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Building an OM Bass
- Thread starter Dave Higham
- Start date
This is a wonderful thread, full of craftsmanship, design ideas, techniques and tools. We're all learning things from it.
Thank you so much for taking the time to photograph and write your process in so much detail. We really appreciate it. This thread will be a permanent part of the Luthiers' Corner library, for young Luthiers to research long into the future.
Thank you so much for taking the time to photograph and write your process in so much detail. We really appreciate it. This thread will be a permanent part of the Luthiers' Corner library, for young Luthiers to research long into the future.
Very kind of you Bruce. Your approval is especially appreciated, coming from a pro. I'm just a dabbler who's been obsessed by guitars for the last 65 years.
Well, Luthier's Corner is packed full of threads like this. The general theme here isn't to be a tutorial, but more of a documentary. It's "Here's how I did it" showing your techniques, problems you found, the solutions, tools used, and design ideas.
I also try to do that with my threads about tools and fixtures. I show what I learned and figured out, and leave it to you to use my idea, or come up with your own alternative.
I quite agree Bruce. I usually say at the beginning of a thread like this that it's not a "How to do it" thread but "How I did it, and if anyone has any ideas of other easier or better ways I'm all ears". Apparently I forgot to say it this time. Most of what I've learned about how to make guitars is from other people on various forums and some of the most generous with help and advice have been professionals. There were also the books by Irving Sloane and Melvyn Hiscock.
The neck’s almost ready for finishing now, but before that I need to open up the holes for the tuners. To do that I clamp a board to the drill table and drill a 5mm hole through it (the same size as the pilot holes in the headstock). I make a brass dowel pin with a centre hole bored in the end of it and push it into the hole. The 5mm drill bit is replaced by a 14mm brad point bit. By the way, I needed the drill to be turning to take the photos because if I stop it the light goes out.
The dowel is pushed down flush with the surface of the board, the headstock is positioned, the dowel pushed up through one of the pilot holes and the headstock clamped in place.
The hole is drilled. The dowel makes sure the hole is perfectly centred and is pushed through by the drill bit.
The dowel is pushed down flush with the surface of the board, the headstock is positioned, the dowel pushed up through one of the pilot holes and the headstock clamped in place.
The hole is drilled. The dowel makes sure the hole is perfectly centred and is pushed through by the drill bit.
Now I need a bridge, which means cutting another slice of this lump of ebony.
I made a template for the bridge which will also serve as a dummy bridge when testing the position and angle of the saddle for intonation. The bridge won’t be glued onto the body but will sit on two dowels. The template is used to drill two dowel holes about 20mm into the body’s centre block and corresponding blind holes from the underside of the bridge, so it will look as if it’s glued on. But this is where I had a brain fart and drilled the dowel holes from the top of the bridge blank and drilled them all the way through.
I decided to carry on and decide what to do about the holes later. So after sawing the rough shape out of the bridge blank, I dowelled it to the template and trimmed it to its final shape on the router table.
I also cut a radius on the front and back edges. 1/8” on the front and 3/8” on the back.
After I’d finished kicking myself over the holes I decided to fill them with a couple of abalone dots. You may have noticed Rick’s Renaissance bridges also had two abalone dots. I’m always slightly suspicious of pearl dots on wooden bridges. They’re often there (like mine) to cover something up and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Renaissance bridges were dowelled, or even screwed in place.
I cut a trial saddle slot in the dummy bridge/template on the milling machine. The bridge is dowelled onto a piece of MDF which is cut to give the theoretical angle of the saddle for intonation, calculated with help from R.M.Mottola. His web site is a mine of useful information. The slot also slopes backwards at 5.5° which is about half the calculated break angle of the strings. This means that the strings aren’t trying to push the saddle forwards and all the pressure is down onto the under-saddle transducer.
I made a template for the bridge which will also serve as a dummy bridge when testing the position and angle of the saddle for intonation. The bridge won’t be glued onto the body but will sit on two dowels. The template is used to drill two dowel holes about 20mm into the body’s centre block and corresponding blind holes from the underside of the bridge, so it will look as if it’s glued on. But this is where I had a brain fart and drilled the dowel holes from the top of the bridge blank and drilled them all the way through.
I decided to carry on and decide what to do about the holes later. So after sawing the rough shape out of the bridge blank, I dowelled it to the template and trimmed it to its final shape on the router table.
