Grizz's first bass build

[gmjhowe]

If there are frets in it, a lot of the preference for woods is down to how it looks.

I think on a maple body rosewood will look nice. But as you say, what finish you use can makes all the difference.

For me I would pick which piece of wood I like best out of the two you have. I think all maple could work nicely.

 

[Ronbeast]

I really like the look of the rosewood, but only if the body is a natural color or light stain. for a light stain, I would pick rosewood, for a darker stain I would pick the maple.

That piece of rosewood you have is beautiful though.

 

[Jonny5bass]

Thanks for the replies everyone. For the finish on the body I'm going to start doing a bunch of test pieces. If I go with the rosewood fingerboard I would want to do a natural finish on the body. Maybe a little tung oil or something to emphasize the grain followed with lacquer. If I stick with the maple I was thinking of doing a light blue dye on the body with a blue veneer between the neck and fingerboard.

 

[Jonny5bass]

Sorry it's been a while but between the newborn, work and our crazy dog it's been tough to get "me" time. I did finally get the rosewood board slotted and cut to shape and you were all right, it's going to be rosewood. Here's it is to the shape of the neck.

I had a small alignment issue that I'm going to have to address.

I'm not even sure if it shows up in the picture very well but basically I had to turn the board in an odd way to get the white patch usable. It ended up being about 1/16 more narrow, at the worst, than the neck. It's fine at fret 19 but goes to a 1/16th by the end of the neck. I could do binding I guess but I really just want to move this thing along and get to my next build. Any ideas?

On a side note, a good friend loaned me his fret saw that was rather old and I was losing my mind cutting fret slots. Each slot would take about 20 mins to cut. I finally ordered the Japanese fret saw from stew Mac and had two boards completed in about 35 mins. I'm not paid by them (quite the opposite actually) but I just thought I'd throw it out there to help anyone else that fought that.

Here's a couple others just for the heck of it.

Any thoughts, comments, criticisms or rants are more than welcome.

Take care,
Grizz

 

[Flad]

I could be wrong but I think you're either going to have go with binding or start over on the fret board. Like I said I could be wrong but one thing I am 100% certain about wood cutting is once you've cut it too short you can't make it longer, it's either patch work time or start over...but you're lucky - you can choose binding. Besides those inlays will pop more with a nice binding.

 

[Jonny5bass]

I think you're 100% correct. I think since the fingerboard is so interesting (at least to me) I will probably forego the inlays. I'm going to see if I've got any small chunks the would fit the grain pattern there and glue it on and reshape. We'll see if I can find a piece though. Otherwise it's time to start reading up in bindings. Any thoughts on if I should try and do something contrasting or similar?

 

[Flad]

Well... the inlays were going to be contrasting, I would have picked a binding that matched the inlays. Since you're not going to do the inlays I'm really not sure. I'd have to take a look at what's out there and what I could fit in the budget. Also, I wouldn't resort to patchwork unless I absolutely had to. This is "YOUR" bass man!!! Your first build! I dunno, I'm a little drunk though...take all this with a grain of salt!


edit - on second thought...looking at the pic again, that's really small...like what an 1/8th or less? Gluing and reshaping might work out okay.

edit 2 - it's only 1/16th....I would wait till morning and wait for some of the more knowledgeable people to weigh in.

 

[Jonny5bass]

Well... the inlays were going to be contrasting, I would have picked a binding that matched the inlays. Since you're not going to do the inlays I'm really not sure. I'd have to take a look at what's out there and what I could fit in the budget. Also, I wouldn't resort to patchwork unless I absolutely had to. This is "YOUR" bass man!!! Your first build! I dunno, I'm a little drunk though...take all this with a grain of salt!


edit - on second thought...looking at the pic again, that's really small...like what an 1/8th or less? Gluing and reshaping might work out okay.

edit 2 - it's only 1/16th....I would wait till morning and wait for some of the more knowledgeable people to weigh in.

Well glad I'm not the only one that drinks and internets!
Thank you for the input either way. I looked again thinking that after radiusing the problem might disappear but it's a straight edge. If I can't find a piece that matches I may just go back to the maple fingerboard and save the rosewood for a 4 string.

 

[Flad]

That may very well be your best option. Do the best with what you got, and you've already got it. But see edit 2, I think it's the best advise I could give at the moment! LOL! If you go with the maple will you do the inlays?

EDIT - and I don't drink very often. Tonight was a good night, maybe I should I drink a little more often.

 

[Jonny5bass]

Possibly. At the beginning of the build I thought the maple I had for the neck was the most beautiful part but now that I've gone farther into the build I'm thinking it'd be a really cool bass with the blue veneer between the neck and fingerboard coupled with the inlays and a translucent blue finish on the body.

EDIT: I don't drink much anymore with the baby but sometimes when mamas got morning duty you just have to. As long as the power tools are put away.

 

[Jonny5bass]

I ended up gluing a tiny piece to the rosewood and re shaping it. I think it turned out really well!

The first pic is with it after I ran a slightly damp rag over it and the second is as it was drying which showed it a bit more. I think after radiusing and more sanding it will turn out fine. Phew!

Now I just need to get a piece to thickness to glue to the back of the body and I can start doing PU and control cavities.

 

[Jonny5bass]

I wish I had more time. Anyone in Seattle want to baby and dog sit so I can work on this?

 

[Jonny5bass]

I got the headstock to thickness. I ended up using gtrlvr's method. It was pretty nerve racking but it came out ok. It'll just take a lot of sanding to finish. I really need to suck it up and build a router sled for thicknessing. Here's some pics and a couple with the tuners for mock up. Hope you like.

 

[Jonny5bass]

Also seeking any and all comments, criticisms, advice, etc. since this is my first build. Thanks again for looking.

 

[Jonny5bass]

No turning back now. The rosewood fingerboard is glued to the neck.

I ended up putting a little bit of silicone under the ends of the truss rod to keep it from rattling.

I'm so anxious to see it out of the clamps!

 

[Jonny5bass]

Well crap. The glue up turned out fine, sort of. I could really use some help on this one.

In my excited rush to get another step completed, I did not double check that the truss rod was solidly into the silicone and now there is a slight rattle at the nut end of the neck. I've tried pulling it back out but the shape around the rotating portion of the TR is keeping it in.

Please chime in if you have any suggestions. Thanks.

A sad Grizz.

 

[Hopkins]

Well crap. The glue up turned out fine, sort of. I could really use some help on this one.

In my excited rush to get another step completed, I did not double check that the truss rod was solidly into the silicone and now there is a slight rattle at the nut end of the neck. I've tried pulling it back out but the shape around the rotating portion of the TR is keeping it in.

Please chime in if you have any suggestions. Thanks.

A sad Grizz.

Don't worry about it to much, when its under string tension, and the truss rod is under tension it will be forced against wood and the rattle will most likely go away.

 

[Jonny5bass]

Don't worry about it to much, when its under string tension, and the truss rod is under tension it will be forced against wood and the rattle will most likely go away.

I went and messed with the TR just a little bit and you are 100% correct. The rattle went away with about 1/8th of a turn. I'm still learning. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Hopkins]

I went and messed with the TR just a little bit and you are 100% correct. The rattle went away with about 1/8th of a turn. I'm still learning. Thanks for the reply!

Glad to help

 

[Aislinn]

That is one gorgeous piece of rosewood! I've never seen such color variation and the shade of the brown is so rich looking. Beautiful!