Fat Freddy's Special K

[Jon Clegg]

What am I a cereal builder? Well no, but I am a serial builder. OK sorry about that.
Some of you may be aware of the saga of the Model K bass and all that transpired or didn't as the case may be. Well @Fat Freddy was not to be deterred and was determined to have one and so he has commissioned me to build one for him... sorta.

Kinda like what would result if you left a Guild B301 and an Ric 4001 alone together...

This won't be an exact replica of that bass but will be heavily inspired by it. One change is that he has a Maruszczyk Elwood-C that has a neck that he loves so I will be building the neck to match the profile of that one.

I have to admit, having played that neck both before and after doing a fretless conversion on it, it is reallly nice with a very comfortable feel to it. Another change is that I'll be building it as 22 Fret rather than 24 fret as the short scale K's were going to be.

So overall specs for the build:

30” Scale 4 String

Alder body, 1.5” Thick, deep belly cut.

Maple neck with ebonized walnut skunk stripe, tilt-back headstock, carbon fiber backstrap and Bruce Bars, heel adjust truss rod.

Rocklite ‘ebony’ Fingerboard, Fretless, 22 partial fret markers with Zero Fret.

Faux TRC with Clegg logo

Hipshot Ultralite Y tuners

Satin black pickguard with aluminum backing layer.

Satin White finish (Varathane with Createx white)

2x Lace Alumitone Bassbar 3.5 pickups (Chrome finish)

HipShot SuperTone 3 Pt Bridge (Black)

HipShot O-RING Knobs

Loxx StrapLocks

So step one is to to draw it out full scale, with the shift required to by reducing the number of frets:

This weekend I'll start making some sawdust.

 

[Fat Freddy]

What am I a cereal builder? Well no, but I am a serial builder. OK sorry about that.
Some of you may be aware of the saga of the Model K bass and all that transpired or didn't as the case may be. Well @Fat Freddy was not to be deterred and was determined to have one and so he has commissioned me to build one for him... sorta.
View attachment 3595261
Kinda like what would result if you left a Guild B301 and an Ric 4001 alone together...

This won't be an exact replica of that bass but will be heavily inspired by it. One change is that he has a Maruszczyk Elwood-C that has a neck that he loves so I will be building the neck to match the profile of that one.

I have to admit, having played that neck both before and after doing a fretless conversion on it, it is reallly nice with a very comfortable feel to it. Another change is that I'll be building it as 22 Fret rather than 24 fret as the short scale K's were going to be.

So overall specs for the build:

30” Scale 4 String

Alder body, 1.5” Thick, deep belly cut.

Maple neck with ebonized walnut skunk stripe, tilt-back headstock, carbon fiber backstrap and Bruce Bars, heel adjust truss rod.

Rocklite ‘ebony’ Fingerboard, Fretless, 22 partial fret markers with Zero Fret.

Faux TRC with Clegg logo

Hipshot Ultralite Y tuners

Satin black pickguard with aluminum backing layer.

2x Lace Alumitone Bassbar 3.5 pickups (Chrome finish)

HipShot SuperTone 3 Pt Bridge (Black)

HipShot O-RING Knobs

Loxx StrapLocks

So step one is to to draw it out full scale, with the shift required to by reducing the number of frets:

View attachment 3595260
This weekend I'll start making some sawdust.

I'm all excited now.......
I sincerely promise to try not to overdo the 's etc...etc....

 

[Tom0Blam0]

Dang! I was going to build one of these! Same stinking bridge and everything...I can't remember if I tweaked the design or not. I think I was even going to put alumitones in it. Great minds, I guess! Can't wait to see how the build turns out!

 

[5StringBlues]

subbed

 

[two fingers]

I'm excited for you Freddy!

 

[wesonbass]

Looks like a fine plan! Can't wait to see it come together. I really like the 22 fret design.

 

[two fingers]

What am I a cereal builder? Well no, but I am a serial builder. OK sorry about that.
Some of you may be aware of the saga of the Model K bass and all that transpired or didn't as the case may be. Well @Fat Freddy was not to be deterred and was determined to have one and so he has commissioned me to build one for him... sorta.
View attachment 3595261
Kinda like what would result if you left a Guild B301 and an Ric 4001 alone together...

This won't be an exact replica of that bass but will be heavily inspired by it. One change is that he has a Maruszczyk Elwood-C that has a neck that he loves so I will be building the neck to match the profile of that one.

I have to admit, having played that neck both before and after doing a fretless conversion on it, it is reallly nice with a very comfortable feel to it. Another change is that I'll be building it as 22 Fret rather than 24 fret as the short scale K's were going to be.

So overall specs for the build:

30” Scale 4 String

Alder body, 1.5” Thick, deep belly cut.

Maple neck with ebonized walnut skunk stripe, tilt-back headstock, carbon fiber backstrap and Bruce Bars, heel adjust truss rod.

Rocklite ‘ebony’ Fingerboard, Fretless, 22 partial fret markers with Zero Fret.

Faux TRC with Clegg logo

Hipshot Ultralite Y tuners

Satin black pickguard with aluminum backing layer.

2x Lace Alumitone Bassbar 3.5 pickups (Chrome finish)

HipShot SuperTone 3 Pt Bridge (Black)

HipShot O-RING Knobs

Loxx StrapLocks

So step one is to to draw it out full scale, with the shift required to by reducing the number of frets:

View attachment 3595260
This weekend I'll start making some sawdust.

I'm imagining the upper horn extended ever so slightly.... on a 35" 5 string two octave version.

 

[Freekmagnet]

Nice-looking design! I’m in!

 

[Jon Clegg]

Thanks all! Now I need to figure out how to work an f-hole into the design for other purposes

 

[Jon Clegg]

I'm all excited now.......
I sincerely promise to try not to overdo the 's etc...etc....

Your bass. You can all you want.

 

[cnltb]

Interesting I this find.

 

[zubrycky]

That's a great design !

 

[wraub]

I'm in.

 

[NKBassman]

It's a shame what happened with the whole K Bass thing. I really liked the design and probably would have bought one had it not all fallen apart.

Looking forward to seeing this come together!

 

[jamro217]

Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[mistermikev]

i like where this is goin'.

 

[Jon Clegg]

@Fat Freddy pointed out that I had omitted that the bass will be finished in satin white. The white Tux look.

 

[Jon Clegg]

Slight adjust to make the heel work. Added in the rout for the neck pocket, altered the pickguard shape. I think it's time to go to get a few copies made so I can make templates

 

[Jon Clegg]

Headstock: pretty much the same put we eliminated the pointy bit in the center.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

YES!


@Fat Freddy, you get your bass.