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First build - 5 String Bolt-on

#21
Cy_Miles said:
This is your first build? And on your own? Outstanding.

And for shaping the neck (since you did express wanting better tools) might I suggest the Shinto Saw Rasp for roughing out the neck and one of the hand made Dragon files for forming the body and headstock joins. Both are available from Japan woodworker.com I consider them the most valuable hand tools in my tool box.

Again, outstanding build. I will watch for the second one.
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Thanks. I've enjoyed woodworking since I was in highschool. I've wanted to do a guitar build for some time and finally sucked it up and dove in. I have to admit to spending a fair amount of time researching, reading, and planning the build. I also have to admit that I'm pretty surprised that the thing is turning out as well as it has so far. I think all of the major wood working for the first bass is done now, although I think I'm going to tweak the neck profile just a bit before putting a finish on.

I did a quick and dirty setup and played it again this weekend and I have to say that it's actually a decent bass that I expect I'll use a lot. Kind of nice to be able to build exactly what you want :)
 
#22
Thought I'd post a quick update...

I spent some more time on the neck profile, cleaned up the volute area, etc. Feels better to me now. I also got the body and neck sanded, and the stain on. Started spraying the finish tonight.

Body with base stain applied
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Make-shift spray booth in the basement
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First day's spraying complete
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The bright orange will get a cherry-burst edge sprayed tomorrow. The orange was supposed to be more of a yellow/amber, but this is going to end up being ok.
 
#27
Finished spraying today. I'm really digging the color, despite it not being quite what I intended. The burst is pretty subtle, but for whatever reason seems (to me) to give it kind of a worn/vintage look.

I sprayed the body with my little touch-up gun, which ended up crapping out on me. Fortunately it worked long enough to do the burst. I cracked out the larger gravity feed gun for the neck, and wished I had used it for the body - sprayed much nicer.

I used the Grafted Coatings KTM-9 water based clearcoat. Supposedly it's a lot like nitro - but without the down sides. My impressions are... despite being water based, it's still a bit of an irritant and should probably still be sprayed with a respirator. Definitely nowhere near the volatility of nitro, though, and very little (or no) odor. Once I switched to the better gun, the flow out and leveling were actually pretty nice. It doesn't get really clear until it's dried for a few hours, which had me concerned after the first few coats. It's also different from nitro in that there is absolutely no tinting - it will add some depth to the wood grain, but no color at all.

So now the waiting game begins... supposedly it can be buffed out *safely* after about 5 days, but I'll try to have patience and not mess with it until next weekend.

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#30
What an absolutely great build!! Being your first, it's even more amazing :smug:. I used to think - let's say until I've seen yours - that my build was pretty much the best I could achieve being the first one; now I know that's not true.

What I like about your bass is the proportions, it even 'looks' ergonomic. It's just right. Nice colors and wood choice too!
 
#31
Musiclogic said:
For whatever reason? You didn't do a test piece to check color before spraying, something you will learn over time. Very Tobias-esque, but still looks like nice work. Keep up the good work.
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I did do a test on some of the cutoff scrap, but I only mixed up a small batch of the dye. It turned out more the yellow color I was expecting, but when I mixed up a larger batch, it was considerably more orange (which I also tested on scrap).

What I meant was that when I started out, I intended to do a more "traditional" cherry burst - yellow to dark cherry red. However, after seeing the orange and doing just a light burst at the edges, I think I'm actually happier with how it turned out. The color itself is a little more "out there", but the burst is more subtle. My wife saw the pictures and said that it's a brighter orange in person.
 
#34
I was wondering if I was going to get called out on the Tobias "influence" :D I've always been a fan of his stuff, but I'll never have the budget or justification to own one. This will have to be close enough - obviously minus Mike's quality.
 
#36
Jason_A said:
I was wondering if I was going to get called out on the Tobias "influence" :D I've always been a fan of his stuff, but I'll never have the budget or justification to own one. This will have to be close enough - obviously minus Mike's quality.
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Gotcha on the finish, I really like the look. As for the Tobias-ness of the build, you are well on your way to building some fine clones if you don't ever do anything more:D....LOL And as for budget, if you have the budget to have someone else make CNC templates, I am thinking you may be a lot closer to buying a "Real Tobias/MTD" than you take credit for:eyebrow:. Besides...Michael is a good egg, and would only beard whip you once for each bass...LMAO:p:hiding:
 
#37
Musiclogic said:
Gotcha on the finish, I really like the look. As for the Tobias-ness of the build, you are well on your way to building some fine clones if you don't ever do anything more:D....LOL And as for budget, if you have the budget to have someone else make CNC templates, I am thinking you may be a lot closer to buying a "Real Tobias/MTD" than you take credit for:eyebrow:. Besides...Michael is a good egg, and would only beard whip you once for each bass...LMAO:p:hiding:
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The templates cost me about $70. I'm sure it would have been quite a bit more if I had them design them, but I supplied the AutoCAD drawing and all they had to do was plug it in their machine and mash GO. Incidentally, the company that made them for me was Elemental Designs. Cool bunch of guys - they started out with car amps and speakers and have become pretty well known for their home theater subs recently.
 

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