First bass - neck through.

[jimmy rocket]

I'm dipping my toes in here. Is the water chilly?

I've got fairly extensive experience in woodworking, and I've built a few bolt-on guitars, but this is my first bass. It's also my first neck-through design, so I'm taking it slow in the design phase.

Here's what I've got so far. The neck is going to be mahogany and maple laminate (because that's what I had floating around the shop) with a double action truss rod. Maybe carbon reinforcement rods. The headstock will angle back. I'm looking at active electronics with something like Aguilar super doubles for pickups. I haven't worked out a bridge yet, but probably nothing too crazy. Maybe a top loader?

The body is going to be mahogany back with bird's eye maple top. I'd like to keep it to 1 1/4" thick.

I milled up the laminates for the neck last night and began trying to translate the body design from sketches to full-size mdf to make a template. (Disregard the tiger maple, that was just for brainstorming)

Any thoughts or advice going into this? Right now the body is 19" long and about 13" across each bout.

 

[Jisch]

Your upper horn looks short, neck dive can be largely avoided if the end of that horn is at about the 12th fret. I would make it longer and have it's intersection point with the neck up a bit higher as well. Aesthetically I think the lower horn should angle up a bit more, it looks like it's angled out too much, that's purely opinion though.

 

[jimmy rocket]

Your upper horn looks short, neck dive can be largely avoided if the end of that horn is at about the 12th fret. I would make it longer and have it's intersection point with the neck up a bit higher as well. Aesthetically I think the lower horn should angle up a bit more, it looks like it's angled out too much, that's purely opinion though.

Thanks for the look. I'm thinking I will try to "tilt" the design some toward the upper horn. It's currently somewhere around the 13th fret.

 

[Beej]

Looks pretty good so far. What will the scale be? Something I like to do is draw a centre line, and mark the nut, 12th fret, bridge line and 24th fret (or end of fretboard) full scale. I find it helps me see things differently. I also cut out mockups of the full size to feel what it's like before fully committing. But I'm really neurotic.

 

[jimmy rocket]

Looks pretty good so far. What will the scale be? Something I like to do is draw a centre line, and mark the nut, 12th fret, bridge line and 24th fret (or end of fretboard) full scale. I find it helps me see things differently. I also cut out mockups of the full size to feel what it's like before fully committing. But I'm really neurotic.

It's a 34" scale. The hash marks on either side of the neck assembly show bridge position and 24th fret.

As for mockups, good idea. On my way back out to work tonight I decided to try making some faux wings out of a spare 2x6 to get a better sense of the thing.

 

[ctmullins]

I like it! But yeah, that upper horn needs more heft to really solidify the shape. I'm not a slave to that whole "strap button at twelfth fret" rule; sometimes a heavier body, with a lighter neck, and clever strap button locations, can work out just fine. I like the compactness of a design that has the upper horn at the 14th or 15th fret, like a Gibson double cut, for instance. My Ric-alike has the upper horn ending at the 13th fret, and is incredibly balanced and comfortable. I would rather see a cohesive design than a "12th fret at all costs" approach. But now I think I'm rambling...

 

[jimmy rocket]

I refined the shape a bit and cut out the pattern.

But when I turned it into pine, it didn't do it for me. It was just turning too much like an Ibanez (no offense, I like Ibanez bases but I wanted something else).

So, I took what I liked about it and reworked the horns. This, I like.

It's a little bit Rick and a little bit 'Wick

 

[Jisch]

Nice, I like it

 

[bobdabilder]

Nice design. i would make sure the upper horn hits fret 12 for balance.

 

[jimmy rocket]

I machined some bird's eye maple tops today. I'm not sure this is going to be the final orientation, but it gives you an idea.

Also, it is exceedingly difficult to come up with an original headstock shape, but after a few minutes with the French curves, I think this is pretty close.

And another with the pearl to be inlaid for scale.

 

[washjayb]

.

 

[jimmy rocket]

So, how thin is too thin for a bass body? I had back surgery a few years ago, and I feel the weight of instruments more than I used to. I'm currently planning on a maple/walnut/mahogany sandwich that comes in at about 1 1/4" thick. That's what I can do with the stock in my shop right now. I can get my hands on thicker mahogany if I need to, but I'm really trying to keep it as thin as I reasonably can to shed weight.

Oh, and I made this 1/8" laminate for the headstock when the time comes. I shouldn't need to glue on very big wings to the neck blank. I'm a little skittish about the inlay (just not my favorite task) so I'll probably do a dry run on some scrap. I'm shooting for an overall headstock thickness of 5/8"

 

[ctmullins]

1 1/4" is the practical limit for thickness. Thinner is possible, but you have to be creative with electronics and how the pickups are mounted.

Since you're doing a sandwich anyway, you can also shed weight by extensive chambering. I'm a fan of that technique myself; I feel it adds a certain undefinable complexity to the tone.

 

[jimmy rocket]

Life is busy. Progress is slow. All in all, I had a vision of the final bass today.

I'm using a walnut laminate between the mahogany back and maple cap. This piece is actually a resaw glued up as a panel. Anyone care to play "find the glue line"?

I squared off the neck blank to check the glue seams there too. Not bad, and I'm pleased with the orientation of the grain.

I'm going to go tap some boards to find body wood today. I'll probably also pick up some Wenge, you know, for the next one.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Yeah, Rics are 1-1/4" , and its a tight squeeze vertically for pots and switches. Without a pickguard, you really need to reinforce the control cavity "roof" if its only 1/4" thick. I put in a piece of 1 /16" sheet aluminum to stiffen it up.

 

[jimmy rocket]

1 1/4" is the practical limit for thickness. Thinner is possible, but you have to be creative with electronics and how the pickups are mounted.

Since you're doing a sandwich anyway, you can also shed weight by extensive chambering. I'm a fan of that technique myself; I feel it adds a certain undefinable complexity to the tone.

I think chambering is a good idea. I just built a chambered telecaster and it certainly sheds weight.

Yeah, Rics are 1-1/4" , and its a tight squeeze veetically for pots and switches. Without a pickguard, you really need to reinforce the control cavity "roof" if its only 1/4" thick. I put in a piece of 1 /16" sheet aluminum to stiffen it up.

Good info. Thanks. This has me aiming for 1 1/2" at least.

 

[jimmy rocket]

The full name headstock inlay was too much for this bass, so I'm going to inlay a simple M in African blackwood to keep it clean and classy.

 

[herndonbassist]

This looks great, and your methodology seems pretty sound. I'm really excited to see this one come to fruition!

 

[jimmy rocket]

After a trip to my lumber supplier, and a whole lot of board tapping, I settled on Spanish cedar for the bulk of the body. Its light (on my back) and resonant. This board rings like a bell when you knock on it. It's also nearly perfectly QS.

Here's a sense of the body without the caps.

And the sammich.

I'm back and forth on the walnut layer, but Im digging the ebony fretboard.

 

[herndonbassist]

that's one yummy looking sandwich! Personally, I'd stay with the walnut layer...