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From Russia with Love - Tonika project

#61
Wyrdlow said:
Some great looking instruments there. Some... less so!
I could be tempted by some of the violin shaped ones or semi-hollow bodies. The most bizarre to my eyes is the Tonika - no idea what they were aiming at aesthetically. It does have a certain something, though. 🤷‍♂️

Some of the factory names are interesting; I can't imagine the "750th Plant of Technical Means of Propaganda" was a hotbed of luthiery excellence! 🤣
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Yah, I thought the Japanese in the '60s had the market on whacky-shaped guitars/basses! :woot:
 
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#64
Flamingo21 said:
I'm going to bookmark that page in my browser. I can see myself building one of them. It'd be a great conversation starter.
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My faves -

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#67
I really like your style of bass guitar building. And you do very nice work on bringing bass guitars back to life. I have the same interest in bass guitars as you, and have some of the same brands. I also have a Tonika bass guitar, bought from the same seller. It had a twist in the neck. I did a few heat treatments with a jig I made to twist the neck in the opposite direction, and it helped somewhat. I enjoy buying the mutts and bringing them back to decent playing bass guitars. I live on the other side of the Bay as you, San Leandro, and would like to some day see your collection. And your are welcome to see mine. One question, where did you find that bass neck for that price ? I am always on the lookout for bass necks. Can't wait to see the progress on the bass.
 
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#68
RJensen615 said:
I really like your style of bass guitar building. And you do very nice work on bringing bass guitars back to life. I have the same interest in bass guitars as you, and have some of the same brands. I also have a Tonika bass guitar, bought from the same seller. It had a twist in the neck. I did a few heat treatments with a jig I made to twist the neck in the opposite direction, and it helped somewhat. I enjoy buying the mutts and bringing them back to decent playing bass guitars. I live on the other side of the Bay as you, San Leandro, and would like to some day see your collection. And your are welcome to see mine. One question, where did you find that bass neck for that price ? I am always on the lookout for bass necks. Can't wait to see the progress on the bass.
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For sure, since we are more 'local', we can make that happen - maybe once I finish this bass. I saved a neck on my MIJ Tempo by steaming (actually a company in the midwest saved it) but this one was a lost cause in more ways than one. The company I got the neck from is on eBay - looks like they have two more available - Pardon Our Interruption... < eBay link
 
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#69
The neck arrived today - really fast shipping (from NJ) - always something to consider when buying a cheap MIC product. (as in, not from China - instead via a US distributer/warehouse/supplier) Neck looked good - perfect raw material for modding.

So I wasted no time to start the transformation. I traced the Tonika hs and transferred it to the paddle hs -

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It was not long enough or wide enough, but no worries...
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I added the two extensions with leftovers cutting the outline. The neck will be painted black - the hs face will have blk/wht/blk pg material glued on it so seams will essentially disappear. This neck is a J (1.5" nut) which I personally prefer over the wider P nut spacing.
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I actually like these tuners. Minimal, all metal, flexible enough to "fine tune" with hand tools - they do the job.
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The butt of the heal was curved, so I cut it straight and used the cut-off for making the fb zero-fret -
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I used a taller fret (than the rest) and added the heal cut-off fb material to create a zero fret like the Tonika - so far so good. Used the plastic nut (now acting as string guide) that came with the neck after some modifications. Seamless -
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Did initial measuring to determine how to make it work following the original neck and bridge spacing/profile. In this regard, there was no way around 'slimming' the neck to make it compatible with this bass that has a 2-1/8" heal. I did this "neck tapering" once before on a de-fretted neck/fb, but this one having frets will need consideration to construct a system to make this happen. My thoughts so far are to cut through the fret-ends, and then use my band saw to trim/slim/taper the neck. Once that rough-cut is done - I will then sand it straight from the zero-fret, and re-file the severed fret-ends.
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Dremel for the win! I didn't own a Dremel for many years. I don't know why and now can't understand how anyone doing anything can survive w/o one. It is the duct-tape of powered tools!
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#75
Slidlow said:
I had to slim the same type neck to fit an Epiphone body. I just did it carefully on a belt sander. Takes a little finesse to keep the sides straight though.
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I used to have access to a horizontal industrial belt sander and a few other shop tools but these days I have to do a lot with a little. :)
 
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#76
joeLowB said:
"Dremel" is the brand name of a hand-held rotary power tool that has many attachments. It is useful in small-dimension wood working and metal working. A perfectly useful tool for a luthier like @JIO
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I'm not worthy of the handle 'luthier' (think Bruce Johnson) but just consider myself someone who isn't afraid to muck around with basses. :)
 
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#77
Matt Liebenau said:
I think Dremels are available in Europe. There's also Proxxon. It looks a little larger in the photos but I've never held one so no idea. PROXXON - IBS/E
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It looks of similar size as a Dremel - the small grinding bits make it look big, almost like a dental tool!
 
#80
Today I 'slimmed' the neck (rough cut) and epoxied blk/wht/blk pg material on the hs face. I'll post detail pics later. Tomorrow - rout the pg material and start re-shaping the neck contour. It will be a big change from the original 'baseball-bat' P-nut width neck playing-wise; a nice slim, J-style profile. :bassist:

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oh.., and Canadian friend Irv @Engle surprised me with an appliqué that matches vintage Tonika basses - so sweet! Thanks Irv :thumbsup:
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