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Build II - Paradox MJ5 - New design!

#201
Dave Higham said:
Can't understand why anyone would want to cover such nice wood with lumps of piano accordion plastic, i.e. MOTS. But that's just my opinion and only worth what you paid for it. :)
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It's the looks ;).. I like the combination of materials and since my previous / first build was more natural, I'd like to go with this, but still tried to pick nice woods.

barnaclebeau said:
Looking great Rob! I'm just catching up on your build thread... I LOVE this design, still!

Great wood choices too, as we've come to expect from you. But I have one hope... that instead of the wood sammich, you'll just grain fill it, prime it, and shoot it the same color red as the first pic of the thread... There, it's off my chest. :)

EDIT- my bad - I just noticed that it's a tint, not paint. Carry on, sir!!! :bassist:
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Thanks!! It'll be dyed the same color red as the first pic of the thread, if I can get close to it. But before I do so, I will dye / stain it black and sand it back to pop the grain on ash and the flames in the maple. Guess no filler nor primer.
 
#204
miziomix said:
Very nice! I am probably late on this... but... I wouldn't do the tummy cut. This body doesn't look like it needs one nor it would benefit much from it aesthetically. Form... function... well... I wouldn't... :)
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Still in doubt because of this reason, so I'll probably finish the MDF test body and try it out on there. Gives me the opportunity to practice and I will see if I like it easthetically.

m.oreilly said:
while i'm not a pickguard fan, i do love your design. rob, everything about this bass is sweet.
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Thanks a lot! I want this to become the sexiest jazz bass around :smug:.

Today I finished the pickguard.. dotted the I's and routed the outer edges to a 45 degree angle. The result is pretty nice, I'm really excited about this. I will drill the holes during assembly.

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#208
mananc_jar said:
Why paint such a beauty red and not leave it natural? And why put a pick guard on it? Still looking forward to see the final result. Maybe I am wrong ...(never happens)
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I will not paint it red, I will stain it red. Big difference. The beauty of the wood will be preserved. The pickguard and color are part of the design. If you don't like it that's fine, a matter of taste, but I want to try different things and not only build the same natural bass over and over. I am sure there are a lot of pretty coloured jazz basses or p-basses with pickguards around with nice woods and a translucent finish. I don't see why mine can't become one of them.
 
#211
I wonder if the people who are objecting to the pic guard or red dye read the whole thread.

These pictures pretty much explain the whole concept.

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#215
Hopkins said:
Yessir ;)

I love your design, I think it would be a mistake to leave out the block inlays and to not dye the headstock to match the body. Those white MOP inlays will look great on the dark board.

I'm jealous that you came up with that body shape and not me :D
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Thank you :smug: ! And yeah, I will probably try to obtain the styling of the first rendering, second one was mainly to show the non-fanned version, but the first rendering came out better with the matching headstock, a better flame in the body and those block inlays. Also, I like the color on the first one better.
 
#217
whodom said:
Alright- enough cosmetics discussion. Red is fine!

Shouldn't you be carving a neck by now? :D
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Lol, you're right, but the neck blank needs to be planed straight and to the right thickness and I don't have the tools for that, so I need to find a place (cabinet workshop e.g.) to get this done. I hope I can arrange something in the next two weeks.

There are a few things that needed to be done on the body part: I finally (!!) finished all my plywood templates today (now I've got the pickup cavities and neck pocket template as well). I also finished glueing up a prototype body (curing as we speak) to test the tummy cut and neck heel.

Before I start with the body I will practice these carvings first, decide if I'd go with a tummy cut, probably do the tummy cut on the real body and I may even route the pickup cavities and neck pocket already. After that, it's time to move on to the neck. Slow build, I know, but limited time and taking it step by step..
 
#220
After practicing on my MDF-dummy I decided to dive in on the Ash of the real body today. It still is a very modest tummy cut, but the effect is great! The comfort of the body when seated has gone up way more than I expected, just perfect!! :hyper:

I tried it in a playing position, resting on my left leg. The deep curve on the upper bout of the body falls nicely against your chest, while the tummy cut takes away the 'sharp' edge. Together with the lightness of the body you're hardly aware of the fact that there's a lump of wood on your lap, which is a good thing imo. Hard to explain, but I will post pictures of that sometime, you'll see what I mean - although you actually would have to experience it yourself ;).

I drew a pencil line of the intended curve and used masking tape to follow that line, making it more visible when carving and protecting the rest of the body in the meantime. Started out with the great Stanley surform file:

109-tummy-cut-stanley-surform.jpg


working with hand tools on wood really feels good. I used a fine coarsed file to smooth things out:

110-tummy-cut-filed.jpg


And here it is, finished and sanded up to 180 grit:

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A view from the side:

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See you next time!
 

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