I also cut a radius on the front and back edges. 1/8” on the front and 3/8” on the back.
After I’d finished kicking myself over the holes I decided to fill them with a couple of abalone dots. You may have noticed Rick’s Renaissance bridges also had two abalone dots. I’m always slightly suspicious of pearl dots on wooden bridges. They’re often there (like mine) to cover something up and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Renaissance bridges were dowelled, or even screwed in place.
I cut a trial saddle slot in the dummy bridge/template on the milling machine. The bridge is dowelled onto a piece of MDF which is cut to give the theoretical angle of the saddle for intonation, calculated with help from R.M.Mottola. His web site is a mine of useful information. The slot also slopes backwards at 5.5° which is about half the calculated break angle of the strings. This means that the strings aren’t trying to push the saddle forwards and all the pressure is down onto the under-saddle transducer.
Watching this part closely, I'm getting ready to do an acoustic style bridge on an explorer design I'm doing(soon as I get the rest of the parts together).
I really enjoy watching your builds. Very well documented, great pics and very fine craftmanship.
Not my idea I'm afraid. I'm not sure who first thought of it.
Fantastic work. 
Also, shout out to @rmmottola in case he didn't see his own name there in post 108.
A big thanks for the wonderful luthier's resource he's curated. 
Also, shout out to @rmmottola in case he didn't see his own name there in post 108.
A big thanks for the wonderful luthier's resource he's curated.
That’s all the construction photos I took.
I filled the grain on the back and sides of the body with Z-Poxy Finishing Resin and applied 6 or 7 coats of Osmo Polyx Oil, wiped on and wiped off. I didn’t fill the grain on the mahogany neck, I just applied 2 thin coats of Osmo.
I French polished the front. Here it’s getting a nice shine.
Nothing make the grain ‘pop’ like Z-Poxy and French polish, so that’s what I did to the back and front of the headstock. Before finishing, I plug the tuner holes. I use balsa wood as it’s easy to make a tight fit and to sand flush and makes finishing a lot easier. It’s also easy to get out afterwards.
I filled the grain on the back and sides of the body with Z-Poxy Finishing Resin and applied 6 or 7 coats of Osmo Polyx Oil, wiped on and wiped off. I didn’t fill the grain on the mahogany neck, I just applied 2 thin coats of Osmo.
I French polished the front. Here it’s getting a nice shine.
Nothing make the grain ‘pop’ like Z-Poxy and French polish, so that’s what I did to the back and front of the headstock. Before finishing, I plug the tuner holes. I use balsa wood as it’s easy to make a tight fit and to sand flush and makes finishing a lot easier. It’s also easy to get out afterwards.
So, I've always wondered about using a drill press as a pseudo mill like that. But my brain always says "Don't do this, the bit will break under the lateral strain. 
Also, that headstock finish is nuts.
Also, that headstock finish is nuts.
Do you mean cutting the saddle slot? That's actually a 'downcut' router cutter in a small milling machineSo, I've always wondered about using a drill press as a pseudo mill like that. But my brain always says "Don't do this, the bit will break under the lateral strain.
Here are the glamour shots. Full frontal.
There’s a little volume and tone control inside the ‘sound hole’, on the left in this photo.
Seen from the back.
A lttle suction cup lifts the back panel off to change batteries.
There’s a little volume and tone control inside the ‘sound hole’, on the left in this photo.
Seen from the back.
A lttle suction cup lifts the back panel off to change batteries.
A few more.
It’s quite a big body for a bass even though it’s not very deep so, although the arm bevel isn’t very big, it’s appreciable
The TI Flats were obviously not meant for through-the-body mounting and 35” scale length. The 5th string is only just long enough.
The tuners are Gotoh Res-o-lite GB350’s. I only discovered them recently and was surprised to find that they are not only 60% of the price of Hipshots (here in France) they are also only 80% of the weight!
If you have been, thanks for watching.
It’s quite a big body for a bass even though it’s not very deep so, although the arm bevel isn’t very big, it’s appreciable
The TI Flats were obviously not meant for through-the-body mounting and 35” scale length. The 5th string is only just long enough.
The tuners are Gotoh Res-o-lite GB350’s. I only discovered them recently and was surprised to find that they are not only 60% of the price of Hipshots (here in France) they are also only 80% of the weight!
If you have been, thanks for watching.
