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Dear lord, what have I done?

#41
Hi.

NickInMesa said:
Yeah I think the same too. That will be a bit of a nightmare to setup. And the strings go through the holes at the back of the bridge? I guess they will rub and as you put tension, that could wreck the winding.
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I had the "modified Bich" You see in the pic for about a year after she was completed IIRC before I sold it, and zero problems with intonating or tuning. No problems with the round-wounds rubbing against the bridge holes either, flatwounds might require guides of some sort, I don't know. That bass has popped up on an on-line auction site here a couple of times in the last 5 years or so with the same layout, so I guess It's performed all right. It doesn't have the ERB FB extension there was supposed to be anymore though.


Regards
Sam
 
#42
beelzelboss said:
Dude, loving the yellow strings... only thing that really caught my attention was intonating it. That could get a little hairy, but otherwise it looks AWESOME!
Click to expand...

The yellow strings are fishing line.;) I just stuck that on to make sure the bridge was lined up with the neck.

Having the strings sliding over the saddles as you tune may muck around with the intonation a bit, but with an unlined fretless it probably won't be so noticeable (I hope...).
 
#43
I got a bit more work done today. I made the nut and added a piece of purpleheart the end of the neck to help prevent the ball ends of the strings from digging into the neck. I also took advantage of the extra piece to carve a small bump to stop your fretting hand from falling off the end of the neck.

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Next few steps are to level the fingerboard, as there is a high spot that makes a few notes buzz, and install the 'fret' markers on the edge of the fingerboard.
 
#45
Finished leveling the fingerboard, which coated every flat surface in my workshop with fine purple dust.:eek: That probably wasn't very healthy...

I also made the mounting ring for the pickup.

Just a few more steps, then it will be ready for finish.:hyper:
 
#47
A possible solution to the standing up problem could be the addition of a "kickstand" type piece to the right edge. Even a piece of wood that could be rotated from where it could rest flush against the side of the bass while playing, to where it would protrude from the bottom to the same distance of the protruding left corner.
 
#48
Like a lot of the others, I'm interested in seeing how this one turns out, especially after having owned a black Kramer Duke in the late eighties.

Before you get too much of the hardware on, try finishing your wood with Tru-Oil, by Birchwood-Casey. It's a gunstock finishing oil that really brings out color in your wood, protects it with a very light coat, not like lacquer or urethane would do. You can usually find it at places that have gun supplies. I found mine at a Gander Mtn. chain store. It's about 6 or 7 bucks for what could easily do 2 or 3 basses. Just lightly rub it between coats w/ some #0000 steel wool. Do about 3-4 coats and I guarantee you will be happy with the results. It'll still feel like it's just the wood, but very nice to the touch, and it won't get that friction rash on your wrist like other finishes might.
 
#51
Camera battery died...

Anyway, here are some pics of the (more or less) finished product.

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Over all, I'm pretty happy with it, considering I don't play bass and had pretty near no idea what I was doing. With that in mind I think it came out pretty well. And #2 is already in the works, I'm taking a course in acoustic guitar making at a place in Portland. (Yah, I know. Guitar bad. Sue me.;)) Number three is in the planning stages. And my bass playing friend expressed some intrest in having me make him a fretless, but he may have been joking...

Please tell me what you think. Thanks.:)

Rob
 
#56
That's quite an imaginative and well executed bass - highly impressive for a first build. Well done, I really hope you enjoy building some more, and learning to play them!

For some reason, this thread has rekindled my GAS for a Status Streamline... :bawl:
 

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