Gibson Grabber/Ripper -influenced build.

Alright, it's time for the next build. I'll be starting it in september and so far I have the majority of the woods and some parts.

Here are the specs:
- Neck through, 5 pcs laminate, maple and purple heart
- Body wings of maple, stripes of purple heart between neck and body
- V-style headstock, 2L+2R-tuners.
- 34½" scale, 20 frets.

What I still haven't decided on:
- Pups. I have two humbuckers which I might use, but then again, I'm also intrigued by the three single coil -idea
- Finish. It will be a see through finish, but oil or PU, not decided yet.

I'll post pics when I take them, and as I mentioned, the build will start in sept.

Here's the page I use for specs:
http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/grabber_techinfo.php

 

Alright, finishing plans.
http://www.filedropper.com/grabberxlayout1
Still not sure wether to use a pickguard or not. Especially with the purple heart stripes.
Sure would appreciate comments from Grabber/Ripper owners and people who have experience playing one.
As you see, I decided to put three single coils, I'll probably wind them up myself come spring time. Yes, it will be a slow build

P.S. Forgot to edit out company logo from the plan, I hope it doesn't bother anyone. Company not connected in any way with the drawing...

 

I will probably keep the pickguard as an option untill the end I would really like the combination of yellowish wood plus a single ply pickguard, but as you said, the purple heart stripes will look too good to cover. Also, the number of knobs will be a secret until it's finished

 

That restauration project is way cool!
As you have an original, could you take a few measures for me?:
- Bridge and string spacing
- Pole spacing on pickups
As my build is not going to be 100% accurate, rather a "custom", I'm not aiming it to be a "true copy". I have some parts, namely the bridge and tuner, but if they show up too heavy, I'll get some ultra lights for it. I guess the instrument has a bit of nose dive?
All help is appreciated and welcome!

 

Well, as the bridge is so special, I would think that the spacing is pretty much the same. The bridge I have has a spacing of 52 mm flom E to G.

 

Alright, made some progress today:
-Went to local wood dealer and found some nice maple for the wings. Gonna get them tomorrow, as I was in a hurry and didn't know how much I needed exactly.
-Cut a "prototype" body for experiment purposes (contour, weight etc.) from a birch desk top.
-Took also some pictures, to keep you guys interested in this "snail project"

Here are the neck woods, minus fret board:


Close up:


And the "practice" or "prototype" body:

 

BTW, I really recommend this German store for European, and why not overseas, luthiers:
http://www.espen.de/index.php/en/products/tonewood
P.S. I just noticed that I use the word "alright" a lot I'll try not to in the future

 

This project has started well, but slowly. Progress so far:
cut maple and purple heart blank into smaller pieces (maple into 15mm thick and PH into 8mm thick pieces), glued together 3x maple plus 2x purple heart to form a neck through "element". Cut a piece from the element to make head blank. Sanded 10,5 degree angle to the neck element. Next time will join the head to the neck and route the truss rod in

Pics:

 

Well, this will take time as I get to go to the workshop once a week, 2,5 hrs at a time. But slowly and steadily it will get finished

 

Not much to report, just glued the head to the neck yesterday, as I've taken the "slowly but precisely" approach to the build as I want it to be near perfect.
There will also be a break of two weeks now, as it's autumn holiday here :/

 

Long time no see. Some progress, and a few pics:

Yesterday I made the grooves for frets on the fingerboard, by hand as the scale is 34,5" and there wasn't any template for that scale. I also thinned the neck through "element" with a safe-t planer to 32mm on the body length. And some smoothing of the body wings, which are ready to be planed and shaped, before attached to the neck. The neck also has a groove/slot for the truss rod, it only has to be finished for the rod to fit.

The only thing uncertain is the fingerboard inlaying. I have a guy that promised me a CNC router for use, as I have a maple fingerboard and blocks to be inlaid. We'll see how that goes...

Now, pictures of the progress:

 

A nice person from a Finnish musician's forum did this for me

So I'm going to get the block inlays

(For some reason, the picture isn't visible on the forum. If you right click and choose "open image in new tab" it can be seen)

 

Well, this one I'm getting done relatively cheap, as maple is not the most expensive tonewood. And I've gotten by with a 2" by 2" piece of purple heart
And I'm gonna make the pups myself as I've got the chance for doing so gonna save something with that too...

 

Inlays put in the fretboard, looking good now