your project and subscribed.

The mystery wood sure looks like white ash in the picture--distinct pores, near white sapwood, medium tan heartwood. Could be?

white ash does grow in SW PA, which is where i live and where i found it.

thanks for the info!

 

[rick0link]

PROGRESS PROGRESS PROGRESS!!!!

Here are a few mock ups of how the body will look

and this is what it will look like with the fingerboard

got a lot done today, but have tons more to do before it is done.

 

[paganjack]

Cool!

I am always impressed at the people that just dive into this.

 

[adderas]

Great job so far mate! TB has also really inspired me to do this. Best of luck!

 

[rick0link]

Great job so far mate! TB has also really inspired me to do this. Best of luck!

Thanks!!

if not for this website, i would never had started this project.

Thank you to all who post their luthiery projects.

 

[rick0link]

soooo, yeah, i had to re order the wood for my neck. turns out when i cut the scarf joint.... i cut it totally in the wrong place and thus made the neck too short and unusable. i cut it too short to fix.

so, live and learn, i guess.

 

[Hopkins]

From looking at the little bit of bark thats on that slab and the color of the wood, I would guess that is pecan.

 

[rick0link]

okay, weekend homework...... since i have to wait for my new neck laminates to arrive, i'm going to try and get the control cavity bored out and make a wood cover for it too. perhaps try to get some contouring on the body parts done too.

 

[BassGreaser]

Looking good!