Finished a 6 String Bass With...

[VegasCustom]

RUBIO MONOCOAT. (Btw, this is a bubinga body and wenge neck with wenge board)
Why?
Idk saw it in a youtube video and thought it would not darken the wenge. I was half right. The wenge all over the bass is not darkened and retained its look. The wenge on the control cavity cover did almost go full ebony. Actually it sort of looks like a bad ebonizing job and I'll probably remake that part. BUT.
I know im not the first by a long shot. Just wanted to share what I noticed SO FAR.
Coated about a week ago and then re sanded several areas before re-coating today. Buffed it into 600-800 grit with a soft pad on a drill type rig. I did use accelerator but only on the second application today. I notice ZERO difference in resonance from the tap tests. It looks great. Its not super protective but this is meant to be a high end bass so Im treating it like a high end table... just baby it. Wear cotton and sit down. Its 13.2 pounds WITHOUT hardware. Its also the second instrument I've built in my life. The first is turning out 100% playable... but man... is it full of lessons and wont be done before this one. Im just super excited because I'm about 42 hours away from that first moment of plucking the first note on an instrument with the hands that built it. I've dreamed of this for as long as I can remember.

 

[VegasCustom]

After this I'm going to begin a search for a mentor I can work with and learn the world from. I'll owe everything to that person.

 

[Beej]

Pics?(!!!)

 

[VegasCustom]

 

[VegasCustom]

Judge heavily everyone, be harsh. Incredibly harsh. Let me learn all I can please

 

[Thumpin6string]

Judge heavily everyone, be harsh. Incredibly harsh. Let me learn all I can please

Hopefully not too harsh.
It's an interesting design. The headstock looks a bit large. Hopefully with tuners it doesn't neck dive. At 13.2 pounds without hardware, that sounds like a shoulder killer. Could be close to 15 pounds with hardware. My 6 string I built weighs in at about 10 pounds with hardware and I still need a Duostrap to make it comfortable to wear. I did a heavy rounding over and major cutaways to shave weight. I also did an arm bevel and belly cut which also helped. I also made the top horn come to the 12th fret to balance it better. A 6 string is a lot of bass, so any way you can shave off weight the better.

 

[SteC]

Looks cool! Congrats on doing the thing!

 

[bcbassman]

Great looking bass, with fanned frets no less! You should be very proud of what you have made.
I was just wondering- Are the tuner holes too close to the headstock edge? Is the headstock a free form shape or are you using a template of some kind to cut it out? is the truss rod or rods centered in the neck? There is a darker section of wood in the neck that appears off center. Is that intentional?
Congrats on your build, I don't think that I could do that.

 

[VegasCustom]

Hopefully not too harsh.
It's an interesting design. The headstock looks a bit large. Hopefully with tuners it doesn't neck dive. At 13.2 pounds without hardware, that sounds like a shoulder killer. Could be close to 15 pounds with hardware. My 6 string I built weighs in at about 10 pounds with hardware and I still need a Duostrap to make it comfortable to wear. I did a heavy rounding over and major cutaways to shave weight. I also did an arm bevel and belly cut which also helped. I also made the top horn come to the 12th fret to balance it better. A 6 string is a lot of bass, so any way you can shave off weight the better.

So here I'm going to respond to several of these wonderful criticisms. No joke, I really appreciate it. Also love the kind words. Thank you all.
So, the headstock is a freehand design. The tuner holes may in fact be too close to the edge and I plan on compensating for the staggering by using trees in the middle as guides. I do have a cover for the control cavity and truss rod cover. The rod is centered, and I think I may have put two carbon fiber rods on either side of the truss rod. The difference in wood was entirely unintentional, didn't realize until It was glued up and yea its off center, but as my first I'm not fretting over it. The size of the headstock is something that bothers me. I didn't really know how to make it so I just put the holes about 2 inches apart from each other, free handed the design with a pencil, and put the holes too close.. I was more worried about them being too far away at the time. Also didn't have a physical model of the tuner I'd use which I now know is super important for sizing. The sanding job on edges could be better, and with the rubio I can easily just redo it without much hassle at all. Im sort of rushing this to get it to play mode so I can see if that works before returning to the wood shop. I'm going to put the bridge/tuners/hardware on today and plug it in IF the pots arrive today. One fun thing I noticed nobody mention was how bad the pickup cavities are. Doable 100%. But NOT clean. Otherwise, thank you all for everything. Keep the criticisms coming. You all are really doing me a solid by doing so. If it plugs up and plays ill send a pic with the strings and a video with the sound

 

[Thumpin6string]

You might be able to narrow and make the headstock more pointy and then re-drill the tuner holes. I would highly recommend light weight tuners. I used Hipshots. Here is a picture of my bass to give you an idea of what I mean. Mine is excessively pointy LOL.

 

[micguy]

13.2 pounds without hardware or strings. I hope you're young and have a very strong back. You may learn other things, but there is likely a lesson there for you.

That's what I'd call a "studio bass" - when you can play it sitting down down, it may be just the ticket. I built a bass in that weight range when I was in college. One of the tapes I have of my band includes the point in the gig where I was moving across the stage, the singer jumped back, and I caught him squarely between the shoulder blades with the headstock of my red oak bass (with a steel rod as the neck reinforcement). The geometry was such that the full weight of the bass was behind that blow, he gave out an "UGH"!, and collapsed on the floor for a few seconds.

We all learn things from early builds. Start writing stuff down now, or you will forget the lessons, and then learn them next time as well.

 

[PJsaure]

Honest and harsh feedback ? Ok, let’s go
The shapes look a bit too « rough cut » and may need some refining for my taste. The tuner holes, as said previously, look dangerously close to the edge. Have a look at a typical Fender headstock, the holes are a LOT farther from the edge. One could say they are unnecessarily far from the edge, but that’s just to give a point of reference.
Regarding the colour of the wenge cover: are you sure you have prepared the surface properly ? If not sanded properly and with a fine enough grain, the wood will take the finish differently and it will, overall, not look too good.