Ok, so my truss rod(s) turned up today. I only need one for the first bass, but as usual I'm collecting parts. As soon as the CF bars turn up, I'll need to get a wriggle on with my design. Excitement. 
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Build 4 - headless fretless chambered 6 string
- Thread starter reverendrally
- Start date
Yesterday was the end of a week and half of work difficulties and I was just plane thrashed tonight. However, I managed to start drawing up the body. Sorry for the rubbish photo. I'll post some body only pics tomorrow. Keen to hear people's thoughts. One thing to say at this point is, this thing is monstrous!
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,019
- 1
- 31,736
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Wow, that actually looks fairly traditional by reverendrally standards! 
Wow, that actually looks fairly traditional by reverendrally standards!
Yeah, I may go with the wilder headstock, but it does look conventional at this point. What is hard to get is the sheer size of the bass. It's like dumptruck next to a pickup when you consider a regular bass. The bass side horn is VERY long, and it only goes about 20mm past the usual 12 fret position. The treble side cutaway doesn't actually go quite as far as the 24th fret position. I usually favor a venetian style cutaway, but this thing needs a proper horn on the treble side to allow it to sit on your knew properly.
The screws and washers I ordered just turned up. I thought I ordered 12, they send me 24! Yay. And the screws are 8.8 grade. Very impressed
Yesterday afternoon I bought some black stain and started playing with some Chinese Elm I was given last year. I'm hoping to use it for the body. It's non descript brown on it's own.
Stained...
Sanded...
With a little naptha...
I reckon it might look pretty good, in a dirty worn sort of way.
Yesterday afternoon I bought some black stain and started playing with some Chinese Elm I was given last year. I'm hoping to use it for the body. It's non descript brown on it's own.
Stained...
Sanded...
With a little naptha...
I reckon it might look pretty good, in a dirty worn sort of way.
Pulled my plans again today. Here's version 2 of the body. I like it a lot better I think.
Sorry the pic is a bit rubbish. It's super hard to get a good pic of pencil lines.
Sorry the pic is a bit rubbish. It's super hard to get a good pic of pencil lines.
Still waiting on strings, but these turned up today. 27mm. Two of them under the bridge oughta do it. The last of the big spenders. AU$4.49
AU$4.49
This week is the busiest week of my job each year. Next week, things are a lot quieter. So maybe it's time to build a bass eh? Still waiting on strings, but who knows. They might turn up this week. Time to send another email to bass strings on line.
Sent another email. Still waiting on basstringsonline. C'mon guys! You're killing me. 
REALLY wanna get started, but won't do so till I can measure things up properly. Hmmm....
REALLY wanna get started, but won't do so till I can measure things up properly. Hmmm....
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! 
Big shout out to Jason @ Bassstringsonline. They arrived in the post today. I was hoping for the black ones first, but I can live and work with these white ones. I'm not racist you know.
So, a few things straight up. I pulled out the B string and it's 42" from ball-end to silk at the nut end. That's longer than my 1metre/40" straight edge, but I don't think it's long enough for me to build a 39" scale with. That's probably a good thing though. At 38" I'm already leaving Sheldon and the Dingwalls behind by an inch anyway.
So, now I have 3 weeks before I get to play bass for the local Christmas carols. Will I finish the bass in time for carols?
Hmmm, wait and see.
Big shout out to Jason @ Bassstringsonline. They arrived in the post today. I was hoping for the black ones first, but I can live and work with these white ones. I'm not racist you know.
So, a few things straight up. I pulled out the B string and it's 42" from ball-end to silk at the nut end. That's longer than my 1metre/40" straight edge, but I don't think it's long enough for me to build a 39" scale with. That's probably a good thing though. At 38" I'm already leaving Sheldon and the Dingwalls behind by an inch anyway.
So, now I have 3 weeks before I get to play bass for the local Christmas carols. Will I finish the bass in time for carols?
Hmmm, wait and see.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,019
- 1
- 31,736
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Last night I took Skeletor out to Jazzclub again. Its really astounding how well it plays and how good it sounds. I added two piezo discs under the bridge and it's transformed it even more. There are a few little setup things with such low frets, but they're not worth trying to fix. The point being, even in guitar format, this construction concept totally works. Additionally, people continue to be amazed at it and complement me... 
Maybe I'm missing something here. Coz that horrible Teisco has also had a fair bit of love. Maybe I should stop trying to build attractive, well crafted things and just throw junk together instead? Crazy, crazy stuff...
Speaking of crazy, it's my day off and I sprung out of bed and started drawing up an idea I've been stewing on for the past few days. I'll throw some pics up and let you try and figure out what my demented brain has come up with this time.
