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G1's 5th build

G

Gone

Mar 21, 2006
317
0
Cape Town
people.cs.uct.ac.za
Disclosures
Jayda custom basses, builder
#1
Okay, so officially I havn't started my 4th build yet but I always intended to build my 4th and 5th at the same time.

New things for me for this build:
- new shape
- Multi-scale
- might try adding a build in wah-wah controlled by a whammy like bar

Woods:
- Neck: padauk - maple - imbuia - maple - padauk
- Body: ash with crotch walnut on top
- fretboard: maple, binding and blocks in imbuia

It's going to be a set through neck with a tranny block

Pickup: going to be a hand wound. My initial idea was to copy wilsers PJ hybrid (except adapt for multi-scale) but might change.

Design:
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Almost started today, but ended up tidying my workshop and fixing an acoustic instead. At least I'll have a tidy workshop when I do start, maybe tomorrow, more likely next weekend :-)
 
#5
cool! can i ask you a question (since im having an isssue on my build)? what is your method for making your neck lams? i know this sounds simple, but i made mine all on a table saw and the thinner peices didnt all stay straight in the saw and got some serious saw marks and crooked cuts. i didnt have this issue on my last build because the neck lams were thicker. any tips?
 
#9
jordan_frerichs said:
the second neck blank doesn't have equal laminates. The small purpleheart strip to the right seems a bit bigger. Is it just the angle? great wood choices, btw
Click to expand...

Your eye's don't deceive you. I'm trying to decide if I should make a new neck blank or not. It seems a waste as that blank could be a nice neck. But seeing as I intend to sell both of these I should be aiming for perfect.

Also if oriented correctly and once shaped it might be less obvious.

I'm quite happy with the wood choices though. I'm hoping to end up with 2 basses that are very different from anything you can get off the shelf.
 
#11
Gone said:
Your eye's don't deceive you. I'm trying to decide if I should make a new neck blank or not. It seems a waste as that blank could be a nice neck. But seeing as I intend to sell both of these I should be aiming for perfect.

Also if oriented correctly and once shaped it might be less obvious.

I'm quite happy with the wood choices though. I'm hoping to end up with 2 basses that are very different from anything you can get off the shelf.
Click to expand...

Maybe you can shape the neck asymmetrical, making the bass side thicker than the treble side, so the thicker strings are being hold by more wood. Then, the uneven laminates could contribute to the neck design. Just an idea :rolleyes:.
 
#13
An update on this build.

- did the scarf joint
- installed truss rod
- tapered the neck
- glued walnut veneer on the headstock
- rough cut headstock shape
- cut maple fingerboard to size and bound in imbuia

Planning on doing the block markers in imbuia as well. However thought it might look cool with paduak markers on the 12th and 24th fret, which will match the neck woods nicely :)

Had a bit of a snag with the scarf joint. I did a normal scarf joint with the band saw and added the compound angle (if thats the right word) to match the nut angle with a hand planner afterwards. However that ended up with the one side of the headstock thinner than the other. So I've added some veneers to the one side to build up thickness again. I'm planning on adding a veneer over the whole of the back of the headstock to hide the mistake :hmm:


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#15
Gone said:
Your eye's don't deceive you. I'm trying to decide if I should make a new neck blank or not. It seems a waste as that blank could be a nice neck. But seeing as I intend to sell both of these I should be aiming for perfect.

Also if oriented correctly and once shaped it might be less obvious.

I'm quite happy with the wood choices though. I'm hoping to end up with 2 basses that are very different from anything you can get off the shelf.
Click to expand...

Depending on how you do your scarf joint, that is where it may become painfully obvious (spoken from experience).
 
#16
The scarf came out well. You can see the mismatch but it's not very obvious.
I've since glued the fingerboard and shaped the neck on the 4 string (which came out really nice). But I guess this belongs in my other thread. It's supposed to be one build per thread.

This build: I've slotted the fingerboard and glued it to the neck, but havn't yet shaped the neck. I've got a busy couple of weeks coming (including recording a CD) so I imagine progress is going to be paused for at least 2 weeks.
 
#18
Got the walnut top on this bass, also some rough shaping:
Link RemovedLink Removed

It's a pity the center line is showing on the top. I've never been that great at basic joining. Although I'm hopefully joining a luthiery class soon and having a go at building a violin, which should stretch my wood working abilities.
 

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