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Fretless 4 in Progress

#21
Luke Sheridan said:
That is coming along very nicely. Perhaps you should reconsider buying a preradiused fretboard. That way, you'd have an instrument that was 100 percent you. And since its fretless, you just need to sand. It also opens up a lot of ideas for the fretboard rather than just ebony. Looking at the marble on the floor certanly give me some ideas. Maybe send the pic to Larry and get his take on a stabilized board. Great work.
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I thought about it, but it could be quite a while before I build again and I didn't want to drop the cash on a good long radiusing block just to do one FB. I've got some morado on the way from lmi that I'm gonna try.
 
#23
Wademeister63 said:
Dude, you stole my headstock!!

Hahahah! Well, not really but I'm surprised to see how similar your design is to mine. Looks like yours is coming along nicely. I like it! Some real nice wood there. :D
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Oh really, Got a pic? I can't remember what yours looks like, I guess the body on your bass was a little distracting. ;)
 
#25
Cutting the recess for the control cavity cover, No power tools required! (it has a striking resemblance to my new avatar ;))



And here is the finished cover. I cut a 1/8" veneer from a piece of scrap from the body, and laminated it a piece of 1/16" plastic I had laying around which will hopefully keep it from cracking.
 
#28
I've been working pretty much non-stop so I haven't been updating my progress much. The body is completely finished except for the electronics which still need wired. The finish is about seven coats of poly-acrylic

I had a pau ferro pre-radiused fretboard on order from lmi, but there radiusing machine is out of commission for a while, and they didn't bother telling me until I called wondering where my fretboard was. So, being fed up withthe fretboard fiasco I headed out in search of something locally, I came back with a beautiful bocote board. I also am going to attemp to radius it myself so I made my own 14" long radiusing block. see pics below.

And no, I don't think this thing is going to be finished before i go back to school, I have less than 48 hours and I just glued the fretboard to the neck, which still needs shaping and finishing, so I'll have to come home for a weekend to finish it up.

Carving the body contours:


The nearly finished body and the bocote fingerboard (that shielding is throwin' some serious bling!):


The completed body:


The fretboard clamped up with every clamp I could find, it's a lovely sight:


and finally my home-made radiusing block:
 
#31
fookgub said:
Looking sharp. Don't rush it though. What's a couple of weeks of waiting verses years of saying "dang, I wish I hadn't rushed ____"?
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You speak the truth. That's pretty much the reasoning I used. I already made that mistake once. I also don't want to work so hard at it that I get burnt out on it. I want to be able to enjoy the end of this project.
 
#32
Great job Paintandsk8! I feel your anguish over spending all Chrismas break working on a bass and still not having it done before going back to school... :crying:
paintandsk8 said:
I had a pau ferro pre-radiused fretboard on order from lmi, but there radiusing machine is out of commission for a while, and they didn't bother telling me until I called wondering where my fretboard was.
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Yeah, this just happened to me, too, but it was an ebony headplate. I called and they told me, "oh, those aren't coming in 'till mid february, we'll ship it to you then." :spit:
Oh well, I found a piece of wenge that will work and it was cheaper. woot woot. :)
 
#33
Well I've made some more progress...It's Finished! Unfortunately you guys are going to have to wait for paul to get the gallery back up and running before I can post pics. :( Full report, pics, and sound clips in the near future.....
 
#36
what you need is a long drill bit. I have a drill bit that is 3/16 diameter and 15 or so inches long. With any luck you will be able to get a flat enough angle to drill a hole from the pickup routes to the control cavity. Just hold your breath and hope you have good aim ;).
 

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