So, when you figure it out you may ask... "why the hell would he want to do that?". The simple answer is, "it simplifies construction and machining enormously. I may end up with a bass with almost no glue joints... and something Ikea might stock!
It has left me with one dilemma though. I have a question about graphite rods.
How close to the nut do you guys run your graphite reinforcement rods?
In other news, I've found another answer to one of my problems in the shape of these things. Basically, it will fix all my problems with the strings anchors.
Invalid Link Removed
Nice when you work things out.
Maybe I'm missing something here. Coz that horrible Teisco has also had a fair bit of love. Maybe I should stop trying to build attractive, well crafted things and just throw junk together instead? Crazy, crazy stuff...
Speaking of crazy, it's my day off and I sprung out of bed and started drawing up an idea I've been stewing on for the past few days. I'll throw some pics up and let you try and figure out what my demented brain has come up with this time.
So, when you figure it out you may ask... "why the hell would he want to do that?". The simple answer is, "it simplifies construction and machining enormously. I may end up with a bass with almost no glue joints... and something Ikea might stock!
It has left me with one dilemma though. I have a question about graphite rods.
How close to the nut do you guys run your graphite reinforcement rods?
In other news, I've found another answer to one of my problems in the shape of these things. Basically, it will fix all my problems with the strings anchors.
Invalid Link Removed
Nice when you work things out.
Last edited:
Rick Toone's done some bolt on guitar headstocks - check them out if you haven't seen them. I'm sure he's also got a patent for them too... 
Rick Toone's done some bolt on guitar headstocks - check them out if you haven't seen them. I'm sure he's also got a patent for them too...
I looked his up. I knew he'd done one. His is on an aluminium (note the extra "i") neck and looks nothing like what I have here. And US patents don't stretch down under.
I went through the wood pile with the chinese elm, eucalypt and liquidambar in it last night. Some pretty amazing looking stuff there, but also some compromised stuff. A lot of the chinese elm is pretty warped/checked and it's super heavy too. I could machine some of it but I'm not sure. I'll look at what I have in the other pile. I'm aiming for 20mm thick body wings. That being the case, I need some sort of mechanism to stop the body wings warping like a neck does. Been thinking through that one as well.
Have another question about PUs. If you used super strong magnets to hold your PUs on, would that effect the magnetic field of PU negatively?
Have another question about PUs. If you used super strong magnets to hold your PUs on, would that effect the magnetic field of PU negatively?
I went hunting through my decent woodpile and found some usable body wood almost straight away. You can also see the neck blank and the Jarrah board there.
The large yellowish wood is the top from an old desk friends gave me some time back. It's pretty old. I think it could mango. It's some sort of native hardwood. It could be something completely different. It's not Vic ash... I don't think. This bit it big enough to cut both my body wings from.
It's not 100% straight, but it's pretty close. For more purposes, I think I can use a slight curve to my advantage. I also pulled this piece of Chinese elm from the rack. It's going to need to some machining, but it's more than big enough for the headstock. Failing that, I'm laminate up something from other interesting offcuts. Hmm, now that I think of it, I could use a body wood offcut for the headstock.
Failing that, I'm laminate up something from other interesting offcuts. Hmm, now that I think of it, I could use a body wood offcut for the headstock. I'm also trying to think through how to mount/house all my electronics in a very thin, 'full of gaps' body. I'll be using a strat style jack mount, but how I mount it is another issue. I realise I need to do more drawings before I go cutting anything.
In other news, even though I'm adverse to spray finishes, I'm having some thoughts about some racy solid colors. Still sorting out how I might do that too.
P.s. why did I make that neck blank so wide?
The large yellowish wood is the top from an old desk friends gave me some time back. It's pretty old. I think it could mango. It's some sort of native hardwood. It could be something completely different. It's not Vic ash... I don't think. This bit it big enough to cut both my body wings from.
It's not 100% straight, but it's pretty close. For more purposes, I think I can use a slight curve to my advantage. I also pulled this piece of Chinese elm from the rack. It's going to need to some machining, but it's more than big enough for the headstock. Failing that, I'm laminate up something from other interesting offcuts. Hmm, now that I think of it, I could use a body wood offcut for the headstock.
Failing that, I'm laminate up something from other interesting offcuts. Hmm, now that I think of it, I could use a body wood offcut for the headstock. I'm also trying to think through how to mount/house all my electronics in a very thin, 'full of gaps' body. I'll be using a strat style jack mount, but how I mount it is another issue. I realise I need to do more drawings before I go cutting anything.
In other news, even though I'm adverse to spray finishes, I'm having some thoughts about some racy solid colors. Still sorting out how I might do that too.
P.s. why did I make that neck blank so wide?
Back to the drawing board today. I've decided I want as much of this bass nailed down as possible before I going lifting tools. If I get the designs right, the whole thing should take very little time. If I don't, I'll be fixing half-done issues as I go along (like usual).
I want a trapeze style bridge on the bass. Additionally, the PUs need to mount to the front of the body. I'm not recessing them otherwise I'm compromise the body structure further. So here's what I have for the neck joint. I've added an extra 18mm of timber where the neck bolts on. I assume I'll glue that on (so much for no glue joints).
The distance of the neck above the body also allows for less issues with the headless tailpiece. Although, I need to sort that and the bridge design out next. The other good point about the above drawing is (if I feel so inclined), I could make up covers for the PUs and have plenty of space.
Then it was onto the control cavity.
Again, the issues of chopping too much timber out of the wings and totally weakening the structure. I've gone with simple controls; Mast Vol, Mag PU blend, Mag/piezo blend. I was tempted to add a tone control, but I can easily do that on the amp. I'm already putting on tapewounds, so it can't be too much of an issue. I'm hoping to get a huge range of tones from that anyway. I've not added series/parallel switches this time. Experience tells me I tend to pick one and stick to it. Whatever sounds best with the tapes is what I'll use. I suspect it will be series, but I'm not 100% sure at this stage.
I want a trapeze style bridge on the bass. Additionally, the PUs need to mount to the front of the body. I'm not recessing them otherwise I'm compromise the body structure further. So here's what I have for the neck joint. I've added an extra 18mm of timber where the neck bolts on. I assume I'll glue that on (so much for no glue joints).
The distance of the neck above the body also allows for less issues with the headless tailpiece. Although, I need to sort that and the bridge design out next. The other good point about the above drawing is (if I feel so inclined), I could make up covers for the PUs and have plenty of space.
Then it was onto the control cavity.
Again, the issues of chopping too much timber out of the wings and totally weakening the structure. I've gone with simple controls; Mast Vol, Mag PU blend, Mag/piezo blend. I was tempted to add a tone control, but I can easily do that on the amp. I'm already putting on tapewounds, so it can't be too much of an issue. I'm hoping to get a huge range of tones from that anyway. I've not added series/parallel switches this time. Experience tells me I tend to pick one and stick to it. Whatever sounds best with the tapes is what I'll use. I suspect it will be series, but I'm not 100% sure at this stage.
Last night I got into the bridge. I've come up with a brake angle of 14deg. The bridge height is 23, same as the neck height off the body. Angling it back I got 14deg. If that's too much I can shim the tail piece up a little higher.
To get that angle, I'll bevel the back part of the body. This seems like an easy option that just machining two slots in where the tail piece goes. I don't think it will weaken the structure much if at all. I'll keep thinking it through for now.
What will actually hold the tailpiece on has ended up being a bit more complicated that I first thought. Under the tailpiece area you can see a large strip (in dotted lines). That will be another piece of steel strip. Between that and the tailpiece will be a block of wood. Maybe I'll use some crazy rare timber, call it a 'tone block' and patent the design so I can charge people silly money for it...
I digress. That block will hold the strip and the tailpiece together. I realised this morning I need to re-think the screw location for where the strip attaches to the block. Shouldn't be hard to sort. For those of you thinking, "why didn't he just make the body wings meet in the middle and attach it that way?". I did think about that. I came to the conclusion the wings would be in sheer load. Thinnish timber is pretty rubbish in sheer, so the block arrangement will be a lot better. Course, when I say block, I mean something about the size of 2 match boxes end to end.
With all this done, I'm just about ready to make some templates from MDF.
To get that angle, I'll bevel the back part of the body. This seems like an easy option that just machining two slots in where the tail piece goes. I don't think it will weaken the structure much if at all. I'll keep thinking it through for now.
What will actually hold the tailpiece on has ended up being a bit more complicated that I first thought. Under the tailpiece area you can see a large strip (in dotted lines). That will be another piece of steel strip. Between that and the tailpiece will be a block of wood. Maybe I'll use some crazy rare timber, call it a 'tone block' and patent the design so I can charge people silly money for it...
I digress. That block will hold the strip and the tailpiece together. I realised this morning I need to re-think the screw location for where the strip attaches to the block. Shouldn't be hard to sort. For those of you thinking, "why didn't he just make the body wings meet in the middle and attach it that way?". I did think about that. I came to the conclusion the wings would be in sheer load. Thinnish timber is pretty rubbish in sheer, so the block arrangement will be a lot better. Course, when I say block, I mean something about the size of 2 match boxes end to end.With all this done, I'm just about ready to make some templates from MDF.
I totally like your planning phase and all the drawing you did! Fingers crossed for the next phase!
